SMEs dream about the things they might be able to achieve, from expansion into new markets to delivering profitable growth, every SME has an ambitious goal that they go to bed thinking about at night. Now, however, thanks to agentic AI, SMEs can put that time to work and progress business-critical workstreams that help them get one step closer to delivering their business objectives – particularly if they are related to saving time, driving margins, or bringing new products to markets.
One solution Is Accio Work , Alibaba.com’s 24/7 agentic business team that helps SMEs automate end-to-end business tasks, moving beyond advice to execute work across research, sourcing, negotiation, marketing, sales, operations and CRM.
While many AI tools draft, suggest or provide answers to specific prompts, Accio Work is designed to take a goal or business objective and create a specific action plan to deliver results. Its agents work in coordination with one another, providing SMEs with automated workflows rather than a series of isolated tasks.
Users get access to a pre-configured team of AI agents without requiring technical setup, allowing them to set goals in natural language, while the system assembles specialist agents to work on the task autonomously. These agents can support businesses across the entire lifecycle, including product strategy and design, product and supplier search, comparison and vetting, enquiry and negotiation, store operations, marketing and sales.
The sourcing night shift
One of Accio Work’s special features is the Accio Sourcing Toolkit which has been designed to offer senior-level sourcing expertise to any growing SME or solopreneur. This toolkit can automate key sourcing tasks, including supplier identification, product and supplier comparisons, and bulk outreach, 24/7 – allowing founders to focus on other tasks.
SMEs can describe a product or product specification and use the toolkit to find the best-suited suppliers that can bring it to life. For founders who are flush with new product ideas but may not have the time or expertise to bring ideas to market, this is particularly powerful.
By automating manual research, outreach and supplier follow-up, the toolkit reduces the time spent on repetitive tasks linked to sourcing, making the process easier to manage and more impactful.
Supporting better supplier decisions
The Sourcing Toolkit can present SMEs with a range of options from different suppliers for assessment ahead of formal negotiations.
By bringing together product and supplier information, pricing, sourcing terms and broader market context, it gives business owners a clearer view of their options. Rather than beginning the day with more research and unanswered questions, founders can be better placed to assess the available information, make quicker decisions and progress business-critical areas.
The toolkit also supports autonomous outreach and negotiation with suppliers, including follow-ups 24/7, helping SMEs and founders maintain momentum across supplier conversations while focusing attention elsewhere.
Moving faster from idea to execution
The Accio Sourcing Toolkit combines product research, opportunity analysis and supplier discovery to help SMEs identify products with commercial potential.
SMEs can describe a product or product specification and use the toolkit to find suitable suppliers that can bring it to life. For founders who are flush with new product ideas but may not have the time or expertise to bring them to market, this is particularly powerful.
Once an opportunity has been identified, businesses can move directly into supplier discovery and sourcing. By keeping research, comparison, outreach and follow-up moving, the toolkit can help SMEs capitalise on new and emerging trends with greater agility, reduce time to market and move more quickly from idea to execution.
It draws on Alibaba.com’s decades of expertise in B2B commerce, allowing SMEs to access supplier and product intelligence that would otherwise be difficult to gather independently.
The Next Step: CoCreate Pitch 2026
For founders who want to do more than just source their ideas but also bring them onto the international stage: Alibaba.com has redesigned the CoCreate Pitch Competition 2026 into a fully AI-driven product innovation contest with a total prize pool of over one million US dollars.
For the first time, applicants can register directly through Accio Work. A dedicated “CoCreate Pitch Agent” transforms early product ideas into structured pitch concepts and actionable business plans. The European Final will take place on November 19 and 20, 2026, in London.