With extensive experience in analytics, performance optimization, and lead generation, Milena Traikovich is an expert in helping businesses navigate complex marketing landscapes. Today, she joins us to discuss the profound and varied ways artificial intelligence is reshaping consumer behavior and what it means for brands fighting to stay relevant.
The conversation explores how AI is fundamentally altering the consumer journey, creating a new landscape where some industries find their traditional discovery funnels completely bypassed, while others must defend their user workflows from being mediated by AI agents. We delve into strategies for businesses with low brand loyalty that are now at risk of disappearing from view, as well as for those in more fortified sectors that must leverage AI not just for efficiency, but to deepen the very moats that protect them.
For sectors like retail and travel, AI is now answering “what to buy” directly, bypassing traditional search. How can these brands avoid becoming mere data providers, and what specific loyalty tactics can they use to regain direct customer relationships?
It’s a chilling prospect for these brands, isn’t it? The idea of being demoted to just another line of data fed into an AI interface, with your pricing power and brand differentiation completely eroded. The survival playbook here is about reclaiming that direct connection with the customer. This isn’t just about a points program; it’s about building a closed-loop experience where your platform becomes the most trusted and valuable source of information. Think about offering exclusive data or built-in comparison tools that are so good, so tailored, that the customer feels compelled to start their journey with you, not with a generic LLM. It’s a mission-critical pivot from being found to being sought out.
Consider industries like gaming or dating, which often have low brand loyalty and rely on app store visibility. As AI shifts discovery, what step-by-step process can they use to build durable relationships and ensure they appear in AI-mediated recommendations?
These industries have always lived on the edge, thriving on low-friction installs and performance marketing. But that model becomes incredibly fragile when the channels they rely on—app stores, search ads—start to lose influence. The first step is a mental shift: from a transactional mindset to a relational one. Instead of just acquiring users, you have to build something durable. This means investing heavily in AI-fueled personalization that makes the user experience uniquely compelling. Then, you need to build a robust loyalty system that rewards continued engagement, not just initial sign-up. Finally, you must pursue strategic integrations, ensuring your service is a valuable and visible part of the broader ecosystem, making you a natural and frequent suggestion for AI-mediated recommendations.
AI agents are increasingly handling tasks within productivity software, placing a new layer between the user and the brand. What is the twofold strategy for these companies to retain control, and could you provide an example of how one might influence AI integration standards?
This is a subtle but profound threat. The tool itself isn’t being replaced, but its direct relationship with the user is being intercepted. The strategy to counter this is indeed twofold. First, you have to relentlessly double down on the value inside your own platform. Make your native features so powerful and intuitive that users prefer to stay within your environment rather than delegating tasks to an outside agent. Second, you must actively work to shape the standards for how AI plugs into your entire category. For instance, a major productivity suite could publish a set of open-source API guidelines for AI integration that prioritizes user privacy and maintains brand attribution. By doing this, they’re not just defending their turf; they’re setting the rules of engagement for the entire ecosystem, ensuring they remain an indispensable part of the workflow.
Industries like finance and streaming media have moats built on proprietary data and user relationships. Beyond efficiency gains, how can they proactively use AI to deepen customer loyalty and turn regulatory complexity into a unique strategic advantage? Please share an anecdote.
For these secured industries, the danger isn’t a sudden collapse but a slow erosion of their competitive edge if they become complacent. They have these incredible moats—deep user data, regulatory hurdles for newcomers—and AI is the key to widening them. It’s about using AI to move from reactive to proactive personalization. Imagine a streaming service’s AI not just recommending what to watch next but proactively curating a unique weekend “film festival” for a user based on their mood trends and recent viewing history, and even syncing it with their calendar. They can also use AI to navigate regulatory complexity, turning a burden into an advantage by offering AI-powered compliance tools or highly personalized financial advice that smaller competitors simply cannot replicate due to these barriers. It’s about transforming their existing strengths into an unassailable, AI-powered customer experience.
What is your forecast for how large language models will reshape the consumer journey over the next three to five years?
Over the next three to five years, I foresee LLMs moving from being a “search alternative” to becoming a “life-operating system” for consumers. The journey won’t just be about discovery; it will be about delegation. Consumers will task AI agents with managing everything from weekly grocery shopping and vacation planning to negotiating bills and managing subscriptions. This means the key battle for brands won’t be for clicks or visibility on a search page, but for “preferred vendor” status within a user’s AI agent. Trust, historical performance, and seamless integration will become the most critical marketing metrics. Brands that fail to build this direct, data-rich relationship and instead remain transactional will find themselves completely shut out of the consumer’s decision-making process.
