The promise of digital commerce was simple: connect systems, code processes, get out of the way.
But for most B2B manufacturers and wholesalers, the reality looks different. Processes still stall between tools. Teams still chase manual workarounds. Custom code still accumulates. The architecture changed, but the operational burden didn't. B2B commerce has reached an inflection point, and the next generation of platforms is built around a fundamentally different premise.
This isn't theoretical. In 2025, Emporix achieved over 100% revenue growth and secured more than €30 million in growth financing, driven by enterprise customers seeking exactly this shift: platforms that don't just connect systems, but orchestrate entire commerce operations autonomously.
The Integration Trap
Over the past decade, B2B companies invested heavily in composable architectures and API-first approaches. The logic made sense: break apart monolithic systems, connect best-of-breed tools, gain flexibility. But flexibility without orchestration creates its own problems.
When processes span multiple systems, countries, and business units, APIs alone don't solve the coordination challenge. Someone, or more often, some team, still has to manage the handoffs, monitor exceptions, and ensure orders actually flow from intent to fulfillment. Integration connects systems. It doesn't run commerce.
This is why organizations with sophisticated MACH architectures often find themselves with more manual work than before, not less. The tools improved. The operational complexity increased.
From Building Commerce to Operating It
The structural problem isn't technology - it's mindset. Traditional commerce platforms, whether monolithic or composable, treat commerce as a project to build rather than a system to operate. Implementation ends. Maintenance begins. And the gap between what the business needs and what IT can deliver widens with every quarter.
What autonomous execution for B2B commerce actually requires is a shift from integration to orchestration. Not just connecting systems, but coordinating outcomes. Not just automating tasks, but enabling processes that think and adapt.
This is the premise behind Autonomous Commerce Execution - an approach that combines commerce orchestration with agentic intelligence, allowing enterprises to run commerce operations rather than continuously rebuild them.
What Autonomous Commerce Execution Looks Like
At its core, Autonomous Commerce Execution rests on three capabilities that traditional platforms lack.
Value Streams: The operational Core of Commerce Processes
Rather than managing commerce as disconnected transactions, Value Streams represent end-to-end processes - from customer intent through fulfillment. Customer onboarding, order processing, service execution: each becomes a configurable, measurable flow rather than a collection of siloed functions.
Value Streams connect systems, processes, and people into coherent workflows that business teams can see, adapt, and optimize without developer dependency. When a pricing exception occurs in one country or a fulfillment delay happens in another, the process itself handles the complexity - not a manual escalation chain.
Agentic Commerce Intelligence: Processes That Think
The next evolution beyond basic automation is AI agents that don't just respond but analyze, decide, and act. Unlike traditional workflow automation (so called BPMN) that follows rigid if-then rules, AI agents evaluate situations in context and take appropriate action.
For B2B enterprises managing complex product configurations, customer-specific pricing, and multi-channel fulfillment, this means processes that improve themselves over time rather than requiring constant human adjustment. From automated purchase order processing to intelligent catalog maintenance, AI agents are already delivering 70-80% efficiency gains in production environments.
Value Stream Modeler: Business Logic in Business Hands
When process changes require developer tickets and six-week backlogs, agility becomes theoretical. The Value Stream Modeler, a visual workflow builder, puts commerce logic directly in the hands of business teams through no-code interfaces. Adjust a workflow, add an approval step, modify routing logic - without waiting for IT capacity.
This isn't about replacing technical teams. It's about removing artificial bottlenecks between business needs and operational response.
Why Enterprise Demand Is Accelerating
The shift toward autonomous commerce isn't theoretical. Enterprises with complex B2B operations - particularly manufacturers and wholesalers managing fragmented IT landscapes - are actively seeking platforms that can integrate with existing infrastructure while reducing operational burden.
This demand fueled significant market momentum in 2025. Enterprise customers from the DACH region, Benelux, and the UK drove adoption, choosing autonomous commerce approaches over traditional replatforming. The common thread: complex B2B business models, fragmented IT systems, and the need for integration, process reliability, and scalability.
Several factors are driving this urgency. Profitability pressure means companies can no longer afford the hidden costs of manual process management. Skilled workforce shortages make it harder to staff the teams that currently bridge system gaps. And customer expectations for self-service, real-time availability, and transparent order tracking continue to rise.
Companies that once tolerated operational friction as a cost of doing business are recognizing it as a competitive liability. When your competitor can onboard customers in days instead of weeks, process orders with 80% fewer touches, and adapt pricing rules without developer involvement, the gap becomes visible in the market.
Practical Results, Not Promises
The difference between concept and execution matters. B2B wholesalers implementing autonomous commerce approaches have achieved measurable results: 70% fewer manual touches in order processing, 80% reduction in cycle times, and go-live timelines measured in months rather than years.
These outcomes stem from treating commerce as an operating system - something to run and optimize continuously - rather than a project with a fixed endpoint.
What This Means for B2B Leaders
For executives navigating digital commerce decisions, the question isn't whether to automate - it's how to automate in ways that compound rather than complicate.
The traditional path - more integrations, more custom code, more manual coordination - leads to higher costs and diminishing returns. The alternative is operating commerce as autonomous, intelligent systems where processes run themselves and teams focus on exceptions rather than routine execution.
This shift requires platforms built for operation, not just implementation. It requires architectures that treat Value Streams as first-class citizens, not afterthoughts. And it requires the recognition that B2B commerce automation has evolved beyond connecting systems to orchestrating outcomes.
The enterprises making this transition now will operate with structural advantages their competitors can't easily replicate. Those waiting for the market to mature may find the gap harder to close than expected.
For 2026, the focus intensifies: deeper automation, AI-powered optimization of commerce processes, and tighter integration between technology, implementation partners, and customer projects. Our CEO, Mark Holenstein, noted: "Many companies hit limits with existing commerce architectures when processes need to be managed across countries, systems, and business models. Our task is to make this complexity technically manageable and enable operational efficiency gains."
Read the full press release: Emporix wächst stark und positioniert neue Plattformgeneration für automatisierten B2B-Handel (German)
