Commerce is how agentic AI proves its value
Read this guest blog by Deann Evans, Managing Director, EMEA, for techUK’s Tech and Innovation Focus Week 2026.
Agentic AI is the biggest shift in commerce since the internet. For the first time, everyone has access to a personal shopper who understands their needs, budget, and preferences, available in any conversation, at any time. And commerce is where its value will be proven first.
The signals are already here, with consumers turning to AI to help them browse and buy. AI-driven traffic to Shopify stores alone has grown 8 times year-over-year, while orders from AI-powered searches have increased nearly 13 times. This shows us how AI agents can excel at discovery, understanding what someone needs and surfacing the right products.
We are already seeing this firsthand with Agentic Storefronts, which allows merchants to sell directly inside AI-driven environments such as Google’s Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT and others.
But turning intent into a completed transaction is where commerce gets complicated: payments clearing globally, fraud caught in real time, tax calculated correctly, inventory that's accurate, returns handled. If those fail, trust is lost, potentially forever.
For agentic commerce to scale further, the technology needs to be universal across models, platforms and solutions. It also needs to be baked into every facet of merchants’ businesses, so it’s easy for agents to find the information they need.
The evolving tech landscape
Shopping surfaces are multiplying but, without the right technology in place to connect them, there is risk of fragmentation, within businesses and across the shopping experience as a whole. This means merchants need a single source of data that is consistent and syndicated automatically. A unified commerce tech stack can provide this, one that connects online and offline experiences, centralises data to give a single view of the customer across all touchpoints, and allows tools to work coherently together as one intelligent system.
If a unified commerce approach can be a foundation to build agentic commerce capabilities for merchants, interoperability and open standards are what enable it to scale. That’s why Shopify co-developed with Google the open standard for how AI agents transact with merchants: the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP).
UCP enables AI agents to interact with any online store, and aims to standardise how AI agents transact across platforms. This ensures merchants can reach shoppers on newer channels, whilst preserving the merchant’s checkout experience and brand identity. Backed by Walmart, Target, Etsy, American Express, Mastercard, Stripe, and Visa, UCP is designed to handle the full commerce journey — product discovery, checkout, payment, post-purchase — across any platform, with any payment processor.
For UK merchants, that interoperability matters. Shopping surfaces are multiplying, and without open protocols connecting them. The risk is fragmentation, within businesses and across the shopping experience as a whole. Open standards like UCP let merchants reach shoppers wherever conversations happen, while preserving their checkout, brand and customer data. That’s exactly why we wanted to make sure this wasn’t just our standard, it's the industry's standard.
Ultimately, these developments are about more than enabling AI agents to transact. They help to unlock a more interoperable AI-powered shopping ecosystem that empowers discovery, conversation and conversion. As agentic AI matures, the businesses best positioned to succeed will be those with the connected infrastructure, data foundations and interoperability needed to meet customers wherever and however they choose to shop.
What UK merchants and policymakers need to get right
The technology is here. The harder question is whether UK businesses are positioned to participate. Research from Shopify found that among UK small businesses not currently using AI, 30% say training and guidance would help adoption, 27% want clear use cases relevant to their business and 25% want to see successful examples from other similar organisations. Upskilling, clear accountability for how AI is deployed, and trust-led customer relationships will all matter.
Policy has a role too. Recent Shopify data found that 58% of UK business owners say easier access to government support would have influenced their decision to start sooner. That doesn’t necessarily mean more funding though. Offering wider access to training and making it easier to innovate are just as important. Thankfully, the introduction of the Regulation for Growth Bill, announced in this year’s King’s Speech, is a promising sign that the government is planning to help kickstart innovation.
Agentic commerce can dramatically lower the barrier to entrepreneurship. A founder in Manchester or Cardiff with a great product no longer needs a marketing budget to compete for attention on search results pages. They need trustworthy product data, a working checkout, and presence in the conversations where their customers already are.
Turning potential into proof
Agentic AI is often discussed in terms of future potential, but it’s already a reality in commerce. Unlike some sectors still exploring theoretical use cases, retail offers a clear testbed for agentic systems: helping consumers discover products, supporting purchasing decisions, and enabling merchants to operate more efficiently at scale while keeping their brand intact.
The opportunity for the UK is significant. Agentic AI has the potential to lower barriers to entrepreneurship, help businesses reach customers in new ways, and create more intuitive, personalised shopping experiences. But realising that opportunity will depend on getting the foundations right. Open and interoperable technology standards, supportive policy frameworks and organisations that invest in skills and trust-led commerce must all work together.
Agentic commerce isn’t something that retailers and brands can afford to react to. However, with the right levers in place, commerce can become one of the clearest demonstrations of how agentic AI can deliver tangible economic value.
Author
Deann Evans
Deann Evans
Deann oversees the EMEA commercial operation for Shopify, the leading global commerce company that provides essential internet infrastructure for millions of modern, high-growth brands. She leads Shopify’s strategy to help EMEA merchants sell on every surface and drive retail innovation hand in hand with Europe’s most exciting businesses. She is responsible for regional growth by supporting and developing merchants and entrepreneurs, growing the partner ecosystem, and leading the team culture within Shopify’s EMEA markets. An experienced technology executive, Deann’s career spans over two decades in a range of leadership and C-level roles for ecommerce and SaaS businesses, such as eBay, Mettr and Sizmek.
techUK - Seizing the AI Opportunity
The UK is a global leader in AI innovation, development and adoption.
AI has the potential to boost UK GDP by £550 billion by 2035, making adoption an urgent economic priority. techUK and our members are committed to working with the Government to turn the AI Opportunities Action Plan into reality. Together we can ensure the UK seizes the opportunities presented by AI technology and continues to be a world leader in AI development.
Get involved: techUK runs a busy calendar of activities including events, reports, and insights to demonstrate some of the most significant AI opportunities for the UK. Our AI Hub is where you will find details of all upcoming activity. We also send a monthly AI newsletter which you can subscribe to here.
Upcoming AI Events
Latest news and insights
Subscribe to our AI newsletter
AI and Data Analytics updates
Sign-up to our monthly newsletter to get the latest updates and opportunities from our AI and Data Analytics Programme straight to your inbox.
Contact the team
Kir Nuthi
Kir Nuthi
Kir Nuthi is the Head of AI and Data at techUK.
She holds over seven years of Government Affairs and Tech Policy experience in the US and UK. Kir previously headed up the regulatory portfolio at a UK advocacy group for tech startups and held various public affairs in US tech policy. All involved policy research and campaigns on competition, artificial intelligence, access to data, and pro-innovation regulation.
Kir has an MSc in International Public Policy from University College London and a BA in both Political Science (International Relations) and Economics from the University of California San Diego.
Outside of techUK, you are likely to find her attempting studies at art galleries, attempting an elusive headstand at yoga, mending and binding books, or chasing her dog Maya around South London's many parks.
- Email:
- [email protected]
Usman Ikhlaq
Usman Ikhlaq
Usman joined techUK in January 2024 as Programme Manager for Artificial Intelligence.
He leads techUK’s AI Adoption programme, supporting members of all sizes and sectors in adopting AI at scale. His work involves identifying barriers to adoption, exploring solutions, and helping to unlock AI’s transformative potential, particularly its benefits for people, the economy, society, and the planet. He is also committed to advancing the UK’s AI sector and ensuring the UK remains a global leader in AI by working closely with techUK members, the UK Government, regulators, and devolved and local authorities.
Since joining techUK, Usman has delivered a regular drumbeat of activity to engage members and advance techUK's AI programme. This has included two campaign weeks, the creation of the AI Adoption Hub (now the AI Hub), the AI Leader's Event Series, the Putting AI into Action webinar series and the Industrial AI sprint campaign.
Before joining techUK, Usman worked as a policy, regulatory and government/public affairs professional in the advertising sector. He has also worked in sales, marketing, and FinTech.
Usman holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), a GDL and LLB from BPP Law School, and a BA from Queen Mary University of London.
When he isn’t working, Usman enjoys spending time with his family and friends. He also has a keen interest in running, reading and travelling.
Sue Daley OBE
Sue Daley OBE
Sue leads techUK's Technology and Innovation work. This includes work programmes on AI, Cloud, Data, Quantum, Semiconductors, Digital ID and Digital ethics as well as emerging and transformative technologies and innovation policy. In 2025, Sue was honoured with an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the Technology Industry in the New Year Honours List. She has also been recognised as one of the most influential people in UK tech by Computer Weekly's UKtech50 Longlist and was inducted into the Computer Weekly Most Influential Women in UK Tech Hall of Fame.
A key influencer in driving forward the tech agenda in the UK, in December 2025 Sue was appointed to the UK Government’s Women in Tech Taskforce by the Technology Secretary of State. She also sits on the UK Government’s Smart Data Council, Satellite Applications Catapult Advisory Group, Bank of England’s AI Consortium and BSI’s Digital Strategic Advisory Group. Previously, Sue was a member of the Independent Future of Compute Review and co-chaired the National Data Strategy Forum. As well as being recognised in the UK's Big Data 100 and the Global Top 100 Data Visionaries in 2020, Sue has been shortlisted for the Milton Keynes Women Leaders Awards and has been a judge for the Loebner Prize in AI, the UK Tech 50 and annual UK Cloud Awards. She is a regular industry speaker on issues including AI ethics, data protection and cyber security.
Prior to joining techUK in January 2015, Sue was responsible for Symantec's Government Relations in the UK and Ireland. Before that, Sue was senior policy advisor at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Sue has an BA degree on History and American Studies from Leeds University and a Master’s Degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Birmingham. Sue is a keen sportswoman and in 2016 achieved a lifelong ambition to swim the English Channel.
- Email:
- [email protected]
- Phone:
- 020 7331 2055
- Twitter:
- @ChannelSwimSue
Visit our AI Hub - the home of all our AI content:
Enquire about membership:
