As the artificial intelligence industry pivots toward agentic AI — systems capable of autonomously executing multi-step tasks — a clear geographic split is emerging in how the technology is being deployed.
While Western firms emphasise foundational models and cross-platform interoperability, China’s hyperscalers are betting heavily on commerce-driven integration. That divergence is shaping a distinct approach to autonomous systems, one that could influence how enterprises worldwide adopt agentic AI.
Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance have rapidly upgraded their platforms to support agentic commerce, shifting from conversational assistants to AI agents capable of completing full transaction cycles, from discovery to payment.
Commerce-first AI in action
Alibaba recently enhanced its Qwen chatbot to enable direct transaction completion within the interface. The agent connects seamlessly with services across Alibaba’s ecosystem, including Taobao, Alipay, Amap, and travel platform Fliggy.
The system supports hundreds of core digital tasks, allowing users to receive personalised recommendations, compare options, and complete payments without leaving the chatbot environment.
According to Shaochen Wang, research analyst at Counterpoint Research, this approach enables deep service integration that strengthens user engagement and creates long-term competitive advantages.
Super apps create structural advantages
ByteDance has taken a similar path, upgrading its Doubao AI chatbot to autonomously handle tasks such as ticket bookings through integrations with Douyin, China’s version of TikTok. The model was initially introduced as a system-level AI assistant on a prototype smartphone, though some features were later scaled back amid privacy and security concerns.
Tencent has also signalled its intent to embed AI agents deeply into the WeChat ecosystem. Tencent president Martin Lau has indicated that agentic AI could become a foundational layer across messaging, payments, e-commerce, and services — all within a platform used by more than a billion people.
This positioning highlights a key advantage for Chinese firms: tightly integrated ecosystems that avoid the fragmentation faced by many Western competitors.
Integration beats interoperability
Analysts argue that China’s super app environment gives its tech giants a natural edge in deploying agentic AI.
Charlie Dai, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, has noted that success in agentic systems depends on deep integration across payments, logistics, and social engagement — areas where Chinese platforms already operate at scale. Rich behavioural data and consumer familiarity with all-in-one apps further strengthen this position.
By contrast, Western companies often operate across fragmented data environments and face stricter privacy regulations, which can slow cross-service integration despite leadership in foundational model development.
From consumer tools to enterprise agents
The rapid rollout of agentic commerce tools signals broader implications for enterprises. As agentic AI evolves, it is expected to shift from supporting roles to acting as autonomous operators capable of executing complex workflows.
Industry observers anticipate multi-agent systems becoming a defining enterprise trend, extending from consumer-facing services into organisational production and operations.
Some forecasts suggest that the first AI agent to surpass hundreds of millions of monthly users could emerge in the near future, functioning as a cross-application assistant for both work and daily life.
Economic stakes continue to rise
Consumer adoption trends point to significant economic potential. Research indicates that a substantial portion of consumers already rely on AI for online discovery, while estimates suggest that AI agents could unlock more than a trillion dollars in economic value through streamlining decision-making and transactional processes.
Chinese cloud providers, including JD Cloud and UCloud, have begun supporting agentic AI deployments, though high computational costs have pushed some platforms to experiment with fixed-subscription pricing models to manage token usage.
Diverging global strategies
The contrast between China’s integration-heavy approach and Western firms’ focus on scalability reflects deeper structural and regulatory differences.
Analysts expect Chinese players to prioritise domestic dominance and selective regional expansion, while US companies emphasise global reach, governance, and interoperability. Western firms pursuing agentic commerce include OpenAI, Perplexity, Amazon, and Google, each adapting to ecosystems where closed-loop integration is harder to achieve.
Regulation and risk considerations
The autonomy of agentic AI systems has raised regulatory and security questions, particularly in consumer contexts. Some Chinese firms have warned users about potential privacy risks, recommending cautious deployment when agents have access to device data, digital accounts, and multiple connectivity channels.
These concerns highlight a growing tension between rapid commercialisation and governance — a balance that enterprises globally will need to manage as agentic systems mature.
Early signals with global implications
China’s aggressive push into agentic commerce offers early insight into how autonomous AI may reshape customer acquisition, platform economics, and competitive moats.
For enterprise leaders, the lesson is not necessarily to replicate China’s super app model, but to recognise how tightly integrated ecosystems can accelerate agentic AI adoption. As these systems move from novelty to infrastructure, the companies that control both data flows and transaction paths may define the next phase of AI-driven competition.
