Mastercard Debuts New Tools to Help Businesses Tackle Agentic AI

Mastercard introduced Mastercard Agent Suite, a platform designed to help enterprises integrate agentic artificial intelligence into their operations and customer interactions, according to a Tuesday (Jan. 27) press release.

The launch reflects a broader push by the payments giant to position itself at the center of what the release called the “agentic era” of commerce.

Mastercard’s Agent Suite combines customizable AI agents, technical support and guidance from the company’s global advisory teams, the release said. The suite is built on Mastercard’s payments infrastructure, data insights and existing AI capabilities, and it aims to help businesses develop, test and deploy AI agents tailored to their needs. The company plans to make the suite available in the second quarter.

“Readiness is the new competitive advantage,” Kaushik Gopal, head of insights and intelligence for Mastercard, said in the release.

Nearly one-third of enterprise software applications are expected to incorporate agentic AI by 2028, the release said, citing data from eMarketer, highlighting the urgency for businesses to prepare now.

The initial use cases for Agent Suite focus on intelligent product discovery and conversational shopping experiences, according to the release. For financial institutions, this could mean AI agents suggesting tailored banking products like travel cards or fee-saving accounts and explaining the rationale behind each recommendation. For merchants, the suite could power personalized shopping assistants that factor in inventory rules, pricing, brand voice and customer preferences.

These AI-driven experiences will help improve conversion and engagement while making commerce more seamless and intuitive.

Mastercard is positioning Agent Suite as part of a broader portfolio of AI-enabled commerce technologies that includes Mastercard Agent Pay, which supports secure agent-initiated payments, and the Mastercard Developers Agent Toolkit for software creators. The company’s Start Path startup engagement program will also expand its focus on agentic commerce, providing early-stage innovators with access to the Mastercard ecosystem.

The launch could be a part of a larger wave of investment from payments networks and tech companies to define the infrastructure for AI-driven commerce and payments. Partnerships with protocol initiatives and open standards, such as the Universal Commerce Protocol, aim to ensure interoperability between AI agents and digital platforms at scale.

Mastercard’s push into agentic commerce builds on earlier moves to center trust and safety in the emerging AI payments ecosystem. In October, Mastercard and PayPal announced a partnership to pilot the Agent Pay Acceptance Framework, designed to ensure that AI-initiated payments meet stringent security and verification standards for consumers and merchants.

Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach said during an earnings call in October that the company sees a long runway for agentic commerce, with the firm collaborating with OpenAI, Google and Cloudflare to set safety and technical standards as AI agents begin transacting over the Mastercard network.

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