a16z Partners Propose ‘B2A Economy’ as AI Agents Become Internet’s Main Users

The a16z framing matters less as a prediction than as a signal that venture capital is beginning to treat agent-mediated commerce as an investable category rather than a curiosity. The cited traffic and order data, while vendor-sourced and early, point to a shift in where discovery and purchasing decisions originate — away from human browsing and toward agent intermediaries. The practical consequence is for merchants and product teams: visibility with agents, not just with people, becomes a distribution question, and the four categories named sketch where that value may accrue. Whether agent-driven traffic converts into durable commercial volume, rather than promotional spikes, is the open question.