American Express Unveils Intent Intelligence Framework to Secure AI-Driven Purchases

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American Express introduces the Intent Intelligence Framework to authenticate and control AI agents' transactions, aiming to prevent unauthorized purchases as AI-powered shopping grows.

As AI agents increasingly handle transactions on behalf of consumers, the risk of unauthorized purchases has become a pressing concern due to the unpredictable nature of large language models. To address this, American Express (Amex) has developed the Intent Intelligence Framework, a system designed to capture and authenticate a customer's purchase intent before an AI agent completes any transaction. The company envisions this framework becoming an industry standard for managing AI-powered commerce securely and seamlessly.

The framework begins with a Create Intent API that records the customer's purchase instructions, including constraints such as preferred merchants, budgets, and product attributes. Customers then verify their identity and confirm the intent captured by the AI agent. Following this, the system generates a unique Intent ID and a Proof of Intent Token containing the customer's constraints. This token facilitates the use of a secure digital payment credential during checkout, replacing the actual credit card number and ensuring that purchases align strictly with the customer's authorization.

American Express highlights that the Intent Intelligence Framework proactively mitigates risk by verifying purchase intent early in the transaction flow. For example, if an AI agent mistakenly orders Adidas shoes when the customer specified white Nike sneakers in size 9, the system can reject the unauthorized purchase. Such preventative measures become increasingly important as AI agents gain autonomy, including instances like automatically reordering household essentials based on customer-defined constraints.

The framework also maintains an audit trail of authorized transactions by each agent, which aids in addressing fraud and dispute resolution. Amex has integrated the Intent Intelligence Framework into its broader Agentic Commerce Experiences (ACE) Developer Toolkit, launched earlier in April 2026. The company is actively collaborating with partners in the payments ecosystem to implement ACE and plans ongoing development as agentic commerce evolves.

Amex's Vice President of Agentic Partnerships and Strategy, Hannah Bozian, emphasized the importance of maintaining trust and security in agentic transactions, reflecting consumer expectations. Supporting this approach, recent surveys indicate strong consumer interest in using AI agents for price research and recommendations, signaling growing adoption of AI in commerce.

Further insights into the framework and its implications for the future of agentic commerce were presented by Bozian at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 on October 13. American Express’s initiative marks a significant step toward securing AI-mediated purchases and shaping the evolving landscape of AI-enabled financial transactions.