Integrating digital ID with AI agents could be ‘game changer’ for B2C

AI agents combined with digital identity wallets could be a game changer for businesses interacting with consumers. The integration of digital IDs with personal AI agents may also save their human masters from often time-consuming multi-step verification processes.

Customer interactions with businesses are becoming frustratingly complex, says Jamie Smith, CEO and founder of advisory firm Customer Futures and advisor to digital identity company Dentity.

To complete a simple online task such as paying a bill online, a customer sometimes has to go through multiple, complicated by forgotten passwords, email verifications, OTP codes and app downloads. The burden on consumers multiplied by the increasing number of digital services offered by banks, retailers, employers, utilities, healthcare and more.

A solution for this could be AI agents, commonly considered software entities designed to autonomously carry out tasks in pursuit of specific goals set by humans. The technology is heading towards this goal, including Claude 3.5 Sonnet, OpenAI’s Operator and Google’s Project Mariner.

“My AI agent can interact with the organization’s AI agent,” Smith said during a recent podcast hosted by reusable digital ID provider Dock.

One of the questions remaining is how consumers will delegate authority to AI agents who can act on their behalf. This opportunity could be seized by digital ID wallets and eIDAS, the EU regulation governing electronic identity, according to the customer relationships advisor.

“We have a whole set of questions about governance, liability, who’s acting on whose behalf which is where I think digital wallets are really going to step up,” he says.

AI agents could also achieve much more when it comes to analyzing payment data, including calculating expenditures and giving financial suggestions, Smith noted earlier this month.

Businesses are currently relying on engagement channels such as e-mails, SMS, notifications, websites, apps, call centers and physical interactions. Contact centers have already begun automating their operations with AI. The arrival of AI agents could allow customers to automate some of their own interactions.

The AI agent could access a customer’s data and share it with a business. Businesses, on the other hand, could confirm that an AI agent is acting on the customer’s behalf through a digital ID wallet integration.

Smith describes a typically fragmented traveler journey, from inspiration and research, through price comparisons and flight booking to hotel booking, check-in and beyond. Each step in the journey comes with its own tools, which tend to be spread across the channels noted above. A single, smart touchpoint could make things easier for all involved, he argues.

“I think the missed opportunity is seeing digital wallets, and specifically personal AI, as a new channel,” says Smith.

Article Topics

AI agents  |  biometric authentication  |  Dentity  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  digital wallets  |  Dock  |  eIDAS  |  identity verification