Three conversations from yesterday's Skai Shopable panel that I haven't stopped
By Jeffrey Cohen · May 15, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
Three conversations from yesterday's Skai Shopable panel that I haven't stopped thinking about. One from Microsoft. One from Amazon. One from Tinuiti. All pointing in the same direction and what it means for brands.
CP McBee from Microsoft Advertising introduced a framework I think every marketer needs to internalize right now. We are not navigating one web anymore. We are navigating three: the Human Web (how consumers have always browsed, the "blue line web"), the LLM Web (where AI is synthesizing and answering), and the Agentic Web (where agents act on your behalf). Most brands are optimizing for the first one and largely invisible in the other two.
Sue Oh from Amazon Ads shared something I had not fully processed yet: Rufus and Alexa+ are merging into a single experience called "Alexa for Shopping." That is a significant moment. One AI assistant, drawing on purchase history, voice conversations, and browsing behavior across every surface. Sue's advice for brands was direct: start with content. If your product pages do not answer real consumer questions, you will not show up in the conversations that matter.
Simon Poulton from Tinuiti said something that has stayed with me: "Brands that aren't afraid to expose the negative are actually winning." In an era of AI-led discovery, consumers are more informed before they transact, and brands that own that conversation openly, including the tradeoffs, are seeing fewer returns and higher trust.
The thread connecting all three: the brands best positioned for the agentic future are not waiting for the playbook. They're writing it now. What's the most important thing you think brands are overlooking as AI reshapes discovery?