The real power struggle in agentic commerce isn’t building the smartest AI agents; it’s governing them

The financial services industry is obsessed with what AI agents can do. Can they search? Can they reason? Can they negotiate? Can they shop?

The answers are arriving faster than anyone expected. Agents can already browse websites, compare products, fill carts, and increasingly complete transactions. Every few weeks, a new demo appears showing an AI assistant navigating the web with fewer clicks and more autonomy than before.

But inside one of the world’s largest payments businesses, a new question has emerged. What happens after the agent becomes capable?

Michael Lozanoff, Global Head of Merchant Services at J.P. Morgan Payments

That is where Michael Lozanoff, Global Head of Merchant Services at J.P. Morgan Payments, believes the real work is happening. “The capability question is largely being solved,” he says. “Models are getting smarter, and the ability to browse and compare items is maturing. But capability without governance is the next challenge.”

While much of Silicon Valley is racing to build smarter agents, J.P. Morgan Payments is addressing the trust, identity, and governance infrastructure needed to manage autonomous agents.


Optimizing purchasing decisions and when to buy

Lifehacker had a great email yesterday entitled The Best Times to Buy Anything in 2011. Well-researched and totally tweaked by crowdsourcing this information, this post defines the most optimal times to purchase specific items throughout the year based on varying criteria. For example, for some reason, laptops go cheap in April as do Broadway tickets in the 3rd quarter. My favorite?  I’ll look to buy a car in September, an off-color car in December, and as one commenter suggested, try buying a car on Super Bowl Sunday — the salespeople are distracted and open to low ball offers. Much of this information and concepts were described in Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon (affiliate link). You can find the author’s website here. Source The Best Times to Buy Anything in 2011 (Lifehacker) More sources for well-timed buying (Lifehacker)