Agentic commerce is a form of commerce in which an AI agent pursues a consumer or business objective by interpreting the goal, making decisions, and advancing the task through discovery, comparison, checkout initiation, or transaction completion within defined permissions and controls.
Commerce infrastructure for AI agents can supply machine-readable products, offers, checkout state, and policy signals, but it does not expand the authority granted to the agent. Depending on that authority, the agent may compare options, prepare an action, or execute an approved step; merchants and payment systems remain responsible for current terms, authorization, transaction acceptance, and fulfillment.
Where AON fits in agentic commerce
AON covers the offer-discovery and attribution layer. An AI product can send structured intent and appropriate context, receive eligible structured offers, control how they are presented, and preserve attribution when a user continues. Checkout, payment, order acceptance, and fulfillment remain with downstream commerce systems.
Read AON Core ConceptsA typical agentic commerce journey
Interpret the goal
The agent identifies the desired outcome, known constraints, and information it still needs.
Discover and compare
The agent retrieves relevant products, services, or commercial offers and evaluates their fit.
Present or prepare an action
The agent explains useful options, prepares a cart or booking, or asks for a required decision.
Obtain authority
The user or an approved mandate determines what the agent may submit, confirm, or purchase.
Complete through responsible systems
Merchant, checkout, payment, and fulfillment systems validate and execute the transaction.
Levels of autonomy in agentic commerce
The level of autonomy in agentic commerce is determined by the authority granted to the agent and the points at which human confirmation remains required.
- 01Advisory
The agent researches and compares options, while the user chooses what to do next.
- 02Assisted action
The agent prepares information or opens the relevant merchant flow, but the user confirms key steps.
- 03Delegated action
The agent performs defined actions within explicit limits, merchant rules, and payment controls.
- 04Policy-governed automation
A business agent acts under organizational purchasing policies, budgets, and approval requirements.
- A recommendation or offer response is not a payment mandate or merchant-confirmed order.
- Attribution and commission settlement can support a business model, but they are not required components of every agentic-commerce system.
Agentic commerce vs AI commerce
AI commerce is the broader use of artificial intelligence across commerce. Agentic commerce specifically describes systems that pursue a commercial goal through decisions or actions rather than only generating content, predictions, or recommendations. See the Artificial intelligence (AI) commerce definition.
Example in practice
A design agency asks its procurement assistant to find 20 seats of project-management software from approved vendors. The assistant queries AON, compares eligible subscription offers against the team’s stated requirements, and asks an authorized employee to approve the preferred option. AON records the offer handoff; the software vendor confirms the plan, account terms, checkout, and payment.
Common questions about agentic commerce
Does agentic commerce require an AI agent to complete the purchase?
No. Agentic commerce can include discovery, comparison, and checkout preparation while the user retains final approval. More autonomous execution is one operating model, not a universal requirement.
How is agentic commerce different from an AI recommendation?
Agentic commerce involves goal-directed decisions or actions that advance a commercial task. A recommendation becomes part of an agentic flow when the system can do more than describe options—for example, compare against constraints, prepare checkout, or act within delegated limits.
What authority can an AI agent have in agentic commerce?
An AI agent has only the authority explicitly granted for the task. Product, merchant, and payment controls enforce scopes, spending limits, approvals, authentication, and any required user confirmation.
What infrastructure does agentic commerce require?
The required components depend on the workflow, but can include machine-readable product or offer data, discovery and eligibility services, merchant checkout, payment authorization, identity or policy controls, and attribution. These layers remain separate even when an agent coordinates the user experience.
Does AON complete purchases for users?
No. AON supplies structured offers and attribution infrastructure. The merchant or its checkout and payment providers remain responsible for the transaction.
Sources
- AON Core ConceptsAON documentation
- Visa Intelligent CommerceIndustry source
- Mastercard agentic commerce explainerIndustry source
- Stripe guide to agentic commerceIndustry source
- Universal Commerce ProtocolRelated standard