As AI agents begin to execute real actions online, payments and security companies are addressing a concrete operational problem: most e-commerce systems cannot reliably distinguish a legitimate AI agent acting on behalf of a consumer from malicious automation. Visa and Akamai Technologies just announced a partnership aimed at addressing that gap, combining payment-level agent authentication with edge-based traffic analysis to help merchants identify and evaluate AI-driven activity before it reaches checkout and payment systems.
The collaboration links Visa’s Trusted Agent Protocol with Akamai’s behavioral intelligence, bot detection, and user recognition capabilities. Visa said the protocol allows AI agents to securely convey who they represent and what they are authorized to do, while Akamai’s edge platform evaluates behavioral signals associated with that activity as it enters merchant environments. The companies framed the effort as a way to give merchants explicit controls over whether agent-initiated requests are allowed to proceed.
Patrick Sullivan, Akamai’s chief technology officer for security strategy, said the central issue is recognition rather than automation itself. “The promise of agentic commerce hinges on recognition: the fundamental ability to trust an agent acting on someone’s behalf,” he said. Visa’s chief product and strategy officer, Jack Forestell, said the protocol is intended to integrate with existing web and payment infrastructure rather than require new checkout architectures.
