Writing about authority before autonomy.
Notes on agentic commerce, deterministic controls, human accountability, and the infrastructure required when software can act.
What are agentic payments?
A practical guide to how AI agents request, authorize, and execute payments—and why those jobs belong to separate systems.
By Arnav Kakar · 13 minLatest writing
Foundational pieces first. New posts will expand only when they add evidence or a distinct operating lesson.
Pillar guideWhat are agentic payments?A practical guide to how AI agents request, authorize, and execute payments—and why those jobs belong to separate systems.Arnav Kakar · 13 minProtocol guideAP2 and the agent payments protocol, explainedHow AP2 uses typed mandates, signed intent, and receipts to make agent-initiated purchases verifiable.Arnav Kakar · 11 minUse-case guideAI agents in procurement: where controls belongHow procurement agents can help with sourcing and purchasing while budgets, suppliers, and approvals remain governed.Arnav Kakar · 12 minOperating guideHow to set spending limits for AI agentsA practical framework for budgets, transaction caps, merchant rules, review thresholds, and emergency controls.Arnav Kakar · 11 minSecurityPrompt injection and AI-agent paymentsWhy prompt filtering is not an authorization boundary, and how to contain untrusted instructions before money can move.Arnav Kakar · 10 minExplainerWhat is an AI-agent payment mandate?A plain-language guide to the rules, identities, evidence, and human decisions behind delegated agent spending.Arnav Kakar · 10 minPoint of viewAgentic commerce needs a separation of powersThe system interpreting a purchase request should not be the system granting financial authority.Arnav Kakar · 7 minExplainerFrom user intent to an auditable purchase requestWhat must be captured between a human instruction and an agent action for the result to be explainable.Arnav Kakar · 6 minDesign principleRisk scores should not override policyRisk can escalate a request. It cannot repeal an explicit financial boundary.Arnav Kakar · 5 min