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Stressing the need to properly identify AI agents that Leach likened today's agentic AI initiatives to the early
make autonomous decisions, Leach pointed out that days of the internet, when browsers first introduced
credential tokens and cryptographic authentication will communication and security cues such as Netscape's
help establish trust. I iconic gold lock.
Twenty-five years ago, we saw a rise in fraudulent activity,
n fact, he pointed out, there are ways to verify and register he said, adding that a similar pattern is likely to emerge
AI agents that are similar to applying for a new credit card. unless authentication and guardrails, such as spending
limits, restricted purchasing categories and other controls,
These methods are already in place with Visa, Mastercard are broadly understood and effectively managed.
and OpenAI's Instant Checkout feature linked to Stripe
merchants. "Agentic AI is truly groundbreaking," Leach concluded. "It
will do many great things for consumers and will become
Early-day trial and error part of daily life faster than the internet did. The key is

Broader controls for human and AI intercommunication understanding the risks and limitations that come with
are also needed, Leach said, pointing to Model Context the technology."
Protocol (MCP), an open-source tool developed by
Anthropic. MCP enables agents to communicate with both Part 2 of this series will explore the transformative
external systems and peer agents and is already being potential of AI-powered commerce.
adopted by key frontier models.
Dale S. Laszig, content strategy director at The Green Sheet and founder
He cautioned, however, that MCP's current form may and CEO at DSL Direct, is a payments industry journalist, creator and
resemble early email protocols such as POP3 and IMAP, consultant. Connect via email at dale@dsldirectllc.com and LinkedIn at
technologies developed decades ago that remain widely www.linkedin.com/in/dalelaszig.
used despite inherent vulnerabilities and the layers of
security required to mitigate modern risk.