AI Field Notes – Issue No. 7

By Len Ward, Managing Partner & Head of AI, Commexis

In This Issue

• The ethical void inside many agencies
• AI marketing stacks: What we’re building at Commexis
• Why creative production cycles are collapsing
• ChatGPT enters e-commerce
• Visa’s agent-to-agent bot and what it signals
• Tariffs, Temu, and the ad spend slowdown
• Quote of the week

The Ethical Void in Agencies

A recent Wall Street Journal article made the shift crystal clear: AI is reconfiguring how people discover and shop. Instead of navigating web pages, users are asking questions and receiving direct answers from LLMs like ChatGPT and Google Gemini.

And yet—too many agencies aren’t saying a word to their clients. Or worse, they’re saying the wrong things.

SEO and PPC aren’t dead. But the consumer journey is mutating in real time. If your agency isn’t proactively explaining this shift—and showing you how to respond—they’re doing you a disservice.

This isn’t just incompetence. It’s unethical.

What We’re Building: AI Marketing Stacks

In the Commexis Lab, we’re building complete AI marketing stacks. Here’s the structure:

• At the center sits our Marketing Brain GPT—a strategic core that analyzes data, goals, messaging, and channels.
• Around it are Custom GPTs handling specific tasks: content generation, media buying, CRO, email, even compliance.
• They operate in tandem, designed to adapt as data flows in.

Think of it like your own in-house agency—only smarter, faster, and always learning.

Creative in Minutes, Not Weeks

We’re testing platforms that generate video, image, and ad creative in minutes. The early results are promising: real-time content you can test across platforms—without waiting for rounds of feedback.

This isn’t about replacing creativity. It’s about speeding up the test-and-learn cycle. Move fast. Spend smart.

ChatGPT Shopping Changes the Game

OpenAI is rolling out shopping directly inside ChatGPT. A user asks for a product, and the model recommends a vendor—no search results, no listings.

It’s not hard to see where this is headed. The traditional search funnel is shrinking. Brands must now compete for visibility inside the AI conversation layer.

If your LLM visibility plan isn’t in motion, you’re going to lose traffic, clicks, and customers.

Visa’s AI Agent-to-Agent Bot

Visa quietly launched a bot that allows two AI agents—on both sides of a transaction—to handle customer service and payment logic.

Sounds technical? It is.

But it signals something important: AI is moving deeper into operations. It’s not just chatbots and content. It’s infrastructure.

Ad Spend Is High—for Now

Meta, Google, and Amazon all beat expectations in Q1, with ad revenue up across the board. But there’s trouble ahead:

• Trump’s new tariffs are disrupting Chinese retailers like Temu and Shein, who are already cutting U.S. ad spend.
• CPGs and retail giants are warning of sales slowdowns.
• Snap pulled its Q2 guidance completely due to volatility.

We’ve seen this movie before. When the economy slows, marketing budgets shrink. But here’s the move that separates winners:

Cut spend, not innovation. Double down on AI.

AI lets you reduce waste, improve targeting, and create content faster. It’s your margin multiplier in a tightening market.

Quote of the Week

“The key to AI literacy is sticking to the fundamentals. Don’t chase the shiny object—understand what drives value.”
— Len Ward

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