Shopping is the next job being handed to artificial intelligence. Big retailers are backing what the industry calls “agentic commerce” – an AI assistant that searches, compares and then actually places the order for you. CBS News reports the major retailers are embracing it, and that tech experts are urging people to think twice before handing an agent their credit card.
For a small business, that warning is worth sitting with, because the pattern is familiar. The same staff who already use AI to draft emails and summarise documents will soon be able to ask it to reorder the consumables, book the flights or renew a subscription. It saves time – new Census Bureau data shows workers do finish tasks faster with AI help – and that convenience is exactly why the spending controls get skipped.
The risk is not that the AI is malicious. It is that you have given a piece of software your payment details, standing permission to spend, and no receipt trail that anybody reviews. If the agent buys the wrong thing, buys from a dodgy seller, or is tricked by a fake storefront, the transaction still went through with your card.
Four practical steps before you let an agent buy anything:
- Never give an agent the main business card. Use a separate, low-limit card or a virtual card you can cancel in seconds.
- Set a hard spending cap with your bank, not just in the tool’s settings.
- Keep a human approval step for anything above a set dollar figure, and for any new supplier.
- Write down who is allowed to use it. An AI agent with purchasing rights is a staff member with purchasing rights, and it should be treated the same way.
None of this means avoiding the technology. It means putting the same controls around it that you would put around a new employee holding the company card – before the first order, not after the first surprise on the statement.
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