Visa survey suggests agentic commerce is nearing take-off, but trust remains the decisive factor

Visa’s latest research offers a revealing snapshot of how quickly agentic commerce is moving from theory to practical reality.

Visa survey suggests agentic commerce is growing 

The payments group argues that a new phase of digital trade is emerging in which artificial intelligence agents do not merely recommend products or surface offers, but actively evaluate, negotiate and execute transactions on behalf of businesses and consumers.

Its term for this shift, Business-to-AI or B2AI, may be new, but the strategic implications for the payments industry are already becoming clear.

The headline finding is that businesses appear materially more prepared for this transition than consumers. Among the US firms surveyed, more than half said they would allow AI agents to negotiate prices and terms directly with other AI systems on their behalf.

That is a striking indication that corporate America is beginning to view machine-led commercial decision-making not as a novelty, but as an operational tool with real economic value.

Businesses are preparing for a machine-mediated commercial environment

Visa’s figures suggest that many companies are already adjusting to a world in which AI agents become recognised participants in the buying process.

More than three quarters of businesses surveyed said they are already using or piloting AI in their operations, while a substantial majority said they would be willing to optimise products, offers and experiences specifically for AI agents.

Even more tellingly, most said they would share pricing and inventory data with enterprise AI systems.

Taken together, those findings point to a subtle but important change in commercial design. Merchants and service providers are no longer thinking solely about how to persuade human buyers.

They are increasingly contemplating how to present information, pricing and value in a form that can be interpreted and acted upon by machines. In effect, the digital storefront may need to work for algorithms as much as for people.

Consumers are open to assistance, but not unchecked autonomy

Consumer sentiment, by contrast, is more cautious and conditional. Many respondents appear comfortable with AI handling low-risk tasks such as comparing prices or applying discounts.

Far fewer are willing to allow an AI agent to complete a purchase independently, and only a minority are comfortable with autonomous spending without predefined limits or oversight.

That distinction matters. It suggests that consumers see value in AI as an assistant, but not yet as a fully empowered proxy. They are willing to delegate research, filtering and optimisation, but remain reluctant to surrender final control over expenditure.

For payment providers, this creates a design challenge: how to build AI-enabled commerce journeys that preserve speed and convenience without eroding the user’s sense of authority.

For payments players, trust will be the infrastructure that determines adoption

Perhaps the most significant finding is that trust rises when established financial institutions are involved. Bank-backed and payment network-enabled AI systems command more confidence than independent AI agents, indicating that reputation, governance and accountability will be central to adoption.

For the payments industry, that presents a clear opening. As commerce becomes increasingly machine-mediated, the winners may not simply be those with the most sophisticated AI, but those able to embed authentication, visibility and intervention into the transaction flow.

Visa’s survey suggests the appetite for agentic commerce is real. Whether it scales, however, will depend on who can make automation feel safe