Handing your wallet to an AI agent may sound risky until you realize it already knows your coffee preference, your sneaker size, and your favourite brands. The technology of shopping agents isn’t some far-off fantasy; it’s already here. 

Generative AI (GenAI) platforms are already making recommendations, so letting AI agents shop for you is logical and convenient. However, the missing link is a seamless payment infrastructure that is safe for consumers and acceptable to merchants.

Visa is embracing this shift by developing the infrastructure that lets consumers have AI agents not just search but also pay. But allowing consumers choose how much control they relinquish and how much they retain.

A major part of this evolution is Visa’s new initiative—Visa Intelligent Commerce—aimed at integrating AI into digital payments. As part of its Global Product Drop, the initiative signals a shift toward more autonomous and seamless online shopping experiences. While Visa isn’t building AI agents itself, it has created the e-commerce infrastructure to support these agentic transactions.

On the sidelines of the global product drop, Fast Company Middle East had an exclusive conversation with Oliver Jenkyn, Group President, Global Markets at Visa, who explained how the company is staying ahead of changing consumer behavior. Along with agentic commerce, Visa is focused on offering products like Flex Credential and Visa Pay— tools that strike the balance between convenience and control.

AGE OF AGENTIC COMMERCE 

When discussing agentic commerce and the potential shift of consumers turning into delegators, Jenkyn highlights that consumers will likely decide which types of purchases they’re comfortable delegating. For everyday, low-risk items like toothpaste, he suggests consumers will happily let AI handle it. However, for more personal or higher-value purchases, such as fashion or travel, he believes consumers will still prefer to maintain control, using AI to assist with research but ultimately making the final decision themselves.

He highlights, “I might use generative AI to help with the initial search, but I’d want it to return to me so I can make the final decision and stay in control. There’ll be a range of scenarios, and some demographics may be more comfortable delegating than others.”

Jenkyn also shares a personal story about using an AI agent to purchase his daughter’s birthday gift. While he may have faced criticism for outsourcing such a personal task, he points out that the AI helped him choose a better gift. On the other hand, many still view shopping as a form of self-care and may be hesitant to give up that personal experience. Ultimately, Jenkyn believes a balance will emerge between convenience and control as consumers navigate these choices.

He further clarifies Visa’s role in this shift. “Our job is to support whatever decision the consumer makes. We’re not here to dictate choices, but if they want to delegate, we can help make that happen with the right permissions and controls.”

As Jenkyn explains, Visa’s goal is to offer flexibility. He says, “If consumers prefer to retain control, we can integrate AI while still allowing them to review purchases before finalizing. For instance, they might say, ‘I’m not sure about that sweater. Bring it back to me for a final decision.’”

He emphasizes that Visa’s approach is agnostic, focusing on enabling consumers to use the technology as they see fit, without pushing them toward any particular choice.

VISA’S ROLE IN THE EVOLVING ECOSYSTEM

Visa’s move into AI commerce is backed by a growing list of collaborators, including OpenAI, Perplexity, Microsoft, Anthropic, and Mistral. When it comes to who will build the AI agents that power agentic commerce, Jenkyn is clear: it won’t be Visa. Instead, he expects the heavy lifting will be done by the major digital platforms, such as OpenAI, Google, and Meta. These tech giants will design and develop the agents and the platforms where consumers begin shopping journeys.

“Our job isn’t to build the agents,” says Jenkyn. “We’re not the platform, we’re the plug-in.” He likens Visa’s role to a USB port: a ready-made connection that allows AI developers to easily integrate payment capabilities into their agents.

Visa’s focus is on providing APIs that handle payments securely. That way, AI developers can concentrate on building the broader experience while leaving the complex world of payments to Visa. “In our conversations with OpenAI,” he shares, “they’ve said, ‘Perfect, if you’ve got payments covered, we can focus on the rest.’”

Ultimately, consumers will interact with these tech platforms directly. The user interface, shopping experience, and AI agents will all live there. Visa’s role will be to quietly power the transaction layer, ensuring that when an agent does make a purchase, the payment just works.

Visa Intelligent Commerce brings a suite of integrated APIs enabling developers to deploy Visa’s AI commerce capabilities securely and at scale. The AI-Ready cards will replace card details with tokenized digital credentials, enhancing consumer security and simplifying payment processes. They confirm that an agent is authorized to act on a consumer’s behalf. And only the consumer can instruct the agent on what to do and when to activate a payment credential.

Agents can further personalize shopping recommendations based on spend and purchase insights. Consumers will be able to easily set spending limits and conditions, providing clear guidelines for the agent. 

NEW PRODUCTS AND INNOVATIONS

When asked about Visa’s new products, Jenkyn highlighted a few that stand out, not because they are flashy but because they break long-standing conventions. “Sometimes, innovation doesn’t have to be wildly revolutionary to have a huge impact,” he says. “It just has to break existing paradigms.”

One example is Flex Credential, a product that gained traction after being introduced last year. Traditionally, a credit card was tied to a credit account, a debit card to a debit account, and so on. Flex Credential changes that by introducing a single, flexible payment credential that supports various types of money movement—credit, debit, prepaid, or others.

For banks, it’s a technical unlock. For consumers, it simplifies how they manage their finances. “If you’re a bank offering Flex Credential, you’re no longer just the credit card provider. You’re also the core bank account, the travel prepaid card. That deepens the relationship with your customer.”

He also points to Visa Pay and Visa Accept as two products tackling different sides of the same challenge: reaching underserved segments. 

Explaining Visa Pay, Jenkyn says it’s designed to extend the utility of closed-loop wallets, which are widely used in many Asian markets. “Think of it as embedding a piece of Visa into these domestic wallets,” he says. Users can continue making local payments using their usual QR codes or methods. Still, when they travel internationally, Visa Pay enables those same wallets to work globally, anywhere Visa is accepted.

Building on that, Jenkyn explains that Visa Pay acts as a bridge, working within closed-loop wallets for domestic transactions and tapping into Visa’s global network when users travel. It’s a broader effort to make cross-border payments seamless through partnerships with local digital wallets.

On the other end, Visa Accept is focused on small and micro sellers, particularly in emerging markets, where Visa typically sees strong adoption among mid-to-large merchants but less so at the grassroots level. “For small sellers who can’t afford card-reading hardware, Visa Accept turns any smartphone into a point-of-sale,” he says. All it takes is a mobile device and a debit card—no terminals, no extra cost.

Jenkyn describes Visa Accept as a game-changer for small and micro merchants. “As long as you’ve got a smartphone and a debit card, you’re good to go,” he says. Vendors can turn their phones into payment terminals with a simple software download. No additional hardware is needed. It’s a low-barrier way for sellers in cash-dominant or underserved markets to tap into the digital economy.

Together, these products expand Visa’s reach into areas the company hadn’t effectively captured before, offering new ways for consumers and merchants to engage with the brand.

FINTECH AND ECOMMERCE 

When working with both fintechs and neobanks, Jenkyn says Visa’s role isn’t to choose sides, but to provide a level playing field. “Our job is to offer the best technology platform possible and let innovation happen on top of it,” he explains. Whether it’s a fintech, a neobank, or a traditional financial institution, the focus is on enabling all players to build and compete.

“We don’t pick winners and losers,” he adds. “If a neobank comes up with a great idea and consumers love it, they’ll win. If a traditional bank improves its services and gains traction, that’s great too. Our focus is on maintaining the strongest possible platform and letting the best ideas rise.”

As e-commerce continues to grow in the Middle East, certain friction points remain, particularly in markets like Egypt and some parts of the GCC. However, there is much room for innovation and growth regarding the future of digital payments, particularly in historically cash-driven regions.

Visa operates across 200 countries and territories but categorizes these regions into distinct market archetypes. For example, in Asia, countries like Australia, Vietnam, and Indonesia face different dynamics, with Australia having more in common with markets like the UK or Canada. On the other hand, Indonesia shares more similarities with countries such as Colombia, Chile, and Egypt. This approach helps Visa better understand the diverse challenges and opportunities in each market, including the evolving landscape of e-commerce and the shift from cash to digital payments in regions like Egypt.

“We run our company by five regions, but we also have market archetypes that allow markets in different parts of the world, facing similar trends, to talk to one another,” he says. “Egypt is a perfect example. I was in Cairo mid-last year, and it is a perfect example of where that archetype stands regarding cash-heavy usage, and what the government and regulators are doing to adjust the market.” He adds, “I’ve seen similar things happening at a dozen other markets around the world, and now we have the country managers from all those regions talking to one another, sharing ideas about what’s working and what’s not.”

While discussing innovation and exciting developments happening globally, the reality is that much of the work with teams and clients focuses on the basics, such as getting more cardholders, increasing card usage, and encouraging more merchants to accept cards. 

“When I go to markets in the Middle East, I see it as one of the highest potential markets for Visa in the world,” Jenkyn says. “It’s a huge market with a high level of sophistication and so much opportunity, not just for big-picture innovation, but also for small, impactful innovations.” 

THE FUTURE

Looking ahead to 2026, the conversation will likely center around AI commerce 2.0. “At the top of the list next year will be AI commerce 2.0,” Jenkyn explains. “What we announced is exciting and real, but it’s just the beginning of the journey. In truth, we have weeks, even months, to start changing consumer and seller behavior.” 

The focus will be on the progress made over the year: “When we sit together next year, we’ll discuss what we’ve accomplished, what we’re focusing on, and how steep that adoption curve is. How can we make it steeper?” 

The second major topic will involve AI from a security perspective. “AI will also be a major topic, but from the bad guys’ side, how they’re using AI to generate more fraud and identity theft. And, importantly, what are we doing to keep that under control?”

Regarding the timing of innovations, he anticipates early developments by 2025. “We’re opening the sandbox, and our most advanced issuers will begin testing immediately. Some of the more complex use cases will emerge over the summer, with pilot tests,” Jenkyn says. “Later in the year, you’ll start to see these innovations being rolled out more broadly, which will be incredibly exciting.”