In the rapidly evolving world of commerce, the term "agentic commerce" is being whispered in the hallways of startups, enterprises, and boardrooms alike. As Violetta Bonenkamp, a serial entrepreneur and innovation expert, I see this trend as much more than just a technical advancement, it's a paradigm shift in how businesses, customers, and artificial intelligence connect. Adyen, a prominent payment solutions pioneer, has taken the spotlight with its merchant-first approach to agentic commerce. But what exactly does this entail, and how can entrepreneurs like you prepare for this revolutionary leap forward? Let’s take a closer look.
What Is Agentic Commerce?
In its simplest definition, agentic commerce refers to the use of AI-driven agents to facilitate shopping. Instead of humans manually browsing, comparing, and buying items, artificial intelligence executes transactions based on a consumer’s specific preferences, pre-set rules, and real-time interactions. For instance, imagine telling your AI assistant, "Buy me the softest socks available under $20," and within moments, the order is placed, and even the size is selected based on your past purchases.
Adyen has positioned itself at the forefront of this transformation. Agentic commerce, while offering exciting possibilities for frictionless purchasing, raises as many questions about the control merchants hold over customer relationships and data integrity. Adyen’s approach? Redefining these concerns as opportunities.
How Adyen Is Leading the Agentic Commerce Revolution
Adyen’s carefully crafted, merchant-centric framework breaks down the transition to this new era in commerce into actionable components. Here’s how.
1. Prioritizing Merchant Control
AI purchasing agents have the potential to disintermediate merchants, pushing businesses into the shadows while technology giants or intermediaries monopolize customer relationships. Adyen has boldly stated its commitment to ensuring merchants remain the primary stakeholders in commerce ecosystems. They assert that agents must integrate into existing ecosystems rather than usurping control over payments or customer data.
This aligns with a growing concern: what happens when customers rely more on agents and less on brands? Adyen's standpoint protects the lifeblood of businesses: their ability to own their brand story, control their product narrative, and build long-term customer relationships.
2. Seamless Integration into Current Ecosystems
Changing payment structures to accommodate AI-driven transactions could terrify many merchants. Entrepreneurs know how painful it is to adapt to new systems mid-business growth. Adyen reassures businesses by ensuring agentic commerce solutions plug into their current workflows and tokenization systems without added complexity.
By maintaining the "merchant of record," they ensure businesses retain the autonomy and flexibility they need, an aspect I deeply respect as someone who has had to navigate major scale-ups myself through my startups.
3. Loyalty Programs Revolutionized
For someone who has spent years studying customer behavior, it's clear that traditional loyalty programs will evolve dramatically with agentic commerce. Adyen ensures that AI purchasing agents apply consistent loyalty credits from merchants, honoring deals, discounts, and personalized pricing. This guarantees that your most loyal customers are rewarded appropriately, even when delegating their decisions to AI.
Why Should Entrepreneurs Care?
If you're an entrepreneur, you're inevitably asking: What does this mean for me?
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Opportunity for Efficiency: AI agents can speed up purchasing cycles, reduce errors, and ensure customer satisfaction. Think about restocks happening seamlessly without the customer lifting a finger, this kind of business model is poised to lock in secure, repeat sales for the merchants ready to adapt.
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Customer Relationship Paradigm Shift: Trust will no longer be built directly between a merchant and a customer, it will be between a merchant and a customer’s AI assistant. This requires careful consideration of how to "sell" your offering not just to humans, but to artificial intelligence too. As McKinsey brilliantly pointed out in their agentic commerce insights, businesses must now think in terms of being "AI discoverable."
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Data Ownership Is Key: Data drives everything. Be vigilant; in an industry moving toward agentic commerce, retaining ownership and access to your customer data will keep you competitive. Adyen is already laying a foundation where merchants retain this critical asset.
How to Embrace Agentic Commerce
As someone who combines disciplines for innovative solutions, I believe the question is not if businesses should adapt to agentic commerce, but how. Follow these steps to future-proof your business:
1. Stay Ahead of Standards
Adyen and Google are already setting foundational standards for interoperability via initiatives like Google AP2 Protocol. Keep up with these frameworks to ensure your technology stack is ready.
2. Invest in Agent-Friendly Infrastructure
Beyond payments, think about how agentic commerce will reshape front-end systems (like product pages tailored for AI interpretation) and back-end structures like inventory automation and fraud monitoring.
3. Educate and Collaborate
Collaboration, which I practice extensively at Fe/male Switch, can be a game-changer. Use platforms like Miro and Figma to involve your team in brainstorming how AI can simplify your sales journeys while amplifying your brand’s voice.
4. Build for Trust
Agentic commerce emphasizes the need for trust, if your product isn’t credible, not even algorithms will recommend it. Build trust with transparent pricing, solid customer support, and robust security protections.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid in Agentic Commerce
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Neglecting to Upgrade Security
AI-driven transactions are a honeypot for fraudsters. Robust cybersecurity measures, like encrypted APIs and tokenized payment systems, are non-negotiable. -
Over-delegating to AI
While harnessing agent-driven tools, don’t forget to maintain your brand’s unique voice. The most successful merchants will capitalize on automation while preserving authentic customer interactions. -
Ignoring the Role of A2A (Agent-to-Agent) Negotiations
Adyen, PayPal, and others are working on resource-intensive solutions for A2A protocols, which will enable nuanced, contextualized negotiations. Ignore these trends, and your products might not make the cut when these agents transact.
Looking Ahead
I see agentic commerce as a future-defining development. As startups scramble to stay relevant and enterprises seek efficiencies, payment solution companies like Adyen are paving paths of opportunity. This is not just about simplifying transactions, but about building ecosystems where technology, and people, thrive together.
Entrepreneurs must act now to align their strategies with the coming AI-led commerce landscape. Whether you’re building an online store or specializing in SaaS, being "AI-rewarding and agent-discoverable" will soon be critical measurements of success. You don’t have to be a tech giant like Adyen to benefit, but you do need to keep learning, adapting, and innovating, core values I personally stand by.
If you want to dive deeper into Adyen's merchant-first approach to agentic commerce, I highly recommend reading this comprehensive Finextra analysis. It’s packed with actionable insights that can significantly shape your strategy.
As I always tell my innovators at Fe/male Switch: the future doesn’t wait. Prepare today. Stay bold, stay curious, and stay in control.
FAQ
1. What is agentic commerce?
Agentic commerce leverages AI-driven agents to automate shopping and decision-making for consumers. These agents act based on the user’s preferences, executing purchases seamlessly. Learn more about agentic commerce insights from McKinsey’s article.
2. How is Adyen contributing to agentic commerce?
Adyen focuses on merchant-first principles in agentic commerce, ensuring businesses maintain control of payments, customer loyalty programs, and data relationships even with AI integrations. Dive into Adyen’s approach on Finextra.
3. What are the benefits of agentic commerce for merchants?
Agentic commerce simplifies transactions, enhances efficiency, and aids in securing repeat sales with AI agents handling purchases autonomously. It also helps merchants tailor their offerings to be favorable to AI algorithms. Read about agentic AI in payments at Fintech Wrap Up.
4. What risks does agentic commerce pose for merchants?
The major risks include losing direct relationships with customers, data ownership challenges, and potential exposure to fraud due to AI agents governing transactions. Learn more about merchant concerns in agentic commerce from Payments Dive.
5. How can businesses prepare for agentic commerce?
Businesses can adapt by updating their technology stacks to support AI transactions, investing in interoperable protocols like Google AP2, and ensuring they remain "AI discoverable." Explore how merchants can prepare for agentic commerce with Reaktor’s overview.
6. What is Adyen’s merchant-first framework for agentic commerce?
Adyen’s framework includes four principles: AI agents acting on behalf of real customers, seamless merchant payment integration, recognition across channels, and strengthening merchant ownership of customer data. Learn about Adyen’s merchant-first foundation.
7. What role do loyalty programs play in agentic commerce?
Adyen emphasizes the seamless application of loyalty rewards through AI agents, ensuring consistent honor of deals and personalized pricing for loyal customers. Discover Adyen’s approach to loyalty in agentic commerce on Medium.
8. How will payment standards evolve with agentic commerce?
Standards for AI-agent transactions require interoperability, robust security, and adherence to protocols like Google AP2 and Visa Trusted Agent Protocols. Dive into Mastercard’s Agent Pay initiative and Google’s AP2.
9. What innovations are emerging in agentic payments?
Organizations like PayPal and Stripe are introducing toolkits for AI agent-based transactions, alongside partnerships to develop agent-friendly ecosystems. Discover emerging agentic payment innovations here.
10. Why should entrepreneurs embrace agentic commerce now?
For entrepreneurs, preparing early provides a competitive edge in an AI-driven future of commerce. This includes adopting transparent practices, educating customers, and investing in AI-friendly frameworks. Find strategies for agentic commerce on Fintech Wrap Up.
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.
