If there is one characteristic that defines modern business operations, it is change. Macroeconomic shifts, geopolitical tensions, and rapid AI-driven digital transformation are forcing professionals to adapt quickly. Those who succeed are the ones who embrace change rather than resist it. Luke Gebb, head of global innovation at American Express, has built a 25-year career on this principle. As the leader of Amex Digital Labs, an innovation hub focused on creating new digital products for card members, Gebb is at the forefront of integrating emerging technologies like generative AI and agentic commerce into the enterprise.

In a one-to-one interview, Gebb shared what defines successful innovators in the age of agentic AI, and how his team is putting these skills into practice as Amex prepares for a future where AI agents act on behalf of consumers.

Great innovators in an age of AI

Gebb noted that his role is not just about building new products but about fostering a culture where people love to work and feel empowered to tackle novel challenges. "It's about getting a culture that people love, where they like to be together, and have the freedom to work on new things, and not just trying to follow the person before you and doing that job 5% better," he said. He emphasized that successful innovators pull different strings—knowing which areas need support, establishing strong relationships with business peers, and ensuring that innovation is integrated with the rest of the enterprise rather than isolated in a silo.

While many large companies have set up innovation labs, Gebb stressed that Amex Digital Labs is different because it sees itself as part of the enterprise, not separate from it. "Some innovation hubs get one thing wrong—they think of themselves as separate or different or better, and we're just trying to help the enterprise, be part of it, and be proud of our work," he said. This collaborative approach ensures that the lab's work directly addresses real business needs.

Four tips for becoming an effective innovator

Based on his 25 years of experience, Gebb offered four best-practice tips for professionals who want to embrace innovation in an age of AI:

• Keep learning – "You must be super-curious and always wanting to learn. Sometimes the term growth mindset comes up, which means not feeling like you know everything, and have it all figured out, but feeling as if you're willing and wanting to learn." This involves constantly seeking new knowledge, reading widely, and staying open to perspectives from different fields.
• Dive into tech – "It's critical to understand emerging technology and what it makes possible. Being deeply curious about technology and working deeply with engineers will be a huge part of your success." For non-technical innovators, this means taking time to learn the basics of AI, machine learning, and data science, and collaborating closely with technical teams.
• Prepare to fail – "You need a willingness to go out and do something risky, so a type of grit or a drive that makes you want to go and put something out there is critical." Innovation inherently involves experimentation, and not every experiment will succeed. The key is to fail fast, learn from mistakes, and iterate.
• Build partnerships – "In a big company, always being good at building relationships and being able to call in favors is crucial to success." No innovator works alone; success depends on a network of allies who can provide resources, support, and advocacy.

These four traits—curiosity, technical depth, risk tolerance, and relationship building—are the foundation of effective innovation at scale. They apply not only to AI but to any domain where rapid change is the norm.

Putting AI innovation into action

At American Express, Gebb's team is applying these principles to build the platform for the future of agentic commerce. They focus on three key areas: payments, offers and bookings, and proprietary experiences.

Payments: As consumers increasingly use large language models (LLMs) to discover products, they will want to purchase those items seamlessly—and eventually have AI agents buy them automatically. To enable this, Amex recently announced the Amex Agentic Commerce Experiences Developer Kit, a framework designed to create trusted transactions when AI agents purchase goods on behalf of consumers. The company also introduced Amex Agent Purchase Protection, a commitment to protect card members from errors made by AI agents that might lead to unauthorized charges.

Offers and bookings: The innovation team is ensuring that Amex offers, travel benefits, and restaurant booking capabilities appear within the AI models that consumers use. When a card member asks an LLM for a restaurant recommendation or plans a trip, they should see relevant Amex perks and be able to act on them directly.

Proprietary experiences: In Amex's own mobile app and website, the team is building chat-based agent interactions that allow customers to have natural conversations about services. Users can ask an agent for a specific type of restaurant, get recommendations, and book a reservation—all within the same interface.

Gebb explained that these foundations will enable real agentic commerce use cases over the next 12 months. "That might include something like saying to an agent, 'Always restock me with this item,' or saying, 'When the company restocks this product, I want to be the first one to get it,'" he said. Such interactions are expected to begin later this year, with broader adoption for everyday consumers by 2027.

While the pace of the agentic transition is uncertain, Gebb is confident that it will happen. "No one knows for certain if agentic commerce will happen faster or slower than we think," he said. "But what we do know is it absolutely will happen, and that's why you see the whole industry preparing for it and setting out standards and building foundations."

For innovators, the lesson is clear: the time to act is now. By staying curious, diving into technology, being willing to take risks, and building strong partnerships, professionals at all levels can position themselves to thrive in the age of agentic AI. American Express's example shows that even a 175-year-old company can reinvent itself by fostering a culture of innovation and preparing for the next wave of technological change.

Source: ZDNET News