The threat to companies like DoorDash isn't a new AI delivery service. It's an AI agent that optimizes consumer choice between DoorDash, Uber Eats, and direct ordering. The brand that "owns the agent" wins by commoditizing the underlying service providers, even if their operations remain superior.

DoorDash is building its own AI agent while allowing third-party agents like Muse to operate on its platform. This dual strategy exposes a core conflict for businesses: build a proprietary agent to own the customer relationship and data, or risk being disintermediated by more universal, external agents.

While AI agents could shift sales away from traditional retailers, companies with extensive physical infrastructure and forward-positioned inventory have a defense. AI agents prioritizing speed and efficiency for physical goods will likely still favor these established networks, preventing full disintermediation in the new agentic commerce landscape.

CEOs of platforms like ZocDoc and TaskRabbit are not worried about AI agent disruption. They believe the immense complexity of managing their real-world networks—like integrating with chaotic healthcare systems or vetting thousands of workers—is a defensible moat that pure software agents cannot easily replicate, giving them leverage over AI companies.

Marketplaces like DoorDash are more than just software; they are logistics and customer service networks that solve messy, real-world problems. An AI agent can discover a restaurant, but it cannot handle a cold sandwich or a refund, giving these physically-integrated companies a durable moat against pure software disruption.

Fears of AI disintermediating platforms like Booking.com may be overblown. AI agents would need to replicate decades of user ratings, global payment infrastructure, and deep supplier relationships from scratch—a monumental task that makes it more likely incumbents will simply integrate AI themselves.

To avoid being disintermediated by AI agents that could direct consumers elsewhere, retailers can leverage their physical assets. An AI agent will still prioritize retailers with extensive infrastructure and forward-positioned inventory to ensure fast and efficient delivery, creating a competitive moat against pure-play e-commerce.

Despite agents' ability to find better prices, Amazon's dominance in reliable, fast, physical delivery remains its key defense. Consumers' revealed preference for Amazon's fulfillment will likely lead them to manually complete purchases there, even if an agent initiates the search, thus protecting Amazon's ecosystem.

The success of AI agents in disintermediating existing platforms depends on the platform's control over its supply. Agents can easily bypass booking sites like Expedia by going directly to hotels. However, they can't replicate the real-time, controlled driver networks of services like Uber or DoorDash.