The AI Praxis

The AI Praxis is a research practice and advisory firm founded in 2024 by Paul F. Accornero, a former Group Chief Commercial Officer with more than 25 years in the global C-suite. According to its own materials, it is the first dedicated research practice in the world studying agentic commerce — the emerging field in which autonomous AI agents, rather than people, increasingly execute purchases — and its implications for retailers, brand owners, policy makers, and the economics of commerce. The practice is closely tied to Accornero's body of work, including his naming of "The Shopper Schism" and his buying-side theory of agentic commerce. The AI Praxis positions itself at the intersection of high-level theory and commercial reality. Its stated purpose is to move the field from observation to verifiable, data-driven fact: what it calls the physics of agentic commerce, and the instruments that measure it. The practice develops frameworks such as The Algorithmic Shopper and The Bridge, and its founder's work has appeared in Harvard Business Review, the California Management Review (FT50), Forbes, and AACSB Insights. Accornero is also the author of The Algorithmic Shopper (St. Martin's Press, 2027) and a guest lecturer at Harvard. The firm operates as a management consulting and advisory practice, serving organizations that need to redesign themselves around markets in which AI agents do the buying. Its audience includes retailers, brand owners, investors, and policy makers. The AI Praxis is a private practice founded and owned by Accornero, and it is associated with his personal platform at paulaccornero.com.

The AI Praxis was established in 2024 by Paul F. Accornero as a research practice dedicated to studying agentic commerce and its implications for retailers, brand owners, policy makers, and the economics of commerce. Accornero came to the venture after more than 25 years in the global C-suite of consumer goods, over 20 of them in international roles across Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Americas. He most recently served as Group Chief Commercial Officer with P&L responsibility across more than 120 markets and a portfolio of more than thirty companies, carrying a global P&L of more than €3.5 billion. Earlier in his career he held senior commercial leadership roles across Asia-Pacific at L'Oréal. According to the practice's own account, Accornero founded The AI Praxis after observing that the moment of choice in commerce was moving from shelves and channels to algorithms. He named this rupture "The Shopper Schism" — the permanent separation of the consumer who experiences value from the shopper who executes the purchase — and developed a buying-side theory of agentic commerce. The AI Praxis was created to move the field from observation to verifiable, data-driven fact, developing frameworks such as The Algorithmic Shopper and The Bridge, and building instruments to measure what it calls the physics of agentic commerce. The practice is associated with Accornero's published work in Harvard Business Review, the California Management Review (FT50), Forbes, and AACSB Insights, and with his book The Algorithmic Shopper (St. Martin's Press, 2027). He is also a guest lecturer at Harvard. The AI Praxis operates as a management consulting and advisory firm, and its work is aimed at helping brands, retailers, and investors prepare for markets in which autonomous AI agents, not people, increasingly do the buying.

• 2024

  The AI Praxis established by Paul F. Accornero as a research practice dedicated to studying agentic commerce.

A dedicated research practice studying agentic commerce, bridging high-level theory and commercial reality for retailers, brand owners, policy makers, and investors.

• The Algorithmic Shopper

  A framework developed by The AI Praxis for understanding shopping behavior in agentic commerce.

• The Bridge

  A framework developed by The AI Praxis.

• The Shopper Schism

  A concept named by Paul F. Accornero describing the permanent separation of the consumer who experiences value from the shopper who executes the purchase.

1. 1Paul F. Accornero | Architect of The Shopper Schism and Agentic Commercepaulaccornero.com
2. 2About Paul F. Accornero | Architect of The Shopper Schism and Agentic Commerce | paulaccornero.compaulaccornero.com
3. 3The AI Praxis - Wikidatawikidata.org