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Trusted Information: The Business Capability Behind AI, Identity, and Automation
ARTICLE 01 - Beyond Compliance: What GS1 Connect 2026 Revealed About Trusted Information For many small and mid-sized businesses, the journey begins with a barcode. A retailer, marketplace, or trading partner tells them they need one before their products can be sold. At that point, the barcode is often seen as a compliance requirement. It satisfies a customer requirement and allows the product to enter the market. That was not the message coming from GS1 Connect 2026. The co
Elizabeth
1 day ago5 min read
Why Product Identity Is Expanding Beyond Compliance
For many years, product identifiers were primarily associated with operational processes. They helped businesses identify products, exchange information with trading partners, manage inventory, and support supply chain activities. The identifier itself was important, but its role was largely administrative. That perspective is becoming increasingly incomplete. Today, the same product identifier may support ecommerce listings, product discovery, traceability initiatives, consu
Elizabeth
7 days ago2 min read
Why AI Keeps Leading Back to Product Information
AI projects often begin with tools. A business sees a new platform, a new automation opportunity, or a new way to improve customer experience. The first conversation is usually about capability. What can the tool do? What process can it improve? Where can it save time? Those are reasonable questions. But they are rarely the final questions. Once AI moves from demonstration into actual business use, the discussion often returns to the same foundation: the quality of the inform
Elizabeth
Jul 32 min read
The Number Is Not the Asset
Discussions about GS1 often begin with numbers. Businesses are introduced to product numbers, location numbers, and logistics identifiers because they enable organisations to refer to the same business object consistently across systems and trading partners. That consistency is important, but it is only the starting point. The number itself is not the asset. The business value comes from the information that the number makes accessible and the confidence that different organi
Elizabeth
Jun 262 min read
AI Is Creating a New Interoperability Challenge for Mid-Size Businesses
Interoperability and harmonization have been priorities for governments, regulators, and standards organizations for decades. The principle is simple: systems create more value when they can work together. Global trade depends on common standards. Financial institutions rely on shared payment networks. Supply chains operate because participants can exchange information across organizations, platforms, and borders. Artificial intelligence is bringing this challenge into focus
Elizabeth
Jun 192 min read
Interoperability in the AI era: why mid-size businesses must treat harmonisation as strategy, not just compliance
The pressure is already real Mid-size businesses are not entering a calm market. In 2025, 30.36% of medium-sized EU enterprises used at least one AI technology, compared with 55.03% of large enterprises. That gap matters because it suggests larger firms are already pulling ahead in practical adoption. For a mid-size company, the question is no longer whether AI matters. It is whether the business is organised well enough to use it reliably. What AI actually needs OECD resea
Elizabeth
Jun 122 min read
For whom does the agent toll?
As AI agents begin to take on more responsibility in commerce, a quiet shift is happening. Decisions that were once made by people are now being made on their behalf. The consumer sets the intent. The agent executes. But this raises a deeper question. When an agent makes a decision, who is it really working for? Agents do not just assist. They act. Agentic systems are designed to move beyond recommendation. They search, compare, select, and in some cases, transact. This chang
Elizabeth
Jun 52 min read
Who owns your data? We might not have a clear answer
The question of data ownership sounds straightforward. If it is your data, then you own it. But in practice, it is rarely that simple. Data moves across platforms, systems, and third parties. It is collected in one place, processed in another, and often stored somewhere else entirely. By the time it is used, multiple actors may have touched it, shaped it, or derived value from it. So the real question is not just who owns the data, but who controls it, who benefits from it, a
Elizabeth
May 292 min read
Is AI bad? We might be asking the wrong question
The question of whether AI is “bad” comes up often, especially as the technology becomes more visible in everyday life. It is a simple question, but it oversimplifies something far more complex. AI is not a person, and it does not have intent or values of its own. So instead of asking whether it is good or bad, it is more useful to ask what it actually does, who shapes it, and where responsibility sits. AI reflects the systems we already have Artificial intelligence is built
Elizabeth
May 222 min read
How Data Gaps Decide Who Gets Seen in Agent Commerce
A quiet gap that changes visibility A competitor in your category fixed their GS1 Digital Link records last quarter, while your setup has stayed the same. On the surface, this may not feel urgent, but in agent-led commerce it creates a growing difference in how products are discovered, ranked, and ultimately selected. Data quality now influences discovery GS1 Digital Link records are no longer just background technical details. They now influence how AI systems decide which p
Elizabeth
May 152 min read
Why Your Product Data Matters More Than Your Barcode
Most mid-market brands understand the importance of having a UPC on their products. It is what allows them to sell through retailers, list on platforms like Amazon, and operate within standard commerce systems. On the surface, having a barcode feels like the job is done. However, a UPC does more than enable transactions. It anchors a product’s digital identity within the GS1 system. That identity is not just a technical detail. It is what machines, platforms, and increasingly
Elizabeth
May 12 min read
Agentic Commerce: Readiness and Adoption
What is Agentic Commerce Agentic commerce refers to the use of AI agents that can search, evaluate, and complete purchases on behalf of consumers or businesses. These agents rely on structured product data, APIs, and payment integrations rather than visual interfaces. Instead of browsing websites, the agent queries systems directly and makes decisions based on predefined preferences, constraints, and real-time data. Current State of Readiness Many of the core building blocks
Elizabeth
Apr 242 min read
AI is already choosing what customers buy. Are you being chosen?
The robots are already shopping. Is your product on their list? What’s actually changing AI agents are now handling product discovery. Instead of browsing, users ask for the best option and get a short, structured list. Most products are filtered out before they are ever seen. These systems rely on structured data and verified identifiers. Standards like GTINs and frameworks from GS1 are what make products visible. If your data is not aligned, your product is unlikely to appe
Elizabeth
Apr 204 min read
Why Data Maturity Is Becoming the Real Advantage in Agentic Commerce
The shift happening underneath retail For a long time, retail worked on a fairly predictable logic. The brands that spent the most on advertising won the most visibility. Visibility drove traffic. Traffic drove sales. That logic is starting to fall apart. In agentic commerce, visibility is not something you can simply buy anymore. It is determined by whether your product data can be understood and trusted by machines. When an AI agent receives a shopping request, it does not
Elizabeth
Apr 173 min read
Agentic Commerce Readiness: Why Mid-Market Brands Should Pay Attention
Agentic commerce is no longer a concept being debated in boardrooms. It is operational infrastructure being built right now by the largest technology and payments companies in the world. For mid-market brands, the question is not whether this shift will matter. It is how prepared their systems, data, and operations are to participate when it does. What Agentic Commerce Actually Means Agentic commerce refers to a model in which AI agents act on behalf of customers to discover
Elizabeth
Apr 103 min read
Agentic commerce is already shaping decisions
Most brands are still operating as if humans are the primary decision-makers in commerce. That assumption is starting to break. Agentic commerce, where software, AI systems, and GPT-driven environments evaluate and select products, is no longer theoretical. It is already influencing procurement, discovery, and purchasing decisions across supply chains and digital channels. At the same time, infrastructure such as GS1 Digital Link already exists to support this shift. The issu
Elizabeth
Mar 273 min read
Agentic Commerce: The New Frontier
AI agents are no longer a future proposition. They are actively reshaping how products are discovered, evaluated, and purchased, and brands that fail to adapt risk becoming invisible to the machines making buying decisions. Agentic commerce is an emerging form of e-commerce in which AI agents manage the complete buying cycle on behalf of users or organisations, from search and comparison through to transaction and payment, without real-time human involvement. These agents ope
Elizabeth
Mar 203 min read
AI Is Starting to Shop. Most Products Aren't Ready.
Commerce is crossing a threshold, and most brands haven't noticed. Earlier this year at NRF Retail's Big Show , Google introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP). The concept sounds simple. The consequences are anything but. AI systems will increasingly be able to discover, evaluate, and purchase products on behalf of consumers. This is the beginning of agentic commerce. And it changes everything about how products get found. Instead of a person scrolling, searching, an
Elizabeth
Mar 132 min read
Your Product Already Has a Digital Twin. Managing Its Reputation Is Now Your Job.
Your Product Already Has a Digital Twin. Managing Its Reputation Is Now Your Job. If your product has a UPC code, it already has a digital identity. That identity exists whether you designed it or not. It exists whether you are paying attention to it or not. And in today’s environment, that identity behaves like a digital twin . It lives alongside the physical product and interacts with the digital world on its behalf. What has changed is not the existence of this digital tw
Elizabeth
Mar 64 min read
Why Static Barcodes Can’t Support Modern Traceability
Traceability has outgrown the barcode it relies on For a long time, traceability meant being able to answer one basic question: Where did this product come from? Batch records, shipping documents, and internal logs were usually enough. That definition no longer holds. Today, regulators, retailers, and brand owners expect traceability to be faster, more precise, and actionable in real time. They want to isolate issues quickly, limit disruption, and prove exactly what happened,
Elizabeth
Feb 272 min read
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