Understanding Agentic AI and Why Companies Care About It

This week brought exciting news about agentic AI, which is artificial intelligence that doesn't just answer questions or create things—it actually takes action on your behalf. Think of it like having a personal assistant who understands exactly what you need and can go do things for you. Throughout history, big inventions changed how people shop. The cash register changed bookkeeping, the barcode changed how stores work worldwide, and the internet changed everything about shopping by bringing stores to your home. Now, agentic AI is the next big change that will reshape shopping and banking forever.

eBay's Big Move into AI Shopping

eBay announced it's testing AI shopping agents with help from OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT. According to eBay's CEO Jamie Iannone, the company spent two years investing in AI technology and is now using it to help both buyers and sellers. eBay created something called 'magical listing' technology that helps sellers create product listings easier and faster. The company built its own special AI language models that work faster and cost less than other AI systems. eBay's AI shopping agent gives buyers a new way to shop by picking products that match exactly what they want, like having an expert shopper who knows your style and budget. The platform is so powerful because eBay has 30 years of information about products, prices, and what people buy.

How Shopping Will Change for Everyone

According to a Google Cloud executive, agentic commerce means shopping will completely change. Instead of clicking through websites and comparing prices yourself, your personal AI agent will do this work for you. Imagine telling your AI assistant: 'I'm going camping next month and need comfortable clothes' and the agent finds outfits in your style and budget, compares prices from different stores, and shows you the best options. For merchants and store owners, this creates new ways to connect with customers. They can create branded AI agents that talk to your personal AI agent, sharing information about what you like so you get better recommendations. Some stores might even work together through AI agents—if Store A doesn't have something you want, its AI agent can contact Store B's AI agent to find the item and complete the sale.

Banks and Financial Companies Embracing AI Agents

In the banking world, AI became the top technology priority for the year. A big report about agentic AI in banking came out this week, showing that executives at banks are focusing heavily on building AI capabilities. Banks care about agentic AI because it can help with important jobs like detecting fraud and making better decisions about loans. The report explained that between 2024 and 2025, more people became victims of fraud—jumping from 18% to 28% of people. Banks are working with AI agents using a method called reinforcement learning, which means the AI learns from experience and can handle new situations it hasn't seen before.

Important Companies Adopting AI Agents This Month

Several big companies made announcements this week about using agentic AI. Klarna, which helps people buy things and pay later, started working with Google Cloud on AI technology. Revolut, a digital banking and money transfer company, bought Swiftly, which is an AI assistant that helps plan trips. Cube, a company focused on financial regulations, bought Kodex AI to add AI agent abilities to its platform. These moves show that companies across shopping, banking, and payments all believe agentic AI is important for their future.

Important Questions Still Need Answers

While agentic AI is exciting, there are still questions about responsibility and mistakes. What happens if an AI agent makes an error? For example, if your AI agent accidentally buys something you didn't want, who should fix it and who pays? JPMorgan Chase, the biggest bank in the United States, says these rules aren't figured out yet. 'Could the agent hallucinate and buy something we didn't tell it to buy?' asked JPMorgan executives, meaning the AI might imagine something that isn't real and take action based on that mistake. Payment companies and banks are still working together to figure out how to handle these problems when they happen. Despite these questions, companies are moving forward fast because they believe agentic AI will make shopping easier and safer once they figure out the details.