The technology sector is experiencing a rapid transformation with the increasing use of agent AI technologies. These are starting to redraw the competitive map among major tech companies by reducing reliance on traditional infrastructure and simplifying system development and e-commerce operations.
In line with this, Google announced the launch of a new digital commerce protocol called Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP). Its goal is to standardize how different digital systems communicate during online purchases.
This protocol allows for the creation of a common language between digital agents and technical systems to manage purchase stages, such as identity verification, payment, and order fulfillment, making everything smoother and more efficient.
Experts expect this standard to help reduce the complexity companies face when building e-commerce systems. Previously, these required complicated technical integrations between multiple platforms, demanding significant effort and high budgets.
With a unified standard like UCP, companies might be able to simplify these processes and rely less on complex infrastructure. This could shift the balance of power within the tech market and directly challenge Amazon's business model, which heavily depends on its massive infrastructure.
At the same time, competitors are focusing on updating old software systems that large organizations still rely on. For example, Anthropic revealed new capabilities in its Claude Code programming tool. This tool uses AI to update code written in COBOL, one of the oldest programming languages, used since the 1950s. COBOL still powers sensitive financial and government systems that rely on mainframes and IBM's infrastructure.
Updating these systems used to be a huge challenge due to the complexity of old code and a shortage of specialized developers. But with the introduction of generative AI tools, it's now possible to quickly update this code and transform it into more modern and efficient systems. This gradually reduces organizations' reliance on outdated systems and gives developers opportunities to rebuild enterprise applications in a more flexible and effective way.
These developments reflect a significant shift in the tech market. Competition is no longer just about cloud computing or digital infrastructure; it's increasingly about using AI to manage systems, update software, and simplify complex digital operations.
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