---
id: "quote-new-type-of-customer"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["¶5"]
tags: ["thesis", "paradigm-shift"]
related: ["concept-agentic-commerce"]
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?"
---
# A new type of customer

> "What looks like a routine retail partnership is a sign that commerce is about to change. And at the center of that change is a simple reframing: brands now have a new type of customer. And marketers know very little about how to influence them."
> — [[entity-kartik-hosanagar]]

**Significance:** The core thesis of the article. The transition to AI in commerce is not just a technological upgrade but a fundamental change in *who* the marketer is speaking to — the reframe formalized in [[concept-agentic-commerce-d5]] and defended in [[contrarian-ai-is-not-a-channel]].


## Related across articles
- [[quote-what-is-customer]]
- [[quote-customer-journey-algorithm]]