Sierra Publishes Poppy, a Draft Protocol for How Personal AI Agents Work with Banks, Insurers and Shops

On 9 October 2026 the AI company Sierra published a draft of the Personal Agent Protocol, known as Poppy. It sets out how a customer's personal AI agent identifies itself to a company, gets the customer's permission and works with the company on any kind of task, from buying a sweater to applying for a mortgage. Sierra had announced the protocol earlier that week with Meta and seven other companies.

The main points:

1. The problem Sierra wants to solve. Today, when someone asks their personal agent to buy something or sort out an issue, the agent often has to sign in as the customer and click through pages built for people. Businesses have no standard way to guide it.
2. The customer decides, the company sets limits. Customers decide what access to give their personal agents. Companies decide what those agents may do, for example letting an agent start a return but not change the payment details on file.
3. The agent identifies itself. The company always knows when an agent is acting for a customer. When a task needs the customer's account, the customer signs in on the company's own page. If the company allows it, the agent then works with only the access the customer approved.
4. Financial firms are among the design partners. They include Bank of America, BBVA, Wells Fargo, Chime, Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Adyen and Plaid, and from insurance GEICO, Liberty Mutual, Cigna and Insurify. Meta, OpenAI, Shopify, Stripe and Walmart are also involved.
5. Still a draft. Sierra said that within a month it would host design workshops and publish example code to help developers get started.

One of Sierra's three examples comes from finance, and it was shown live. At Sierra Summit, Rocket's VP of Product asked Meta's personal agent Muse to get him pre-approved for a mortgage. Muse found Rocket's agent through Poppy and asked his permission to connect. He signed in to share his credit and income details, the two agents worked through the purchase price, down payment and interest rate, and within moments he had a pre-approval letter.

Poppy's focus on agent identity and customer permission overlaps with the FCA's planned framework for agentic finance, which covers agent identity, delegated authority, accountability and execution.

Read Sierra's announcement

Frequently asked questions

What is the Personal Agent Protocol (Poppy)?

A draft protocol published by Sierra that sets out how personal AI agents identify themselves, get the customer's permission and work with companies, through the company's website, its systems or its own AI agent.

Who is involved?

Sierra announced it with Meta, Genesys, Instinct, NiCE, Rocket, Shopify, Stripe and Walmart, then added 35 design partners, including banks, payment companies and insurers.

Is Poppy in use?

It is still a draft. Rocket has shown it working in a live demonstration, and Sierra is inviting companies to help shape it.