# The Next Paradigm Is User-Centric Agent, Not Platform-Centric Service

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.15682 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.15682/

## Key facts

- Cited by 9 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 17 Feb 2026.

## Built on by (most cited first, 9 of 9)

- [Why Thinking Hurts: Diagnosing and Rectifying Linguistic Inertia in Large Language Models for Recommendation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.16587/) (2026)
- [SpecSteer: Synergizing Local Context and Global Reasoning for Efficient Personalized Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.16219/) (2026)
- [Learning from Emptiness: De-biasing Listwise Rerankers with Content-Agnostic Probability Calibration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.10150/) (2026)
- [Efficient Personalized Reranking with Semi-Autoregressive Generation and Online Knowledge Distillation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.07107/) (2026)
- [IE as Cache: Information Extraction Enhanced Agentic Reasoning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.14930/) (2026)
- [AsymSpec: Context-Asymmetric Speculative Decoding for Agentic LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.26004/) (2026)
- [Rethinking the Necessity of Adaptive Retrieval-Augmented Generation through the Lens of Adaptive Listwise Ranking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.15621/) (2026)
- [The User Asks, Platforms Compete: How Agentic Recommendation Markets Take Shape](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.25253/) (2026)
- [Personal-Agent Mediated Recommendation with Cross-Platform User History](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.07588/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Modern digital services have evolved into indispensable tools, driving the present large-scale information systems. Yet, the prevailing platform-centric model, where services are optimized for platform-driven metrics such as engagement and conversion, often fails to align with users' true needs. While platform technologies have advanced significantly-especially with the integration of large language models (LLMs)-we argue that improvements in platform service quality do not necessarily translate to genuine user benefit. Instead, platform-centric services prioritize provider objectives over user welfare, resulting in conflicts against user interests. This paper argues that the future of digital services should shift from a platform-centric to a user-centric agent. These user-centric agents prioritize privacy, align with user-defined goals, and grant users control over their preferences and actions. With advancements in LLMs and on-device intelligence, the realization of this vision is now feasible. This paper explores the opportunities and challenges in transitioning to user-centric intelligence, presents a practical device-cloud pipeline for its implementation, and discusses the necessary governance and ecosystem structures for its adoption.