What AI agents mean for e-commerce operations
AI agents in e-commerce are software systems that can understand business context, make independent decisions, and carry out tasks across online retail operations, from inventory management and campaign optimisation to supplier agreements, while continually learning from each outcome to improve future performance. Unlike rule-based automation or simple chatbots, agentic AI is designed to absorb a merchant’s data, assess real-time conditions, and then act, not only report. This shift is reshaping e-commerce operations by turning fragmented tools into something closer to an autonomous operations layer. Instead of teams clicking through dashboards and spreadsheets, they define outcomes and constraints, and AI agents handle the heavy lifting across marketing, stock, pricing, and deal execution. As these systems mature, they are moving beyond cost-cutting to become decision-making partners that can scale with the complexity of growing online businesses.
Kopa.ai: An AI operating system for online merchants
Kopa.ai presents itself as an operating system for e-commerce teams, letting merchants hand day-to-day work to AI agents rather than juggling separate tools. The platform connects directly to existing storefronts and systems, constantly analysing products, campaigns, inventory, customer behaviour, and site performance to identify performance gaps and opportunities. Its agents can then generate creatives, adjust campaigns, shift budgets, or publish storefront updates, all in line with high-level objectives set by humans. According to Kopa.ai’s founder Donatas Benaitis, the goal is to feel like “handing work to your best expert” rather than configuring rigid workflows. A key distinction is that Kopa.ai aims to interpret intent instead of fixed prompts, supporting AI agents e-commerce teams can trust to run actions either with approval or fully autonomously. Over time, every decision forms a feedback loop that strengthens the system’s decision quality across e-commerce operations.
Inventory, campaigns and storefronts: One agentic layer instead of point tools
Traditional retail automation software tends to be narrow: one tool for ads, another for analytics, another for inventory. Kopa.ai is pursuing a broader, agentic layer that sits over the entire stack. Its inventory management AI does not operate in isolation; it is tied to real-time marketing performance, campaign calendars, and on-site behaviour. If an item begins to trend, agents can highlight low stock, reallocate budgets toward better-performing products, or tune promotions to clear slow-moving inventory before it becomes a problem. This multi-function approach aims to compress the thousands of weekly micro-decisions that e-commerce teams face into continuous cycles of AI-led analysis, action, and learning. For merchants, the promise is fewer spreadsheet-driven decisions and more coherent e-commerce operations, where AI agents coordinate across channels to keep stock, spend, and storefronts aligned without constant manual intervention.
Handshake: Automating complex retail buying agreements
While Kopa.ai focuses on merchants’ front-end and operational workflows, Handshake targets one of the most manual back-office pain points: retail buying agreements. The company has built AI-powered software that lets buyers “make, track and execute” commercial deals in one place, replacing chains of emails and scattered documents with a structured system. Co-founder Alex Lindsay describes retail dealmaking as nuanced and flexible, with “a tonne of flexibility” needed for ever-changing structures. Handshake’s agentic AI operating system for dealmaking is being expanded to manage that complexity at scale, giving retailers clear oversight of the many agreements they hold with suppliers. By centralising terms and automating follow-through, the platform aims to cut the risk of missed commitments when buyers are overwhelmed with suppliers. This reduces friction for suppliers as well, by making performance and accountability more transparent on both sides.
Funding signals confidence in agentic AI for retail
Investor interest in AI agents e-commerce tools is rising, and recent raises by Kopa.ai and Handshake show how capital is shifting toward specialised operational platforms. Kopa.ai secured €2 million in seed funding co-led by XTX Ventures and Practica Capital, with Inovia Capital and angel investor Etan Ilfeld also participating, to build its core agent infrastructure and expand go-to-market efforts. Handshake raised USD 3.2 million (approx. RM14,720,000) in venture backing, led by Triple Point Ventures with support from Bain’s Future Back Ventures and Octopus Ventures, to develop its agentic AI operating system for retail dealmaking. These investments show that investors see value beyond headline-grabbing generative AI, backing tools that remove manual work from the everyday fabric of e-commerce operations. As these systems prove they can deliver reliable outcomes across inventory management, campaigns, and commercial agreements, more retailers are likely to treat AI agents as standard operational infrastructure.