I’m thrilled to sit down with Kofi Ndaikate, a seasoned expert in the fast-evolving fintech landscape. With a deep understanding of payment processing innovations, blockchain, and regulatory frameworks, Kofi brings a wealth of insight into how technology is reshaping the financial world. Today, we’re diving into the groundbreaking developments at Nuvei, particularly their new AI-powered Integration Agent, and exploring how it fits into the broader vision of transforming merchant experiences. Our conversation touches on the challenges of onboarding, the power of AI in simplifying complex processes, and the future of intelligent payment solutions.
How did the idea for Nuvei’s Integration Agent come about, and what specific pain points in merchant onboarding were you looking to address?
The idea stemmed from a clear frustration in the industry—merchant onboarding has historically been a slow, complex, and error-prone process. Businesses often spend weeks, if not months, integrating with payment platforms due to technical hurdles and extensive documentation. We wanted to tackle the time delays and costly mistakes that come with manual setups. The goal was to create a tool that could drastically cut down integration time, allowing merchants to focus on their core operations rather than getting bogged down by technicalities.
Can you explain how the Integration Agent leverages AI to simplify the onboarding process for merchants?
Absolutely. The Integration Agent uses advanced AI, specifically large language models, to interpret and translate our extensive technical documentation into actionable steps. It essentially acts as a bridge, generating integration code that merchants can use right away, even if they lack deep technical expertise. This automation reduces the manual workload and minimizes errors, making the connection to our global payments infrastructure seamless and much faster—often within hours instead of weeks.
What role does the Model Context Protocol play in making this tool effective?
The Model Context Protocol, or MCP, is critical to the Integration Agent’s functionality. It standardizes the way our documentation is formatted so that AI models can process and understand it consistently. Think of it as a universal translator for payment integration instructions. By creating this standardized framework, MCP ensures that the AI can deliver accurate, reliable outputs, whether it’s generating code or troubleshooting issues, which is a game-changer for usability.
What feedback have you heard from early users about their experience with the Integration Agent?
The response from early adopters has been incredibly encouraging. Many have told us that what used to take weeks now happens in just a few hours. For instance, one merchant reported completing their integration in under a day, which was unheard of for them before. They’ve also highlighted a significant drop in setup errors—up to 40% fewer in some cases—and the ability to resolve complex issues in less than half an hour. It’s been rewarding to see how these improvements give them a competitive edge.
How do you see the Integration Agent impacting merchants’ financial performance over time?
Faster onboarding directly translates to quicker revenue generation. When merchants can connect to our platform in hours instead of weeks, they start processing transactions and earning sooner. Beyond that, the reduction in errors and the ability to optimize approval rates through streamlined integration helps lower transaction costs. It’s all about getting them to market faster and ensuring their payment processes are efficient, which ultimately boosts their bottom line.
How does the Integration Agent fit into Nuvei’s larger vision for AI in the payments space?
The Integration Agent is a key piece of our broader AI-driven strategy to embed intelligence across the entire payments lifecycle. We’re not just focusing on onboarding; we’re building tools like AI-powered underwriting engines to speed up merchant approvals and predictive models to reduce costs while improving transaction success rates. The Integration Agent is one of many steps toward what we call agentic commerce—fully automated, intelligent systems that let businesses connect, optimize, and innovate effortlessly.
What can you tell us about the future of the Integration Agent and other AI initiatives you’re working on?
We’re excited about the broader rollout of the Integration Agent later this year, which will make it accessible to more merchant partners. Looking further ahead, we’ve got additional AI-powered agents in the pipeline for 2026 that will target areas like fraud detection, revenue intelligence, and transaction performance. These tools will build on the foundation we’re laying now, creating a more predictive and proactive payments ecosystem that anticipates merchants’ needs before issues even arise.
What’s your forecast for the role of AI in the payments industry over the next decade?
I believe AI will become the backbone of the payments industry in the next ten years. We’re already seeing it remove barriers and enhance efficiency, but I expect it to evolve into even more sophisticated systems that can predict trends, prevent fraud in real-time, and personalize payment experiences at scale. The focus will shift toward creating seamless, invisible processes where merchants and customers barely notice the technology because it just works. It’s an exciting time, and I think we’re only scratching the surface of what’s possible.
