Shopify is enhancing core enterprise commerce workflows with agentic AI, automating operations while expanding sales channels. Shopify’s Winter ‘26 Edition pushes this technology toward agentic commerce where AI systems actively manage workflows, configure infrastructure, and distribute products into third-party ecosystems. ## Modernising commerce with the agentic AI storefront The most distinct architectural adjustment is the introduction of ‘Agentic Storefronts’. Traditionally, merchants drive traffic to a proprietary domain to secure a conversion. Shopify’s new model allows products to surface directly within AI-driven conversations on platforms such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot. The transaction occurs within the conversation, with attribution data flowing back to the central admin. ## Operational intelligence and ‘Sidekick’ updates The updates to ‘Sidekick’ (Shopify’s AI assistant) target operational expenditures and efficiency. The tool has evolved from a reactive AI chatbot into a proactive agentic system capable of executing complex administrative tasks for commerce. Sidekick Pulse now surfaces personalised tasks based on real-time data, such as suggesting product bundles when specific cart behaviours are detected or flagging compliance gaps like missing return policies. For technical teams, the reduction in low-level ticket volume is a primary benefit. Sidekick can now generate admin applications from natural language prompts, allowing non-technical staff to build custom tools without developer intervention. Furthermore, it creates ‘Working Flow’ automations from descriptions to bypass the need for deep knowledge of Shopify’s specific logic syntax. ## Infrastructure and developer velocity Beyond agentic AI, the update addresses physical commerce infrastructure and developer tooling. The new ‘POS Hub’ offers a wired connectivity solution for retail hardware, designed to improve resilience in high-volume brick-and-mortar environments. On the software side, the AI-native developer platform aims to accelerate build times. AI agents can now scaffold apps, execute GraphQL operations, and generate validated code. This is supported by the Shopify Catalog, which enables agents to search across hundreds of millions of products to build richer applications.