AI now not sits quietly within the background. On this episode of The Velocity of Tradition podcast, Suzy founder and host Matt Britton explains why 2026 will grow to be a turning level for shoppers, not simply corporations.
He breaks down the highest shopper AI tendencies for 2026 that can change how individuals search, purchase, create, and study. From conversational discovery to customized experiences at scale, this dialog helps manufacturers perceive how expertise connects to actual human conduct.
Matt Britton is the founder and CEO of Suzy, a shopper insights platform that has raised over $100 million in enterprise capital and works with high manufacturers like Coca-Cola, Google, Procter & Gamble, and Nike.
Matt can be the bestselling writer of YouthNation, a blueprint for understanding the seismic shifts shaping our future financial system, and Generation AI, which explores how Gen Alpha and synthetic intelligence will remodel enterprise, tradition, and society.
Key takeaways:
[00:01] Concepts Transfer From Thought to Execution at Unmatched Velocity — Matt explains that AI removes the historic boundaries between creativeness and execution. What as soon as required capital, specialised abilities, or massive groups can now be created by people in hours. This shift adjustments how shoppers take into consideration productiveness, possession, and artistic energy. As Shopper AI adoption conduct expands, individuals count on instruments that assist them act instantly on concepts, not plan endlessly. Velocity turns into a baseline expectation, and hesitation turns into the actual constraint.
[07:45] The Gen Alpha AI Era Resets Shopper Expectations — The Gen Alpha AI technology grows up in a world the place AI at all times exists. Interacting with expertise conversationally feels pure, not futuristic. Matt explains how this reshapes belief, studying, creativity, and emotional attachment to instruments. For manufacturers, this implies future shoppers count on methods to grasp context, reply personally, and evolve with them. Gen Alpha units the usual for personalization, instinct, and responsiveness throughout digital experiences.
[11:49] AI Progress Strikes So Quick That Previous Expertise Loses Strategic Worth — Matt makes a robust level that many individuals misunderstand the tempo of AI change by anchoring their judgment to what instruments might or couldn’t do months in the past. He explains that in the present day represents the weakest AI anybody will ever expertise, not a steady benchmark. Language, imagery, video, and reasoning enhance in parallel, not in isolation. Planning for High shopper AI tendencies 2026 requires abandoning linear considering and accepting compounding progress. Manufacturers that delay motion whereas ready for polish threat designing methods for a model of AI that now not exists by launch.
[23:30] AI Adoption Begins in Private Life and Forces Enterprise Change Later — Matt compares AI adoption to the early iPhone period, the place shoppers first used expertise freely at residence whereas corporations resisted it at work. Folks already depend on AI for private well being monitoring, household assist, funds, and on a regular basis choices as a result of there are not any approval layers or restrictions. This hands-on experimentation accelerates Shopper AI adoption conduct and builds actual confidence via use, not concept. Over time, this creates strain on organizations, since workers carry expectations formed by private effectivity into skilled environments that also lag behind.
