Agent-based computing is outgrowing the web as we know it

We’re on the cusp of a elementary redesign of the web. Not a facelift. A full-body transplant.

For greater than 30 years, the net has been our playground, our office, our excessive avenue and our therapist’s sofa. Nevertheless it’s additionally been totally designed for us easy people who type, tap, click and scroll. Interfaces constructed for eyes. Navigation designed for fingers. Determination bushes dressed up as web sites.

However right here’s the reality: We’re not going to be the net’s major customers for for much longer.

AI brokers primarily based on ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude and Gemini are transferring from passive assistants to lively members. In the present day, we ask them to do issues for us. Tomorrow, we’ll authorize them to behave as us.

And proper now, we’re asking Ferraris to drive on cobblestone.

AI is already attempting to function inside a human-shaped world. Clicking buttons. Dragging cursors. Filling out varieties. It’s like placing a robotic in a glove and telling it to fake it’s bought fingers. It really works, for now, nevertheless it’s wildly inefficient.

Keep in mind when automobiles first appeared on horse trails? Nicely, I don’t however I do know the story. It labored, barely. Till somebody realized pace requires tarmac. The identical logic applies to the net. AI brokers aren’t going to only be digital chauffeurs. They’re going to be drivers that navigate, determine and transact. Quick. With out us within the loop.

We’re about to want a brand new internet.

AI brokers require machine-native design

What does the web look like when it’s constructed for machines?

It’s quick. Invisible. Transactional. Pages grow to be endpoints. Interfaces dissolve. There are not any “click on right here” buttons. Simply structured knowledge, unstructured context, uncovered capabilities and intent flowing between programs.

APIs will grow to be the brand new storefronts. AI doesn’t have to learn a product web page or scroll by way of a evaluate carousel. It must ask one query: “Is that this the most suitable choice primarily based on my consumer’s preferences, price range and priorities?” And it wants that reply immediately.

The whole structure of the web will bend towards AI-native interfaces. Quicker protocols. Cleaner metadata. Verifiable sources. Belief turns into the foreign money as a result of AI can’t depend on vibes. Brokers will assess supply reliability, cross-check info and study from consumer outcomes. Repute, construction and verification alerts will matter greater than design.

And all of the sudden, “consumer expertise” takes on a special which means. You’re not designing for a distracted shopper. You’re designing for an artificial mind with infinite tabs open and nil tolerance for friction.

Two webs, one future

So what occurs subsequent?

We could find yourself with two parallel webs. One for people that continues to be visible, persuasive, gradual. One for machines that’s minimal, environment friendly, quick.

However extra doubtless, the longer term is layered. Each digital floor will want a machine-readable pores and skin. Your web site, your content material, your commerce, if it’s not optimized for autonomous agents, it’s invisible.

This adjustments every little thing:

• website positioning turns into MEO: machine expertise optimization.
• Content material turns into knowledge.
• Model belief turns into much more quantifiable and clear.
• Affect shifts from design to accessibility, from format to latency.

Effectivity and trustable grow to be key web site differentiators. The manufacturers that embrace this shift early to construct AI-ready entrance doorways, not simply fairly touchdown pages will thrive . . They’ll deal with their AI compatibility the best way they as soon as handled cell optimization or safety.

As a result of in 5 years, it received’t be a human clicking “purchase now.” It’ll be your AI agent, performing in your behalf, making a whole bunch of choices a day — not simply purchases, however scheduling conferences, reserving journey, screening content material and negotiating providers throughout each area of digital life.

And it received’t select the prettiest web site, it’ll select the quickest, most dependable and reliable, most machine-readable one.

Backside line

We’re not simply upgrading browsers. We’re rewriting the principles of the net.

The outdated web was constructed for folks. The brand new one can be built for agents. And the businesses that acknowledge this and construct infrastructure, content material and interfaces accordingly, will most probably personal the longer term.

Similar to roads advanced for automobiles, the net will evolve for AI.

And the following digital revolution? It’ll be executed in milliseconds by machines, for machines, on an internet designed for (and fairly presumably by) them.

Justin Westcott leads the worldwide expertise sector for Edelman.