How To Design Websites And Apps For The Age Of AI Agents

AI agents are increasingly able to search, compare options, navigate digital services and take actions online on a user’s behalf. As these tools become more capable, websites and apps may need to serve not only people navigating screens themselves but also software interpreting information and interacting with digital systems for them.

That shift raises a new design question for businesses: How should digital experiences change when the visitor may not be a human customer but an AI agent acting on a customer’s behalf? Here, members of Forbes Technology Council share one way businesses should rethink their websites, apps or digital services as AI agents become a more active part of online discovery, decision-making and transactions.

Separate Price Quotes From Inventory Reservations

Let agents compare prices without tying up stock. An agent may fill 10 carts while deciding what to buy. If each cart reserves inventory, customers ready to pay can find those items unavailable. Separate quotes from reservations and ensure unused holds expire. Your website shouldn’t say “sold out” because a bot is still making up its mind. - Abdullah Rashid, ClearTraced

Direct Agents To APIs And MCP Services

Directing AI agents away from unstructured websites to callable APIs should be the first priority. These APIs will now act as a form of prompt engineering for the agents. If you deliver these APIs via the Model Context Protocol, it is crucial to focus on the tool descriptions to influence how the agent behaves and understands how your business operates. CAPTCHA your human forms and direct agents toward your MCP services to control the interaction. - Siddhartha Rao, Oracle

Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?