E-Business in the age of artificial intelligence

Research objective: The article synthesizes evidence on how artificial intelligence (AI) transforms e-business along five pillars: hyper-personalization, conversational interfaces, generative content and “sell-before-make” models, algorithmic pricing, and operations (forecasting & supply chains). It also integrates governance and regulation with interpretability and ethics to propose a management framework. Methodology: The study employs a narrative review with structured selection of recent academic sources and official law texts, complemented by reputable research reports and industry surveys. Main conclusions: AI generates measurable commercial impact where firms re-platform data and experimentation, combine classic recommenders with graph learning, operationalize generative AI with guardrails, and align with risk-based regulatory obligations. However, enterprise-scale ROI remains uneven, revealing governance and capability gaps. Application of the study: The findings provide business leaders with a practical blueprint for adopting AI in e-commerce. This involves integrating advanced recommender architectures, ensuring regulatory alignment, and investing in governance and workforce skills to bridge ROI disparities. Originality/Novelty of the study: The paper connects cutting-edge business practices, such as “sell-it-before-you-make-it” models, with regulatory compliance to propose a test-and-learn framework for future e-business management.