The agentic internet is coming – and businesses need to be ready (www.techradar.com)

The “agentic internet” is arriving: advances in natural‑language interfaces and autonomous AI agents that can query data, call APIs and complete multi-step transactions mean digital interactions will increasingly be delegated to software acting on users’ behalf. Cognizant research cited in the piece predicts AI‑powered consumers could drive up to 55% of spending by 2030 — worth over $690 billion in the UK alone — and foresees agent‑to‑agent exchanges replacing many human‑to‑machine flows across retail, media, banking, insurance and healthcare. The outcome is a fundamental shift from tools that assist humans to agents that negotiate, transact and optimize continuously in the background, freeing people to set intent and make higher‑level decisions. For AI/ML teams and businesses this demands a new focus on “agent experience” (AX) instead of traditional UX: machine‑readable, self‑describing data; predictable, productized APIs; and deterministic interfaces that favour precision over ambiguity. Organizations will need cross‑functional AX roles, API‑as‑product thinking, rigorous sandboxes to simulate agent behavior, revised testing and compliance frameworks, and new success metrics (how often agents choose your service rather than page views). Early adopters in retail and media can design for outcome fulfillment, while regulated sectors must balance automation with trust and oversight. Companies that restructure data, APIs and governance now will retain visibility and competitive advantage as autonomous agents become the dominant digital customers.