Featured in California Management Review

Featured in California Management Review

Paul F. Accornero — Architect of Agentic Commerce, founder of The AI Praxis

GLOBAL P&L LEADERSHIP

As a Senior Executive at the De'Longhi Group (where he spent almost two decades at the intersection of global commerce), and during his eight-year tenure as Group Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), Paul was responsible for a $3.5+ billion global P&L across 30+ subsidiaries and 120 markets. He has spent over 25 years in the C-Suite, working for some of the most successful consumer goods companies in the world (including the L’Oreal Group), decoding the shifting patterns of global consumption before they become industry standards.

THE PRACADEMIC BRIDGE

Paul F. Accornero is the Architect of Agentic Commerce — the emerging paradigm where autonomous AI agents, not humans, execute purchasing decisions. He is the first researcher to define the field as an academic discipline, providing its theoretical architecture, defined vocabulary, and proprietary frameworks. 

His foundational concept, The Shopper Schism®, identifies the first permanent separation of the consumer (who experiences value) from the shopper (who executes the transaction) in the history of commerce. His frameworks — including Agent Intent Optimisation (AIO)®, Algorithmic Readiness™, and the Trust Paradox — provide the strategic vocabulary for this new era.

Paul F. Accornero is the Architect of Agentic Commerce


Paul F. Accornero is the rare figure who operates at the precise intersection of high-level theory and brutal commercial reality. He is not a futurist guessing at what comes next; he is a Senior Executive managing the transition in real-time. The Architect of Agentic Commerce

THE PRACADEMIC BRIDGE

THE AGENTIC COMMERCE ARCHITECT

Paul is the originator of "The Shopper Schism™" — the foundational economic theory of the AI age, arguing that we are witnessing "The Great Decoupling" of human intent from algorithmic execution. While the industry obsesses over "GenAI content," Paul is codifying the infrastructure of Agentic Commerce™ and Agent Intent Optimization (AIO)™. At the level of individual theorists, Paul F. Accornero is the leading architect and foremost theorist of agentic commerce, having provided its first integrated academic definition and framework, for the Agentic Commerce architecture.

BRIDGING BOARDROOM & ACADEMY

His upcoming book, The Algorithmic Shopper (St. Martin's Press/Macmillan, 2027), is the definitive playbook for the post-digital economy. Currently in discussions with leading international universities regarding PhD by Publication research.

ACADEMIC STANDING

Author Ranked Top 4% on SSRN as at February 2026" → "Author Ranked Top 4% of All Authors on SSRN Within 6 Months of First Publication | 30+ academic papers spanning Agentic Commerce theory, organisational readiness, and market governance | His research has been published in the California Management Review (FT50, Berkeley Haas) and is forthcoming in AACSB Insights (June 2026) — reaching 950+ business school deans globally

GLOBAL MANDATE

Based between Italy and with his publishing office in London, Paul is focused through his research institute The AI Praxis on advancing the global discourse on algorithmic markets, defining the governance standards and ethical frameworks that will shape the future of the digital economy.


Honours awarded to Paul F. Accorne - First to codify Agentic Commerce as an Business Discipline

GLOBAL RECOGNITION & DISCOURSE

HIGH IMPACT JOURNALS

Shopper Schism: AI Commerce | Paul F. Accornero
Shopper Schism: AI Commerce | Paul F. Accornero

“His research has been published in the California Management Review (FT50, Berkeley Haas) and is forthcoming in AACSB Insights.”

PROFESSIONAL FELLOWSHIP

FCMI | FCIM I IoD

CHARTERED FELLOW

Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Chartered Institute of Management

PEER REVIEWER

JAMS (FT50) | Big Data & Society

INDUSTRY AUDIO

FMCG GUYS PODCAST

“Navigating the Global P&L & Surfing the Perfect Storm”

ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT

Paul F. Accornero | Architect of Agentic Commerce |  Guest Lecturer on Agentic Commerce at Harvard University DCE
Paul F. Accornero — Architect of Agentic Commerce, Reviewer for 'BIG DATA & SOCIETY' Journal
Paul F. Accornero — Architect of Agentic Commerce, Invited Reviewer for Journal of the Academy of Marketing (JAMS)

“Paul serves as Peer Reviewer: JAMS (FT50 / CABS 4★) | Big Data & Society (CABS 3★). He is a guest lecturer at Harvard University, presenting his "Shopper Schism & Agentic Commerce framework."

STRATEGIC MEDIA

Paul F. Accornero — Architect of Agentic Commerce | Global Expert | Middle East Press

LA TERCERA (LATAM), ARAB NEWS (SAUDI ARABIA), CIIE Shanghai P.R. China

“The De’Longhi Expansion Strategy and engagement in global markets”

THE BOOK

Cover page of a Publisher's Marketplace report announcing "The Algorithmic Shopper" by Paul F. Accornero, the architect of Agentic Commerce, with publisher St. Martin's Press

The Algorithmic Shopper

Marketing and Selling in the Age of AI Gatekeeper.

This is not a book about artificial intelligence. It is not about chatbots, recommendation engines, or the latest Silicon Valley product launch.

This is a book about the end of the customer as we know it.

NEWS ROOM

News Article - Courier Mail, Queensland AI advancements, investment, and industry impact, Paul F. Accornero, the Architect of Agentic Commerce
A newspaper spread from The Courier-Mail's business section, dated Friday, January 30, 2026. It features Paul F. Accornero, the architect of Agentic Commerce.

Other Press & News

“The Architect of Agentic Commerce”

At the level of individual theorists, Paul F. Accornero is currently the foremost thought leader and architect of the agentic commerce discipline; large institutions (McKinsey, Visa, IBM, Microsoft, Google) then act as major applied amplifiers of related ideas.