Show Notes
There is a growing disparity between hype and reality when it comes to agentic commerce. This is not so much a critique of AI agents’ capabilities, or the infrastructure that has rapidly emerged to support them, as it is an indication that this model is still in its early stages.
Many merchants still associate the term “agent” with independent sales organization (ISO) reseller agents, rather than artificial intelligence.
In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Hilla Peled, SVP of AI & Data Science at Nuvei, and Don Apgar, Director of Merchant Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed agentic commerce from the merchant perspective, where the primary concern is how businesses can earn customer trust as this emerging model evolves.
Although questions remain around the model, that does not mean the progression toward agentic commerce is slowing. On the contrary, now is the time for merchants and providers to develop strategies and prepare for widespread AI agent interactions.
Preparing for the Agentic Revolution
Despite the apprehension surrounding agentic commerce, there is little debate that AI now plays a significant role in consumers’ lives. It has become a go-to resource for a wide range of tasks, and commerce is no exception. Shoppers are already using AI to compare prices and discover products, and autonomous agentic personal shoppers represent a natural extension of this trend.
Most merchants are eager to support this shift, but not if it requires compromising funds or expanding PCI scope.
“Merchants aren’t saying, ‘give me a shopping agent,’ but they want to be prepared to the extent that their customers show up with shopping agents,” Apgar said. “Largely, they’re trying to figure out what this means, which standard will prevail, and how they should look at their architecture and their position in agentic commerce.”
Many businesses are closely examining how the technical details will be resolved, including how transactions will settle and which standards will govern interactions.
One of the most important questions is agent ownership, whether an agent is acting on behalf of the consumer, the merchant, or the AI company that developed it. Establishing this responsibility will influence how all parties approach agentic payments.
The ultimate objective is to create trust in the process by ensuring that an agent reliably executes its assigned tasks and delivers an outcome that meets customer expectations. This is no small feat, given the range of fraud and security concerns, including the potential for bad actors to manipulate agents, consumers, or merchants for malicious purposes.
The answers to many of these questions remain unclear, meaning the space will likely experience uncertainty and adjustment as it matures.
“One of the biggest things that we observe is the gap between what customers are doing when adopting the public agents versus what the PSPs and acquirers are willing to take on,” Peled said. “Everyone is now just preparing themselves to the point where agentic commerce will become much wider.”
“We know that 1.5% of purchases in the U.S. have been agentic, which is huge when you think of the current state of agentic commerce,” she said. “At the same time, both customers and merchants and any business across e-commerce today is wondering, ‘What is the next thing they need to do in order to be ready when agentic commerce will explode?’”
Volume Follows Trust
To better understand the current state of agentic commerce, Nuvei conducted a study examining consumer attitudes and behaviors. The study found that only around 1% of respondents wanted fully automated AI purchasing, while 56% said they would never allow an AI platform to spend without their approval, regardless of the amount.
While these findings may appear to challenge the future of agentic commerce, previous technology shifts have demonstrated that consumer preferences can evolve rapidly.
“If you remember in 1995, almost nobody wanted to
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