Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to revolutionize the entire software industry. The computing model where platforms like Google and Apple profit by controlling users’ access to apps through their app stores will crumble. (Justin Westcott, Chief Operating Officer at Edelman)
As AI agent technology becomes ubiquitous, the market model where Google and Apple dominate app distribution and charge commissions will collapse.
Agent AI: A Coup, Not Evolution
According to reports from the tech industry on Thursday, Justin Westcott, COO of Edelman, recently wrote in a column on VentureBeat, “The rise of AI-driven interactions threatens the entire app distribution economy.”
Westcott envisions a future where the focus shifts from apps to “vertical AI” – AI solutions tailored for specific domains like law, healthcare, and finance and integrated into AI agents.
He predicts that this shift will render the Android and iOS systems, which dominate the app market, obsolete, making their current revenue model unsustainable. Currently, tech giants like Google and Apple manage app distribution, charging up to 30% commissions.
Developers and software companies are expected to generate profits by creating vertical AI or new AI technologies and AI agents to integrate into specific AI ecosystems.
Westcott argues that while the software industry has long relied on controlling distribution and charging premiums based on scarcity, AI is poised to disrupt this model entirely.
Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder, echoed similar sentiments in 2023. He predicted that AI agents would become the next major platform after Android, iOS, and Windows, fundamentally altering computing methods and revolutionizing economic models within five years.
OpenAI Launches “Response API” Platform for AI Agents; Plans Direct Development of AI Devices and Chips
Big tech firms anticipate that AI agent technology will be crucial for enhancing productivity and generating new value beyond this year’s experimental phase.
On Tuesday, industry leader OpenAI unveiled its “Response API,” a software development platform for AI agents. This platform is designed to assist developers and companies in creating and implementing AI agents. It is expected to gradually replace the existing “Assistant API” (which will be supported until the first half of 2026).
In February, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced plans to directly engage in developing new devices tailored for AI agent services this year.