Marketing Transformation in the Era of AI​

At Balkan eCommerce Summit 2026, Shukhrat Yakubov explored how artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming digital marketing, commerce, and online customer journeys through the expanding Microsoft ecosystem.

The presentation focused on the evolution of AI-powered search, AI-assisted shopping experiences, and the growing role of autonomous AI agents capable of helping users discover, select, and even purchase products directly through conversational interfaces.

A major part of the session centered around recent announcements from Microsoft related to:

• Microsoft Copilot
• AI-powered commerce
• Microsoft Advertising
• AI audience targeting
• Merchant Center integrations
• AI-ready website infrastructure

The session highlighted a major industry shift:
brands are no longer optimizing only for human users – they are increasingly preparing for AI-driven commerce ecosystems where algorithms and AI agents actively participate in purchasing decisions.

The Microsoft Advertising Ecosystem

Shukhrat began by introducing the partnership between Aleph Holding and Microsoft Advertising.

Aleph currently supports advertisers and agencies across:

• Europe
• APAC
• Latin America

in more than 50 countries, helping businesses leverage Microsoft Advertising solutions more effectively through local market support and operational expertise.

The presentation emphasized that Microsoft’s advertising ecosystem extends far beyond traditional search advertising.

Microsoft owns and operates a massive interconnected digital ecosystem including:

• Windows
• Bing
• LinkedIn
• Edge Browser
• Outlook
• MSN
• Copilot
• Gaming ecosystems

This creates an enormous volume of user signals and behavioral data across both professional and consumer environments.

According to the presentation:

• LinkedIn has more than 1 billion users
• More than 400,000 advertisers use Bing and Microsoft Search Partners
• Approximately 200,000 advertisers use Microsoft Display and CTV networks

This scale allows Microsoft Advertising to combine:

• Search intent
• Professional identity
• Browsing behavior
• Commerce interactions
• AI-powered personalization

inside a unified advertising ecosystem.

The Rise of Copilot & AI-Driven Commerce

The core focus of the presentation was Microsoft’s AI transformation through Copilot.

Shukhrat explained that AI is no longer limited to:

• Search assistance
• Information retrieval
• Productivity support

Instead, AI is evolving toward:

• Agent-powered discovery
• AI-assisted selection
• Autonomous purchasing decisions
• Agentic commerce

This represents one of the biggest upcoming shifts in eCommerce and digital marketing.

According to the session, AI agents are increasingly becoming capable of:

• Searching products
• Comparing options
• Understanding user intent
• Selecting products
• Completing purchases
• Booking services

directly on behalf of users.

The implication for eCommerce businesses is significant:
websites and product infrastructure must now be optimized not only for human browsing, but also for AI interpretation and machine-driven interactions.

Copilot Checkout: Buying Directly Inside AI Conversations

One of the most important announcements discussed during the session was the rollout of Copilot Checkout.

According to Microsoft, the feature has already reached:

• More than 500,000 users

through integrations with:

• Stripe
• PayPal
• Shopify
• Other commerce partners

Copilot Checkout enables users to:

• Discover products
• Compare offers
• Access loyalty benefits
• Complete purchases

directly inside AI chat interfaces without leaving the conversation environment.

This creates a radically different shopping experience compared to traditional search and eCommerce flows.

For example:
if a user searches for skis for a winter vacation, Copilot can automatically identify:

• The most relevant merchant
• Personalized offers
• Loyalty perks
• Shipping benefits
• The most appropriate products

based on the user’s preferences and connected merchant data.

Loyalty Programs & Personalized Offers

The presentation also highlighted how loyalty programs are becoming integrated into AI commerce experiences.

Brands can connect loyalty systems directly into Copilot, allowing AI systems to:

• Recognize loyal customers
• Surface personalized discounts
• Highlight special offers
• Show benefits such as free shipping

inside the AI shopping flow itself.

Target was mentioned as one of the first brands testing this type of AI-assisted commerce experience.

This marks an important transition from:
static eCommerce storefronts
toward
dynamic AI-curated purchasing environments.

Universal Commerce Protocol: Preparing Websites for AI

A major technical focus of the presentation was the importance of preparing websites for AI-driven commerce.

Shukhrat introduced the concept of:
Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)

This is an open commerce standard supported by major technology ecosystems including:

• Google Cloud
• Microsoft
• Salesforce
• Shopify

The protocol enables AI systems and agents to:

• Read website content more accurately
• Access structured product information
• Interpret commerce actions
• Interact with online stores programmatically

Without proper AI-readable infrastructure:

• AI may display outdated products
• Product information may become incomplete
• Availability and shipping data may be inaccurate

With UCP enabled, AI agents can access:

• Product specifications
• Shipping policies
• Return conditions
• Inventory availability
• Loyalty information

This allows AI-powered systems to provide much more accurate and personalized shopping recommendations.

AI-Driven Purchasing Without Leaving Chat

One of the most transformational ideas presented during the session was that users may increasingly complete purchases without ever visiting a traditional website.

Through integrations with:

• Apple Pay
• Google Pay
• Merchant Center infrastructure

AI systems can potentially enable:

• Product selection
• Checkout
• Payment completion

directly inside conversational AI interfaces.

This signals a potential shift from:
search-first commerce
toward
conversation-first commerce.

Microsoft Clarity & AI Readability

The session also introduced Microsoft Clarity as a key tool for AI-era website optimization.

Microsoft Clarity helps businesses understand:

• Whether AI systems can correctly interpret website content
• Whether products are properly indexed
• How websites compare against competitors
• Which content areas require improvement

The platform also supports:

• Behavioral analytics
• Website usability insights
• AI-readiness analysis

This becomes increasingly important as AI-driven discovery systems rely heavily on structured, machine-readable content.

AI Max Campaigns & Smarter Search Advertising

Shukhrat then shifted toward the evolution of Microsoft Advertising campaigns powered by AI.

AI Max campaigns were presented as an advanced AI-driven search advertising solution capable of:

• Expanding audience reach automatically
• Matching broader search intent
• Identifying relevant users beyond exact keywords

Instead of relying purely on keyword matching, AI systems now interpret:

• User intent
• Context
• Semantic relevance

Advertisers can also guide AI behavior by defining:

• Brand positioning
• Product messaging
• Communication direction

similar to training a sales assistant or consultant.

According to early testing results shared during the presentation:

• AI Max campaigns achieved approximately 5% higher CTR performance.

AI Audience Generation

Another major innovation discussed was AI-generated audience targeting.

Advertisers can now describe target audiences using natural language prompts instead of manually configuring:

• Demographics
• Interests
• Behaviors
• Geographic segments

AI systems then:

• Build audience profiles automatically
• Suggest additional targeting opportunities
• Optimize audience combinations dynamically

The system also provides deeper insights into campaign performance and audience behavior.

This represents another major simplification of campaign management through AI-assisted automation.

New Microsoft Advertising Features & Updates

The presentation concluded with several additional product and platform updates inside Microsoft Advertising.

Key updates included:

• Google Ads campaign import improvements
• Website URL and publisher-level reporting
• Seasonality adjustments for events like Black Friday
• Account-level bid strategy management
• Upcoming data-driven attribution capabilities
• Bid strategy performance reporting

These features aim to improve:

• Campaign management efficiency
• Attribution accuracy
• Optimization scalability
• Cross-platform advertising workflows

Key Takeaways from the Session

The presentation demonstrated that AI is fundamentally reshaping how products are discovered, selected, and purchased online.

Some of the most important insights included:

• AI agents are becoming active participants in the buying journey
• Websites must become machine-readable and AI-ready
• Commerce is moving toward conversational interfaces
• AI-powered shopping experiences are becoming increasingly personalized
• Traditional keyword targeting is evolving toward intent-based discovery
• AI automation is simplifying campaign management and audience targeting
• Loyalty systems and commerce infrastructure are becoming integrated directly into AI ecosystems

Perhaps the strongest message from the session was that the future of digital commerce will not simply be driven by better advertising – it will be driven by AI systems capable of understanding, recommending, and completing purchases autonomously.

Brands that adapt their infrastructure early will likely gain a significant competitive advantage as AI-driven commerce continues evolving.

The presentation is not available for sharing.