Rising costs and growing competition mean businesses are often operating with lean teams and limited specialist expertise in areas such as procurement and supply chain. As a result, time-poor founders often rely on familiar suppliers, even when better products, pricing or commercial terms may be available elsewhere.
AI is beginning to change that.
Accio Work, Alibaba.com’s 24/7 agentic business team helps businesses automate complex workflows rather than simply answer prompts. Instead of acting as another chatbot, it can support sourcing, supplier research, negotiation, marketing, sales, operations and CRM. Or in other words, it can take on work that would otherwise consume hours of manual effort.
Unlike many AI tools that generate content or respond to individual requests, Accio Work is designed to work towards a business objective. Founders simply describe what they want to achieve, and the platform assembles specialist AI agents that work together to execute the task. Without requiring coding or technical setup, these agents can support businesses throughout the product lifecycle, from product strategy and supplier discovery to comparison, negotiation, store operations, marketing and sales.
Take the hassle out of sourcing
One of Accio Work’s standout capabilities is the Accio Sourcing Toolkit, which brings sophisticated sourcing capabilities within reach of growing businesses.
The toolkit automates key sourcing activities, including supplier identification, product comparisons and bulk outreach, allowing founders to spend less time on repetitive administration and more time focusing on growth.
Businesses can describe a product idea or specification and quickly identify suppliers best suited to manufacture it. For founders with promising ideas but limited procurement expertise, that can make bringing new products to market significantly easier.
By automating supplier research, outreach and follow-up, the platform simplifies one of the most time-consuming aspects of running a business while helping owners source more efficiently.
Make smarter supplier choices
Choosing the right supplier involves more than finding the lowest price. Delivery times, product availability, supplier capability and commercial terms all play an important role.
The Sourcing Toolkit brings these considerations together, allowing businesses to compare suppliers using consistent information before entering formal negotiations. With a clearer view of the available options, business owners and founders can make decisions based on evidence rather than instinct.
It can also automate supplier outreach and follow-ups around the clock. The objective is to reduce manual administration and provide stronger information that supports better commercial outcomes.
Bring ideas to market faster
Drawing on Alibaba.com’s decades of experience in global B2B commerce, Accio Work provides access to supplier and product intelligence that would otherwise be difficult and time-consuming to gather independently.
The platform is designed to work straight out of the box, requiring no coding or configuration. It also incorporates enterprise-grade security, sandboxed environments, granular permissions and approval workflows for sensitive actions, making it suitable for everyday business use.
Make your next move with CoCreate 2026
For founders looking to take an idea beyond sourcing and onto the international stage, Alibaba.com has reimagined its CoCreate Pitch Competition 2026 as a fully AI-powered product innovation contest, with a total prize pool of more than US$1 million.
For the first time, applicants can register directly through Accio Work. A dedicated CoCreate Pitch Agent helps transform early-stage ideas into structured pitch concepts and actionable business plans ahead of the European Final, which takes place in London on 19 and 20 November 2026.
Find out more about Alibaba.com’s CoCreate Pitch Competition 2026
Rising costs and growing competition mean businesses are often operating with lean teams and limited specialist expertise in areas such as procurement and supply chain. As a result, time-poor founders often rely on familiar suppliers, even when better products, pricing or commercial terms may be available elsewhere.
AI is beginning to change that.
Accio Work, Alibaba.com’s 24/7 agentic business team helps businesses automate complex workflows rather than simply answer prompts. Instead of acting as another chatbot, it can support sourcing, supplier research, negotiation, marketing, sales, operations and CRM. Or in other words, it can take on work that would otherwise consume hours of manual effort.
