CoinDesk
Netomi CEO Puneet Mehta is making a market-sizing case for stablecoins tied directly to the rise of autonomous AI agents. Mehta, whose enterprise AI customer-experience company recently closed a $110 million Series C backed by Accenture Ventures and Adobe Ventures, projects the customer experience category will grow from roughly $500 billion today to $5 trillion by 2030 as AI moves deeper into sales, conversion, upselling and cross-selling.
He argues that growth is impossible on legacy payment infrastructure. "An autonomous agent cannot rely on traditional banking systems that take days to settle transactions via manual paperwork," Mehta said. "To achieve true end-to-end automation, these software systems require always-on capital rails that operate 24/7."
Why it matters
Mehta's framing pushes back on the increasingly common narrative that AI is siphoning venture capital and mindshare away from crypto. "The idea that AI is simply sucking capital away from crypto is a fundamental misunderstanding of where technology is heading," he said. "We are not in a zero-sum battle for venture dollars." The argument is that autonomous software agents become a structural demand source for stablecoins — not a competing sector for funding.
That view is gaining institutional traction. Bridge and Deus X Capital executives said at Consensus 2026 that fiat-pegged stablecoins are entering a new adoption phase, with large corporates using them for cross-border treasury flows and AI agents beginning to use blockchain rails for autonomous payments. Chainalysis said in April that adjusted stablecoin transaction volumes are on track to reach $719 trillion by 2035.
Market impact
The infrastructure for that thesis is already being built. Netomi said it is working with Coinbase and Stripe to construct trusted payment systems for AI-driven commerce. Mastercard introduced Agent Pay for Machines, a platform that lets AI agents make automated payments across cards, bank accounts and stablecoins — authenticating the agent, enforcing spending limits, and guaranteeing settlement through Mastercard's network.
The open question is adoption velocity.
Frequently asked questions
-
Who is Puneet Mehta and why does his stablecoin argument carry weight?
Mehta is founder and CEO of Netomi, an enterprise AI customer-experience company that closed a $110 million Series C backed by Accenture Ventures and Adobe Ventures. He previously held engineering and data-science roles at IBM, JPMorgan, Citi and Merrill Lynch, giving his AI-and-payments framing both operator and Wall…
-
How large is the customer-experience market Mehta is sizing?
Mehta says companies currently spend roughly $500 billion annually on customer-experience-related knowledge work, and projects that figure will expand tenfold to $5 trillion by 2030 as AI moves deeper into sales, conversion, upselling and cross-selling.
-
Why does Mehta think AI agents need stablecoins rather than bank rails?
Mehta argues autonomous AI agents cannot rely on banking systems that take days to settle via manual paperwork. He says end-to-end automation requires always-on capital rails operating 24/7, which stablecoins and blockchain-based settlement networks already provide.
-
What infrastructure is already being built for AI-agent payments?
Netomi says it is working with Coinbase and Stripe on trusted payment systems for AI-driven commerce. Mastercard launched Agent Pay for Machines, which authenticates AI agents, enforces spending limits, and settles across cards, bank accounts and stablecoins.
-
How does Mehta's view square with broader stablecoin adoption forecasts?
Bridge and Deus X Capital executives said at Consensus 2026 that stablecoins are entering a new adoption phase, with corporates using them for cross-border treasury flows. Chainalysis said in April that adjusted stablecoin transaction volumes are on track to reach $719 trillion by 2035.
CoinTelegraph
TheBlock
CryptoSlate
WuBlockchain