The rise of apps inside ChatGPT: Why brands must evolve fast

It’s kind of a deja vu watching Sam Altman’s keynote and the “app moment” reminded me of Steve Jobs’ introduction of the App store in 2008. Or earlier in 2000, when The Cluetrain Manifesto launched. The book’s underlying theme was the proclaimed end of business as usual, arguing that markets are conversations and the internet (back then) would be the end of business as we know it. Now we are there for real.

Where once users clicked and scrolled, they now ask and receive. The next digital era isn’t about visiting apps; it’s about invoking brands at the moment of need. ChatGPT’s Apps SDK transforms static digital presences into living, context-aware services that operate natively in dialogue.

Instead of navigating through websites or menus, users will increasingly ask ChatGPT to act directly. “Spotify, play a playlist.” “Canva, draft a poster.” “HSBC, recommend the best savings account for my newborn.” The app runs inline – no context switching needed.

With the Apps SDK, brand services need to be broken into fine-grained, modular actions that ChatGPT can call on demand. These micro-services awaken based on user intent, not on a landing page or click.

Brands no longer compete for homepage real estate or ad space. Their storefronts now live inside ChatGPT’s reasoning engine, in its metadata, suggestions, and conversational prompts. Smart discovery design will matter more than SEO or campaign timing.

OpenAI also hinted at a commerce layer, meaning purchases, bookings, and subscriptions may soon happen entirely within conversation. The whole journey, from discovery to delivery, could become chat-native.

Identify the small, high-frequency actions that define your customer relationship. Those are your conversational entry points where your brand adds tangible, trusted value.

Craft clean, interoperable APIs and intuitive conversational flows. Script how the chat should respond, hand off, and maintain context. The goal is seamless utility, not more complexity.

This isn’t a frontend update. It’s an organizational shift. Reimagine data infrastructure, privacy guardrails, and team structures to support adaptive, context-aware services that drive innovation. Build cross-functional teams blending product, design, engineering, and compliance.

Early adopters like Canva, Spotify, Zillow, Booking.com, and Figma are already embedding their services directly in ChatGPT.

In demos, transitions between modules are fluid: A user designs a flyer, then pivots to a pitch presentation, all within the same conversational thread. These brands are gaining early advantage by shaping trust, logic, and usability before the space crowds.

Building inside ChatGPT unlocks powerful reach, but it also exposes brands to new risks, guardrails, and hidden friction. Here are the constraints that can hinder success in this environment.

Packing a chat with too many modules can bloat the chat experience, overwhelming users and slowing interactions. Choose precision over volume.

The SDK enforces privacy, consent, and minimal-permission principles. These standards aren’t optional – they create trust and ensure responsible behavior across the ecosystem. These are guardrails every brand must respect.

Being inside ChatGPT means living by its rules and discovery logic. Prepare for evolving “incentives."

Metadata and naming will shape visibility. As competition increases, the brands that iterate quickly and optimize intelligently will rise to the top. Staying relevant means staying adaptive.

At Manyone, we see this evolution as the next frontier of brand orchestration and product design. We help brands:

• Identify high-impact micro-tasks and intent patterns

• Design conversational architectures that feel natural, human, and on-brand

• Strengthen data foundations to enable contextual activation, data sync, and transparency

• Build and train cross-disciplinary teams to own embedded experiences

The age of apps in conversation has arrived. Brands that adapt now will become part of people’s everyday flows, not just destinations they have to find.