Agentic AI: The New Distribution Channel You Can’t Ignore

The biggest shift in commerce since the digital wallet isn’t a new app or payment method. It’s a change in where the buying journey begins. Agentic AI is collapsing search, comparison, and purchase into a single flow, often outside of merchant-controlled environments. High-discovery tools, such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Anthropic, are becoming the front door, reshaping not just how customers shop but how distributors, suppliers, and merchants alike connect demand to supply. This shift has profound implications for brand visibility, funnel insight, trust, and fraud risk. In effect, agents are becoming the new distribution channel. This session explores how merchants can adapt when autonomous agents curate offers, source quotes, route demand, and even complete purchases. Key takeaways will include: Why “treating AI like another channel” misses the disruptive nature of autonomous decision-making.How to win "Agent Optimization." How to provide safe, innovative experiences outside of owned channels while protecting both customers and agents. What new fraud and abuse vectors will emerge (e.g., agent spoofing, affiliate arbitrage, synthetic account managers) and what it means to defend against them. The distribution of power in commerce is shifting. Merchants who experiment early and adapt their fraud, data, and experience strategies for this new AI interface will be best positioned to capture demand before it’s redirected elsewhere.

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