AI agents, combined with the ability of APIs to bring financial services into companies’ e-commerce platforms, will change the way consumers interact with digital ecosystems. According to Carmela Gómez, in the future, online shopping will no longer involve visiting a website, manually searching for a product, entering data, and completing a payment. Instead, it will consist of simply stating out loud what one wants and letting a voice-enabled AI device handle the process end-to-end—from finding the product that best meets customer needs to arranging final delivery.
This logic will also extend to businesses. The integration of AI agents into internal processes, in combination with corporate APIs, will allow them to manage critical tasks such as payroll and supplier payments, and even seek financing tailored to the company’s needs. “If the AI agent detects a cash shortfall, it could automatically request financing for a short or longer period—or even make funds available immediately. The potential is enormous,” noted Gómez, who shared these perspectives on the AI-driven future in a conversation with Gemma Godfrey, Non-Executive Director and IBM Partner, and Saket Sinha, Vice President of Financial Services at IBM, during the global Sibos event held in Frankfurt.
The discussion also touched on AI’s value for financial inclusion. Carmela Gómez emphasized that combining AI with digital payments could be transformative for those currently excluded from the banking system—from rural producers selling to large companies to small businesses that depend on micropayments.