There’s a lot of fear right now.
People can feel the ground moving under how we work, how we buy things, and how businesses acquire customers. The questions are reasonable:
- What does this mean for my job?
- What does this mean for my business?
- Are websites and apps about to become irrelevant?
This is my attempt to add some reality: where we are, where we’re going, and what to do next.
Where we are (agents are useful, but still messy)
Agents can already do a lot: find things, compare options, fill forms, book services, send messages, and complete tasks across tools.
But much of it is still fragile because it relies on “acting like a human” in a web UI. It works, until the UI changes or you hit edge cases.
Where we’re going (the interface shifts)
The direction is clear: more online activity will be done by agents on our behalf.
“Buy this. Book this. Reorder my usual. Open an account. Track it. Return it.”
The direction is clear: more online activity will be done by agents on our behalf.
“Buy this. Book this. Reorder my usual. Open an account. Track it. Return it.”
Websites won’t disappear, but for many journeys they won’t be the primary interface anymore. The instruction to the agent becomes the new front door.
If an agent can’t reliably understand you, transact with you, or complete the workflow, you risk getting skipped.
If an agent can’t reliably understand you, transact with you, or complete the workflow, you risk getting skipped.
What businesses should do (three pillars)
1. Be machine-readable
1. Be machine-readable
Most teams already do some of this for Google: structured data, schemas, consistent page structure. Agents benefit from the same. It’s low-risk work that compounds.
2. Be programmable (API parity)
The optimal agent integration isn’t “click the UI like a human”. It’s an API.
2. Be programmable (API parity)
The optimal agent integration isn’t “click the UI like a human”. It’s an API.
Rule of thumb: your API should be able to do anything a user can do on your site/app, including:
- authenticate / identify
- search and browse
- create/update basket or order
- pay
- fetch receipts/invoices
- get status updates
- cancel/return where relevant
Documentation matters more than ever. In an agent world, your docs are a front door.
One lesson we learned: don’t rush to build “agent-only” endpoints. Often the better move is to keep one source of truth (your REST API) and make it more legible for agent consumption via documentation and response shape.
3. Be transactable (identity, permissions, payments)
The next shift is agents completing end-to-end transactions. To be ready, treat transactions as first-class:
3. Be transactable (identity, permissions, payments)
The next shift is agents completing end-to-end transactions. To be ready, treat transactions as first-class:
- strong auth
- scopes/permissions (“what can this agent do?”)
- audit logs (“what happened, on whose behalf?”)
- safe defaults + confirmations for high-risk actions
- machine-friendly receipts and status updates
Safety matters (because agents scale mistakes)
Agents increase the blast radius of broken systems. So build guardrails:
- rate limits and abuse controls
- permissioning
- monitoring/alerting
- approval steps for high-risk actions
What individuals should do
For individuals, the skill isn’t “learn to code” — it’s delegating safely.
Start with basics:
- password manager + MFA
- clear preferences (addresses, payments, constraints)
- use approval steps for anything high-risk
A practical “what next” checklist
If you run an online business:
If you run an online business:
- improve structured data / semantics
- audit API parity with the full customer journey
- tighten docs and examples
- design transaction rails (identity, scopes, audit, receipts, status)
- add safety (rate limits, monitoring, approvals)
If you’re an individual:
- upgrade account hygiene
- decide what you’ll delegate vs approve
- start with low-risk admin tasks
This shift is real, but it isn’t mysterious.
It’s a distribution/interface change: from humans using websites directly, to agents acting on their behalf.
The winners won’t be the ones with the flashiest AI strategy slide. They’ll be the ones who are easiest for agents to understand, transact with, and do so safely.
All of the above can feel daunting. It’s a shift in how you think about customers, interfaces, and workflows — and that’s exactly why people feel anxious.
But the same technology causing the anxiety can help you prepare.
All of the above can feel daunting. It’s a shift in how you think about customers, interfaces, and workflows — and that’s exactly why people feel anxious.
But the same technology causing the anxiety can help you prepare.
You can use AI to audit what you already have, spot gaps, and create a plan:
- “Act like an agent. Can you complete a purchase on my site? Where do you get stuck?”
- “Review our API docs and tell me what’s missing for full checkout + account management.”
- “Given our product, what structured data would make us easier for agents to understand?”
- “Create a phased roadmap: machine-readable → programmable → transactable.”
You don’t need to predict the future perfectly. You just need to start making your business legible and operable for machines — and let the tools help you get there.