Accenture Survey Finds AI Agents Reshape Consumer Behavior
According to Accenture's global survey reported by WWD, more than 25,000 consumers across 16 countries were polled online between January 7 and January 22 for a report titled "Talk to My AI Agent." WWD reports that 74 percent of respondents would trust a personal AI agent more than their best friend to make a purchase on their behalf, and that 74 percent are open to an agent completing commerce tasks such as negotiating deals, resolving complaints, or renewing subscriptions as long as the consumer stays in control. Nearly one third would let an agent make the final purchasing decision within defined boundaries such as price and preference, and about 71 percent say at least 50 percent of their category spend will be influenced by AI over the next 12 months. The results point to rising openness to agent-led commerce and underscore design priorities around permissions, transparency, and recourse.
What the survey found
Accenture's report, reported by WWD, surveyed more than 25,000 consumers across 16 countries online between January 7 and January 22. WWD reports that 74 percent would trust a personal AI agent more than their best friend to make a purchase, and that 74 percent are open to an agent completing commerce tasks as long as they remain in control. Nearly one third would let an agent make a final purchase decision within set boundaries, and about 71 percent expect at least half of their spend in a given category to be AI-influenced within 12 months.
Why it matters
A large, multi-country survey is a demand-side signal rather than a product launch, but it suggests consumer openness to delegated, agent-led commerce is moving from novelty toward expectation.
Editorial analysis
For teams building commerce, identity, and payments infrastructure, the consistent theme is conditional trust. Adoption is gated on staying in control, which raises the priority of granular permissions, auditable agent-to-merchant interfaces, transparent decision boundaries, and clear recourse when an agent acts wrongly.
What to watch
Survey intent often outruns behavior. Worth tracking are real transaction-completion rates by agents, merchant acceptance of agent-initiated purchases, and the controls platforms ship to keep buyers in the loop.
Key Points
- 1Trust signal: 74 percent of respondents would trust a personal AI agent over their best friend for a purchase, per Accenture via WWD.
- 2Spend influence: about 71 percent expect at least half their category spend to be AI-influenced within 12 months, raising urgency for secure agent-to-merchant flows.
- 3Control matters: comfort is conditional on staying in control, increasing demand for granular permissions, override, and clear recourse mechanisms.
Scoring Rationale
A large 25,000-respondent, 16-country survey signaling consumer openness to agent-led commerce is a meaningful demand-side indicator for teams building commerce, identity, and payments systems. It is a survey rather than a product or model launch, so it lands in the upper-middle band.
Sources
Public references used for this report.
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