At the Momentum 2025 event in London, Manhattan Associates Inc. made a significant announcement that may redefine the technological foundation of modern supply chains. The company introduced Agentic AI—an embedded system of intelligent, self-operating digital agents powered by large language models (LLMs) and integrated directly into Manhattan Active® solutions. This innovation is designed to reshape how enterprises manage supply chain commerce, optimise labour, and interact with data across logistics, retail, and fulfilment networks.
Unlike traditional AI chatbots or rigid automation workflows, these new digital agents are capable of contextual reasoning, dynamic orchestration, and natural language processing. They allow for adaptive decision-making that mirrors human-like responsiveness while working across an organisation’s entire supply chain and commerce execution stack. According to Manhattan Associates, this development is not merely a product enhancement but a strategic pivot toward autonomous supply chain systems.
How Does Agentic AI Differ from Traditional Enterprise Automation?
Agentic AI represents a marked departure from static, rules-based automation systems that dominate enterprise software today. Rather than waiting for user inputs to trigger predefined workflows, Agentic AI agents proactively assess real-time data, respond to anomalies, and execute complex tasks without direct human intervention.
Among the initial applications of this technology are five foundational agents: the Intelligent Store Manager, Labor Optimizer Agent, Wave Inventory Research Agent, Contextual Data Assistant, and Virtual Configuration Consultant. Each plays a unique role in improving operational efficiencies by using natural language to interact with systems, uncover insights, and resolve disruptions. For instance, a warehouse manager can simply ask the Inventory Research Agent, in plain language, for specific item trends or shipment forecasts—without navigating a dashboard or SQL interface.
This shift positions Manhattan Associates among a growing class of enterprise technology vendors transitioning from AI-enabled to AI-native systems, where LLM-driven reasoning becomes a core architectural layer.
What Is Manhattan Agent Foundry and How Will It Empower Customers?
In addition to launching Agentic AI, Manhattan Associates introduced Manhattan Agent Foundry™, a development platform that allows customers and partners to build custom AI agents tailored to their specific business needs. This low-code/no-code environment enables rapid prototyping and deployment of autonomous agents using the same foundational technology that powers Manhattan’s out-of-the-box offerings.
According to Chief Technology Officer Sanjeev Siotia, the purpose of Agent Foundry is to democratise access to advanced AI development. Siotia stated that by giving customers control over agent development, Manhattan eliminates bottlenecks commonly associated with vendor release cycles. The company’s move to decentralise innovation aligns with growing industry trends where enterprise software providers encourage user-defined extensibility through open agent ecosystems.
Organisations can now quickly create task-specific agents to support unique workflows—be it temperature-sensitive inventory tracking, dynamic routing for last-mile delivery, or contextual alerts during supplier disruptions. Moreover, third-party developers and system integrators can also contribute specialised agents, thereby fostering a shared innovation layer within the Manhattan ecosystem.
How Will Manhattan Ensure Interoperability with External Agent Platforms?
To future-proof the Agentic AI ecosystem, Manhattan has designed all agents within Agent Foundry to adhere to key interoperability standards including A2A (Agent-to-Agent) and MCP (Multi-Agent Communication Protocol). This ensures compatibility with external ecosystems such as Google Agentspace, a growing agentic computing platform that facilitates inter-agent communication across cloud environments.
By embracing these standards, Manhattan signals its intention to be not just a provider of closed AI solutions, but a collaborator in a larger agent-driven enterprise software landscape. As interoperability becomes a key requirement for AI scalability, vendors capable of integrating seamlessly across tech stacks are more likely to emerge as leaders in digital transformation.
This strategy also aligns with broader trends in distributed computing and edge-based decision-making, where AI agents operate closer to the point of execution—whether in a retail storefront, warehouse, or logistics terminal.
When Will Agentic AI and Agent Foundry Be Available?
Manhattan Associates has confirmed that both the Agentic AI assistant suite and the Agent Foundry development platform will be generally available by Fall 2025. Early access programs for selected clients and partners are expected to begin before the general release, with implementation pathways tailored for users already embedded within Manhattan Active® environments.
Given Manhattan’s presence across enterprise retail, third-party logistics (3PL), and supply chain software markets, adoption is expected to ramp up rapidly among existing clients looking to modernise their infrastructure and build autonomous capabilities into critical operations.
How Does This Fit Within Manhattan Associates’ Broader Strategy?
This dual launch of Agentic AI and Agent Foundry reflects Manhattan Associates’ continued investment in innovation-led growth. The company, headquartered in the United States and publicly listed on NASDAQ under the ticker MANH, has historically positioned itself at the intersection of supply chain execution and omnichannel commerce. Over the years, it has transitioned from on-premise software to a fully cloud-native architecture—setting the stage for advanced AI integration.
By embedding generative AI and autonomous agents directly into operational platforms, Manhattan strengthens its differentiation in a competitive landscape where enterprise clients demand faster response times, reduced manual intervention, and intelligent orchestration of increasingly complex supply networks.
This move also allows Manhattan to tap into secular trends shaping enterprise IT—including the rise of GenAI, predictive analytics, and digital twins for logistics optimisation. Moreover, it enables Manhattan to better serve digitally mature retailers and manufacturers that are seeking to unify demand forecasting, warehouse automation, and real-time customer engagement on a single intelligent layer.
What’s the Industry Sentiment and Analyst Reaction?
Industry analysts view Manhattan’s Agentic AI launch as a bold and necessary leap to maintain technological leadership amid a fast-evolving AI landscape. While most ERP and logistics software vendors have added conversational interfaces or AI dashboards, Manhattan’s approach goes deeper—replacing human-triggered actions with autonomous orchestration.
Investors have generally responded positively to the announcement, with some institutional analysts suggesting that Manhattan’s emphasis on interoperability and customer-driven extensibility could be a significant differentiator. As enterprises navigate post-pandemic supply chain volatility, the demand for resilient, AI-powered systems has increased markedly.
Analysts also note that if widely adopted, the Agent Foundry could create a marketplace-like effect, where reusable agents can be monetised or deployed across multiple organisations—similar to how Salesforce’s AppExchange functions for CRM plugins.
Why Does Agentic AI Signal the Future of Intelligent Supply Chains?
The future of supply chain commerce will likely be shaped by how well companies can integrate AI-driven adaptability at scale. Manhattan Associates’ Agentic AI initiative signals a future where digital agents—not just humans—will manage disruptions, respond to customer inquiries, adjust inventory flows, and even reconfigure workflows without rewriting code.
This shift places Manhattan at the frontier of agentic computing, where autonomous software agents can learn, reason, and act across interconnected digital environments. The Agent Foundry adds a critical layer of customisability to this vision, empowering organisations not only to consume innovation—but to build it.
As enterprises prepare for a world where volatility is constant and speed is critical, the ability to develop and deploy thousands of specialised, interoperable AI agents could become the foundation of supply chain resilience and competitive advantage.
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