Generative AI was so two years ago. Now, businesses are all about agentic AI (not to be confused with AI agents), channeling the brouhaha of ChatGPT in 2023. But where is the consumer in all this? While businesses are moving to experiment and learn more about agentic AI, consumers are not. Business-oriented, not consumer-oriented, use cases continue to drive most of the buzz around agentic AI.

Today, AI Assists And Informs Consumer Decisions

For consumers right now, AI primarily helps them access information faster. But while it informs their research and purchase decisions, AI does not pick the right item or complete the transaction; that action still falls to the consumer. For example:

  1. Walmart’s GenAI search surfaces collections of products. Consumers now put in a query such as “Plan my daughter’s unicorn-themed fifth birthday” and results will show all the various products related to that ask. Previously, consumers had to search for specific products or product types.
  2. Amazon Fashion takes the guesswork out of unfamiliar brands’ sizing. Based on a customer’s past purchases and an analysis of product reviews, Amazon will show the likely size of a clothing item that the customer is viewing.
  3. AI @ Morgan Stanley helps advisors better focus on their clients. Financial services companies such as Morgan Stanley are using AI to help assist in note-taking and email summarization for financial advisors so that they can better focus on their conversations with their wealth management clients.

Soon, AI Will Be Cognizant Of Consumer Context

As businesses implement agentic AI, it will begin to trickle into consumer experiences, but widespread adoption will be limited by consumers’ comfort with agentic AI. An intermediary phase of not-fully-agentic AI will emerge in which AI apps will connect with third-party tools and datasets to understand consumer context and need but won’t yet have the full executional capabilities required to act on a consumer’s behalf. Big Tech — think Microsoft, Apple, and Google — will lead the way, not brands. For example:

  1. Project Astra engages multiple sources to better personalize responses. Google’s AI assistant taps into not just Gemini but Google Search, Maps, and Lens to create responses.
  2. Apple’s Siri observes users’ interactions to predict next steps. Siri can register the apps that a user has open and derive what the user is hoping to accomplish when Siri is prompted.
  3. Microsoft Copilot interacts with different browser tabs to suggest next-step actions. Vision is a feature within Microsoft’s Edge browser that analyzes a user’s browser tabs to answer questions and suggest next steps.

What will agentic AI use cases for consumers look like? According to Forrester’s Market Research Online Community, only 12% of consumers have heard of the term agentic AI while 38% have heard of AI agents. But even among those who have heard of either, most assume that they’re terms for AI assistants or customer service help. Check out our new report, Consumer Use Cases For AI, 2025, for a deeper dive into all of the phases of consumer-facing AI. Clients, schedule a guidance session with us to learn more about how to roll out consumer-facing AI experiences in ways that engender trust.