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Agentic AI is no longer the stuff of forward-looking conference panels. It is beginning to reshape how commerce functions at a fundamental level, ushering in a world in which digital agents can search, compare and transact independently.
With a projected market value of $1.7tn by 2030, the technology promises profound gains in convenience and efficiency — but only if industry can resolve a mounting trust deficit.
Agentic AI
Agentic AI: rewiring commerce
At its core, agentic AI represents a marked evolution from the chatbots and recommendation engines that defined earlier waves of automation.
These new systems act as autonomous proxies, executing purchases according to a consumer’s predefined preferences.
They trim decision-making time, personalise interactions and shift the burden of product discovery from the individual to the machine.
Payments firms have taken note: many now consider agent-led commerce the next battleground in digital retail.
Consumers appear increasingly comfortable with the concept.
Surveys suggest close to half would allow an AI agent to complete purchases on their behalf, rising above 50 per cent among Gen Z. Retailers, too, are moving rapidly.
A growing share is piloting autonomous AI tools on their own platforms, betting that the combination of frictionless shopping and intelligent automation will become a core competitive differentiator.
Temper Your Enthusiasm!
Yet enthusiasm is tempered by unease. Consumer scepticism remains widespread, with 95 per cent reporting at least one significant concern.
The apprehensions vary across markets — identity theft dominates in the US and France, incorrect purchases in the UK and China, fraud in Brazil — but the underlying issue is the same: trust.
The public’s experience with AI “hallucinations” has not helped; almost every internet user is aware of them, and most have encountered them directly. For agentic commerce to scale, systems must offer not only convenience but demonstrable reliability.
Merchants Also Wary
Merchants are equally wary. Two-thirds report being targeted by AI-driven fraud in the past year, and nearly all express concern about the growing sophistication of malicious agents.
The question of liability adds another layer of complexity. When an autonomous agent makes an incorrect purchase or is compromised by a fraudster, it remains unclear whether responsibility rests with the merchant, the consumer or the platform provider.
Regulators are watching closely, and firms navigating global data-protection and privacy frameworks already face considerable compliance strain.
Despite these obstacles, momentum is building.
Payments companies, fraud-prevention specialists and technology platforms are laying foundations for safer agent-led transactions.
Worldpay’s investment in agentic commerce infrastructure and its identity partnership with Trulioo signal a clear push towards secure, verifiable AI activity.
Tools from firms such as Ravelin illustrate how AI can also be harnessed to detect and deter agent-driven attacks. Meanwhile, industry collaborations — including Google’s new Agent Payments Protocol, developed with more than 60 partners — aim to establish shared standards to govern agent behaviour.
The industry’s challenge now is twofold: to construct resilient, interoperable systems capable of managing autonomous transactions at scale, and to persuade consumers that these systems are worthy of trust.
Clear communication, transparent data practices and robust fraud protections will be as important as breakthroughs in model performance.
Agentic AI is already changing how commerce works. The businesses that lean in — building safeguards, investing in identity and embedding autonomy across the purchase journey — will define the rules and reap the early-mover advantage.
Those that defer risk being outpaced in a market where the next phase of digital competition belongs not to humans or machines alone, but to both acting in concert.
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