The launch of Mastercard Agent Pay introduced a new model for AI driven commerce built on consent, security and network level standards. The event brought together senior leaders from government, Mastercard and Majid Al Futtaim to outline the next phase of autonomous payments and the UAE’s role in shaping global frameworks. The live demo showed how AI agents can transact on behalf of consumers without traditional search or manual input.
I attended the global launch of Mastercard Agent Pay in partnership with Majid Al Futtaim, held under the patronage of His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama at La Cantine du Faubourg in Dubai. The event marked the first live agentic payment transaction carried out in public and highlighted the UAE’s position as a leader in responsible AI and digital economy strategy.
The morning opened with remarks from Dimitrios Dosis, President EEMEA at Mastercard, who underlined the importance of long standing cooperation in the country, stating, “This country has transformed to be pioneering when it comes to technology and innovation, but it also takes partners.”
His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama then placed the milestone in national context through a clear message about long term commitment to AI across government and industry. He said, “In the UAE we always want tomorrow to be better than today, and we want to be the place in the world where we are not worried about breaking boundaries.”
The focal point of the event was a live demonstration led by Prakriti Singh, EVP and Head of Core Payments for EEMEA at Mastercard, who conducted what she described as the first agentic transaction in the world. Explaining the shift underway in global commerce, she noted, “AI agents are transforming commerce faster than we ever thought they will.”
She outlined the four components of Agent Pay which include Know Your Agent, interface standards and upgraded network tokens, consumer intent capture and biometric authentication. Singh also addressed the integration path for merchants, pointing to the early adoption by Majid Al Futtaim as evidence of the speed at which implementation can take place.
Following the demo, Ahmed Galal Ismail, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim, reflected on the operational complexity behind the scenes and its future potential. He commented, “This is a moment in time when AI moves from being conversational to actually becoming transactional.” He highlighted the next steps across grocery, loyalty and wider commerce, supported by data, APIs and infrastructure.
Security questions were addressed by both organisations. When asked about cyber risk, Ismail stressed the layers used across the enterprise and the UAE’s national approach. Mastercard’s Dosis added global context, saying, “We keep our network secure, and we keep you as a consumer secure, that is in the heart of what we do.”
The event concluded with discussion on international expansion. Mastercard confirmed that rollout will begin immediately across North America, Europe, Australia and Singapore. Dimitrios Dosis said, “This is going to be a global roll out and you will see this now over the next three to six months go global.”
As Editorial Director of The Fintech Times, I asked about merchant integration complexity and timelines to mainstream autonomous payments. The responses made clear that adoption will move at pace once frameworks for discovery, intent and authentication become standard.
The launch demonstrated the strategic alignment between the UAE’s AI vision, Mastercard’s network capabilities and Majid Al Futtaim’s approach to digital commerce. It also marked the start of a global shift toward fully agentic transactions that operate across borders and sectors through secure consent based protocols.
