Personal agents could increase consumer activity by removing friction

Personal agents that use computers and browsers could move beyond research assistance to completing entire consumer tasks, potentially increasing demand for local services and marketplace activity. The analysis argues that reducing friction—such as arranging flower deliveries, family activities or installation help—could lead consumers to do more rather than simply save time; an agent was described as having booked a visit to San Francisco’s Japanese Tea Garden.

Secure authentication and a trusted handshake between agent systems and tools remain unresolved, while payments are described as largely solved. Broad consumer adoption is not considered certain: personal-agent companies could instead pivot to enterprise use cases and OAuth if the products fail to cross the adoption chasm. The analysis also suggests adoption may require limited behavioral change because agents could become a new way to use existing mobile apps.