---
id: "quote-human-approver"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ Meet Your New Customer: The AI Agent"]
tags: ["decision-making", "user-behavior"]
related: ["concept-human-present-mode"]
speaker: "Kartik Hosanagar"
speakers: ["Kartik Hosanagar"]
sources: ["geo"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-geo"
originDay: 3
articleStem: "hbr-tier2-05-market-to-ai-customer"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/how-do-you-market-to-an-ai-customer"
sourceTitle: "How Do You Market to an AI Customer?"
---
# The human as an approver

> "Even in “human present,” the agent is actively evaluating options and making choices, and the human is an approver. That means the agent, not the human, is the primary audience for your product information, your brand signals, and brand persuasion."
> — [[entity-kartik-hosanagar]]

**Significance:** Pinpoints the shift in the decision-making locus. Even if a human clicks *buy*, the AI has already filtered out competitors and made the primary selection, making the AI the true target for brand persuasion. Anchors [[concept-human-present-mode]] and the persuasion-science gap in [[claim-persuasion-science-gap]].