tech
December 29, 2025
Payment giants are preparing for a world where AI agents book flights and shop for you
Major payment and tech companies are racing to build the infrastructure to enable agentic commerce, a trend they expect will transform global shopping.
TL;DR
- Companies like Visa and Mastercard are developing "agentic commerce," enabling AI agents to conduct transactions for consumers.
- This technology allows AI to search, compare prices, and complete purchases within a chatbot interface.
- Early use cases include flight bookings, with potential for offline purchases based on preset price thresholds.
- Visa and Mastercard have conducted pilot programs and expect commercial use by early 2026.
- AI is increasingly used by consumers for shopping, with significant AI-driven traffic to retail sites.
- Concerns include security, liability for AI errors, and the role of AI platforms in transaction disputes.
- New security measures like "agentic tokens" and "Trusted Agent Protocol" are being developed to authenticate AI agents.
- Agentic commerce is predicted to offer benefits like time savings and better access to deals for consumers.
- Merchants may face pressure to adapt through agent verification, creating their own AI agents, and redesigning strategies.
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