BBVA will help design a common protocol led by Sierra AI and Meta to connect AI agents with businesses
BBVA has become the first European bank to join the Personal Agent Protocol (Poppy) initiative to help develop a common protocol that enables secure interactions between artificial intelligence (AI) agents and businesses. Led by Sierra AI and Meta, the project brings together 35 design partners from the technology, financial services and e-commerce sectors to advance a model of digital services in which AI agents can carry out tasks on behalf of users, with their consent and under their control. BBVA places customers at the heart of its artificial intelligence strategy, with a particular focus on security, privacy and control over the use of this technology.
Artificial intelligence is evolving from assistants capable of answering questions to agents that can perform tasks, interact with different platforms and complete processes autonomously.
This shift presents a new challenge for businesses: how to allow these agents to access their services securely while respecting each customer's privacy, permissions and decisions.
To address this challenge, Sierra AI has spearheaded the Personal Agent Protocol (Poppy) that aims to establish common mechanisms for personal AI agents to interact securely with businesses, with clearly defined permissions. The model allows users to decide what level of access they grant their agents, while enabling companies to identify them, determine whom they represent and set limits on their actions.
“Security must be at the heart of interactions between AI agents and digital services. This common protocol lays the foundation for an open and interoperable ecosystem that protects our customers’ privacy and allows them to remain in control,” said David Puente, Head of Retail Customer Solutions at BBVA.
Currently, many AI agents need to navigate websites designed for people or use their credentials to complete certain tasks.
Poppy proposes a different model, based on mechanisms that make it possible to identify the agent, establish the permissions granted by the user and facilitate communication with a company's services. The protocol supports different forms of interaction, from navigating websites to accessing application programming interfaces (APIs) or communication between agents.
Its design builds on widely used technologies and standards, such as OAuth, HTTPS, OpenAPI and MCP, with the aim of facilitating adoption and allowing companies to leverage part of their existing infrastructure.
The evolution of personal agents opens up new possibilities for the provision of financial services. In the future, a customer could use an AI agent to compare products, gather information or initiate certain financial processes, always within the permissions and conditions established by each user.
BBVA's participation in this initiative will allow the bank to contribute to discussions on these new models of digital interaction and explore their potential application to the future of financial services.
