The Blind Spot of Agentic AI: Why Your Agents Are Only as Good as What They Can See
Session Overview
In Q2 2026, AI agents became the primary users of the web — more agents now search the web than people do, and an agent is only as good as the information it can reach. Every LLM relies on web search to ground its answers, since training data has a cutoff — agents need fresh, accurate, real-time data to act reliably. This talk argues that the search layer is a critical, often-overlooked ingredient for AI success: the emerging Agentic Web Search Layer that pulls current, trustworthy information from the open web, and can also incorporate private datasets — because it matters just as much as the model itself.
Three Key Takeaways
- Agents Are the New Searchers — As more agents than people search the web, the search layer is being rebuilt for machines rather than humans, becoming a primary driver of how well an agent performs.
- The Agentic Web Search Layer — Grounding LLMs and agents requires fresh, accurate, real-time retrieval; this emerging layer is the infrastructure that delivers trustworthy web information at scale.
- Public Web Plus Private Data — Winning agents pair open-web search with the proprietary company data that underpins the model or agent; both are essential ingredients for success.
Speaker
Alex Triplett is the Chief Operating Officer at You.com, a leading provider of Web Search APIs for AI, where he leads engineering, product, strategy, and go-to-market. He was previously COO and CFO at Appfire, where revenue tripled to nearly $300M ARR in three years.
He spent twelve years in executive leadership roles at ION Group, where he grew the business from $150M ARR to $3B. He began his career in Private Equity and Investment Banking. Alex holds a B.S. in Commerce from the University of Virginia's McIntire School of Business.