Leadership & CultureNo. 006
Adoption is not transformation
Near-universal AI use at the point where work gets produced, and almost none where it gets judged.
Gartner · 24 Aug 2026→
Agents get real when they touch money
Alex Collins·13 July 2026·1 min read
The read
Visa launches Agentic Ready program in UAE to advance AI-driven commerceEconomy Middle East · Reporting a Visa release of 20 May 2026
Nearly 60% of UAE businesses are already exploring agentic commerce, and banks here are testing payments initiated by AI agents inside a controlled environment, under Visa's new Agentic Ready programme.
I keep saying agents only get real when they touch money. An agent that can browse is a demo. An agent that can pay is infrastructure, and the UAE tends to build infrastructure in the right order: controlled testing first, scale after.
Worth five minutes if you sell anything online in this region, or you want to see what agents in the workforce actually look like once payments are involved.
The question I would sit with
If a customer’s agent arrived at your checkout tomorrow, would your business recognise it, or block it?
AC
Alex Collins
Co-founder & COO of RAI Digital, a consulting venture builder · Ex-EY Consulting Partner · Writing on agentic AI, venture building, logistics platforms and transformation leadership.
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