It’s the phrase on everyone’s lips – but ‘agentic commerce’ is far more than just a buzzword, it’s the future of online retail. Criteo’s VP of research, Liva Ralaivola, explained to InternetRetailing what this future might look like.
From security and fraud prevention to agentic shopping, AI is already upturning the traditional customer journey – with a lot more still to come. But while this change is exciting, it’s also unnerving for retailers, navigating a future that is changing rapidly – and still contains a great many unknown elements.
The right tech partners can provide reassurance in this era of uncertainty. Working with more than 20,000 partners worldwide, Criteo is a global commerce media company that connects brands, retailers, and consumers, providing AI-powered advertising and commerce media solutions. At the heart of its strategy is Criteo AI Lab, launched in 2018 to push boundaries in personalisation and automation, and run by Liva Ralaivola, VP of research. “The mission of the AI Lab is to develop the next generation of AI tools to enhance our business,” says Ralaivola. “We focus on both technical research – solving scientific and mathematical challenges – and integrating these advances into our products.”
The rise of agentic commerce
One of the most exciting – and disruptive – developments for retail is agentic commerce, essentially the idea that, in the future, the consumer’s AI agent will help them do their shopping. “The core idea of agentic AI – particularly with large language models – is that it can autonomously combine and orchestrate different software tools to accomplish complex tasks,” says Ralaivola.
Imagine telling your AI assistant: “Find me a purple party dress under £150.” Instead of scrolling through endless pages, your agent negotiates with retailer AIs, filters options based on your preferences, and presents a curated shortlist. Behind the scenes, brands are still competing for visibility, but the process is invisible to you.
This isn’t science fiction. Ralaivola predicts mainstream adoption within a couple of years. “Technological players are gearing up with AI tools and expertise to ensure they’re ready,” he says. For retailers, that means preparing now for a world where websites aren’t the main shopping destination – AI agents are.
To stay ahead, Criteo is building what Ralaivola calls a “commerce foundation model” – a powerful system designed to understand shopping behaviours and marketing dynamics. “This model will be the core of our tools, similar to how other sectors have developed foundational models for medicine or weather,” he explains.
And it’s not just about external products. Inside Criteo, AI is already boosting productivity – summarising meetings, drafting memos, and accelerating development. These efficiencies free up human creativity for strategy and innovation, ensuring the company stays nimble in a fast-changing market.
Staying transparent in an opaque future
Of course, more AI means more data – which means more questions about privacy. “Privacy and transparency are now central to every discussion,” says Ralaivola. Regulations like GDPR set the rules, but trust goes beyond compliance. “Education is crucial, so people see what they receive in exchange for their data – if sharing information saves them time or brings value, many are willing, within limits.”
He highlights the fact that transparency could become an issue in the retail environment of the future, with so much of the agentic commerce happening behind the scenes. Consumers will need to be certain of the distinction between genuinely being presented with the right choices by their agent and being marketed to via paid-for content – raising important questions about trust and clarity. To bridge that gap, Criteo is developing explainability tools designed to show users why they’re seeing certain recommendations or ads, bringing clarity to a potentially opaque process.
Underlying all this is the rise of the data economy. “Data itself is now as valuable as oil or gold – it’s the raw material that fuels all this progress,” Ralaivola says. The challenge for retailers is to make sure the exchange of value is fair and explicit.
The clock is ticking
So, when will this future arrive? Ralaivola believes the foundations of agentic commerce could be in place by 2026. “New tools, new rules, and heightened user expectations,” he says. “The momentum is clear, with big retailers already partnering with advanced AI providers. The transformation is only going to accelerate.”
For retailers and brands, this isn’t the time to ‘wait and see’ what happens. It’s already happening, so the key is to get agent-ready now, or risk being left behind. AI isn’t just changing how we shop, it’s rewriting the rules of engagement. And Criteo is determined to lead the charge.
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