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The future of commerce is evolving rapidly, with technology giants like Walmart stepping into the realm of agentic commerce (a-commerce). Hari Vasudev, Walmart's CTO, envisions AI-powered agents interacting directly, revolutionizing the way companies engage with consumers.
Chatbots 2.0
Imagine shopping bots that are far more than mere price-comparison tools. Agents in a-commerce can engage in rich conversations and data exchanges, enhancing connections between consumers and retailers. They can provide recommendations, share product information, and get insights about consumer preferences—all while keeping the human touch.
Interestingly, Salesforce has already unveiled its Agentforce platform, enabling retailers to build AI agents that can interact seamlessly with their systems. The aim is to have thousands of customers on the platform, interacting with these intelligent agents by 2025.
But what if a retailer doesn't have an agent? The solution lies in APIs. By using APIs, agents can access necessary data to perform tasks. At the Merchant Payments Ecosystem conference in Berlin, the Open Banking Project demonstrated this concept with their Opey agent, which synthesized information from various API endpoints to accomplish tasks efficiently.
Manus AI: The Real-World Pioneer
For a snapshot of the future, take a look at Manus AI. Assign it a task, like booking conference tickets and hotels, and watch as it effortlessly navigates the web, using existing models to interact with the internet and complete the task autonomously. Manus AI, developed by its creators, serves as a catalyst for a new era of experimentation in the a-commerce landscape.
Not everyone is excited about this shift from e-commerce to a-commerce. For instance, DoorDash executives have expressed concerns about the impact on their business, specifically the decrease in human visitors to their site if only agents interact with them. However, this opens up new possibilities, such as advertising to bots through verifiable attestations—response times, server uptimes, hallucinations, or whatever else.
A New Commercial Landscape
As more businesses adopt AI agents, payments and identity systems will become critical components of the a-commerce landscape. Agents will transact and negotiate dynamically on behalf of individuals, businesses, and even other AI agents, creating a radically different commercial environment.
The use of stablecoins is expected to drive this change, enabling the dynamic, decentralized environment that agents require. David Minarsch, a core contributor to the OLAS open-source software stack, sees a bright future for a-commerce with the integration of stablecoins.
Agent Discovery and Reputation
Two key issues in a-commerce are agent discovery and reputation. For agent discovery, imagine a system of decentralized directories or registries that maintain a list of active agents and their capabilities. Meanwhile, the equivalent of social media would help agents form connections based on past interactions, making future discoveries more straightforward.
For agent reputation, a more universal identification system will be essential in the future. Once agents have identities, they can earn credentials based on their performance. These credentials will help businesses evaluate and trust AI agents, leading to a more efficient and secure marketplace.
While there are challenges in implementing a-commerce, such as data privacy and competition, the potential benefits to businesses and consumers alike make it an exciting frontier in the world of commerce.
- Fintech companies, like Open Banking Project, are developing bots that can interact with API endpoints, providing retailers without AI agents the means to engage in a-commerce.
- In the near future, retailers using Salesforce's Agentforce platform could interact with AI agents, revolutionizing retail interactions and possibly incentivizing advertising directly to these bots.
- As more retailers adopt AI agents in a-commerce, platforms like Manus AI could become integral, facilitating tasks such as booking conference tickets and hotels, demonstrating the potential for these agents to transform the retail landscape.
