BENGALURU, February 19, 2026: In a significant move for India’s fintech ecosystem, Pine Labs Limited has announced a strategic collaboration with OpenAI to engineer what it calls the era of Agentic Commerce in India. The announcement was made through a formal disclosure to stock exchanges under Regulation 30 of SEBI’s Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements Regulations, 2015.

The collaboration aims to embed advanced AI models directly into Pine Labs’ merchant and fintech infrastructure, transforming traditional digital payment systems into intelligent, autonomous financial ecosystems capable of reasoning, optimising, and executing workflows.

At a time when India’s digital payment volumes have crossed 180 billion transactions annually, and the fintech sector is projected to reach a valuation of $1.5 trillion in 2026, the move signals a structural shift in how commerce will operate in the coming years.

A Structural Shift in Commerce Infrastructure

For decades, fintech systems have relied on deterministic logic. These systems operate on predefined “if/then” rules. While efficient, such systems lack contextual understanding and adaptive reasoning.

Through its collaboration with OpenAI, Pine Labs is introducing a Reasoning Layer into its infrastructure. Instead of simply processing transactions, the system will now be capable of evaluating probabilities, understanding user intent, and executing optimised financial workflows autonomously.

B Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs, described this transformation as a move from passive systems to active intelligence. According to him, the company is building an “agentic stack” that allows financial systems to become drivers of efficiency and growth rather than mere record-keepers.

This represents a major evolution in fintech architecture.

What Is Agentic Commerce?

Agentic Commerce refers to a system where intelligent agents can:

• Understand user intent

• Evaluate multiple financial options

• Make optimised decisions within defined guardrails

• Execute transactions autonomously

Instead of users manually navigating multiple steps in a financial journey, intelligent systems can manage entire workflows in a single conversational interface.

For example, an agent may:

• Negotiate supplier terms

• Optimise cross-border settlement cycles

• Manage recurring payments

• Execute purchase and financing options

• Balance working capital requirements

All of this can happen within a regulated and compliant framework.

The Role of OpenAI in the Collaboration

OpenAI brings advanced reasoning capabilities to the partnership. These capabilities allow systems to move beyond simple information retrieval and into actionable intelligence.

Oliver Jay, Managing Director, International at OpenAI, stated that the next phase of AI is about moving from information to action. By combining OpenAI’s reasoning models with Pine Labs’ deep merchant infrastructure, the collaboration aims to create scalable AI-native fintech applications.

The integration of OpenAI’s APIs into Pine Labs’ core systems enables:

• Contextual decision-making

• Intelligent workflow optimisation

• Secure financial execution

• Probabilistic reasoning within guardrails

This integration is designed specifically for high-stakes financial environments where compliance, auditability, and security are non-negotiable.

Leveraging India’s Digital Payment Ecosystem

India has become one of the most advanced digital payment markets globally. Innovations such as real-time payment rails and widespread adoption of digital wallets have transformed commerce.

The collaboration leverages:

• The world’s largest real-time payment ecosystem

• Sophisticated digital rails

• Strong fintech adoption across SMEs and enterprises

With over 180 billion digital transactions annually, India provides an ideal testing ground for deploying large-scale AI-driven commerce infrastructure.

The scale and diversity of India’s merchant ecosystem create a powerful platform for experimenting with AI-enabled financial automation.

Security and Compliance Architecture

A critical aspect of this collaboration is maintaining strict compliance standards.

All AI-driven workflows will operate within Pine Labs’ enterprise-grade security architecture. Key features include:

• Data isolation protocols

• Encryption standards

• Audited environments

• Human-in-the-loop oversight where required

• Regulatory compliance controls

In financial services, autonomy cannot compromise regulatory integrity. The architecture ensures that all agentic actions occur within predefined user guardrails and compliance frameworks.

This is especially important in India’s tightly regulated fintech environment.

From Conversational Commerce to Autonomous Execution

The announcement suggests that conversational commerce is moving from discovery to execution.

Previously, conversational interfaces were mainly used for:

• Product search

• Customer support

• Information queries

With Agentic Commerce, users may delegate full financial lifecycles to intelligent agents within a single conversation.

Instead of searching for financing options, comparing vendors, and manually processing payments, a user could instruct an AI agent to handle the entire process within specified parameters.

This transition represents a major shift in how digital commerce will function.

Opening the Agentic Stack to Developers

Beyond internal deployment, Pine Labs plans to open its agentic stack to its developer ecosystem.

This move allows third-party innovators to:

• Build AI-native fintech applications

• Integrate autonomous financial workflows

• Create industry-specific intelligent payment tools

• Expand use cases across sectors

By enabling developers to build on its infrastructure, Pine Labs is positioning itself as a foundational platform for AI-driven commerce innovation.

This could significantly expand its ecosystem reach.

Pine Labs Business Overview

Pine Labs Limited is a technology company focused on digitising commerce. It operates across multiple regions including:

• India

• Malaysia

• UAE

• Singapore

• Australia

• USA

• Africa

The company provides:

• Digital payment solutions

• Online payment infrastructure

• Integrated affordability solutions

• Fintech infrastructure services

• Issuing solutions including prepaid instruments and gift cards

Its digital payments platform is designed to offer secure and seamless experiences across online and offline channels.

Its issuing business offers end-to-end technology solutions in prepaid instruments and credit-based financial products across several countries.

Strategic Importance of the Collaboration

This collaboration is not just about deploying AI tools. It reflects a strategic shift in how fintech infrastructure is conceptualised.

Key strategic implications include:

• Strengthening Pine Labs’ global positioning

• Enhancing merchant value proposition

• Increasing operational efficiency

• Creating new monetisation layers

• Deepening ecosystem integration

By embedding intelligence at the infrastructure level, Pine Labs aims to differentiate itself in a highly competitive fintech landscape.

Industry Impact and Competitive Landscape

The fintech sector is becoming increasingly competitive with players integrating AI capabilities into payments, lending, and commerce solutions.

However, many systems still rely on rule-based automation. The introduction of probabilistic reasoning at infrastructure level may provide:

• Faster decision cycles

• Improved risk management

• Better resource allocation

• Enhanced customer experiences

If executed successfully, Agentic Commerce could set new industry benchmarks.

Challenges and Considerations

While the collaboration is ambitious, challenges remain:

• Ensuring AI reliability in financial contexts

• Managing regulatory compliance

• Preventing misuse of autonomous systems

• Balancing automation with human oversight

• Maintaining data privacy standards

The success of the initiative will depend on responsible AI deployment and operational discipline.

A Defining Moment for Indian Fintech

India’s fintech ecosystem has evolved rapidly over the past decade. From digital wallets to real-time payment rails, innovation has been consistent.

The Pine Labs and OpenAI collaboration signals the next wave of transformation—moving from digitisation to intelligent automation.

The concept of Agentic Commerce suggests that financial systems will not merely execute commands but actively participate in decision-making within secure frameworks.

If this architecture scales successfully, it could redefine global standards for how money moves and how businesses operate in an AI-native economy.

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