Page 1 - gs260201

February 2026 • Issue 26:02:01

Agentic commerce, Part 2:

Rethinking intelligence and trust

integrating it and making it human," he added. "AI is more
human than any technology we've known, and it integrates
naturally into everything we do."
Sharma pointed out that machines learn by separating
thoughts into multiple options and neural-network
pathways; it's similar to human learning but faster and
more efficient. While humans are guided by cognitive
bias and intuition, AI can recognize patterns at a scale and
speed that no individual can match.
Before AI, when people relied on intuition and historical
data to make decisions, Sharma recalled, some people
could recognize patterns more easily than others. AI
helped to level the playing field by enabling people to
think and recognize signals in similar ways, he said. He
cautioned, however, that AI may inherit biases from its
By Dale S. Laszig human creators, which could become a trust issue as agents
act autonomously.
igital assistants are hardly new to consumers
and businesses. Technology-driven brands have "If two people use the same AI tool but are compensated
been integrating virtual assistants, chatbots and differently, that can reflect a deeply embedded bias in the
D interactive voice response (IVR) systems into system," Sharma said. "When an AI values one professional's
phones, homes and websites for decades. Each integration background or credential over another from an equally
has taken us farther away from checkout lanes, printed qualified applicant, we clearly have more work to do."
receipts and plastic credit cards.

This series explores agentic commerce, the most extensive
integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and payments to Contributed articles inside by:
date. Part 1 examined a new reality in which autonomous
AI agents transact on behalf of humans. Part 2 looks at
how orchestrating intelligence and trust will help agentic Allen Kopelman .....................................................................................16
commerce reach its full potential and play an integral role
in our businesses and lives. Elie Y. Katz ...............................................................................................27

Beyond instinct and intuition Adam Atlas ..............................................................................................28
Chad Otar ................................................................................................30
Sam Sharma, founder of Elevate AI Tech, an enterprise AI
solutions provider, said that AI is "computer-made, not man- Radi El Haj ................................................................................................32
made," which makes it different from other technologies.
"Every time a new system enters our world, we get better at
Continued on page 22