Antom CEO Discusses AI Agents Reshaping Commerce and Payment Systems

Gary Liu, CEO of Antom and Senior Vice President of Ant International, explains how artificial intelligence agents are fundamentally altering global commerce. He notes that consumer time is increasingly spent interacting with AI rather than browsing websites, shifting the traditional merchant-consumer interface. Antom, established as a standalone unit over two years ago, focuses on enabling secure payments within AI-driven environments like chat windows, using protocols such as Google's Universal Commerce Protocol. Liu highlights new complexities in AI-mediated transactions, particularly regarding risk allocation when AI assistants act on users' behalf. Antom addresses these challenges through enhanced risk management and solutions like EasySafePay to protect against fraud. The company also integrates diverse payment methods, including local wallets and real-time transfers, crucial for emerging markets. For smaller merchants, Antom offers AI-powered tools like Antom Copilot for 24/7 assistance, reducing service costs. Liu emphasizes experiential openness and disciplined experimentation with new technologies, predicting that agentic commerce will coexist with traditional channels. He believes Antom's relative newness positions it well to embrace innovations like open banking without cannibalizing legacy systems.