Agentic AI: A Movement About to Take Off in 2027? - The Food Institute

Consumers have just begun to wrap their minds around the potential of agentic commerce. Similarly, retailers and brands have only begun to tap into the possibilities of agentic AI.

How Does Agentic AI Work?

Agentic commerce features AI agents that research and complete transactions on behalf of consumers. According to Circana, more than two-thirds of consumers now use generative AI to explore and choose products. That approach to buying is practiced by shoppers when they ask ChatGPT queries like “What’s the best high-protein snack?,” which prompts the AI assistant to suggest brands and options.

But experts say that’s just the tip of a truly massive iceberg. Within a year or two, industry insiders expect agentic AI to assist many consumers in purchasing their weekly grocery staples.

“Milk, eggs, the same fifteen items – that’s the part of grocery shopping nobody enjoys, and assistants at Walmart, Kroger, and Instacart already build carts. The slower part is discovery: dinner for guests, [or] the produce you want to see yourself,” Serhii Nikolaichuk, the founder of GlossPlate, told The Food Institute.

“How soon will (agentic commerce) take root? It already has, at the research step. … Checkout is next,” said Matt Goren, founder of RunOctopus, which studies AI assistants.

Agentic Commerce’s Current Limitations

In 2026, many consumers are intimidated by the thought of agentic commerce. Shoppers often distrust AI assistants and are uneasy about handing over personal information (not to mention their judgment).

According to Circana findings, 40% of consumers “mostly” or “completely” trust AI recommendations, 42% sit in a cautious middle, and 18% don’t trust them at all. Meanwhile, 67% of consumers reported in May 2026 that they tried generative AI products or used AI to recommend something – up from 55% in Q4 2025.

At present, agentic AI does a serviceable job at the boring stuff: building a cart from a meal plan, staying within a budget, remembering a person’s food allergies, and even reordering items before a consumer runs out of them.

An AI agent still has limitations: “It can’t smell a melon, and it only knows what the product data tells it,” Nikolaichuk noted.

“The [AI] agent is only as good as what it can read,” Goren told FI. “Brands and chains that publish clear ingredient answers, honest comparisons, and pages that answer real shopper questions get picked. When the agent can’t find that about a product, it recommends someone else.”

AI’s Endless Possibilities

AI agents boast immense potential for retailers and brands. But, as Circana noted, an AI agent evaluates signals differently than consumers do. For example, AI agents prioritize the following:

- Long-form content

- Third-party attribution

- User-generated content

In order to take full advantage of AI, businesses like grocery stores must take a few careful steps.

“First, make the store readable to machines, (with) accurate ingredients, allergens, sizes, live stock, and honest photos,” Nikolaichuk suggested. “Secondly, decide who the agent works for – and say it out loud.

“A chain that let’s sponsored placements quietly steer its own shopping agent will sell more this quarter and lose customers’ trust next year.”

Some industry experts feel that agentic commerce could, theoretically, help shoppers eat healthier. Consumers still need to make such goals clear to an AI agent, however.

“An agent can hold you to ‘less sugar, more fiber, under $120 a week’ better than willpower can,” Nikolaichuk said. “But it optimizes for whoever writes its instructions.”

For grocers and F&B brands, the potential of agentic AI is tantalizing. Seemingly endless possibilities are within their grasp – assuming they take the necessary steps.

“The move for food brands this year: be the brand that the AI can explain,” Goren advised.

Kevin Sherman, VP, digital experience at Blue Chip, told FI that he expects to see meaningful consumer adoption of agentic commerce in 2027. However, he also acknowledged that many consumers have only begun to experiment with the technology.

“For the foreseeable future, retailers and brands need to play both games,” Sherman said. “Continue investing in websites, apps, retailer marketplaces, and the traditional digital shelf, while preparing for a world in which AI agents play a much bigger role in what gets discovered and purchased.”

Food for Thought Leadership

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