Accenture: Customers trust AI agents to perform these tasks for them
Consumer trust in artificial intelligence agents to automatically take action is growing.
Nearly three-in-four (74%) consumers would trust a personal AI agent more than their best friend to make a purchase on their behalf. This means an agent that acts, decides and buys at their instruction at scale, rather than a chatbot or search engine.
The latest Accenture Consumer Pulse Research of more than 25,000 consumers in 16 countries, presented in the study “Talk to my AI Agent,” shows that 74% of respondents are also open to an agent completing commerce tasks such as negotiating deals, resolving complaints, and re-ordering or renewing subscriptions as long as the consumer remains in full control.
Seven-in-10 (71%) respondents say that at least 50% of their spend for a given category will be influenced by AI over the next 12 months. Close to one-in-three (32%) respondents are willing to let an agent make the final purchasing decision on their behalf (before payment is made by the consumer) within defined boundaries such as price and preference.
One-in-three (31%) respondents say a successful low-risk purchase (such as reordering household staples) would make them more comfortable moving toward autonomous agents, but only with protections such as data safeguards, configurable permissions, instant override and clear recourse when outcomes fall short.
And nearly one-in-10 consumers (9%) would empower an AI agent to shop autonomously on their behalf, even completing purchases.
The survey also revealed important trends in two other areas of consumer AI shopping agent adoption:
Brand loyalty
More than half (56%) of respondents would instruct an AI agent on which brands to consider, but 37% of behaviorally loyal consumers who typically choose between one and three preferred brands within a particular category would let an AI agent switch from their favorite brands for a better fit.
[READ MORE: AI is affecting brand loyalty – here’s how]
Human interaction
Three-in-10 (31%) respondents say physical stores will become even more important to create moments of joy and 30% say in-person interactions will be important for building trust. Four-in-10 still want to stay involved in at least one part of the journey because they enjoy the shopping experience or feel an emotional connection to a brand.
"Consumers are now actively deciding how much authority they give AI agents, from providing support, to making choices, to acting fully on their behalf," said Kath Gramling, Accenture global consumer goods, retail and travel lead. "That changes loyalty. When an agent is doing the comparing, loyalty becomes conditional on performance, value that can be verified, claims that hold up, and delivery that’s consistently reliable. That means making products and claims machine‑readable and verifiable, ensuring visibility where agents compare and decide, building a real‑time view of consumer intent, and closing the gap between brand promise and operational delivery."
Now in its seventh year, Accenture’s Consumer Pulse Research surveyed a representative sample of 25,590 consumers in 16 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Greater China, Italy, India, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, UAE, U.K. and U.S. The survey was conducted online between January 7-22, 2026.
