#37 From KYC to KYA: The New Frontier of Agentic Identity, Payments, and Travel
Exploring how AI agents, digital identity, and trust frameworks are transforming payments and travel.
The rise of Agentic AI is shifting the economy from human-initiated to agent-initiated transactions. As AI agents begin booking travel, authorizing payments, and acting on our behalf, a new trust challenge emerges: How do we verify an agent’s authority, accountability, and legitimacy?
In this episode of Trust Talks & Digital Dives, we explore the Agent Payment Protocol (AP2) and the emergence of Know Your Agent (KYA). We’ll dive into how Verifiable Credentials (VCs) act as the tamper-proof ‘connective tissue’ for digital contracts, ensuring non-repudiable accountability. By bridging these protocols with the travel industry’s fragmented regulatory landscape, we are building a ‘Minimum Viable Future’—where identity, consent, eligibility, and payment flow in a single, seamless motion.
Guests:
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José Israel Castro, Identity Solutions Senior Manager, North America & Central America at Facephi
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Mike Luparelli Mathieu, Product Innovation Director at Facephi
Moderator: Joni Brennan, President at DIACC
Key Discussion Topics & Questions
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We’ve spent decades perfecting 'Know Your Customer' (KYC). Why are you arguing that in the next three years, 'Know Your Agent' (KYA) will actually be the more critical security framework for the travel and payment industries?
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Travel is notoriously fragmented—between airlines, hotels, and border control, the 'last mile' of a seamless journey always seems out of reach. How do Verifiable Credentials (VCs) solve the consent problem without requiring a single, global database?
-
If an AI agent books a non-refundable hotel room by mistake, who is on the hook? How do cryptographically signed digital contracts ensure that agentic transactions are actually non-repudiable?
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You’ve coined the term 'Minimum Viable Future.' What does a travel experience actually look like when identity, eligibility, and payment move together in 'one motion'?
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Are there any last remarks or recommendations you would like to share with the audience?
References & Resources
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Facephi: https://facephi.com/en/
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Facephi & IATA Partnership: https://facephi.com/en/news/we-partnered-with-iata-to-drive-100-digital-air-travel/
Get to Know
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José Israel Castro: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jose-israel-castro-m-10330952/
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Mike Luparelli Mathieu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/msluparellimathieu/
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Joni Brennan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonibrennan/
The rise of Agentic AI is shifting the economy from human-initiated to agent-initiated transactions. As AI agents begin booking travel, authorizing payments, and acting on our behalf, a new trust challenge emerges: How do we verify an agent’s authority, accountability, and legitimacy?
In this episode of Trust Talks & Digital Dives, we explore the Agent Payment Protocol (AP2) and the emergence of Know Your Agent (KYA). We’ll dive into how Verifiable Credentials (VCs) act as the tamper-proof ‘connective tissue’ for digital contracts, ensuring non-repudiable accountability. By bridging these protocols with the travel industry’s fragmented regulatory landscape, we are building a ‘Minimum Viable Future’—where identity, consent, eligibility, and payment flow in a single, seamless motion.
Guests:
- José Israel Castro, Identity Solutions Senior Manager, North America & Central America at Facephi
- Mike Luparelli Mathieu, Product Innovation Director at Facephi
Moderator: Joni Brennan, President at DIACC
Key Discussion Topics & Questions
- We’ve spent decades perfecting 'Know Your Customer' (KYC). Why are you arguing that in the next three years, 'Know Your Agent' (KYA) will actually be the more critical security framework for the travel and payment industries?
- Travel is notoriously fragmented—between airlines, hotels, and border control, the 'last mile' of a seamless journey always seems out of reach. How do Verifiable Credentials (VCs) solve the consent problem without requiring a single, global database?
- If an AI agent books a non-refundable hotel room by mistake, who is on the hook? How do cryptographically signed digital contracts ensure that agentic transactions are actually non-repudiable?
- You’ve coined the term 'Minimum Viable Future.' What does a travel experience actually look like when identity, eligibility, and payment move together in 'one motion'?
- Are there any last remarks or recommendations you would like to share with the audience?
References & Resources
- Facephi: https://facephi.com/en/
- Facephi & IATA Partnership: https://facephi.com/en/news/we-partnered-with-iata-to-drive-100-digital-air-travel/
Get to Know
- José Israel Castro: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jose-israel-castro-m-10330952/
- Mike Luparelli Mathieu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/msluparellimathieu/
-
Joni Brennan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonibrennan/
- Digital Identity
- Agentic AI
- Know Your Agent (KYA)
- Verifiable Credentials
- Digital Trust
- AI Agents
- Digital Wallets
- Payments
- Travel
- Decentralized Identity
- Identity Management
- Cybersecurity
- DIACC
- Facephi
- Fraud Prevention
- Agent Payment Protocol (AP2)
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