AI agents and verbal branding

Reflecting on last year, it may well be remembered as the year of the AI Agent. Not because they’re new or anything, we’ve all been chatting with Alexa and Siri for years, but because recent advancements have transformed these tools into powerful conversational intelligences capable of seamlessly interacting with consumers.

This transformation laid the groundwork for what we’re now witnessing in 2025: an exponential leap in AI capabilities. In just the first few months of this year, we've seen open-source agents capable of autonomously coding, reasoning across domains, and even coordinating between applications, often with minimal human input, and in their own language.

Well, with the proliferation of voice assistants, chatbots, and AI-powered personal shoppers, branding priorities are going to have to adapt. Although tone of voice has always been a core component of a brand’s identity, in an agent-driven world, verbal identity is becoming ever more important. Where digital brand building was once largely visual — logos, fonts, sleek interfaces — the rise of consumer facing AI agents is heralding a new era where spoken and written interactions will dominate brand experiences.

I mean, just look at ChatGPT-4o's seismic debut earlier last year. It was a clear exhibition of the power of anthropomorphic design, with sophisticated language models enabling a scarily human-like back and forth between Open AI’s SVP of Research Mark Chen and 4o’s NOT Scarlett Johansson. Then there are assistants like Anthropic’s Claude, who has apparently had ‘character training’ to come across more open-minded and thoughtful. Even Microsoft’s Copilot has been drilled to sound ‘encouraging’ in order to give users emotional support. I’m not surprised, with studies showing that human-like conversational traits, such as empathy and natural turn-taking, significantly boost consumer trust in AI systems.

Whether assisting customer support teams or guiding consumers through purchasing decisions, our world is rapidly becoming populated by humanesque machines. They have human names. They use human language. And now they have human voices. Where this gets interesting though is in personalisation. AI agents have also mastered the art of delivering more tailored and cohesive customer experiences by analysing user data and adapting their tone to match our individual preferences. They can speak as helpful AI assistants, sure, but also mimic teachers, therapists, friends, and even ‘lovers’ in the case of Replika. This level of flexibility is becoming more and more important for brands as their audiences diversify across countless media channels, because a brand that can adapt their conversational styles over time builds familiarity and intimacy with its customers, ultimately leading to stronger brand loyalty.

As the landscape develops, balancing automation with human collaboration, or course-correction, still remains crucial. While AI totally delivers efficiency and scalability, our human input ensures empathy and cultural relevance. Take AI-generated speech in social media content as an example. AI-based speech programs that add audio to videos are everywhere, but to stay ahead they’ll need to ditch the generic voices and start incorporating diverse tones, emotions, and styles that resonate with their audiences. As brands increasingly rely on AI for content production, the ability to fine-tune speech outputs to convey specific nuances will become essential for maintaining authenticity and audience connection.

With all that said, the rise of these agents does bring challenges. As we move toward an ‘Internet of Agents’ (IoA), consumers may end up bypassing traditional brand interactions entirely. For instance, if we take Rabbit’s CEO Jesse Lyu at face value, their ‘natural language centred approach’ means ‘companions’ can potentially complete tasks end-to-end. Meaning the Rabbit R1 could book an Uber on your behalf without you ever interacting with the Uber app itself. This raises important questions: How do brands maintain visibility when AI intermediaries handle the customer relationship? And how do they adapt to fewer opportunities for direct engagement?

To be honest, we can’t be sure how this problem will play out. Currently our devices are a symbiotic ecosystem of apps (brands) that work alongside operating systems and/or their AI (another brand). Apps rely on devices to reach users, while devices depend on apps to remain competitive. But if Google made Gemini the primary way to interact with Uber, would Uber pull the Android version of their app from the Google Play Store? Probably not, you’re still paying after all. So how does that symbiotic relationship keep working when both brands are vying for your loyalty? Maybe the OS could fetch Uber for you? That way you have a quick chat with Gemini who then passes you to Uber to take over.

Either way, a brand’s success over the next few years will not just depend on what AI agents can do for them, but also on how they create empathetic, personable relationships through their agents. Whether you go through Gemini or not, Uber still wants you to pick them over Lyft. And for me, designing these new conversational identities demands a new level of linguistic finesse, psychological insight, and cultural intelligence that cements the strategic importance of a brand’s verbal identity. At Poppins we call it The Role of Voice — establishing not just the brand’s foundational tone, but also the different roles it plays across touchpoints, channels and audiences.

As we step boldly into this AI-driven era, tone of voice isn’t just a nice-to-have anymore. Brands need to go even deeper when defining their voice, taking into consideration how that voice might behave independently in a new era of intelligence. Because before long, it’ll be the very cornerstone of how consumers connect with brands and build real, meaningful relationships.

If anything you've read here piques your interest, we'd love to hear from you at hello@poppins.agency