Visa has released a study on the use of artificial intelligence in commercial transactions, suggesting that many companies are preparing to use AI agents to negotiate and trade on their behalf.
The survey, conducted with Morning Consult, found that 53% of U.S. business decision makers allow AI agents to negotiate prices and terms directly with other AI agents. We also found that 71% expect to tailor their products, offers, and experiences to AI agents, and 77% are already using or piloting AI in their operations.
Visa describes this trend as Business to AI, or B2AI. This is a model in which AI agents take a more active role in commercial decision-making and execution, while humans are responsible for outcomes. This data suggests a shift beyond using AI as a back-office tool or recommendation engine to using AI as a participant in transactions.
Among business respondents, 88% said they would be willing to provide pricing or inventory data to enterprise AI systems. More than half (55%) said they were already familiar with B2AI commerce concepts.
Consumer survey results were even more mixed. Research shows that 58% of Americans are satisfied with AI price comparisons, 55% are satisfied with AI applying discounts, but only 38% are satisfied with AI completing their purchases.
There was strong resistance to allowing AI to consume freely. Only 27% said they would allow an AI to spend money autonomously without restrictions, and 60% said they would not allow an AI to spend any amount of money without their approval.
Visa data also suggests that AI tools are already influencing shopping behavior. Almost 40% of Americans surveyed said an AI agent or tool had made them make a purchase they would not otherwise have made.
trust factor
Trust emerged as a central theme in the study. Consumers were more likely to trust AI systems that worked with established financial institutions than independent agents.
The survey found that 36% trust bank-backed AI systems and 35% trust payment network-enabled AI systems, compared to 28% who trust independent AI agents. This gap could prove critical as companies evaluate whether their customers will rely on software for much of the purchasing process.
Frank Cooper III, Visa’s chief marketing officer, said the industry is entering a new phase of machine-driven interactions in commerce.
“Commerce is moving from markets to people and from markets to machines,” Cooper said.
He added that trust will determine how far and how quickly the model develops.
“B2AI describes what happens next when AI agents start evaluating, negotiating, and trading on behalf of people. In that world, as always, trust will be the critical infrastructure. If we don’t build it into machine-mediated commerce, adoption will stall,” Cooper said.
young users
The results point to a generational gap in acceptance of AI in payments and shopping. Younger consumers appear to be more comfortable with AI systems linked to payment networks than older demographics.
Almost half (48%) of Gen Z respondents said they trust payment network-enabled AI systems, compared to 20% of baby boomer respondents. Almost half of Gen Z and Millennials who use an AI shopping assistant report that they have purchased an item they would not otherwise have considered because of an AI recommendation.
The findings come as payments groups, banks and technology companies explore how generative AI and agent-based software can reshape online shopping, customer service and procurement. Systems in which software tools complete searches, comparisons, negotiations, and transactions will shift some of the commercial influence from traditional marketing channels to rules and preferences built into AI models.
This raises questions for merchants and payment providers about how products are presented to machines, how prices are disclosed, and how customer approvals are managed. The research suggests that companies are already considering these issues, even though consumers remain wary of letting AI directly control their spending.
“The message is unmistakable: People are open to AI acting for them, not on their behalf,” Cooper said. “Our findings show that trust is the adoption switch for agent commerce. Consumers want AI to act on their behalf, but only if the AI retains visibility, control, and the ability to intervene.”
