Mastercard CEO Miebach Embraces the Power of Teamwork
WHO:
Fast Company - Michael Miebach is Mastercard’s chief executive officer and was previously the company’s chief product officer.
Fast Company - Stephanie Mehta is CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures; she interviewed Miebach for Fast Company’s Modern CEO newsletter.
Fast Company - Mastercard’s traditional payments ecosystem includes cardholders, issuing banks, merchants, acquiring banks, and card networks such as Mastercard and Visa.
Inc - The article describes Mastercard’s agentic commerce efforts as an example of the payments platform building an ecosystem.
WHAT:
Fast Company - Mastercard expanded beyond consumer credit cards into data, insights, digital identities, and stablecoins.
Fast Company - Mastercard revenue grew from $18.9 billion in 2021 to $32.8 billion in 2025; analysts expect 2026 revenue to exceed $37 billion.
Fast Company - Miebach said he learned to value collaboration as CEO, shifting from wanting to “compete and differentiate only” to wanting to “compete and collaborate.”
Fast Company - Mastercard launched Mastercard Agent Pay in the U.S. to integrate AI agents into checkout, and launched Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M), designed to let agents transact with other agents continuously and at high speeds.
Fast Company - Mastercard highlighted 31 participants in announcing AP4M, many of them fintech companies.
Fast Company - Miebach said he used an AI agent to buy printer paper and that “It worked.”
Fast Company - Mastercard processes 180 billion transactions annually; agentic purchases account for a “tiny” amount of them.
Fast Company - 80% of Mastercard’s in-person transactions globally are contactless.
Fast Company - Miebach said, “I can [operate] much better with not having an answer.”
Inc - Its summary identifies agentic commerce as the latest example of Mastercard building a payments ecosystem.
WHERE:
Fast Company - Mastercard launched Agent Pay in the United States.
Fast Company - Mehta interviewed Miebach at Mastercard’s headquarters.
WHEN:
Fast Company - Miebach became Mastercard CEO in January 2021.
Fast Company - Mastercard introduced Apple Pay in 2014; the article says it took more than half a decade to become nearly ubiquitous.
Fast Company - Mastercard launched Agent Pay in early 2025.
Fast Company - Mastercard launched AP4M in June; the article does not specify the year.
WHY:
Fast Company - Miebach said collaboration matters because Mastercard’s payments ecosystem must work together.
Fast Company - Miebach said agentic purchases could accelerate when industry players align on regulation, technical standards, loyalty-point integration, and systems that build consumer trust.
HOW:
Fast Company - Mastercard’s approach treats AI agents as additional partners in the payments ecosystem.
Fast Company - Proposed trust and security measures include “know your agent” software to verify that an agent acts for a customer, fraud monitoring, and the ability to challenge unauthorized purchases.
Fast Company - Miebach said Apple Pay’s adoption showed how companies can coalesce around shared standards; competing payment-authorization protocols and other coalitions are emerging in agentic commerce.
(UPDATED November 9, 2026 13:00 UTC)
Mastercard is bringing AI agents into checkout, expanding its payments ecosystem beyond traditional cards. Its new systems let agents make purchases and transact with other agents. CEO Michael Miebach says shared standards and trust are essential for adoption.