Visa Reveals 83% of Egyptian Businesses Plan to Invest in AI-Driven Agentic Commerce

Visa’s latest research into agentic commerce reveals a significant appetite for AI-driven autonomous transactions across the Middle East, with Egypt emerging as a key growth market. For fintech professionals, this signals a shift from simple automation to intelligent systems capable of independent decision-making, necessitating a robust rethink of payment security and regional regulatory frameworks.

What was announced

The State of Agentic Commerce in the Middle East report, produced by Fast Company Middle East in partnership with Visa and powered by Probity, explores the transition toward AI systems that can autonomously act and transact based on real-time data. The study surveyed C-suite and senior leaders across the retail, consumer products, travel and hospitality, and financial services sectors in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

The findings highlight a disconnect between awareness and intent. While nearly three-quarters of Egyptian respondents are not yet familiar with the specific concept of agentic commerce, 55.7% expressed high interest in emerging technologies like AI-driven personalization. This interest is rapidly converting into commercial action; 16.1% of Egyptian organizations and 11.7% of UAE firms plan to launch pilots within six months. In KSA, this figure rises significantly to over 43%.

Investment strategies are also taking shape. Most Egyptian businesses are planning moderate commitments between $250,000 and $500,000, whereas UAE organizations are targeting higher brackets between $500,000 and $1 million. Despite this momentum, significant hurdles remain. Data privacy and security were cited as the primary barriers to adoption across all three nations, followed by concerns regarding regulatory risks and unclear return on investment (ROI). Over 70% of Egyptian respondents expect these technologies to disrupt their industries within the next two years.

"We are seeing early but meaningful signs of a shift in Egypt as businesses start to embrace agentic commerce to unlock the next level of value. At Visa, we view this as the next step in seamless transactions. While commerce becomes more intelligent and autonomous, our role is to keep payments frictionless, inclusive, and secure."

Malak El Baba, Vice President, Country Manager Egypt, Libya and Sudan at Visa.

The companies involved

Visa (NYSE: V) is a global leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. The company sits at the center of the global payments ecosystem, increasingly focusing on integrating artificial intelligence and biometric security into its core network. This research was conducted alongside Fast Company Middle East, a regional arm of the global business media brand, and Probity, which provided the data powering the report.

The regional focus on Egypt, UAE, and KSA reflects a broader push by global payment networks to capitalize on the rapid digital transformation occurring in the Middle East. Visa’s leadership in the region, represented by executives like Malak El Baba, who serves as Vice President and Country Manager for Egypt, Libya, and Sudan, is currently prioritizing the development of "frictionless" commerce. This involves moving beyond traditional card-present or e-commerce transactions toward "agentic" models where the user is no longer the primary initiator of every individual transaction.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely followed Visa’s efforts to modernize the payments landscape through advanced technology. Recently, we covered how Handwave Expands Visa Agreement to Accelerate Palm-Based Biometric Payments Across Europe, highlighting the company’s commitment to hardware-agnostic, secure authentication. The move toward autonomous commerce also mirrors broader industry trends in AI integration; for instance, Dukascopy Bank Launches AI-Powered Trading Integration and 25,000+ CFD Stock Offering, demonstrating how AI is already making autonomous decisions in the high-stakes world of stock and CFD trading.

What this means

Agentic commerce represents a fundamental shift in the "unit of sale." When an AI agent, rather than a human, makes the decision to purchase, the traditional checkout flow becomes obsolete. This puts immense pressure on legacy fraud detection systems that rely on human behavioral patterns. The high pilot rate in Saudi Arabia suggests the region may leapfrog traditional e-commerce stages, moving directly to autonomous models. However, the industry faces a significant trust gap. Until there is a clear regulatory framework for "machine-to-machine" liability, many financial institutions may hesitate to provide the necessary rails for high-value autonomous transactions.