Visa has announced a major new partnership with leading artificial intelligence developers aimed at integrating AI-powered shopping assistants directly into its global payments network. The initiative, unveiled on Wednesday, could allow consumers to delegate tasks like online purchases and budgeting to digital agents operating within set spending limits.
The project brings together Visa with major players in the tech industry including Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, IBM, Samsung, Stripe, France’s Mistral, and Perplexity. Pilot testing of the service began this week, with wider rollout expected in 2026.
According to Visa’s chief product and strategy officer Jack Forestell, the move represents a potential turning point for digital commerce. “We think this could be really important — transformational, on the order of magnitude of the advent of e-commerce itself,” he said.
Under the new system, users will be able to give AI agents permission to manage spending on their behalf. The agents would be able to research, compare, and complete purchases automatically, provided they stay within predefined budgets or limits.
While digital assistants can already recommend products, Forestell said most current models fall short when it comes to completing transactions. “The early incarnations of agent-based commerce are starting to do a really good job on the shopping and discovery dimension… but they are having tremendous trouble on payments,” he explained.
Visa aims to fill that gap by allowing AI systems to interface directly with its trusted payments infrastructure. Forestell emphasized that payment security and consumer trust would be central, with built-in vetting procedures similar to those used in digital wallets like Apple Pay.
The development comes as AI developers seek to build competitive alternatives to the commerce ecosystems dominated by tech giants like Amazon and Google. With Visa’s global payments expertise, emerging firms hope to offer new forms of AI-powered online shopping.
Although some fear AI could lead to more impulsive spending, Visa says the new tools will help consumers remain in control. AI agents will operate under strict parameters and spending caps. For example, a user might instruct an agent to find and book a flight within a $1,500 limit, or purchase household items up to a set amount.
Eventually, AI agents may learn from users’ past spending habits. Perplexity’s chief business officer, Dmitry Shevelenko, said Visa’s data-sharing capabilities — when consented to by users — could help AI provide more tailored recommendations.
While still in its early stages, this collaboration marks a significant step toward merging artificial intelligence and everyday financial decision-making, with Visa betting that automated shopping will soon move from concept to common practice.
