By Kuo Zhang, President of Alibaba.com
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The opinions expressed on this article are these of the creator and don’t symbolize in any means the editorial place of Euronews.
At a time of fast technological change, scepticism is wholesome. Throughout Europe, small and medium-sized enterprises – sometimes the spine of European economies — are rightly asking whether or not synthetic intelligence delivers actual worth or just provides noise.
Will it create new dangers? Can or not it’s trusted with crucial sourcing choices? The reply lies not in grand guarantees, however in sensible outcomes.
The true potential of AI lies in fixing actual, high-stakes challenges. For a producer in Stuttgart sourcing precision parts, or a style model in Lisbon launching a sustainable line, each choice entails value, high quality, compliance, and logistics. In B2B commerce – a $32 trillion international market – accuracy isn’t optionally available. It’s important.
That’s why Alibaba.com’s AI is constructed in a different way. It’s not skilled on generic web knowledge, vulnerable to hallucinations. It’s grounded in a long time of real-world commerce historical past, verified provider profiles, product specs, certifications, and logistics information.
When our system recommends a provider, it doesn’t guess, it verifies. It checks for REACH or RoHS compliance, confirms ISO requirements, calculates actual landed prices, and identifies the right HS code. That is floor fact AI, intelligence rooted in actuality.
Our subsequent evolution, AI Mode, launching this December, takes this additional. Powered by agentic AI, it interprets natural-language questions like “Who could make biodegradable packaging with FSC certification and ship to Germany in six weeks?”
It analyses technical drawings, scans compliance paperwork, and compares suppliers throughout pricing, lead instances, certifications, and manufacturing capability. It doesn’t simply listing choices, however highlights the best-fit matches.
Consider it as a quiet however extremely succesful co-founder: one who by no means sleeps, reveals up able to deal with the exhausting work of sourcing.
For a solo entrepreneur or cash-strapped enterprise, this implies freedom and permits them to give attention to design, branding, and prospects moderately than spreadsheets and infinite vetting.
From automation to empowerment
Let’s be sincere: most small companies can’t afford a sourcing skilled. In the event you’re beginning out alone, with little money and no group, discovering the proper provider is dangerous and overwhelming.
And that’s the place AI Mode is available in. It doesn’t change an individual; it steps in when there isn’t a particular person.
It checks certifications, calculates actual prices, and flags crimson flags so that you don’t should guess.
For small groups, onboarding new hires takes time most SMEs don’t have. As an alternative of ready months to realize expertise, AI provides them immediate help. They make higher choices from day one.
It’s about making development doable. When routine work will get quicker, founders give attention to constructing their model, not chasing quotes. And as they scale, they rent extra folks, as a result of now they will.
In the long run, AI doesn’t ask questions for you. It helps you ask higher ones.
Constructing on momentum: Europe eyeing AI-driven commerce
The surge in European order quantity on Alibaba.com displays a broader shift within the area’s enterprise panorama.
Right this moment, 90% of European SMEs cite product innovation as crucial to their development technique, in keeping with Alibaba.com analysis by Censuswide, and 62% categorical confidence in utilizing AI instruments for design, sourcing, and manufacturing.
Fueled by sustainability guidelines, provide chain complexity, and rising competitors, European companies are turning to smarter, quicker, extra clear sourcing. AI Mode is designed for this atmosphere; it helps patrons navigate compliance, determine sustainable companions, and convey customised merchandise to market quicker.
AI Mode stands as each a technological milestone and strategic enabler which empowers companies to compete globally, innovate effectively, and supply with higher intelligence.
We’re not chasing hype. We’re constructing AI that works for actual companies, actual provide chains, and actual development.
The way forward for commerce gained’t belong to the flashiest mannequin, however to probably the most dependable one. And that future begins now.
Kuo Zhang is President of Alibaba.com, the B2B E-commerce platform of Alibaba Group, serving thousands and thousands of SMEs worldwide.
