Alibaba and DHL Partner on Logistics AI

Alibaba.com and DHL Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 10 September 2026 to evaluate artificial intelligence tools for small and medium-sized businesses engaged in international trade. The agreement was announced at Alibaba.com's CoCreate 2026 Conference in Los Angeles.

The collaboration explores integrating DHL Global Forwarding logistics services directly into Accio, the agentic enterprise AI platform developed by Alibaba.com. Accio functions as a no-code system designed to handle operational tasks for small businesses across sourcing, supplier discovery, logistics quotation, booking, and shipment execution.

Through this integration, Accio will connect to DHL Global Forwarding Quotation and Booking features, allowing merchants to obtain real-time freight forwarding quotes and schedule shipments. Both companies stated that this tool is the first step in a planned suite of automated logistics capabilities.

Kuo Zhang, president of Alibaba.com, stated that the company aims to use Accio to help businesses move from opportunity to execution across the trade journey while lowering barriers to cross-border commerce. Katja Busch, chief commercial officer at DHL, and Tim Robertson, executive vice president of accelerated digitalization at DHL Global Forwarding, emphasized that combining digital commerce expertise with logistics networks will simplify regulatory and shipping complexities for expanding firms.