AI agents build by brands will dominate our future experiences

Could it be possible that the future of AI is not dominated by Google, Microsoft, or Apple, but by brand-specific AI agents? Brands will undoubtedly leverage the technology from tech giants, but there’s a high probability that the AI agents brands are developing will make up the lion share of consumer interactions.

Understanding the Concept of Multi-Agent Collaboration

To understand the future of AI, we must grasp the concept of multi-agent collaboration. Recent announcements from OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google might make marketers wonder: “Is there still a place for brands in this landscape?” It might seem like tech giants are tightening their grip with innovations like Microsoft Recall, which involves 40+ models running simultaneously to process our every action.

However, our future will not be shaped by just a handful of agents. It’s not that we will only talk with CoPilot at work, with Siri (or whatever her name will be moving forward) on our phone, or interact just with Google through a smart speaker.

The key insight here is that the majority of AI agent interactions moving forward will not take place between a human and an agent, but between two or more agents collaborating to achieve something for a human.

Consider the following examples:

• “Hey, I want to fly to New York for a Christmas shopping trip with my wife.
• “My fridge doesn’t seem to work anymore. Can we fix or replace it?”
• “I got this wedding invitation. I have no suit and no shoes. Please help!”
• “I got this IKEA furniture, but I am realizing that it doesn’t fit into the intended spot. We need to rethink this room.”
• “I am just back from the doctor and I have to lose 10kg of weight to avoid a cardiovascular disease and diabetes.”

These prompts require complex problem-solving and a team of agents collaborating to get to the desired outcome. None of these problems could be solved without agents build by brands.

Brands Have Not Only the Better Data, but Also a Stronger Interest in Generating Reliable Outcomes

Brands possess significant advantages in creating highly effective AI agents:

• Customer Insights: Brands have unique data collected over years of customer interactions.
• Product Knowledge: They have the most current and comprehensive information about their products and services.
• Integration Capability: Brands can seamlessly integrate their agents with booking systems, commerce platforms, and specific applications.
• Customer Trust: Strong, established relationships with clients and a high level of trust.

Moreover, brands have a vested interest in delivering accurate and reliable outcomes. They are willing and capable of investing in quality assurance mechanisms specific to their domain, products, and services. This ensures that personalized responses are robust and free from errors or hallucinations.

AI Agents Will Sit at the Heart of Every Future Technology Stack

AI agents will be at the core of every future technology stack. Investing in brand-specific agents is not just crucial but also highly beneficial. Once developed, these agents can be applied to various scenarios, handling a wide range of use cases effectively.

Brands will not just rely on a single AI agent, but rather a suite of specialized agents collaborating to achieve complex tasks:

• Coordinator Agent: Manages incoming requests and assembles the right team.
• Customer Support Agent: Handles typical support requests using relevant tools and data.
• Brand Safety Agent: Ensures all responses adhere to brand policies.
• Q&A Agent: Fact-checks responses for accuracy.
• Gatekeeper Agent: Assesses risk and decides if human intervention is needed.
• Recommender Agent: Provides product and service recommendations.

This team of AI agents will collaborate across many different touchpoints, generating content for websites or newsletters, supporting call-center staff, and integrating with loyalty apps to provide a natural language interface in online shops.

This Is Not a Far-Fetched Fantasy. It’s Already Happening

Multi-agent collaboration is widely used in fields like autonomous driving and the Internet of Things. Over the past year, new frameworks for building multi-agent systems on top of popular LLMs like ChatGPT have emerged, underscoring the viability and importance of this approach.

This presents a significant opportunity for brands. Understanding this broader context is critical for marketers. Given the rapid advancements, I urge you not to wait another day to start an initiative. Preparatory work is essential for these agents to come to life and deliver outstanding results.

The possibility to start small, learn, improve and build-up incrementally your AI agent landscape - while constantly benefiting from the latest research advances -is absolutely given in this case.