The useful question is what changes for users, developers or buyers, and whether the announcement stays industry context or becomes something people can actually use.

Agentic search—where shoppers begin product discovery via AI assistants or LLM chats—has surged 200% year over year, according to Salesforce’s Fourth Edition State of Commerce report. The shift is evident in behavioral data from over 1.5 billion global shoppers, with traffic from AI chats growing between 150% and 428% annually. Consumers are increasingly turning to AI assistants, social media AI, and delivery apps, while traditional search and brand-owned discovery channels decline. Commerce leaders recognize the urgency, with 86% stating AI is raising customer expectations and 86% expecting LLMs to be essential for product discovery within a year.

Commerce leaders report that implementing or expanding AI is their top priority for the next year, though it also ranks as their greatest anticipated challenge. The report highlights a dual pressure: customers expect personalized experiences across all channels, while businesses struggle to integrate AI into strained systems. Organizations are responding by improving product content quality, optimizing for conversational queries, and submitting data feeds to AI search platforms. Fewer than a third currently use agentic AI, but nearly half of non-adopters plan to deploy within six months, signaling rapid industry-wide adoption.

Among organizations already using agentic AI, the experimental phase is largely over, with most scaling AI across functions such as service, IT, and merchandising. Adopters report measurable improvements in customer satisfaction, personalization, operational efficiency, and employee productivity. However, only 32% have fully defined AI success metrics and KPIs, leaving many without clear benchmarks to evaluate their investments. The lack of defined metrics complicates efforts to determine which AI initiatives are delivering results and where to focus future efforts.

The report underscores the need for data unification as a foundation for AI adoption. Organizations that have unified their data report benefits such as better alignment between sales, marketing, and commerce teams, improved AI outcomes, and enhanced customer retention. Physical retail remains a critical channel, with 77% of consumers naming it their top holiday shopping destination. Yet even in-store, 79% of shoppers use their phones, and 12% consult AI assistants while shopping, reflecting the blurred lines between digital and physical experiences.