• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, Yesterday

The Amazon Web Services (AWS) AI agent marketplace is expected to launch next week at the company’s annual summit in New York.

“At AWS, we envision a different future: the Agentic Store, where artificial intelligence orchestrates every aspect of retail operations in real-time,” Justin Swagler, worldwide head of physical retail at AWS, wrote in a blog post in April. “This isn’t just another technology layer – it’s a complete re-imagining of how physical retail operates.”

In the post, Swagler wrote about how retail silos would connect to each other, explains how a “fragmented environment” would turn into a “seamlessly orchestrated ecosystem.”

The marketplace, which could include media-buying autonomous agents, is expected to launch with partners such as Anthropic, which Amazon has invested in. Anthropic's Model Context Protocol (MCP) is the key to connecting across companies, similar to Google's interoperability protocol Agent2Agent (A2A) 

In March 2024, Amazon explained its investment in Anthropic. The deal, initially structured as a $4 billion investment, also saw an additional $4 billion commitment later. The initial investment was completed in two transactions — $1.25 billion initially, with the remaining $2.75 billion following. 

The timing of the AWS AI agent marketplace was first reported by Tech Crunch based on unnamed sources, but it’s easy to see how this is entirely possible based on Swagler’s published AWS’ roadmap for physical retail stores.

The retail stores will need to build a data foundation by migrating legacy point-of-sale systems and connecting core operational systems, he wrote. This is how they will support AI agents, which can make decisions and perform tasks independently. They will interact with software or make purchases for consumers.

AI autonomous agents for advertising will make and execute decisions such as independently allocating budgets, selecting channels, negotiating ad placements, and optimizing bids.

Google Cloud in April introduced an AI Agent Marketplace for developers and businesses not only list agents, but buy them.

The company has plans to roll out an AI agent in its Chrome browser to analyze a marketer’s objectives and provide suggestions, like identifying missing website tags and adding them with consent. AI agents also are being integrated into Google Ads and Analytics to automate campaigns.

Think of the way Microsoft started its apps and modules marketplaces. Microsoft has an Agent store, which launched in May, but this type of business for the Redmond, Wash.-based company has long been a business model for it.

Windows Marketplace launched in October 2004 — offering all types of downloadable software. Then the AppSource marketplace came in July 2016.

OpenAI offers the GPT store, while IBM has Agent Connect, and Salesforce supports Agent Exchange, but all must use a protocol to connect across companies.

An AWS dedicated agent marketplace allows startups to build and offer AI agents to AWS enterprise customers, which would further an entirely new cottage industry.

MediaPost reached out to Amazon and will update the story with any future comments.