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New Generation Launches Agentic AI Platform

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AI infrastructure startup New Generation (New Gen) says its platform now allows for agentic commerce.

This new offering is designed to power secure, artificial intelligence (AI)-initiated transactions “through intelligent storefronts and embedded payment flows,” the company said in a Thursday (July 10) news release.

The platform now lets AI agents “quickly and securely check out from merchant sites across chat, voice, and soon through emerging agent-driven channels,” New Gen said, adding that it was “leveraging trusted payments infrastructure” from Visa and was among the first collaborators in the Visa Intelligent Commerce sandbox.

According to the release, there has been a surge in web traffic to retail websites from generative AI sources, jumping by more than 1,200% between July 2024 and February 2025. The users making those journeys are seeking highly personalized recommendations, are more likely to convert, and spend more than shoppers driven by traditional site traffic, New Gen said.

“But today’s web infrastructure isn’t compatible with AI’s programmatic interactions,” the release said. “As a result, AI agents can’t engage with most retail sites directly, meaning brands are missing the opportunity to convert this new wave of high-intent traffic.”

New Gen says it fixes this “by transforming static product catalogs into structured, AI-readable data through intelligent storefronts” that support “humans, who see a personalized, conversational interface, as well as AI agents, which access the same product information programmatically,” the release added.

PYMNTS profiled New Gen last month, noting in-house research showing that a truly autonomous AI agent had yet to be developed.

“Most business deployments of generative AI today still need employees to ensure processes are accurate and stay on track,” that report said. “Even tasks ripe for pure automation, such as managing cybersecurity systems, still rely heavily on human involvement.”

All the same, the foundation for agentic commerce needs to be put in place early, particularly as the technology is quickly advancing.

Visa, Mastercard and PayPal already are at work on agentic commerce infrastructure that allows AI agents to complete checkout for consumers. At the same time, other areas of the digital economy also need to change for this ecosystem to work — including digital storefronts.

“There’s really a three-way conversation that has to happen right now: the payment networks, the brands, and then what we’re building, which is the infrastructure to unlock it,” Adam Behrens, one of New Gen’s founders, said in the June PYMNTS report.



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AI Research

RRC getting real with artificial intelligence – Winnipeg Free Press

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1 hour ago

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July 11, 2025

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Red River College Polytechnic is offering crash courses in generative artificial intelligence to help classroom teachers get more comfortable with the technology.

Foundations of Generative AI in Education, a microcredential that takes 15 hours to complete, gives participants guidance to explore AI tools and encourage ethical and effective use of them in schools.

Tyler Steiner was tasked with creating the program in 2023, shortly after the release of ChatGPT — a chatbot that generates human-like replies to prompts within seconds — and numerous copycat programs that have come online since.



MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS

Lauren Phillips, a RRC Polytech associate dean, said it’s important students know when they can use AI.

“There’s no putting that genie back in the bottle,” said Steiner, a curriculum developer at the post-secondary institute in Winnipeg.

While noting teachers can “lock and block” via pen-and-paper tests and essays, the reality is students are using GenAI outside school and authentic experiential learning should reflect the real world, he said.

Steiner’s advice?

Introduce it with the caveat students should withhold personal information from prompts to protect their privacy, analyze answers for bias and “hallucinations” (false or misleading information) and be wary of over-reliance on technology.

RRC Polytech piloted its first GenAI microcredential little more than a year ago. A total of 109 completion badges have been issued to date.

The majority of early participants in the training program are faculty members at RRC Polytech. The Winnipeg School Division has also covered the tab for about 20 teachers who’ve expressed interest in upskilling.

“There was a lot of fear when GenAI first launched, but we also saw that it had a ton of power and possibility in education,” said Lauren Phillips, associate dean of RRC Polytech’s school of education, arts and sciences.

Phillips called a microcredential “the perfect tool” to familiarize teachers with GenAI in short order, as it is already rapidly changing the kindergarten to Grade 12 and post-secondary education sectors.

Manitoba teachers have told the Free Press they are using chatbots to plan lessons and brainstorm report card comments, among other tasks.

Students are using them to help with everything from breaking down a complex math equation to creating schedules to manage their time. Others have been caught cutting corners.

Submitted assignments should always disclose when an author has used ChatGPT, Copilot or another tool “as a partner,” Phillips said.

She and Steiner said in separate interviews the key to success is providing students with clear instructions about when they can and cannot use this type of technology.

Business administration instructor Nora Sobel plans to spend much of the summer refreshing course content to incorporate their tips; Sobel recently completed all three GenAI microcredentials available on her campus.

Two new ones — Application of Generative AI in Education and Integration of Generative AI in Education — were added to the roster this spring.

Sobel said it is “overwhelming” to navigate this transformative technology, but it’s important to do so because employers will expect graduates to have the know-how to use them properly.

It’s often obvious when a student has used GenAI because their answers are abstract and generic, she said, adding her goal is to release rubrics in 2025-26 with explicit direction surrounding the active rather than passive use of these tools.