Product & Business Strategy for the AI Era

New distribution.
New production.

The Agent Layer advises B2B and B2C companies on how AI is reshaping discovery, distribution, products, customer relationships and business economics — and on what that newly makes possible.

Schedule a discussion → See the shift

AI is becoming a new layer between companies and their customers — changing how consumers discover, decide and transact. For most companies that shift is already reshaping how customers find them, what they can offer, and where they create value.

The Market Shift

The platform layer is being rewritten — and the implications span the entire business.

Indexed share of discovery & transaction surfaces

2022 → 2027 (modeled)
120 60 0 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026E 2027E
Web search Apps / direct AI assistants & agents
How customers find you.

AI is reshaping discovery, recommendation and the path to transaction.

What you can build.

New capabilities and dramatically different cost structures are making new products, services and experiences possible.

How you create & capture value.

New customer journeys, capabilities and economics are opening opportunities for new revenue streams, partnerships and business models.

Market Proof

The shift is already changing what companies do.

Leading companies aren't simply adopting AI tools. They're rethinking how they reach customers, what they can build, and where they create value.

Discover
Condé Nast

Meet audiences where discovery is moving.

Condé Nast has established direct relationships with AI platforms to bring authoritative content into AI-mediated discovery while preserving sourcing, attribution and value.

The shift
Traditional search optimization
↓
Strategic distribution into AI ecosystems
Build
Duolingo

Build what wasn't possible before.

AI-powered Video Call gives learners personalized, real-time conversation practice at scale — an experience Duolingo had wanted to build for years, but that only became possible through advances in generative AI.

The shift
Digital language lessons
↓
Scalable personalized conversation
Grow
Intuit

Redefine the value proposition.

Intuit is moving beyond software that helps customers perform financial work toward agentic, done-for-you experiences where AI increasingly performs workflows on the customer's behalf.

The shift
Software that helps customers do the work
↓
A platform that increasingly does the work
“
The common thread isn't AI adoption. It's rethinking where the company creates and captures value.
Our thesis — AI is changing both sides of the business equation.
As a distribution layer, AI changes how companies are discovered, understood, recommended, accessed and transacted. As a production layer, it changes what they can build, personalize, automate, operate and scale. New products. New experiences. New economics. New business models.
What We Do

Three places AI changes the business. One coherent view of the shift.

We help leadership teams identify where AI creates meaningful strategic advantage — and translate that opportunity into products, experiences, partnerships, revenue streams and business models. Most engagements span two of the three.

01

Discover

Position for AI-mediated discovery and distribution — so customers still find you, and AI understands what makes you distinctive.

Where we work
  • Agentic inclusion & visibility
  • Brand authority in AI systems
  • Distribution strategy
  • Customer ownership & attribution
02

Build

Identify and develop what AI newly makes possible — the products and experiences that were too expensive, too complex or simply out of reach before.

Where we work
  • Product & experience strategy
  • Data & intelligence
  • AI-enabled services
  • Build / buy / partner
03

Grow

Turn new capabilities into durable business value — new revenue, new partnerships, and business models that hold up as the market moves.

Where we work
  • Business-model innovation
  • Commercialization
  • Partnerships & ecosystems
  • New revenue streams
How We Work

From opportunity to action.

01

Identify

Where the advantage is

Understand the business, customer journey, competitive landscape and existing capabilities. Identify where AI can create meaningful strategic and commercial advantage.

02

Design

What to do about it

Translate priority opportunities into product, data, distribution, partnership and business-model strategies.

03

Activate

Moving it to market

Identify partners, structure opportunities, develop pilots, and help move priority initiatives from strategy toward market.

04

Advise

As the market moves

Serve as an ongoing strategic extension of leadership as technology, customer behavior and the market evolve.

In Practice

The questions we help leadership teams answer.

01

How will customers find us when AI mediates discovery?

And does AI understand what makes our brand, content or product distinctive enough to recommend it?

02

How do we preserve attribution and the customer relationship?

As AI systems intermediate discovery and transactions, direct engagement, first-party data and customer continuity are all in play.

03

What can we build now that wasn't possible before?

New capabilities and dramatically different cost structures change what is worth building — and where AI can fundamentally improve the customer experience.

04

What should we own — and what should we buy, license or partner for?

Where proprietary capability creates advantage, where partnership accelerates, and where licensing is the efficient path to participation.

05

What new products, services or business models become viable?

Where existing assets can create entirely new value, and how partnerships, distribution and monetization should evolve.

The real question underneath all of them: what does AI make possible for our business?

Our Philosophy

Strategy without execution creates a deck.
Execution without strategy creates expensive experiments.

We connect the two. AI is not replacing the digital ecosystem — it is reorganizing the layer between companies and their customers, and changing what those companies can build. The organizations that succeed won't simply adopt AI tools. They'll position deliberately inside the ecosystem AI creates.

Engagement Models

Four shapes. Each anchored to a defined executive outcome.

Common entry point

Executive Workshop

1–2 days

A working session with an executive team, leadership group or board on what the shift means for your category — where discovery is moving, what becomes buildable, and where value is likely to settle.

Strategy Sprint

4–6 weeks

A focused diagnostic on one priority question: AI-mediated discovery and attribution, a product opportunity, or a business-model shift. Delivers an opportunity map and a clear recommendation.

Strategy & Roadmap

8–12 weeks

Full assessment across discovery, product, data, partnerships and economics — translated into a prioritized roadmap with sequencing, ownership and build / buy / partner decisions.

Pilot & Activation

8–16 weeks

Design and execution of focused pilots to test AI-mediated discovery, new product experiences, agentic commerce flows or ecosystem integrations — structured to produce a real decision.

Any of the four can extend into ongoing strategic advisory, typically six to twelve months.

Who We Work With

B2B and B2C companies navigating the shift.

Organizations most exposed to changes in discovery, customer ownership, monetization and platform leverage — and best positioned to build something new on the other side of them.

Media & Entertainment

  • Studios
  • Publishers
  • Sports leagues
  • Streaming platforms
  • Ticketing & live events
  • IP owners

Commerce & Consumer Platforms

  • Retailers
  • Marketplaces
  • Consumer brands
  • Travel & hospitality
  • Subscription businesses
  • Reservation & booking platforms

Technology & Platform Ecosystems

  • Consumer apps
  • SaaS platforms
  • Data providers
  • Creator economy platforms
  • Enterprise software
  • Platform operators

The common thread isn't industry vertical — it's exposure to shifting distribution, transaction flow and platform leverage.

Founding Team

Built inside the systems our clients now navigate.

Erin Razov

Erin Razov

Co-Founder · Business, Platform & Commercial Strategy

Over nearly two decades in media and technology, Erin has built and commercialized new products, partnerships and distribution models with some of the world's leading consumer platforms — including Amazon, TikTok, Roblox and Meta — driving new revenue, audience growth and customer experiences.

She is the strategic lead for executive teams translating shifts in technology and consumer behavior into new distribution strategies, partnerships, customer experiences and business models.

Former VP / Head of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships at Fandango | NBCUniversal, where she led commercial strategy, platform partnerships, distribution and new business development across entertainment, technology and commerce.
Ben Havey

Ben Havey

Co-Founder · Product, Technology & Innovation Strategy

Ben has led the development of award-recognized AI, XR and streaming products from inside major studios, and founded Disney StudioLAB. Previously he was a startup co-founder with multiple exits, and held leadership roles at Apple and Netscape.

He is the strategic lead for executive teams translating emerging technologies into products, platforms and customer experiences that create meaningful business value.

Former VP, Digital Media Technology at NBCUniversal and VP, Technology Innovation at Disney Studios. Holds nine issued patents in AI, immersive media and content discovery.

Together we bridge commercial opportunity, product strategy and technology — from identifying where value is emerging to building the partnerships, products and experiences that capture it.

Writing

How we think about the shift.

Selected essays by our founders on where AI is actually changing the work.

Field Notes
Three Days with Siri AI: First Impressions from Someone Who Wanted to Like It
Ben Havey · September 2026

The architecture is the story. Most of what you ask runs on the chip in your pocket — and the best AI product of the year isn't the smartest one, it's the one that runs closest to you and disappears when it's done.

Read the essay →
Governance
Who Gets to Say Stop: Human-in-the-Loop at the Scale That Matters
Ben Havey · September 2026

Structural governance versus governance theater. The tell is simple: ask what happens when governance and the quarterly number disagree. One has an answer. The other has a communications plan.

Read the essay →
Strategy
The Unmoved Movers: Who Actually Prospers in the AI Era
Ben Havey · July 2026

AI is the most powerful executor ever built, which makes taste, standards and accountability the scarce assets. The AI era doesn't diminish the human role — it clarifies it.

Read the essay →
Craft
Final Pixel: Five Times AI Already Made the Cut
Ben Havey · July 2026

Five times AI reached the frame that shipped. Comparable techniques, opposite receptions — what separated craft from firestorm was disclosure and intent, not technology.

Read the essay →
Why The Agent Layer

Built differently for the AI era.

AI-Native

Built for the speed of the market.

AI is embedded throughout how we research, analyze, prototype and work — letting a small, senior team explore more possibilities, iterate quickly, and move from idea to action faster.

Operators First

Commercial and technical expertise in one team.

We've built products, partnerships and businesses from inside leading media and technology companies. We bridge what's commercially valuable with what's technically possible — and know what it takes to bring both to market.

Experience-Led

Build experiences people want to use.

Our product work has been recognized by some of the industry's most respected creative and innovation awards. We bring that standard of product thinking and design craft to work that still has to deliver real business value.

Platform Agnostic

No alliances, no resale, no incentives.

Our recommendations are driven by the opportunity, the customer and the business — with the independence to identify the right technologies, platforms and partners for you rather than for us.

Recognized by Emmy Awards · Cannes Lions · Clio Entertainment
Mobile → Streaming → Marketplaces → Platform Ecosystems → Now AI.

We've operated through platform transitions before. Most advisors understand one side — we bridge both.

The Agent Layer

Position deliberately inside what comes next.

Let's discuss where AI is reshaping your category — how customers will find you, what you can now build, and where value is moving.

Schedule a discussion →
info@agentlayeradvisory.com