AI Is Collapsing the Funnel: What It Means for Brands and Consumers

By Anees Merchant

The “funnel” is collapsing into a conversation, empowering consumers. As large language model (LLM) agents step between brands and buyers, the consumer journey is no longer a path you push people down; it’s an exchange you’re invited into. In India, this exchange already resembles the following: you describe what you need in everyday language; an AI assistant narrows down options, weighs trade-offs, completes the purchase, and continues to assist after delivery. Assistants are becoming the new storefront, and your brand’s shelf space is the assistant’s first recommendation.

Flipkart’s ChatGPT-powered Flippi was an early signal: a shopping co-pilot that helps undecided users translate intent (“I want a phone for my mom under ₹15k with good battery”) into the right product shortlists. Its launch formalised a larger trend within Flipkart: video-led discovery, multimodal search, and conversational queries replacing static filters. Myntra took a similar leap with MyFashionGPT, allowing shoppers to speak fashion in a natural language (“cocktail saree with minimal bling”) and receive curated looks, not just keyword matches. The journey starts with words, not menus.  

Travel shows how far assistants can go in running the table. MakeMyTrip’s multilingual GenAI planner now guides Indians from dreaming to booking to post-trip support in both Hindi and English; this is essential in a country where language is a key growth unlock. If search was the homepage of the internet, trip planning is becoming the homepage of the app.  

Fulfillment and service are being rewritten, too, with AI bringing efficiency. Air India’s “Maharaja” agent fields over 6,000 queries daily across four languages, correctly resolving the vast majority in seconds. At the same time, IndiGo’s 6Eskai brings conversational booking to WhatsApp, right where India already chats and buys. These are not “bots on websites”; they are high-volume, revenue-adjacent touchpoints that compress effort and time, reassuring customers of quick and effective service.  

The post-purchase loop is also turning intelligent, striking a balance between AI and human touch. Klarna reports that its AI assistant handles two-thirds of service chats, equivalent to around 700 agents, and slashes resolution time, a reminder that retention and service are now core to marketing ROI. Yet even Klarna had to rebalance with more humans for complex cases: intelligent journeys reward speed and empathy, not automation alone, highlighting the importance of human intervention in complex situations.  

However, there’s a crucial aspect that underpins all these AI-driven transformations: trust. As companies experiment with AI, they must be mindful of the ethical implications. For instance, after using GenAI, Zomato discovered that AI-generated dish photos on menus could mislead customers and affect ratings. This is a clear indication that 'intelligent' does not equate to 'anything goes'. The real winners in the AI-driven marketing landscape will be those who can effectively balance AI's capabilities with the need for authenticity, rather than using AI to replace it.

(The author is the EVP and Global Head of Innovation, IP, and Analytics Consulting at C5i)