Who’s Approving AI-Made Purchases?
Do you really want your team to use this? Here’s a question most business owners probably haven’t thought about yet. If one of your team buys something inside an AI chat window… is that okay with you? Because that’s exactly where things are heading.
You’re probably already familiar with tools like Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT helping people write emails, summarize documents, or answer questions. The next step is much more practical. And potentially much more sensitive. Buying stuff.
Last year, ChatGPT quietly introduced a feature called Instant Checkout. In simple terms, if you ask a shopping-related question, you can be shown products and complete the purchase without ever leaving the chat. Now Microsoft is rolling out something very similar: Copilot Checkout.
If someone asks Copilot for recommendations, say software, equipment, subscriptions, or services, Copilot can show relevant products. If the seller supports Copilot Checkout, the user can click “Buy”, confirm delivery and payment details, and complete the purchase right there inside Copilot. No jumping to a website. No checkout page in a browser. No familiar “are you sure?” pause.
From Microsoft’s point of view, this is powerful. Its data suggests people are far more likely to complete purchases when Copilot is involved, and they do it faster too. That’s why this feature won’t just live in one place. It’s expected to appear across Copilot, Bing, Edge, MSN, and more.
For consumers, this feels convenient. But for businesses, it raises a different set of questions. The first one is simple: Do you want your team buying things this way?
In many businesses, purchasing is deliberately slow. There are approval steps. Budgets. Supplier lists. Controls. Someone checks what’s being bought, why, and by whom.
Copilot Checkout has the potential to quietly bypass some of that, especially if it’s used casually or without guidance. Then there’s the data side. To make checkout work, payment details, shipping information, and account data need to be involved. Copilot Checkout launches with platforms like PayPal, Stripe, and Shopify. These are reputable systems, but the question isn’t whether they’re trustworthy. It’s whether your policies account for this new way of buying.
If an employee is signed into Copilot with a work account, whose payment method is being used?
What information is Copilot allowed to see or reuse?
Are purchases logged somewhere central, or do they disappear into the noise?
And then there’s behavior. When buying becomes frictionless, people buy more. Microsoft openly says journeys involving Copilot are far more likely to end in a purchase. That’s great for sellers, but it can quietly inflate costs if nobody’s watching.
None of this means Copilot Checkout is “bad”. But it does mean it’s something you should decide on deliberately, rather than discovering it accidentally after the fact. If you do want your team to use it, there are a few sensible considerations:
Clear rules around who can buy
What they can buy
Which accounts or payment methods are allowed
Visibility into purchases made through AI tools
Guidance for staff so they understand that convenience doesn’t remove responsibility
If you don’t want it used, that decision also needs to be clear. Because if it’s not written down, explained, and enforced, people will assume it’s fine. This is a recurring theme with AI features. They don’t arrive with a big announcement saying, “You should update your policies now.” They just… appear.
The real question isn’t whether your team can use it. It’s whether you’ve decided if they should.
We can help you decide what’s best for your business. Get in touch.
Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.