The Muse Moment: Personal AI Agents and the Fight for the Consumer — BWG Global
BWG Global
Virtual Conference
October 14 & 15, 2026 · 9:00 AM–12:00 PM ET

The Muse
Moment

Personal AI Agents and the Fight for the Consumer

BWG's sector heads host expert panels examining how personal AI agents like Meta's Muse could reshape ecommerce, payments, travel, devices and security, and which companies stand to win or lose.

6 Sessions Virtual Zoom Webinar 55-Min Sessions
Meta Muse Grok Bot AI agent character AI agent character

Schedule at a Glance
Wed, Oct 14 · 9:00 AM–12:00 PM ET
9:00Muse, Dots, Spark, Grok Bot and More: Every Platform Has an Agent
10:00Assistants or Retailers, Who Truly Owns the Customer?
11:00Who Secures the AI Agent? Sizing the Risk and Spend on Agent Security
Thu, Oct 15 · 9:00 AM–12:00 PM ET
9:00Phone, Pendant or Glasses? The Device War for Personal AI Agents
10:00Book It for Me: Who Wins When AI Agents Plan the Trip?
11:00The Battle for Agentic Payments: Card, Stripe Link or Stablecoin?
Format  Virtual with live Q&A
Sessions  55 minutes, 5-minute breaks between
Platform  Zoom
Start  Both days begin at 9:00 AM ET

Wednesday, October 14

Agents, checkout and security
Register for 10/14
01
9:00 AM ET
Platforms & Competitive Moat

Muse, Dots, Spark, Grok Bot and More: Every Platform Has an Agent. Where's the Moat?

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OpenAI's Dots joins Meta's Muse, xAI's Grok Bot, Google's Gemini Spark, GenSpark and Instinct in a fast crowding field of personal AI agents, each with its own cloud computer, a browser and your logins. Apple's rebuilt Siri and more launches are on the way. As the architectures converge, where does lasting advantage come from? This session compares the leading agents on security, autonomy, interface, pricing and model ownership, and debates whether agent software stays a moat or becomes a commodity feature, with value flowing to whoever owns the phone, the messaging app or the storefront.

Panelists
John Rood
John Rood
Director of Artificial Intelligence at Decision Resources Inc (DRI)
Mitchell Hislop
Mitchell Hislop
VP, AI and Technological Innovation at broadhead
Allen Roush
Allen Roush
Lead AI Researcher at Thoughtworks
Greg Irwin
Greg Irwin
BWG Moderator
02
10:00 AM ET
E-Commerce & Checkout

Assistants or Retailers, Who Truly Owns the Customer?

METAAMZNSHOPWMTGOOGLSpaceXInstinct

AI assistants don't stop at just research — Meta's Muse can make purchases on your behalf. Almost immediately after Meta Muse arrived, Amazon blocked the assistant, while other platforms like Walmart and Shopify welcomed it with open arms. Will AI agents earn the consumer trust that retailers like Amazon and Walmart worked tirelessly to build? In this new world of commerce, who truly owns the transaction?

Panelists
Navah Hopkins
Navah Hopkins
Product Liaison at Microsoft
Ashwin Menon
Ashwin Menon
Co-Founder at Nile
Jason Sidana
Jason Sidana
Founder & CEO at Midknight Genius
Abigail Johns
Abigail Johns
Head of Content and Email Marketing at Exposure Ninja
Tayler Jaksim
Tayler Jaksim
VP of Media & Strategy at Navigo Marketing
Justin Ruiss
Justin Ruiss
BWG Moderator
03
11:00 AM ET
Security & Risk

Who Secures the AI Agent? Sizing the Risk and Spend on AI Agent Security

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Personal AI agents now hold our logins, payment cards and inboxes, and the Muse zero-day flaw showed how quickly a trusted assistant can become an attacker's tool. This session maps the security stack for agents: isolated runtimes, credential brokering, payment controls, prompt injection defense and enterprise visibility. We assess the risk profile for consumers, enterprises and merchants, then debate who captures the spend — agent platforms building security in, incumbent security vendors extending into identity and monitoring, or new AI-native players.

Panelists
Ron Gula
Ron Gula
President and Co-Founder at Gula Tech Adventures
Co-Founder of Tenable
Joshua Koplik
Joshua Koplik
CISO at People Incorporated
Esmond Kane
Esmond Kane
CISO at Advarra
Greg Irwin
Greg Irwin
BWG Moderator

Thursday, October 15

Devices, travel and payments
Register for 10/15
04
9:00 AM ET
Devices & Distribution

Phone, Pendant or Glasses? The Device War for Personal AI Agents

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Meta is the only major agent player without an operating system, and its Muse Charm and AI glasses are a bid to reach users without going through Apple or Google. Apple has rebuilt Siri as the iPhone's gatekeeper for app actions, Google is pushing Gemini deeper into Android, and OpenAI's hardware remains on the horizon. This session debates whether agents need new devices or whoever owns the phone wins by default, whether execution moves from the cloud to the device, and what the Charm must prove this holiday season.

Panelists
Phil Solis
Phil Solis
Research Director - Processors, Accelerators, and Connectivity in PCs, Smartphones, and Robotics at IDC
Ziad Asghar
Ziad Asghar
SVP & General Manager - XR, Wearables and Personal AI at Qualcomm
Jim McGregor
Jim McGregor
BWG Moderator
05
10:00 AM ET
Travel & Booking

Book It for Me: Who Wins When AI Agents Plan the Trip?

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Maui? Milan? Muse? Researching and planning a trip has never been easier, and with amplified personal AI assistants like Muse, trust might extend into booking directly through a bot. Will partnerships and alliances materialize, will brand equity and traveler behavior be enough, will loyalty and networks bridge back to direct? Among online travel agencies, LLM/personal assistants, and hoteliers, we aim to uncover who in the ecosystem holds the most leverage in this new age of booking.

Panelists
Loren Gray
Loren Gray
Founder of Hospitality Digital Marketing
Josh Viner
Josh Viner
Corporate Development at TravelAI, An UpNext Company
Dean Schmit
Dean Schmit
Founder of Base Camp Meta & MetaSearchMarketing.com
Justin Ruiss
Justin Ruiss
BWG Moderator
06
11:00 AM ET
Payments & Fintech

The Battle for Agentic Payments: Card, Stripe Link or Stablecoin?

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Payment credentials, processing fees and liability will shape the economics of agentic transactions for merchants and consumers. Muse checks out through Link by Stripe, with Shop Pay and PayPal joining. But payment terms can be a zero-sum game, with Stripe's potential wins coming at the expense of merchants or consumers. Who is likely to win over time? Can Muse get to scale to set fees? Can Link by Stripe displace the card networks?

Panelists
Tedd Huff
Tedd Huff
Founder & CEO of Voalyre
Eddie Alberty
Eddie Alberty
Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at SHOP.COM
Jeff Rudat
Jeff Rudat
Founder & Principal at Retail Business Sherpas LLC
Chris Donat
Chris Donat
BWG Moderator

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