The invisible buyer that can make your shopping decisions for you
Sunday, 7 June 2026
Kevin Norquay is a senior writer for The Post and Sunday Star-Times. This is his weekly explainer.
EXPLAINER: Yet again, the tech world is abuzz over an AI breakthrough. But what exactly are Agentic AI and Agentic Commerce, and how will they actually make your life better?
We have grown accustomed to tech companies claiming their latest software is 'the best,' 'the brightest,' or 'too dangerous to release'. But for Agentic a Taylor Swift lyric feels entirely appropriate: “This time it was true.”
That is the view of Greg Whitham, client account management associate director at Accenture Song. After working in digital commerce for two decades, Whitham believes we are witnessing a revolution.
'I do think that the whole agentic commerce thing is a legitimately significant change, unlike anything we've seen in probably 100 years.'
Read more:
To his mind, it is a complete rethink and rework of e-commerce.
For 30 years, online shopping has simply been a digital replication of real-world shopping. You browse departments in an online store, read reviews, click 'buy,' and place the product into a virtual cart. While shopping has moved online, the fundamental mechanics remain.
Agentic AI doesn't think in that linear, step-by-step fashion. It can assess a problem from multiple angles, make independent decisions, even execute purchases.
'Traditionally, commerce was an interaction between a business and another business, or an individual and a business,” Whitham says. “With agentic commerce, for the first time, you actually have an autonomous entity - an AI agent - which possesses genuine agency.'
Large Language Models (LLMs) such the AIs ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude already excel at interpreting language and generating text.
And we are all familiar with how a quick Google search results in being targeted by ads asking, “Still looking to holiday in Queenstown?”
AI agents go much further. They don't just bombard you with generalised ads based on your age demographic; true to their name, they possess actual 'agency'.
Based on your instructions, an AI agent could seamlessly book your flights to Queenstown, pause your newspaper subscription, book a hotel and rental car, then secure a dinner reservation - all in one go.
Whitham uses an example that moves past holiday plans and into the core of the economy: farming. Farmers are pragmatic, early adopters of technology, if it can deliver clear value.
With Agentic AI, a farmer standing in a field could notice two paddocks that need fertiliser, and contact his AI agent.
“I need fertiliser for paddocks two, five, and seven. I need it done within the next 10 days. I really liked the results we got from the phosphate we spread last year, so make that a primary consideration. Find the availability for the right fertiliser, ensure a spreader is available, and line it all up for the best weather window.”
An AI agent will instantly identify the exact paddocks, look up the fertiliser used the previous year, and search suppliers for sufficient stock and competitive pricing. It will calculate the closest supplier to reduce freight fees and cross-reference with local weather forecasts.
To make this work, businesses must adapt, Whitham says. In this case, fertiliser companies will need to make their stock levels and pricing transparent, while providing digital links to approved spreaders.
“Businesses that open up those sorts of systems and information to customers are the ones that are going to thrive,” Whitham says.
'The reason this is so significantly different is because, from a brand's point of view, their human customers are no longer their only priority. It is now just as important to treat AI agents as the customer.'
If companies want to make a sale, they can no longer rely on a pretty website or a prime physical location, Whitham argues.
They must make their backend systems completely accessible to AI software. This means syncing stock levels, real-time pricing, delivery schedules, and verified user reviews that an agent can crawl and analyse within seconds.
It is a massive boon for industries with high logistical complexity, such as travel, banking, and insurance.
For individuals, imagine planning a multi-stop overseas holiday. Instead of you juggling flights, hotels, and rental cars, a personal AI agent can synchronise an entire itinerary based on your preferences.
Equipped with pure data, the agent searches the market unmoved by flashy storefront designs, marketing slogans, pushy shop assistants or biased price markups.
It finds the best product at the optimal price and, with your permission, buys it and schedules delivery for a day you are home.
While it sounds ideal, there are fishhooks - chief among them the erosion of human connection. Logistical precision can often feel sterile, but that never stopped grocers losing out to supermarkets.
We are happy to trade human interaction for speed and convenience when dealing with tedious logistics, yet human relationships remain vital during a crisis or when a personal touch is required.
Feedback indicates this is already a challenge, Whitham warns. 'Customer intimacy scores are usually quite low in sectors that have fully automated their customer experience. I think there is a real intimacy-efficiency paradox.'
Consumers will also need to weigh the privacy trade-offs of sharing their personally identifiable information (PII) against the immense convenience of a digital assistant.
Nevertheless, times are changing . Under current marketing structures, anyone turning 70 is targeted with ads for retirement villages, hearing aids, or life insurance, while women hitting 30 are bombarded with baby products.
Agentic Commerce will move past blunt, inaccurate algorithms, replacing them with a hyper-personalised ecosystem that genuinely understands individual needs.
For the baffled spouse dreading birthday shopping, the benefits are obvious.
An AI agent can quietly order the exact Chanel No. 5 body cream or Titleist ProV1 golf balls your partner desires - solving buying dilemmas that have historically been a total mystery.
What do you think? Email sundayletters@stuff.co.nz. Please include your full name and address.