First AI-aided retail transaction in Dubai promises to change the way consumers shop

Khaled Al Khawaldeh

DUBAI: The CEO of Mastercard, Micheal Miebach, announced on Tuesday that the company, in conjunction with UAE retailer Majid Al Futtaim, had successfully completed the first agentic AI transaction in Dubai, with an AI agent purchasing movie tickets for a customer after asking a few questions.

Speaking at the Dubai Future forum alongside the UAE’s Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Omar Al Olama on Tuesday, Miebach said he believed that in the future “AI agents” would guide most transactions.

Olama hailed the transaction, saying it was part of a vision of the future that would streamline the way people consumed online and in person.

“I saw that transaction, I found it extremely seamless. It's very, very convenient, and it's like having the best personal assistant that will do everything for you, select the movie, get your best seats, find the best timing, the closest location to you, and make a payment without many instructions. And that's why it stood out,” Olama told the crowd at the Museum of the Future on Monday.

While retail chatbots that help customers have been around sometime, Mastercard’s new agentic solution differs in that it is able to make the transaction directly, working like a real-life assistant with access to your finances.

Asked by Olama, whether this ran the risk of agentic AI going on shopping sprees without our consent, likening it to giving away your card details to your child, Miebach said he believed that the risk could be mitigated through the right mix of controls and regulation.

“If you think about it from a perspective of powering a digital economy in a country like the UAE, a lot of things need to have in the background to make it safe, to make it secure, to make it intuitive,” Miebach told the forum.

“When AI starts to make decisions on your behalf for shopping, that can be very scary. So, we got to put in the controls, and all of that is what Mastercard’s agent pay has done.”

Miebach said he envisioned a future where agents would start to understand your preferences for groceries, movies and retail items and make purchases for you seamlessly when asked. A future he said that would substantially streamline the experience of customers.

Nevertheless, he believed that before the technology could really take off – companies and governments alike would have to gain the trust of individuals and communities alike.

“What happens if something goes wrong in the world of an AI generated transaction? And so, what do you do as a consumer? You say, I never intended to do this transaction, and you lose trust.” Miebach said.

“So we have to build in the safeguards. We have to build in the controls. And that is what our business does for a living. That’s what regulators look about. I think it's really important.”