Agent-first web: awesome or awful?

The web is turning agentic. And that changes everything from shopping to search to SEO. In this episode of TechFirst, John Koetsier sits down with Dave Anderson (VP at ContentSquare + host of the “Tech Seeking Human” podcast) to unpack what happens when browsers and AI assistants don’t just answer … they do stuff. For you. On your behalf. From Atlas and agentic browsing to the growing backlash from retailers (hello, Amazon vs Perplexity), we explore who benefits, who loses, and what the internet becomes when agents are the default user. You’ll hear why retailers are nervous (security, margins, coupon hunting), why agent-first experiences might create “headless” retailers (like ghost kitchens, but for ecommerce), and why search is shifting from SEO to AI visibility. Plus: real talk about trusting agents with your credit card, hallucinations, and what it means if your agent can look indistinguishable from you. Guest Dave Anderson — VP, ContentSquare https://contentsquare.com Podcast: Tech Seeking Human https://www.techseekinghuman.ai Links & subscribe Subscribe for more conversations on tech, AI, and what’s next: https://techfirst.substack.com Transcripts always available here https://johnkoetsier.com 00:00 Agentic web: what changes when browsers “do stuff” 00:59 Meet Dave Anderson (VP + podcast host) 01:31 30,000 feet: why “agents” suddenly matter 03:48 The agent future John wanted 10 years ago 04:21 Why Amazon doesn’t want your agent shopping on Amazon 05:07 Ticketmaster, bots, and the security nightmare 06:26 Siri’s original promise vs today’s reality 08:31 Are agents just bots… or something different? 10:04 Retail fears: coupon hunting, margins, returns chaos 11:21 Can you trust an agent with your credit card? 11:59 Why retailers want their own agents (and control) 13:14 Amazon’s agent works… but is it the whole internet? 14:19 Ghost kitchens for retail: “headless” agent-first brands 15:17 Hugo Boss jacket test: agents vs manual search 16:40 Agents should talk to your finance agent 17:14 Kids + deepfakes: what even looks real anymore? 18:04 Is this corrosive to apps… or the web? 19:10 Online identity, anonymity, and agent verification 20:28 Two futures: human-first brands vs agent-first retail 21:19 Agentic browsers on your device: can they “look like you”? 22:51 Baseball vs golf: the best analogy for search now 24:44 Instant shopping problem: returns + missing “services layer” 26:10 AI weirdness: wrong names, wrong locations, shifting behavior 27:37 Agents beyond shopping: support is the sleeper win 29:49 Inventing the future: who adopts agents and who won’t 31:13 Will people get tired of AI and crave humans again? 31:45 Serendipity vs optimization: the restaurant debate 32:36 Wrap: nobody solved agents… but the shift is real