The UCP Revolution: 5 key pillars to understanding the “Web of Actions”

A Consultant within Converteo’s Media & Acquisition practice, Quentin Barrat helps clients drive and optimize their acquisition performance. Specializing in measurement and data analysis, he implements tailored solutions to address their unique challenges and help them achieve their growth objectives.

Welcome to the new era of agentic commerce. The commercial web is at the dawn of its third major mutation. after the era of websites (2006) and the era of marketplaces (2016), we are entering in 2026 the era of AI agents. what are the essential adaptation levers for brands to guarantee their referencing and conversion in the era of commerce assisted by AI?

To remember

• The paradigm shift : the graphical interface (the site for humans) is no longer the only channel. we are entering the era of machine-to-machine transaction (the API for agents).
• The limit of scraping : current models that try to “read” web pages (operator mode) are too slow and fragile for commerce at scale.
• The UCP solution : the Universal Commerce Protocol is the new standard (backed by google, shopify, stripe) that allows AI to “dialogue” directly with your stock, your price and your basket.
• The strategic opportunity : this model guarantees the brand the status of “merchant of record”. unlike marketplaces, you keep the customer data, the margin and the control of the offer.

During google I/O, demis hassabis (CEO of google deepmind) shared a vision that is becoming the reality of the market : “we are moving from chatbots that chat to agents that execute tasks” (source : wired).

This transition was confirmed during NRF 2026, where google unveiled the outlines of a web where information is no longer only structured for the human eye, but for the action of machines. agents no longer need traditional web pages, as currently understood.

Until now, your website was a “destination” designed for humans. tomorrow, it will become a “source” for artificial intelligences (those of google, OpenAI or amazon) that will come to pick up information and place orders.

How does the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), its new invisible infrastructure, make this possible? decoding.

Why AI can no longer just “read” your site

To understand why everything is changing, you have to look at how AI “buys” today.

Imagine that you ask ChatGPT to order you a pair of shoes. currently, the AI tries to imitate a human : it opens an invisible browser, visits your site, tries to “read” your HTML page, to guess where the “add to cart” button is and to click on it.

This is what is called scraping (or “operator” mode, popularized by AI browsers like atlas). it is a dead end for three reasons :

1. The paradigm is fragile : a simple “newsletter” pop-up can block the robot.
2. The action is slow : simulating visual navigation consumes a lot of resources.
3. The operation is not secure : entrusting your credit card to a robot that navigates by sight is risky.

For AI to do commerce at scale, it needs a clear, reliable and standardized route. it needs to speak “data” (real-time stocks, precise prices, codified size variants), rather than trying to decipher “images” (a red button or a promo banner that only a human eye understands).

The UCP : the birth of the “web of actions”

This is where the UCP (Universal Commerce Protocol) comes in. behind this acronym lies a coalition of major players like google, shopify, salesforce and stripe.

The objective? create a universal language. instead of displaying decorated web pages, brands now expose “actions” (or primitives). imagine this as standardized electrical sockets that any agent can plug into.

However, for your system to be able to respond to this protocol, it can no longer settle for a textual description. it needs structured data (size, color, stock), like those required by the google merchant center, to execute these new commands :

• Search (ProductDiscovery) : the agent asks “what products do you have in stock in size 42?”.
• Quote (DynamicPricing) : the agent asks “what is the exact price with delivery?”.
• Buy (InstantCheckout) : the agent says “here is the payment token, validate the order.”

In this model, the AI of the user (the “frontend”) manages the conversation. your system (the “backend”) manages the logistics. the transaction is done from machine to machine, instantly : this is what technical experts call the transition from a web of pages to a web of actions.

The revenge of the brand : take back control

Here, the stake is business. These last 10 years, it was necessary to go through marketplaces like amazon or booking to sell easily, and accept to lose direct contact with the client.

The UCP disintermediates the transaction : it connects the AI of the buyer directly to your stock. You become the “merchant of record” again, that is to say the official seller.

• It is your client : you keep their email and their history (first party data).
• It is your margin : you avoid marketplace commissions (even if new business provider models will emerge).
• It is your rules : you decide the price and the conditions.

The AI agent is not a competitor. it is a salesperson who brings you a client with high purchase maturity, ready to sign directly in your systems.

Towards the ultimate experience : “buy for me”

Concretely, what does this change for your clients? the appearance of a magic button : “buy for me”.

Already in test in the united states via initiatives like amazon rufus or google lab, this concept allows to entirely delegate the purchase.

The scenario : you ask your AI : “buy me train tickets for bordeaux friday night, for a maximum price of 80€”. What happens : your AI monitors offers via the UCP. as soon as the ticket drops below 80€, it buys it alone and automatically. The result? you receive a notification – “it’s done”. no visit to the site, no form to fill out.

What about security? unlike the “operator” mode where a robot navigates on your account, here the transaction is encrypted via tokens (like on apple pay). the AI never sees your bank details in clear text, it simply transmits a payment authorization validated by your bank.

Passing from e-commerce to agentic commerce : your roadmap 2026

To prepare for this wave, three actions :

1. Structure your data : for the UCP to work, the AI must understand your products without ambiguity. beyond marketing text, your files must be enriched with standardized technical attributes (GTIN/EAN codes, exact dimensions, compatibility) and tagged in schema.org. it is this cleaning that will make your catalogue “machine-readable”.
2. Prepare your systems : ask your technical teams if your e-commerce platform is ready to “speak” via API. if you are on solutions like shopify or salesforce, monitor the upcoming native UCP connectors. if you are on custom-made, audit your API to ensure they can expose the “search” and “cart creation” functions to third parties.
3. Think about security : prepare to manage transactions initiated by certified robots. concretely, this involves implementing authentication protocols (like OAuth) to identify legitimate agents and guaranteeing the uniqueness of transactions (to avoid a request restarted by the AI triggering the debit twice).