Agent to Agent B2B Shopping: the next frontier in #CommercialInnovation

Let’s take a look at Europe’s B2B landscape. Something big is happening, even if it hasn’t made headlines yet. For years, the way businesses bought and sold to each other was simple: someone figured out what they needed, a vendor made an offer, there was some back-and-forth, and eventually everyone signed a contract. Now, though, artificial intelligence is shaking things up. These new AI agents can act for both buyers and sellers, changing the rules we’ve always known. Instead of people making every decision, we’re entering an era where much of the action happens between smart agents. Think of it as agent to agent shopping.

In this article, I want to share some thoughts on how B2B organizations might need to rethink procurement, sales, and partnerships as AI agents step into centre stage. If you’re a CXO or business leader looking ahead to 2030, it’s worth starting to plan for an agent to agent world now. It could make all the difference when it comes to maintaining strong customer and partner relationships.

The tectonic shift: from human-touch to agent-led commerce

The term “agentic commerce” gained traction in the autumn of 2025. McKinsey & Company estimates that, globally, retail agent-led commerce could reach between US$3 and 5 trillion by 2030. McKinsey & Company.

While those numbers come from a consumer-oriented context, they signal the scale and speed of change: commerce will no longer simply be “digital first,” but “agent first.”

In the B2B realm, the implications are equally significant. A recent Boston Consulting Group (BCG) paper on how AI agents will transform B2B sales identifies three “agentic selling” modes: augmented, assisted, and autonomous. The paper predicts these are already displacing traditional models. Boston Consulting Group

To put it plainly: agents will buy from agents.

Picture this: your company’s procurement system sends out a digital buying agent to scout the best deals while you sleep. On the other end, a supplier’s selling agent is busy negotiating, arranging deliveries, and ironing out the details, pretty much all on autopilot. This isn’t some far-off fantasy. It’s the direction we’re headed with agent to agent commerce.
What matters for European B2B leadership: this is not science fiction. Organisations are already deploying “agents” internally. According to McKinsey’s 2025 Global AI Survey, 23 % of companies say they are scaling agentic AI systems in at least one function; another 39 % are experimenting. McKinsey & Company

So, the question is: what happens when your customer’s buying agent interacts with your selling agent?

Selling agents will become the new frontline of commercial engagement — not the salesperson.

Why B2B must prepare now

It may be tempting to think agent-to-agent shopping is a B2C curiosity. But four forces suggest urgency for B2B players:

Speed & complexity of procurement – Modern B2B deals involve multiple SKUs, dynamic pricing, fulfilment conditions, and regulatory constraints. Agents excel at multi-step reasoning, memory, and workflows. Boston Consulting Group
Commercial customer expectations – As B2C commerce becomes agent-enabled, B2B buyers (who are also humans) will expect the same seamless, autonomous transaction flows. If your end-user uses an AI-assistant to shop privately, why should their corporate role be less efficient?
Value at stake in sales transformation – BCG forecasts that “agentic selling” will improve growth and efficiency in B2B sales when humans and agents combine effectively. Boston Consulting Group
Shifting power in ecosystems – With agents routing orders, negotiating terms, and switching vendors on behalf of buyers, the locus of control could shift away from traditional vendor relationships. BCG warns that brands risk losing influence unless they reinvent CX for the agent era. Boston Consulting Group

If you’re leading a commercial team in Europe or Denmark, it’s time to rethink how business gets done. Your buyer might never pick up the phone to call your salesperson. In fact, your partners might not even talk to your sales team at all. Instead, it’ll be your buying agent having a digital conversation with their selling agent.

Five strategic imperatives for agent-to-agent B2B

To navigate this emerging reality, I propose five imperatives for B2B leadership committed to #CommercialInnovation:

1. Define your agent identity and footprint
If you become an “agent-accessible” supplier, your selling agent becomes your ambassador. What capabilities must it have? What policies govern its negotiation, data-sharing, and compliance behaviours?

2. Re-architect workflows for autonomy
Agents require connectivity—APIs, real-time data, and decision rules. Legacy procurement stacks built for humans will not suffice. Organisations must redesign workflows now. McKinsey tells us that workflow redesign is a key enabler of AI value capture. McKinsey & Company

3. Partner across ecosystems for interoperability
Agent-to-agent commerce assumes that your systems communicate with your customers’ systems. Standardisation, protocols, identity, and trust frameworks matter. The infrastructure that enables agent transactions is just as important as the front-end.

4. Safeguard trust, ethics, governance
Autonomous agents raise novel risks: negotiation bias, unintended commitments, and compliance violations. Research highlights how agentic commerce demands a new risk architecture. McKinsey & Company

5. Reimagine your value model
With agents routing orders and comparing suppliers instantly, margin pressure intensifies. You must ask: what unique value do you deliver to the agent’s algorithms? How do you embed yourself into the agent logic of your customer? As BCG notes, the agent era will challenge traditional pricing frameworks. Boston Consulting Group

Bringing it closer to home: Denmark and Europe

In the Danish and broader European context, B2B organisations may enjoy certain advantages: strong data governance frameworks, robust industry regulations, and trusted business relationships. Yet those same factors can introduce inertia. If you wait until your customer’s agent arrives, you will already be negotiating on the back foot.

Imagine you run a manufacturing business in Denmark. Overnight, your biggest customer’s AI agent quietly reviews all their vendors and makes a new deal before you’ve even had your morning coffee. In this world, your products and services need to be ready for agents: easy to access via APIs, modular, transparent, and quick to respond.

Europe’s commercial leaders must ask: are we ready for the moment when the buyer’s agent says “send order” rather than “send purchase order”? That moment defines the shift from human-to-agent interaction.

Conclusion

Agent-to-agent shopping isn’t just another buzzword. It marks a true turning point for B2B, especially here in Europe. As we look toward 2030, the way these digital agents interact will shape not just how deals get done, but who comes out ahead.
For CXOs and senior leaders: treat this not as a distant horizon but as an imminent strategic reality. Define your agent strategy, redesign your workflows, embed trust and governance, and question your value model in an agent-native world. Because your competitor’s selling agent may already have your buyer’s attention.

Agent-2-Agent Commerce in B2B