By: Leyanis Diaz, SmallBizLady Team

Disclosure: I attended Alibaba.com CoCreate 2026 as part of a hosted press trip. All opinions and takeaways shared here are my own.

Artificial intelligence is no longer something small business owners can afford to watch from the sidelines.

That was one of my biggest takeaways from attending Alibaba.com’s CoCreate 2026 in Los Angeles on September 9–10. The event brought together entrepreneurs, suppliers, e-commerce sellers, creators, manufacturers, and business leaders to explore AI, global sourcing, social commerce, and entrepreneurship.

As a business consultant, I went in with one question: What does all of this actually mean for the everyday small business owner?

Most entrepreneurs want technology that saves time, reduces costs, improves operations, and supports profitable growth. Here are eight lessons worth watching.

1. AI Is Moving From a Helpful Tool to Business Infrastructure

For the last few years, small business conversations about AI have focused on writing emails, brainstorming content, or summarizing documents. CoCreate showed how quickly that is evolving.

We are moving toward agentic AI—technology designed not just to answer questions but to help execute business processes.

One example was Accio, Alibaba.com’s AI platform built for commerce. Alibaba.com says Accio can help businesses research markets, identify product opportunities, develop products, evaluate suppliers, and manage parts of e-commerce operations.

The bigger takeaway is that AI is becoming specialized around actual business workflows.

Instead of asking, “How can AI help me write this?” start asking, “Which process in my business could AI make faster or easier?”

That could include supplier research, customer follow-up, inventory planning, content production, or administrative work.

For more, read The AI-Enabled Workplace: 7 Signs Your Business May Be Falling Behind.

2. Sourcing Should Be Part of Your Growth Strategy

Sourcing is not just an operations issue. It is a growth strategy issue.

Your suppliers affect margins, product quality, delivery times, cash flow, and customer experience.

CoCreate connected entrepreneurs with manufacturers and more than 200 exhibiting businesses across categories including technology, beauty, health, home, mobility, construction, packaging, and print.

For product-based businesses, the lesson is simple: do not wait until something goes wrong to understand your supply chain.

Know your production timelines, minimum order quantities, landed costs, quality-control processes, and shipping expectations. Identify backup suppliers. Before committing significant cash to inventory, make sure there is actual demand.

3. A Winning Product Starts With a Real Problem

One of the strongest lessons from the CoCreate Pitch U.S. Final was that innovation does not have to mean creating the flashiest technology. The top winners centered on clear, everyday problems.

The competition drew nearly 50,000 global applicants, with 20 entrepreneurs selected for the U.S. final.

The Grand Prize Gold Award and $200,000 prize went to Apricotton, represented by co-founder Chloe Beaudoin. Apricotton creates adjustable bras designed to grow with girls through puberty and has built an “older sister” community of more than 300,000 followers.

The $100,000 Silver Award went to FEND, co-founded by Sujene Kong and Christian Heifner. Its safety-certified urban commuter helmets fold by 50% so they can fit into a bag or backpack.

The $50,000 Bronze Award went to HoopDee Hoops, founded by Roxie Alsruhe. HoopDee’s reusable, battery-free NFC silicone rings fit onto baby bottles and work with an app to track breast milk and formula.

The remaining 17 finalists also received $10,000 awards, with awards split between cash and Alibaba.com credits.

For small business owners, the lesson is simple: start with the problem, not the product. A strong pitch should quickly explain who you help, what pain point you solve, and why your solution is useful.

Technology can help you move faster. It cannot replace a strong value proposition.

4. Creators Are Moving From Influencers to Business Owners

Another interesting trend at CoCreate was the evolution of the creator economy.

Traditionally, creators have earned money by helping other companies market and sell products. MuseSelect is experimenting with a different model.

At CoCreate LA, MuseSelect launched its U.S. Creator Fashion Market with more than 5,000 fall and winter looks from over 100 fashion brands. It also introduced Muse 1000, a program designed to help 1,000 creators build fashion labels.

Creators can promote products, use AI-generated product imagery, build storefronts, and move into original product creation. Through Museland, creators can develop designs that can be sold through MuseTopia, its consumer marketplace.

What should interest all entrepreneurs is the ability to test products with communities and use pre-sales to validate demand before scaling production.

The traditional model might be:

Create product → order inventory → launch → hope customers buy.

Technology increasingly enables:

Develop idea → test demand → gather feedback → validate → scale.

That can reduce one of the biggest risks in a product business: investing too much into inventory customers may not want.

5. Social Commerce Is Shortening the Customer Journey

A customer might discover your product on TikTok, search for your company on Google, visit Instagram, join your email list, and eventually purchase through your website or a marketplace.

Discovery and purchase do not have to happen in the same place. That is why an omnichannel strategy matters.

This does not mean your business needs to be everywhere. It means understanding where customers discover you, research you, engage with you, and ultimately buy.

Build direct relationships through assets you control, including your website and email list.

Platforms can introduce you to customers. Your business needs a strategy for keeping them.

6. Cash Flow Can Determine How Fast You Grow

Growth requires money before it produces money.

You may need to pay manufacturers, order inventory, cover shipping, advertise, or hire support before revenue from that growth reaches your bank account.

That is why financing, payment terms, and working capital deserve as much attention as marketing and sales.

A business can have strong demand and still struggle if it cannot finance growth.

Before significantly increasing inventory, accepting a huge order, or launching another product line, ask: Can my cash flow actually support this opportunity?

Revenue gets the attention. Cash flow keeps the business alive.

7. Technology Still Cannot Replace Relationships

For all the conversations about AI at CoCreate, one of my strongest takeaways had nothing to do with technology.

Relationships still matter.

AI can make research faster, but relationships create opportunities. The right supplier could improve your margins. A creator could become a distribution partner. A technology company could solve an operational bottleneck. Another entrepreneur could introduce you to your next customer.

Your ecosystem might include suppliers, lenders, advisors, creators, investors, and fellow entrepreneurs.

Technology can increase your capacity. Relationships can increase your opportunities.

8. Execution Is Still the Competitive Advantage

CoCreate highlighted how much easier it is becoming to turn an idea into something real.

AI can conduct research. Platforms can connect entrepreneurs with manufacturers. Creators can test products with audiences. Social media can distribute products to millions of potential customers.

But your competitors have access to many of the same tools.

Eventually, the differentiator becomes execution.

Can you understand your customer better than the competition? Build the right product? Communicate why it matters? Price it profitably? Manage cash? Deliver consistently? Adapt when the market changes?

Those fundamentals may matter even more when everyone has access to powerful technology.

Explore more in the AI for Business section of Succeed As Your Own Boss.

What Should Small Business Owners Do Next?

You do not need to completely reinvent your business. Start smaller.

Choose one repetitive workflow and explore how AI could improve it. Review your suppliers and understand your costs, timelines, and risks. Test customer demand before making a large inventory commitment.

Map where customers discover, evaluate, and ultimately buy from you. Review your cash flow before saying yes to major growth opportunities. Identify one supplier, creator, lender, advisor, or strategic partner who could help you reach your next stage.

Most importantly, do not adopt technology simply because everyone is talking about it.

Start with the business problem. Then determine whether AI, automation, a new platform, or another solution can help solve it.

The Bottom Line

What I left CoCreate 2026 thinking about most was not any single tool. It was how quickly the infrastructure of entrepreneurship is changing.

Small businesses now have access to AI, global suppliers, commerce platforms, creator partnerships, and distribution channels that once required far more resources.

That creates tremendous opportunity. But access to more tools does not automatically build a better business.

The entrepreneurs who benefit most will pair those tools with strong strategy, customer insight, sound financial management, consistent execution, and genuine relationships.

AI may help us build faster. The goal is still to build something worth growing.