Forter unveils tools to help retailers manage agentic AI surge

Forter has introduced new product capabilities designed to help retailers manage risks and opportunities associated with the rapid rise of agentic AI in digital commerce.

The launch follows a significant increase in agentic traffic identified across Forter's network, with a recorded surge of 18,510% in agentic activity day over day following the release of ChatGPT Agent. This shift highlights a new phase in eCommerce where autonomous agents and AI-powered tools are playing a much greater role in interacting with merchants' websites.

Shift in digital commerce

Forter's new product features are intended to provide merchants with greater visibility into AI-driven activity on their platforms, allowing them to distinguish between human and agent traffic, detect fraud, and safeguard revenue more effectively. These tools arrive as Gartner and other research organisations predict that AI agents will account for 20% of digital commerce traffic over the next five years.

According to Forter, the rapid adoption of agentic AI is creating increased complexity for merchants, particularly as traditional approaches to digital engagement and fraud prevention may not effectively manage new risks posed by these technologies. There is concern that legacy systems could create friction for consumers or expose brands to emerging threats.

Discussing the broader implications for digital commerce, Forter's Chief Executive Officer Michael Reitblat stated:

"AI-powered commerce is the next frontier. Merchants that embrace agentic AI will elevate customer experience and unlock new opportunities - those that don't will fall behind."

Michael Reitblat also explained the context of Forter's approach: "Since our founding more than a decade ago, Forter has been at the forefront of AI, building to unlock opportunities for merchants. We were the first to apply neural networks to make real-time identity and fraud decisions possible, co-developed bot identification technology being used by the world's largest brands, the first to recognise the threat and opportunity for enterprise to manage bot access rather than just block it, and now we are at the forefront of agentic commerce while continuing to invest in fraud prevention, payments optimisation, and several new areas."

Detection and monitoring tools

The new capabilities introduced by Forter include enhanced AI agent detection, models to differentiate types of AI agents, strengthened identification of AI-assisted browsing activities, a dashboard that visualises real-time agentic activity, and the publication of anonymised insights on agentic behaviours across Forter's global network. These features aim to help merchants adapt to evolving consumer behaviour while maintaining control over fraud risks.

Forter reports that among hundreds of enterprise retail and commerce brands on its network, there has been a 50% increase in fraud employing scripted and automated attack methods, including those that change identities rapidly or manipulate images. The company also highlights concerns about synthetic identity fraud, where AI tools combine multiple data points to convincingly mimic real consumers or agents.

Cyndy Lobb, Chief Product Officer of Forter, commented on the importance of adapting to these changes:

"Agentic AI presents an enormous growth opportunity for merchants. What we hear from our customers and the market-at-large is control against fraud and risk in this AI-era is critical to unlocking this opportunity. Our commitment is to give merchants and commerce organisations of all types the confidence to experiment and scale with agents and agent developers."

Industry perspectives

The introduction of agentic AI detection and monitoring tools has been welcomed by some in the retail technology sector. Jenna Flateman Posner, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Chief Digital Agency, said:

"As a former retail executive, longtime Forter client and now advisor to the business, I've watched Forter consistently stay ahead of the curve. With AI agents so quickly saturating traffic, getting ahead of determining bad actors vs qualified bot transactions is going to be essential. Retailers need tools that can distinguish between human and agentic behaviour without sacrificing customer trust. Forter's agentic AI strategy is exactly what the industry needs to embrace the future of AI-powered commerce confidently and securely."

Forter anticipates that future releases will add features such as multiple agents for automating policies, new insights to identify trends across consumer groups, tokenisation options to aid in building commerce-focused agent workflows, and integrations with payments infrastructure providers. These enhancements reflect ongoing investment as agentic commerce grows in scale and complexity.