Alibaba unveils AI agent platform to automate global e-commerce for small businesses
The agents work as ‘virtual employees’ to tackle various tasks, including market analysis, design, sourcing and inventory monitoring
The international commerce unit of Alibaba Group Holding on Monday introduced an enterprise-focused artificial intelligence agent platform to automate complex cross-border e-commerce operations for small businesses worldwide, as companies rush to adopt AI agents to boost efficiency.
The Accio Work agent platform unveiled by Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group (AIDC) was designed to give small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and solo founders access to an AI task force by deploying a “squad” of specialised AI agents, according to a company statement.
Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
The agents work as “virtual employees” to tackle various tasks, including market analysis, design, sourcing and inventory monitoring, to support the operational needs of global SMEs.
AIDC vice-president Zhang Kuo said the new offering aimed to “democratise enterprise-grade AI” by giving smaller firms access to capabilities typically available only to large corporations.
“Small businesses will find Accio Work especially useful,” Zhang said.
The launch of Accio Work, which will be available online later this month, comes amid a global rush to adopt AI agents fuelled by growing enthusiasm for the open-source AI agent OpenClaw.