Zeta Global

Zeta Research: Agentic Commerce Gains Consumer Trust

Zeta Global published new research indicating growing consumer willingness to delegate parts of the shopping journey to AI agents, signaling early adoption of "agentic commerce." The online May 2026 survey polled 2,000 U.S. adults who reported using AI to make a purchase within the prior three months. The study finds parents are especially open to AI-driven buying: they are more likely to authorize purchases within budgets, reorder household essentials automatically, and discover new brands via AI. Across respondents, 70% prefer completing purchases on a brand’s website rather than via AI, and 54% favor brand-built personalized AI experiences over general-purpose AI tools. Zeta executives highlighted implications for brand discovery, relevance, trust, and the value of first-party data in AI recommendation environments.

Dan Ives Leaves Wedbush to Launch Merchant Bank

Dan Ives, a high-profile technology analyst who spent eight years at Wedbush Securities and more than 25 years covering tech stocks, is leaving Wedbush to form a new merchant bank. Ives said the firm — to be formally announced in the coming weeks — will combine proprietary research, strategic advisory, capital raising and investing, and will focus on opportunities driven by artificial intelligence across sectors including technology, energy and financials. Ives intends to continue covering technology stocks in a research capacity while building the broader business. The article also notes Ives’ prior roles advising Zeta Global and briefly chairing Eightco Holdings, and references his recent consumer-facing ventures such as a clothing line.

Gap expands AI-driven marketing with Google Cloud

Gap Inc. announced a multi-partner initiative to expand use of AI, data and automation across its shared marketing organisation for Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta. Announced at Cannes Lions, the programme partners Gap with Google Cloud (providing the data/AI layer and access to Vertex AI, BigQuery and Gemini), Zeta Global (building an AI-powered owned-channel marketing stack via Athena by Zeta) and Publicis Sapient (implementing talent, process and systems). Gap said the work will reduce silos, improve access to customer and product intelligence, and support personalised content, decision-making and faster campaign delivery across e-commerce, apps, email and loyalty channels. The article also notes Gap’s fiscal Q1 2026 results (net sales US$3.50bn, +1.0% YoY) and that the company prioritises technology investment.