Karsten Weide of W Media Research recently asked a provocative question: What happens to advertising when AI bots start handling the buying instead of people?
This isn't the distant future. His research shows that over 60% of U.S. shoppers already use AI tools like ChatGPT for shopping tasks. As these agents become embedded in smartphones, speakers, and connected devices, they will manage large parts of the consumer journey — from detecting needs to comparing options and completing purchases. Often, no human interaction will be required.
Advertising has long been built on competing for human attention. Clicks, impressions, and conversions became the industry’s metrics.
But bots don’t behave like people.
Autonomous agents process structured data: specs, pricing, reviews, availability. They weigh trade-offs with logic, not emotion. In this environment, much of today’s performance-driven ad inventory risks losing value.
Does branding still matter? More than ever.
While bots execute the transaction, humans set the rules. If a consumer encodes “Nike over Adidas,” “local first,” or “always sustainable,” that preference becomes a permanent filter in the bot’s logic.
Brand-building is therefore decisive. The trust, relevance, and emotional associations you build upstream become the defaults bots act on downstream. Fail to create a preference, and you may never make it into consideration.
If bots drive decisions, metrics like CPCs or CTAs lose meaning. What matters now is whether campaigns shift brand outcomes:
Historically, brand campaigns were slow to measure, and insights lived in silos. That lack of accountability is no longer viable when brand signals directly shape automated shopping choices.
The era of chasing clicks is fading. The era of proving brand outcomes is here. Winners won’t be the brands asking, “How do we get people to click?” but those asking, “How do we gain a place in the logic of bots?”
That is the new role of branding in the age of autonomous commerce.
At WallyMatters, we like to think we’re already ready for it — making sure brand impact stays measurable and accountable, no matter who’s doing the shopping.
.jpg)
.svg){kind=icon}