Dive Brief:
- Google plans to launch a new checkout experience that will let customers make purchases from select retailers directly through AI mode, Google’s conversational AI search tool, SVP and Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler said during a Q4 2025 earnings call Wednesday.
- Agentic AI supported by Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol, an open standard for agentic commerce across the shopping journey, will provide a “huge foundational uplift” for users’ experience across its platforms and services, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said on the call.
- The response to Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol has been positive since its launch in January, according to Pichai. Supporters of the protocol include Walmart, Target and Best Buy.
Dive Insight:
Google executives see agentic AI as a major driver for its growth, and are working to perfect the experience.
The tech company is integrating Universal Commerce Protocol-supported experiences into its tools and platforms, including Gemini and Google’s conversational AI Mode, Pichai said. He believes the protocol will make it easier for consumers to complete transactions while allowing businesses to showcase their offerings.
“I'm excited about a future where, as people are going through discovery, searching, finding new things, if they're interested in acting upon it — all of that is seamless,” Pichai said.
Google has supported its agentic ambitions by seamlessly transitioning customers from a Google search experience that features an AI overview to a Google AI mode conversation, according to Pichai.
The updated experience is driving greater usage, according to Pichai. Queries in AI Mode are three times longer than traditional searches, and a significant portion of AI mode queries lead to a follow-up question.
A potential agentic AI future could pose challenges for CX leaders. While experiences contained entirely within a third-party platform can be pleasant for the consumer, they may impede businesses' opportunities to build relationships with their customers or collect data to fuel their own experiences.
