American Express is accelerating its push into agentic AI, positioning autonomous commerce and payments as a core growth lever as digital interactions evolve. 

“We are embarking on a new era of commerce, where AI-powered agents can make autonomous decisions on behalf of consumers and businesses,” Chief Executive Stephen Squeri said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call today. “We see significant opportunity to embed AI more deeply into how customers discover, decide and pay.” 

AmEx recently launched: 

• The Agentic Commerce Experiences Developer Kit, launched April 14, which enables developers to build AI-driven shopping and payment experiences that can autonomously make payments on behalf of users; 

• The Agent Purchase Program, also launched April 14, which allows AI agents to complete purchases within defined controls, ensuring compliance, security and user authorization; and 

• AI-powered personalization engines, announced in August 2025, which use data to surface real-time offers and recommendations tailored to individual customer behavior. 

The moves place American Express alongside competitors such as Mastercard, which is also investing heavily in agentic payments through its AgentPay platform, set to mark its one-year anniversary on April 29. 

Coding efficiency with AI

Internally, American Express is seeing measurable returns from its AI investments.  

The company reported 30% efficiency gains in coding, driven by generative AI tools across its engineering teams, Squeri said. 

These tools help developers write, test and deploy code faster, reducing development cycles and improving productivity, he said, adding that they help employees focus on higher-value innovation rather than routine tasks. 

Other FIs that have reported increased efficiency in software development are: 

• Citi; 

• Citizens; 

• JPMorgan; and 

• ING. 

For 2026, American Express plans to launch eight new or upgraded products, he said. 

“We have more AI-powered products and capabilities under development that will roll out this year to help transform and grow our business,” he said. 

Q1 results

During the quarter, American Express reported: 

• Total revenue clocked in at $18.9 billion, up 11% year over year; and 

• Data processing and equipment expenses reached $767 million, up 9% YoY. 

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