Observed Signal · Jun 22, 2026 · Industry Analysis · Source: CMSWire · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
AI Search and Agents Compress B2B Buying Journey
This CMSWire analysis examines how AI assistants and autonomous agents are transforming the consumer and B2B buying journey, shifting discovery from keyword search to AI-mediated conversations. Key findings include McKinsey's forecast of $750 billion in US revenue flowing through AI search by 2028, and the rise of agentic commerce with protocols like Google's Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) and Anthropic's Model Context Protocol (MCP). The article emphasizes that data governance has become a CX discipline, as brands must ensure accurate, machine-readable information to be surfaced by AI. It highlights examples from Amazon's Rufus, Rakuten's AI concierge, OpenAI's Instant Checkout, and Siemens' Industrial Copilot. The piece concludes with actionable steps for CX leaders to adapt, including mapping AI-mediated entry points, treating machine-readable accuracy as a KPI, and preparing for agentic customers.
High relevance to MarTech and AI; synthesizes multiple trends but is not a single breaking event.
Wichtigste Kernpunkte & Evidenz
- McKinsey forecasts $750 billion in US revenue flowing through AI search by 2028.
- Half of consumers already use AI-powered search in buying journeys.
- Amazon's Rufus assistant was used by more than 250 million customers in a year.
- Gartner predicts 40% of enterprise apps will feature task-specific AI agents by 2026.
- Google announced the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) with over 60 partners in September 2025.
Verknüpfte Unternehmen
21 verknüpfte UnternehmenThe Linux Foundation
Neutrale, gemeinnützige Hüterin für Open-Source-Ökosysteme und entsprechende Entwickler-Tools.
“Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol, the open standard — since adopted by OpenAI, Google and Microsoft and now governed under the Linux Found...”
Coveo
Enterprise-SaaS für intelligente Suche, Produktempfehlungen und faktenbasierte generative Antworten.
“Research on rethinking enterprise search is blunt: assistants are only as useful as the information they can reach....”
Rakuten Rewards
Eine führende Cashback- und Affiliate-Commerce-Plattform, die Konsumenten mit passenden Händlern verbindet.
“In Japan, Rakuten’s full-scale agentic AI launch placed a conversational concierge across its ecosystem and into Rakuten Ichiba — ending, af...”
Anthropic
Anbieter von KI-Basismodellen, der intelligente KI-Assistenten und Modell-APIs für Entwickler und Unternehmen bereitstellt.
“Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol, the open standard — since adopted by OpenAI, Google and Microsoft and now governed under the Linux Found...”
Amazon
Globale Commerce-, Cloud-, Advertising- und Abonnement-Plattform.
“Amazon’s AI shopping assistant Rufus was used by more than 250 million customers in a single year, with monthly users up 149% — and its “Buy...”
American Express
Closed-Loop-Zahlungsnetzwerk, Kartenherausgeber und Commerce-Media-Plattform.
“Google announced the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) with more than 60 partners — Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, Salesforce and Etsy am...”
Samsung Electronics
Globaler Elektronikhersteller, der Hardware, Streaming, Werbung und digitale Dienste über ein vernetztes Ökosystem monetarisiert.
“Samsung’s Galaxy AI expansion toward 400 million devices is backed by data showing 47% of consumers say their daily routines would be disrup...”
Perplexity
KI-Antwort-Engine mit Premium-Abonnements, Enterprise-Lizenzen und Entwickler-APIs.
“ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity are no longer chat tools that occasionally answer questions — they have become the new searc...”
McKinsey & Company
Globale Unternehmensberatung mit spezialisierten Software-, KI- und Transformations-Delivery-Lösungen.
“McKinsey’s research on the age of AI search found that half of consumers already use AI-powered search in their buying journeys, forecasts $...”
Stripe
Finanzinfrastruktur-Plattform für Zahlungsabwicklung, Rechnungsstellung, Betrugsprävention und digitale Handelsaktivitäten.
“OpenAI’s Instant Checkout lets the 700 million people who use ChatGPT weekly complete purchases without leaving the chat, built on the open ...”
PayPal
Digitales Zahlungsnetzwerk, das digitale Geldbörsen, Händler-Tools und Commerce Media vereint.
“Google announced the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) with more than 60 partners — Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, Salesforce and Etsy am...”
Microsoft
Ein diversifiziertes Plattformunternehmen für Software, Cloud-Infrastruktur, digitale Werbung und Gaming.
“Siemens’ Industrial Copilot, built with Microsoft, is used by more than 100 customers and reaches over 120,000 engineers, with thyssenkrupp ...”
Yext
Enterprise-Software für Markensichtbarkeit, lokale Einträge, Website-Suche und Reputationsmanagement.
“Yext’s global consumer study found 62% of people now trust AI tools to guide brand discovery — yet only 10% trust the first answer alone, an...”
OpenAI
Anbieter von Foundation-Modellen, der KI-Software, APIs und Abonnements für Entwickler, Unternehmen und Endverbraucher vertreibt.
“OpenAI’s Instant Checkout lets the 700 million people who use ChatGPT weekly complete purchases without leaving the chat, built on the open ...”
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
Globale Managementberatung für Strategie, Transformation, KI und Customer Insights.
“BCG’s analysis of brands meeting AI bots names the strategic cost of ignoring it: a thinner inflow of customer data, fewer moments to differ...”
Siemens
Ein führender Industrietechnologiekonzern, der hochentwickelte Enterprise-Software für Gebäude, Fertigung und Produktdesign anbietet.
“Siemens’ Industrial Copilot, built with Microsoft, is used by more than 100 customers and reaches over 120,000 engineers, with thyssenkrupp ...”
Etsy
Ein zweiseitiger Marktplatz für handgefertigte und einzigartige Produkte mit integrierter Retail-Media-Monetarisierung für Verkäufer.
“Google announced the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) with more than 60 partners — Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, Salesforce and Etsy am...”
Gartner
Ein führendes Forschungs- und Beratungsunternehmen für IT- und Business-Entscheider in Unternehmen.
“Gartner predicts that 40% of enterprise applications will feature task-specific AI agents by the end of 2026, up from less than 5% in 2025....”
Salesforce
Globale Enterprise-SaaS-Plattform für CRM, Marketing, Daten, Analytics und automatisierte Workflows.
“Google announced the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) with more than 60 partners — Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, Salesforce and Etsy am...”
Mastercard
Globales Zahlungsnetzwerk und führender Anbieter von Enterprise-Finanzinfrastruktur.
“Google announced the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) with more than 60 partners — Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, Salesforce and Etsy am...”
Suchmaschinen-, Video-, AdTech- und Cloud-Gigant innerhalb des Alphabet-Konzerns.
“Google announced the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) with more than 60 partners — Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, Salesforce and Etsy am...”
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