AI Agents As Customers: Rethinking The Marketplace Of The Future

When Your Mortgage Broker Is a Bot

It’s 9:03 a.m. Your phone vibrates. “Good news,” a cheery voice chirps. “I renegotiated your mortgage down 43 basis points and locked the rate. Shall I move the saved $142 a month into your index fund?” You never spoke to a banker. Your AI agent did the talking—and the signing.

That vignette isn’t science fiction; it’s rapidly becoming our reality. Dozens of banks and fintech startups are already piloting software agents that negotiate loans, compare credit cards, even close real‑estate transactions. AI agents also already handle customer support, schedule appointments, book travel, recommend content, assist in online shopping, manage emails, track health, translate languages, post on social media, guide navigation, monitor cybersecurity, process insurance claims, and screen job applicants. We are swiftly moving toward a marketplace where AI agents increasingly serve as proxies for human customers, fundamentally transforming consumer finance.

AI’s emergence as a consumer changes not just how businesses operate—it reshapes our very understanding of who, or what, a customer is. According to McKinsey, these AI‑driven software agents represent “the next frontier of generative AI,” with disruptive implications across industries from retail to finance.

Automation Bias: Why We Trust AI Agents That Err

This shift raises serious ethical and social concerns, including ones associated with what Behavioral data shows us – that once a machine answers, humans are less likely to seek a second or third opinion—a cognitive glitch known as automation bias. This bias reflects our growing deference to AI‑generated recommendations, and it can still be the case even after people have observed how the automated systems can and do make mistakes. As I’ve shown in earlier work, decisions in consumer finance that were once guided by expert judgment are now routinely delegated to opaque algorithms.

Additionally, there is also the phenomenon of “paywalling humans”. As businesses pivot toward automated customer interactions, human support is increasingly becoming a premium service—accessible only to those who can and do pay extra. This trend threatens to erode the empathy, trust, and nuanced judgment that only human interaction can offer. Vulnerable populations, including the elderly, disabled, or economically disadvantaged, are particularly at risk of being left behind in a system designed for efficiency over care.

MCP: The New Plumbing for AI Agents

Behind the scenes, a fresh standard called the Model Context Protocol (MCP) is supercharging AI agents. Dubbed the missing link between AI agents and Application Programming Interfacse (APIs), MCP lets agents talk directly to servers without bespoke glue code, discovering exactly what they are allowed to do before they act. Major platforms—including Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI—have pledged support, and some financial institutions and platforms have already launched an MCP server: for example, Alipay did so, enabling agents to initiate payments autonomously. Likewise, some crypto analysts see MCP as the bridge that will let on‑chain and off‑chain tools interoperate seamlessly.

MCP’s universal connector explains why nonprofits deploy tireless digital canvassers that personalize donor outreach, why Google Cloud now offers one‑click templates for “autonomous workflows”, and how enterprise startups coordinate fleets of agents to audit contracts before a lawyer ever opens the file. Even social networking can be reimagined: a Yale‑founded platform raised $3 million in just 14 days by letting users train AI “friends” to broker introductions.

Governing AI Agents in Consumer Finance

Legal frameworks like the EU’s AI Act and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) aim to embed human oversight into algorithmic processes, yet they fall short of mandating equitable access to human support. Citi’s report on agentic AI outlines the cost savings and efficiencies AI agents offer but also warns of dangers, including lack of transparency, amplification of bias, and the potential for deepening structural inequality.

The transformation is most visible in consumer finance. For example, banks are being redesigned as digital‑first hubs where AI agents conduct routine interactions, reserving human experts for complex or high‑value tasks. Poorly implemented, these models could exclude those who can’t afford personalized attention or struggle with digital tools.

As experts have warned, autonomous AI agents tasked with optimizing in competitive environments may behave unpredictably—gaming systems, exploiting loopholes, and pursuing goals that deviate from human intent. These dynamics can destabilize markets, undermine trust, and defy regulation.

Mitigating these risks calls for a two‑pronged strategy: cultural habits that encourage healthy skepticism and regulatory guardrails that ensure accountability. On the cultural side, platforms should bake in “hyper‑nudging” by default—short, timely pop‑ups that remind users to double‑check an agent’s advice, compare another model, or talk to a human before clicking “accept.” Many observers believe these simple nudges would prompt people to pause and think twice instead of blindly following whatever the AI suggests.

Regulators can reinforce that discipline through a clear, three‑layer rule set. First, disclosure: every time an AI agent—rather than a person—finalizes a decision, the interface could be required to display a standardized “AI Decision” badge that links to a concise model card explaining data sources, known limitations, and recent error rates. Second, recourse: it might make sense to offer customers a no‑fee “right to a human,” reachable within minutes via phone or chat, with all prior agent interactions automatically forwarded for context. Third, continuous assurance: institutions could maintain rolling audits that combine automated fairness dashboards, quarterly independent model reviews, and twice‑yearly “red‑team” penetration drills designed to expose bias or exploitable loopholes before they hit the market. Together, these measures turn transparency, human fallback, and ongoing scrutiny from optional extras into core features of an agent‑driven economy.

Steering a Human‑Centered AI Agents Economy

AI agents—turbocharged by MCP—can refinance a mortgage before you’ve finished your morning coffee, approve a startup loan at midnight, and settle a cross‑border payment in seconds. Speed, uptime, and frictionless execution are their superpowers. Yet velocity without vision invites systemic failure. The real test is whether we can channel this raw momentum through guardrails that preserve fairness, transparency, and accountability. That means pairing rapid automation with plain‑English disclosures, human‑in‑the‑loop fail‑safes, and continuous stress‑testing—just as we already do with financial capital or aircraft engines. Get the blend of ingenuity and oversight right, and AI agents become an equalizer, widening access to credit and cutting costs for families and small businesses. Get it wrong, and we risk an economy where decisions are fast, cheap, and opaque. The aim isn’t to slam the brakes on autonomous agents; it’s to steer them—so that tomorrow’s marketplace runs at digital speed and remains open, trustworthy, and unmistakably human‑centered.