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AI

September 15, 2026

 

The agentic commerce revolution has arrived. What comes next?

Commerce leaders debated how trust and control over the consumer shopping experience is being reshaped by agentic AI.

Sherri Haymond speaks at an executive roundtable.

Mastercard's Sherri Haymond shares her insights on the future of agentic commerce at an executive roundtable organized by Mastercard and PYMNTS. (Photo credit: Jane Chu)

John Flowers

Contributor

Half of American adults — about 132 million people — have bought something at retail with AI help, and 22% now begin online retail search in an AI tool, according to a new report from data and media company PYMNTS.

All of which points to the question: Will AI elves take the reins of holiday shopping this year?

The coming shopping season — and the longer-term future of agentic commerce — took center stage at last week’s executive roundtable of industry heavyweights convened by Mastercard and PYMNTS at Mastercard’s New York City Tech Hub. About three dozen attendees representing tech, merchants, issuers and other major actors in e-commerce grappled with how best to utilize agentic AI and how to build trust with consumers.

“There is a lot of alignment around a willingness to experiment,” said Sherri Haymond, Mastercard’s executive vice president and global head of Digital Commercialization, but, she added, solutions won’t be one size fits all.

Here are three takeaways. 

 

Don't worry if you can't see the finish line

Many agreed that a large-scale shift to agentic commerce will unfold over years. That’s in part because, as Chiro Aikat, Mastercard’s U.S. co-president said, “shopping isn’t just a computation. It’s also a feeling, and it’s emotional.”

Few suggested personal shopping agents will become the dominant force for all kinds of retail, and no one could agree what kind of businesses will benefit most. PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster, who moderated the event, asked if anyone believed that this new kind of search may end up driving shoppers to the same, familiar retail names. Some suggested it may, while others thought the experience could introduce shoppers to new, more niche retailers. 

 

Building trust among consumers is key

Many executives noted it’s easy to get people to use agentic commerce to buy items that are low risk, like paper towels. But how do you convince them to buy luxury items like jewelry? Part of the problem is some of the recent negative stories about autonomous AI.

As the tech exec for one major retailer noted, “They read a headline, and I think they think twice, about whether or not I want an agent to have my credit card.”

But participants did identify ways to assuage consumers’ fears. Several attendees suggested building trust during the “post-purchase” phase — the communication and expectations management between merchants and customers after an item is ordered. Merchants learned the power of open communications with e-commerce and should continue to apply those lessons with AI purchases. 

 

Agentic commerce will only scale if it preserves the incentives and produces better results for everyone in the ecosystem.

Gaurang Shah

   

Trust also needs to be built with merchants

Merchants are eager to experiment, said Gaurang Shah, Mastercard’s executive vice president of Global Acceptance and Merchant Services, but they’re also worried about making their websites “too discoverable,” leading to a loss of control over the shopping experience.

That concern has been forefront in the minds of merchants since e-commerce began. Essentially, they worry the AI agent will commandeer the customer relationship, leave retailers as little more than a back-end warehouse fulfilling requests. Loyalty and customer data would then accrue to the shopping agents, not the retailer.

Those concerns are understandable, but that future is not inevitable, Shah said in a later interview. Mastercard, for example, has designed its latest agentic capabilities to give merchants control over how agents interact with their brands, products and customers, from pricing to inventory to the shopping experience. “Agentic commerce will only scale if it preserves the incentives and produces better results for everyone in the ecosystem,” he says. 

 

The rules are still being written

For all the debate, participants agreed on one thing: Agentic commerce is still in its early days, and missteps aren’t proof of failure. As one retail technology executive said, “It’s way too early to say, ‘This method doesn’t work.’”

The new rules of the road for agentic commerce

Learn how Mastercard is setting standards and building the tools that scale AI-powered commerce for seamless, personalized shopping and growth.

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