Know Your Mandate
The trust layer for agentic commerce.
AI agents are beginning to buy, book, negotiate and pay on behalf of users.
Identity answers who the user is. Payments answer how money moves. Know Your Mandate answers the missing question: was the agent acting within the user’s actual mandate?
What is KYM?
Know Your Mandate — KYM — is the authorization and audit layer for AI agents.
It defines what an agent is allowed to do, for whom, under which limits, until when, and with what proof.
As autonomous agents move from recommendations to real-world actions, businesses will need verifiable evidence that every agentic action was authorized, bounded and auditable.
Why it matters
The next phase of digital commerce will not be driven only by humans clicking buttons.
AI agents will compare offers, fill carts, book travel, negotiate services, renew contracts, execute purchases and interact with financial systems on behalf of users and organizations.
That creates a new trust problem:
Did the agent have the right mandate to perform that action?
User → Mandate → Agent → Action → Receipt
The KYM Framework
A KYM-ready system should be able to prove six things before, during and after an agentic action.
1. IdentityWho is the user, organization or principal behind the agent?
2. MandateWhat has the agent been authorized to do?
3. BoundariesWhat are the limits on price, category, merchant, geography, timing, data access or decision-making?
4. ProofHow is the mandate recorded, signed, verified and presented?
5. RevocationCan the mandate be paused, limited, withdrawn or expired?
6. ReceiptCan every agentic action be traced back to a specific mandate?
KYM is not KYC
KYC is about knowing the customer.
KYM is about knowing the mandate.
In agentic commerce, the customer may not be the direct actor. The agent may be acting on behalf of a person, a household, a company or another system.
That means trust must move from identity alone to delegated authority.
Who needs KYM?
KYM will matter for:
AI agent platforms
Systems that enable agents to act on behalf of users.
Payment networks and digital wallets
Infrastructure that needs to verify delegated authority before money moves.
Marketplaces and merchants
Businesses accepting agent-driven transactions.
Identity and regtech providers
Companies building verification, compliance and audit layers.
Enterprise AI teams
Organizations deploying agents with real-world authority.
Contact
For research, partnership, media or strategic inquiries related to Know Your Mandate, KYM or agentic commerce infrastructure, please get in touch.
By submitting this form, you agree that your information will be used only to respond to your inquiry.