The India AI Impact Summit 2026 continued its deep dive into the opportunities and challenges of the emerging AI economy with an insightful session on “Agentic Commerce: Trust, Tokens and ‘Know Your Agent’ for the AI Economy.” The discussion explored how agentic AI — autonomous systems capable of acting, reasoning, and transacting on behalf of humans — is redefining digital commerce through trusted identities, tokenized value systems, and accountability frameworks fit for the next decade.
Rethinking the Foundations of Digital Commerce
Moderated by Dr. Pankaj Jalote (IIIT Delhi), the panel brought together Dr. Prakhar Mehrotra (PayPal), Janet George (Mastercard), Arvind Jayaprakash (Glance), and Prag Sharma (Citi). They discussed how the new paradigm of agentic commerce requires a redesign of trust architectures and governance rules. Globally, this evolution aligns with a broader shift — from algorithm-driven recommendations to autonomous, explainable agents that can negotiate, purchase, or advise based on verified user intent. As major commerce and financial platforms integrate this capability, questions of verification, ethics, and identity have taken center stage.
Building Trust in Autonomous Agents
George underscored that agentic commerce introduces tremendous convenience but must first earn and sustain consumer trust. She noted that despite the rise of autonomous agents, storefronts retain their importance in building community and loyalty.
Jayaprakash added that keeping the user in the loop remains essential for oversight, validating that an agent’s decisions align with user intent.
MSMEs and the Global Paradigm Shift
Mehrotra highlighted PayPal’s belief that MSMEs should be integral participants in this new economy. He noted a shift where merchants are proactively requesting agentic AI integration — marking a departure from traditional top-down technology rollouts. Agentic AI, he emphasized, isn’t an incremental step from e-commerce but a fundamental reimagining of global digital trade.
Cryptographic Trust and Data Governance
Sharma stressed the importance of verified digital identities, explaining that trustworthy agents must incorporate layers of authentication, provenance, and chain-of-custody to uphold transparency. The session concluded with a discussion on data privacy, acknowledging that consumer data — while abundant — must be governed under strict, explainable protocols to avoid bias and misuse.
