Alibaba hails big moment in move to becoming agentic AI powered e-commerce platform

Alibaba has launched AI Mode, a feature which integrates agentic AI capabilities directly into the user journey.

Set to roll-out this December, this is pitched as "a reimagining of how businesses discover, evaluate, and engage with suppliers in the $30 trillion B2B market".

It follows the company’s September announcement to augment its traditional keyword-based search with deep search, powered by large language models.

Once live, AI Mode will interpret natural language queries, analyse technical specifications, and automatically compare suppliers across pricing, logistics, certifications, and production capabilities, delivering tailored recommendations in seconds. By connecting with existing Alibaba services such as secure payment, Trade Assurance and after-sales support, AI Mode aims to enable a fully automated, end-to-end trade experience.

Kuo Zhang, President at Alibaba, says: “AI is no longer a supplementary tool for us - it’s evolving into the operating system of our platform.”

AI Mode is powered by Accio, an AI powered B2B search engine, launched in 2024. This can extract meaning from unstructured inputs, including product sketches, engineering blueprints, documents, certificates and factory capabilities and track records, and match them with relevant manufacturing capabilities.

This capability unlocks what Alibaba calls the “hidden product shelf”: a network of specialised, custom, or regionally focused suppliers whose expertise remains invisible under traditional, keyword driven discovery models. By surfacing these suppliers, AI Mode aims to help SMEs do better in terms of product innovation and improve supply chain resilience.

RTIH AI in Retail Awards

RTIH proudly presents the first edition of its AI in Retail Awards, sponsored by 3D Cloud and EdTech Innovation Hub.

This is now open for entries. Deadline for submissions is Friday, 5th December. It’s free to enter and you can do so across multiple categories.

Check out categories and entry forms here.

As we witness a digital transformation revolution across all channels, AI tools are reshaping the omnichannel game, from personalising customer experiences to optimising inventory, uncovering insights into consumer behaviour, and enhancing the human element of retailers' businesses.

With 2025 set to be the year when AI and especially gen AI shake off the ‘heavily hyped’ tag and become embedded in retail business processes, our newly launched awards celebrate global technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world and the resulting benefits for retailers, shoppers and employees.

Our 2025 winners will be those companies who not only recognise the potential of AI, but also make it usable in everyday work - resulting in more efficiency and innovation in all areas.

Winners will be announced at an evening event at The Barbican in Central London on Thursday, 29th January. This will kick off with a drinks reception in the stunning Conservatory, followed by a three course meal, and awards ceremony in the Garden Room.