Setting standards together: elio joins the Agentic Commerce Alliance

Agentic commerce marks the next evolutionary step in digital commerce. By joining the Agentic Commerce Alliance, elio is now actively committed to open standards, interoperable systems, and AI agents that not only think but also act.

Published: 26.01.2026 Reading time: ~4 min

elio is now part of the Agentic Commerce Alliance (ACA) - an open initiative that is shaping the future of agent-driven commerce. Initiated by Shopware, the alliance brings together leading technology companies and commerce experts to develop standards for the secure, interoperable use of AI agents. "Agentic commerce is the next big leap in digital commerce - and we don't just want to observe it, we want to help shape it. That's why we joined the Agentic Commerce Alliance," says Simon Neuberger, CTO of elio GmbH.

We bring our strength in platform integration, process automation and B2B eCommerce implementations to take agents from vision to production. For retailers, this means faster decisions, fewer manual loops and end-to-end processes that finally feel like a modern system.

Simon Neuberger

CTO at elio GmbH

What is the Agentic Commerce Alliance?

Why this is important: Digital commerce is entering a new phase. While AI has so far mainly made recommendations or provided forecasts, autonomous agents can now understand context, coordinate systems and independently perform tasks in the interests of retailers and shoppers.

However, without open standards and interoperability, their potential remains limited.

This is where the Agentic Commerce Alliance comes in. It defines open, vendor-neutral principles so that agents can work together securely and consistently across platform boundaries - and retailers retain control at all times.

Its values:

Openness and transparency instead of closed systems.
Human-centred technology that maintains trust and control.
Interoperability by design to enable true collaboration between platforms.
Vendor neutrality - so that innovation benefits everyone, not just a few providers.

"Without open standards, the discovery and selection of solutions risks falling into the hands of closed platforms. With them, on the other hand, agents recognise trust, service and expertise - and thus ensure the visibility and competitiveness of retailers of all sizes," emphasises Stefan Hamann, CEO of Shopware and initiator of the Alliance.

The role of elio

elio also wants to contribute to turning the vision into a functioning, open ecosystem. "In practice, innovation rarely fails because of ideas - but because of data silos, system breaks and a lack of orchestration. This is exactly where we come in," says Ruben Theerkorn, Head of Development & AI at elio.

We connect commerce platforms, ERP, PIM, CRM and logistics so that agents can not only talk, but also act - securely, comprehensibly and scalably. In the Alliance, we drive collaboration so that many individual solutions become an ecosystem that really accelerates B2B commerce.

Ruben Theerkorn
Head of Development & AI at elio GmbH

For us, membership of the ACA is a clear commitment to openness, cooperation and shared responsibility. Because the future of B2B commerce will not be created in silos - but through collaboration.

About the Agentic Commerce Alliance

The Agentic Commerce Alliance brings together AI commerce experts to lead organisations into the future of commerce. As the world's only open initiative dedicated to shaping the technical, ethical and operational foundations of agentic commerce, it ensures that agentic commerce remains accessible, safe and beneficial for organisations of all sizes.

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Table of contents

Setting standards together: elio joins the Agentic Commerce Alliance

What is the Agentic Commerce Alliance?

The role of elio