PayU on Thursday launched Agent HQ, an AI agent store that allows Indian small and medium businesses (SMBs) to choose and deploy AI agents for tasks ranging from making their products discoverable on AI platforms to managing payment operations and customer interactions.Unveiled at the Global Fintech Fest 2026, the fintech company said the platform is designed to help merchants adapt to a shift in how consumers discover and buy products, as AI agents increasingly become part of the commerce journey.PayU said industry reports indicate that around 50% of search traffic is shifting towards AI agents, while shoppers referred by AI platforms can have conversion rates up to three times higher. Agent HQ is aimed at helping SMB merchants participate in this emerging form of commerce without having to build their own AI infrastructure.Also Read: BharatPe unveils BharatPe Flex at Global Fintech Fest 2026, brings credit into everyday UPI paymentsThe platform is integrated into PayU’s existing merchant dashboard and allows businesses to “hire” an AI agent in a few clicks, without separate integrations or coding.Merchants can choose from agents designed for two broad purposes — building an AI-ready growth engine and running their businesses more efficiently.On the growth side, Agent HQ allows merchants to make their products and services discoverable and transactable on AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Claude, as well as channels including WhatsApp.Merchants can also create their own conversational AI assistants for websites, apps and customer journeys. These assistants can respond to shoppers in real time and handle post-purchase queries.The platform also offers AI agents for operational tasks such as transaction follow-ups, chargeback reconciliation, refund escalations and settlements.PayU said these agents can use merchant transaction data, including payment success and failure patterns, chargeback histories, settlement cycles and shopper behaviour, to identify opportunities and suggest targeted campaigns across sales and marketing.The company said this could help merchants proactively manage fraud and disputes, reduce operational workload and protect revenue.Unlike standalone AI tools that require businesses to connect multiple data sources and configure workflows, PayU said Agent HQ is a no-code, zero-integration offering built into its merchant dashboard.Merchants can determine how frequently an agent runs, monitor its activity through the dashboard and receive its outputs through email and WhatsApp. The agents operate within the limits and boundaries defined by the merchant, PayU said.Also Read: GFF 2026: Mahindra Finance scales Sarvam voice AI partnership to 1 crore calls across 12 languages“As a merchant aggregator, PayU has been supporting merchants not just to collect payments but to grow their businesses through its value-added solutions. PayU Agent HQ builds on that foundation and expands on our value-added offerings for SMB merchants,” said Manas Mishra, chief product officer, PayU & Wibmo.“By putting a personalised team of AI agents to work across the business — from improving discoverability and driving growth to managing chargebacks, reconciliations, refunds, settlements, etc. — we want to put control back in merchants' hands, enabling them to focus on their growth. Agent HQ is one of our biggest bets in that direction,” he added.PayU said the platform draws on more than a decade of commerce intelligence generated across its network, which includes more than 4.5 lakh merchants and over 700 million shoppers. The platform has processed transaction volumes of more than Rs 7,800 billion, according to the company.Policybazaar, DailyObjects, Pinq Polka and other PayU merchants are already using Agent HQ, the company said.