{"id":9529,"date":"2025-07-14T16:54:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T16:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/9529\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T16:54:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T16:54:03","slug":"skyfire-debuts-ai-agent-for-fully-autonomous-transactions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/9529\/","title":{"rendered":"Skyfire Debuts AI Agent for Fully Autonomous Transactions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Skyfire<\/a> has launched Agent Checkout, a new protocol that gives artificial intelligence (AI) agents the power to navigate the digital economy on their own \u2014 including signing up for accounts, logging in and paying, without human help.<\/p>\n

Unlike other AI agents that perform transactions on behalf of humans, these AI agents act as if they were the human users themselves.<\/p>\n

For example, AI agents today ask permission before booking and paying for hotels as they are an extension of their human users.<\/p>\n

With Skyfire\u2019s Agent Checkout, the user instructs the agent, such as on budgets and approved shopping websites, and the agent does the rest autonomously. This includes creating an account, verifying an email, adding credit card information and making a purchase.<\/p>\n

Skyfire also gives the AI agent its own identity and credentials, so when it transacts, the system treats it just like it would any human user.<\/p>\n

Built on top of a new open standard called KYAPay \u2014 or Know Your Agent Pay \u2014 the platform can even handle microtransactions below $5 in value.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe KYA protocol really is about opening up our product so that anybody can adopt it,\u201d said Amir Sarhangi<\/a>, CEO and co-founder of Skyfire, in an interview with PYMNTS. \u201cIt allows for coordination across many different sectors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upping the Scrutiny<\/p>\n

The new protocol comes at a time when governments, banks and businesses are reassessing and strengthening their know your customers (KYC) systems. For example, Wise<\/a> implemented<\/a> recommendations put forth by a European regulator; and the U.K. is cracking down on banks for AML violations.<\/p>\n

In fact, 7 in 10 financial institutions<\/a> are now using AI and machine learning to fend off bad actors, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence and Hawk<\/a> collaboration, \u201cFinancial Institutions Revamping Technologies to Fight Financial Crimes<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

For its part, the U.S. has indicated that fighting fraud would continue to be a bipartisan effort.<\/p>\n

Skyfire has launched with about 30 partners, including APIFY, CarbonArc, BuildShip and Forter.<\/p>\n

Sarhangi said he sees a future where AI agents can research, subscribe to tools, access gated data and even pay for content or services, all on their own.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, agents get blocked\u201d from doing tasks because something in their workflow needs human intervention, Sarhangi said. \u201cAn agent finds a particular tool it needs access to \u2014 a human needs to get involved to unlock it.\u201d<\/p>\n

See also: Skyfire CEO Says AI Agents Need New AI Payments Rails<\/a><\/p>\n

AI Agents as a New Type of Customer<\/p>\n

The core of Skyfire\u2019s system is the KYA \u2014 or Know Your Agent \u2014 protocol, which Sarhangi said provides a way for businesses to identify and trust who or what is attempting to access their services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing they need to do is say, \u2018Who is this agent that\u2019s trying to access my services? Does this person already exist in my database as a customer? If they don\u2019t, I want to be able to create an account for them and then be able to take a payment,\u2019\u201d Sarhangi said.<\/p>\n

Skyfire\u2019s system allows for direct integration with representational state transfer application programming interfaces (REST APIs) and supports OAuth2 and OIDC protocols, meaning businesses don\u2019t need to rebuild their authentication systems. Developers can onboard using Skyfire\u2019s software development kits (SDKs) and reference implementations, which Sarhangi said take as little as 15 minutes to integrate.<\/p>\n

According to Sarhangi, initial demand is strongest from developers building AI agents that require access to tools like customer relationship management (CRM), data platforms and authentication services.<\/p>\n

Agent Checkout also introduces controls to manage the risk of giving agents spending authority.<\/p>\n

Skyfire is rolling out \u201cjust-in-time decisioning\u201d that lets users approve high-value transactions in real time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen an agent hits a particular size transaction \u2026 the human can enable it to ask for a decision point at the moment of that transaction,\u201d Sarhangi said. \u201cIt\u2019s able to send you an SMS (text message), you approve it, and it continues on its work.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Balancing Act<\/p>\n

Sarhangi acknowledged that fully autonomous AI raises trust concerns, particularly in enterprise or B2B payments.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an issue that is garnering much attention, as C-suite executives grapple with balancing the new technology\u2019s possibilities with responsible use. That\u2019s a concern brought up by Trustly<\/a> Chief Legal and Compliance Officer\u00a0Kathryn McCall<\/a>, who spoke to PYMNTS during a conversation<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n

There needs to be a balance between human oversight and AI automation as agents take over more tasks.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you trust an agent to just do whatever? No,\u201d Sarhangi said. But \u201cI think that has gotten better over the last six months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Take hallucinations. \u201cEvery month you\u2019re getting significant improvement,\u201d Sarhangi said. \u201cYou don\u2019t even hear about hallucination as much anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

He does see a near-term opportunity for Agent Checkout in handling predictable, repetitive money flows like B2B supplier payments and subscription-based services. \u201cB2B payments are probably the most predictable,\u201d Sarhangi said. \u201cA lot of them have very predictable patterns in terms of what\u2019s being bought on a monthly basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the AI economy evolves, Sarhangi believes a new category of customers is emerging: AI agents themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is where I get really excited \u2014 we\u2019re going to actually be creating a completely new category of revenue,\u201d he said. \u201cAgents as a new customer category \u2014 and that\u2019s where I think every CFO should be focused on.\u201d<\/p>\n

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