What would change if artificial intelligence were added to online commerce? Probably nothing much if it were a single store or even a large marketplace. But what if it were done by Visa, a company that processes transactions for millions of buyers and merchants around the world and also has exclusive access to each of their spending histories?
What would change if artificial intelligence were added to online commerce? Probably nothing much if it were a single store or even a large marketplace. But what if it were done by Visa, a company that processes transactions for millions of buyers and merchants around the world and also has exclusive access to each of their spending histories?
The result could probably be a change in shopping behavior as such. And now I’ll tell you what I mean.
Yesterday, in San Francisco, where Visa is headquartered, the concept of e-commerce of the future was presented — Visa Intelligent Commerce .
I have a summary for you in plain human language. And believe me, really serious changes are coming.
Here’s what you need to know and understand about it:
At a presentation in San Francisco, Jack Forstill, Visa’s Chief Product and Strategy Officer, showed on stage how such an agent with access to Visa data would work. The agent’s task was to plan and pay for a vacation for a Visa manager in Miami. He first showed the manager on a computer screen what flight, accommodation and vacation options were currently available.
These were proposals that fit within the manager’s budget, but did not always suit him perfectly or meet his interests.
«The AI agent offered me a beach vacation, but I hate the beach,» he said.
However, the manager loves deep-sea fishing. The next experiment: the manager gave the AI agent the opportunity to connect his behavioral data with Visa.
And the AI agent immediately suggested that instead of relaxing on the beach, rent a yacht and go fishing (which is the manager’s favorite hobby).
Other offers were also adjusted to the manager’s personal profile, which had been formed at Visa over the years.
The user remains in control. This is something that Visa representatives have repeatedly emphasized. That is, the AI agent will still ask the user to agree to the proposed expense/
The data tokens that Visa transfers to AI agents do not contain any personal information about the customer. Only general characteristics of their user behavior. These can be such features as hobbies, food tastes, certain requirements for hotels, stores, and so on.
The first AI agents in e-commerce based on Visa tokens will likely be offered by the first partners. These are the following firms: Anthropic, IBM, Microsoft, Mistral AI, OpenAI, Perplexity, Stripe, and Samsung.
That is, we can expect that in the near future ChatGPT will have an option for purchases to be made by an agent with your card, with your permission. Or, in Samsung’s own digital ecosystem, an assistant will appear on its gadgets that will plan purchases.
But, as I managed to find out, Visa will soon open the API. This should happen this year. That is, other companies will be able to create AI assistants with access to the financial data of Visa customers. As the Visa representative I spoke with emphasizes, it may even be a Ukrainian bank that wants to develop an AI assistant for its customers. So, mono, we are already waiting for the appearance of the cat-agent.
Visa’s commercial motivation for this project is to increase the volume of card use on the Internet. The more transactions, the more profitable the company. Visa representatives believe that we are standing on the threshold of a new era in commerce, where users will hand over routine purchases to artificial intelligence. And Visa wants to become the first technology company to provide such an opportunity. Although, of course, how everything will develop further is largely a black box. That is, no one knows for sure.
There are many unanswered questions about how online shopping will change with the advent of AI agents that will buy goods instead of people. For example, how will conventional advertising work now? It is unlikely that an AI agent will make an emotional purchase because it saw a bright banner on the Internet or received a recommendation from a friend. Everything will be different somehow. But how?
The same question applies to the principle by which AI agents will choose merchants' offers. Why will they give preference? How will they rank the offers?
And of course, it could be that the merchant also connects an AI agent-seller to his store. So, at least two human agents will meet on the Internet: an AI seller and an AI buyer. I wonder how they will negotiate with each other. And if we add an AI intermediary here? :) Then someone will also make money at our expense. Or not?
Ultimately, Visa has only come up with a concept and is providing a technological opportunity to the market. It remains to be seen how people will use it.
Visa has 4.8 billion cards. If they support AI, it opens up a huge market with huge opportunities.
