AI Isn’t a Tool Anymore. It’s Becoming the Gatekeeper

The dominant narrative around artificial intelligence has centered around its novelty and potential for disruption.

But new research from the February 2026 edition of “The Agentic AI Report” from PYMNTS Intelligence suggests the AI market has already crossed a more consequential threshold. Consumers are no longer merely sampling AI but are beginning to rely on it.

According to the study, roughly half of U.S. adults now use AI assistants regularly, a figure that has stabilized rather than surged. At first glance, that plateau might appear to signal slowing momentum. In reality, it marks a transition that is common in transformative technologies: the shift from early adoption to behavioral integration.

AI is now entering what could be called its utility era, where the measure of impact is not how many people try it, but how deeply it becomes embedded in everyday decisions.

Rise of AI Power User

In its experimental phase, AI usage was episodic. People asked a chatbot to draft an email, summarize an article, or answer a curiosity-driven question. That era is over, with the report indicating that a growing share of users are incorporating AI into recurring workflows, returning to it not as a novelty but as a default starting point.

What’s driving this shift? The report flagged an emerging divide between casual users and what might be called AI power users. A relatively small segment of consumers is responsible for a disproportionate share of activity, engaging with AI tools dozens of times per month across a widening array of tasks.

“Power users” of AI boosted their use of the technology to 27 activities last December from 25 three months earlier, while usage by other users is flat.

These users are not simply asking more questions; they are restructuring workflows. They rely on AI to draft communications, research purchases, organize travel, analyze financial decisions, and streamline professional output. In effect, they are treating AI as an operating layer that sits between them and the digital world.

As a result, the traditional online journey of search, scan results, compare options, read reviews, and then transact is being compressed into a single conversational interaction. AI tools can aggregate information, evaluate trade-offs, and present recommendations instantly, reducing the friction that once defined online decision-making.

For businesses built around capturing attention at various stages of that journey, this represents both an opportunity and a threat. Brands that integrate effectively into AI-generated recommendations may gain influence, while those dependent on search rankings or ad-driven discovery risk losing visibility.

Read the report: Consumers Stop Sampling AI and Start Relying on It

Despite the proliferation of AI tools, consumer usage remains concentrated around a small number of platforms. This gateway dynamic matters because early defaults tend to shape long-term ecosystems. Users who become accustomed to initiating tasks within a particular AI environment may be less inclined to switch contexts, granting those platforms disproportionate influence over how information is accessed and transactions are initiated.

In economic terms, AI is moving from a land-grab phase to a value-extraction phase. Companies are less focused on convincing people to try AI and more focused on embedding it into activities that occur daily or weekly.

Still, if awareness drove the first wave of AI adoption, trust and perceived utility will determine the next. The study notes that nonusers are not necessarily unfamiliar with AI; many remain unconvinced that it offers enough value to justify changing established habits.

In this environment, the question is no longer whether a company “has an AI strategy.” It is whether it understands how AI is reshaping the pathways through which customers arrive.

Technologies achieve their greatest economic power when they stop announcing themselves. Electricity, the internet, and mobile computing all followed this pattern, fading into the background even as they rewired entire industries.

Artificial intelligence now appears to be entering that same stage. The story is no longer about experimentation. It is about dependence — and the structural changes that follow when a tool becomes something people simply expect to work.

At PYMNTS Intelligence, we work with businesses to uncover insights that fuel intelligent, data-driven discussions on changing customer expectations, a more connected economy and the strategic shifts necessary to achieve outcomes. With rigorous research methodologies and unwavering commitment to objective quality, we offer trusted data to grow your business. As our partner, you’ll have access to our diverse team of PhDs, researchers, data analysts, number crunchers, subject matter veterans and editorial experts.

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