Three years after ChatGPT’s public debut, generative AI has become a trusted companion for everything from holiday planning, grocery shopping, content creation and even personal finance management. Its integration into everyday life reflects a profound shift in how people interact with technology, moving from traditional search engines and manual research to AI-driven, personalized guidance.

Businesses are embracing the technology at an unprecedented pace. According to McKinsey’s State of AI in 2025, 88% of organizations now use AI for at least one business function – up from just 55% in 2023. Consumer behaviour is shifting just as quickly: nearly 60% of consumers now use generative AI tools instead of traditional search engines for product recommendations, according to Capgemini (2024).

To capture and compare this acceleration, the Mastercard Economics Institute (MEI) developed the MEI AI Enthusiasm Index, which tracks countries’ share of global AI spending, AI’s share of total software spending, and per-capita investment in AI tools. 

In Europe, Denmark tops the index, where growth is driven by corporate adoption. Eurostat data also show that 27.6% of Danish enterprises used at least one AI technology in 2024 — double the EU average. These findings come from the Mastercard Economics Institute’s Economic Outlook 2026 report, which highlights deeper AI integration and targeted fiscal stimulus as key drivers of future global growth.

AI is leaving a profound mark on the financial world, transforming how institutions operate, how consumers manage money, and how transactions are executed. Here are some of the key ways AI is reshaping the financial realm today.

AI is starting to do more than analyse information, it’s beginning to act on users’ behalf. These systems, known as agentic AI, can break down tasks and complete them automatically from start to finish. For example, an AI agent can plan and book a family holiday to Italy by comparing accommodation, transport and activities across platforms, factoring in schedules, costs and preferences; and remembering those choices for next time.

As more of these tasks are handed over to AI, trust and accountability are critical. Clear guardrails are needed to prevent errors, fraud or unintended commitments. In April, Mastercard launched Agent Pay, along with a new acceptance framework to support secure, agent-initiated payments. 

Brice van de Walle, EVP Core Payments Europe, Mastercard Europe says “Agentic commerce marks a fundamental shift in how people shop. Instead of static searches and checkouts, AI agents make the process more fluid and secure, handling payments smoothly while keeping customers in control. Agent Pay helps tie everything together, with transparency built in to support trust for both customers and partners.”

By 2026, agentic commerce globally and in Europe is expected to expand further, driven by multi-agent systems working together to accomplish a single task. 

AI is steadily gaining ground among small and medium-sized businesses, though adoption remains uneven. In recent research from Mastercard, we found around 39% of European SME founders now use AI regularly in their business, with uptake highest in Norway (62%), Denmark (56%), and Greece (52%). Younger entrepreneurs are leading the shift: 58% of Gen Z founders use AI regularly, compared with around 40% of older generations.

While over half of founders recognise AI’s potential, many have yet to put it into practice. Among those who do, AI is increasingly used as a decision-making tool, with nearly four in ten consulting it when unsure of the best course of action, rising to more than half among Gen Z founders. Conversational AI has helped drive adoption, making the technology more accessible and intuitive. 40% say they engage with AI more frequently because of its conversational capabilities. 

Practical benefits are also becoming clearer, from content creation to efficiency gains. 28% use AI for most of their written work and 39% report significant cost or time savings, particularly in Nordic countries and Greece.

Tulsi Narayan, EVP Commercial and New Payment Flows, Mastercard Europe says “AI can be a game-changer for small businesses, helping automate routine tasks, unlock insights, and compete more effectively in a digital-first economy. With many founders seeing AI’s potential but not yet using it, building digital confidence through the right tools is no longer optional; it’s essential for scaling smarter and faster.”

As AI tools become more powerful, an inevitable question follows: if businesses can use them, so can hackers and scammers. For companies built on e-commerce and digital payments, the consequences of a single cyber incident can be severe, ranging from reputational damage to the permanent loss of customer trust.

AI is also, unfortunately, making cybercriminals more effective. AI-powered tools let them quickly and easily create convincing phishing emails, texts and social media posts as well as both audio and video deepfakes. In a Mastercard-commissioned poll of 5,000 European consumers, while AI-generated fake content is European consumers’ biggest scam concern for the future, only 8% are very confident in their ability to identify AI-generated threats or scams if they are targeted by them.  

In parallel, cybersecurity firms are pushing ahead with their own AI-driven defences, building smarter tools and making them easier and more affordable for businesses to adopt. However, technological solutions alone are insufficient.

“AI is accelerating innovation across every industry, but it also magnifies the scale and sophistication of cyberthreats. Protecting businesses and consumers isn’t just about deploying AI-powered defences—it requires human expertise to provide context, continuous monitoring to spot emerging risks, and adaptive strategies that evolve alongside the threats” says Michele Centemero, EVP Services, Mastercard Europe.