---
id: "quote-erase-the-funnel"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["¶19"]
tags: ["marketing", "customer-journey"]
related: ["concept-a2a-commerce", "open-question-funnel-erasure"]
speaker: "Mikey Vu, Maureen Burns and Aaron Cheris"
speakers: ["Mikey Vu", "Maureen Burns", "Aaron Cheris"]
quote: "Regardless of how the future unfolds, agents will reshape the marketing and sales funnel—maybe even erase it. The customer journey is no longer linear, and in some cases may not even include a vendor's website or app."
sources: ["geo"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-geo"
originDay: 3
articleStem: "hbr-nm-97-retailers-ai-shoppers"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/10/what-should-retailers-do-about-ai-shoppers"
sourceTitle: "What Should Retailers Do About AI Shoppers?"
---
# Erasing the marketing funnel

## Quote — Erasing the marketing funnel

> "Regardless of how the future unfolds, agents will reshape the marketing and sales funnel—maybe even erase it. The customer journey is no longer linear, and in some cases may not even include a vendor's website or app."
> — [[entity-mikey-vu]], [[entity-maureen-burns]] and [[entity-aaron-cheris]]

**Why it matters:** The article's concluding claim about how [[concept-a2a-commerce]] breaks traditional marketing models. It seeds the open question [[open-question-funnel-erasure]] and depends on the reader understanding [[prereq-marketing-funnel-d97]].

**Enrichment nuance:** several sources argue agents *reconfigure* rather than fully *erase* the funnel — awareness moves to agents/influencers/brand experiences, consideration into agent-mediated simulations, conversion becomes instant but still trust-influenced. Brands still need upper-funnel brand equity so agents can justify recommending them.