Introduction: After AI Sovereignty, E-Commerce Sovereignty
For the past few months, one word has been coming up more and more in discussions about artificial intelligence: sovereignty.
Who owns the models?
Who controls the data?
Who sets the access rules?
What happens when a critical technology depends on an external player?
These questions don’t just apply to AI.
They’ve existed for a long time in the world of e-commerce.
When a merchant builds their business on a platform, they make a strategic choice. They choose a technical foundation, an ecosystem, a vision of digital commerce.
And behind this choice lies a fundamental question:
Are we the owners of our digital commerce, or merely users of a service we depend on?
This is precisely why the future of open source in e-commerce deserves close attention.
A Question I Receive Regularly: Is PrestaShop Still Viable?
Lately, I’ve received several messages from merchants asking a simple but revealing question:
"Is PrestaShop still viable today?"
This question doesn’t come out of nowhere.
The e-commerce market is accelerating. Artificial intelligence is transforming usage. Architectures are evolving. Major cloud and SaaS platform players are strengthening their positions.
In this context, some may feel that historical open-source solutions are doomed to disappear.
My answer is clear:
Yes, PrestaShop is still viable. In fact, I think we’re at a new stage in its history.
Not because the past must be preserved at all costs.
But because open source addresses an issue that is becoming increasingly important: maintaining control.
The Acquisition of PrestaShop: A Transition to View Differently
The acquisition of PrestaShop by the ecosystem led by cyber_Folks, Sylius, and BitBag has naturally sparked many reactions.
Some saw it as a loss of independence.
For my part, I think we need to look at this development through a different lens.
The issue isn’t just about who owns a company.
The real issue is understanding the direction the ecosystem is taking.
And what’s interesting today is the meeting of two complementary worlds.
On one side, PrestaShop has a strong history in online commerce, with a community, thousands of stores, and an ecosystem built over the years.
On the other, Sylius offers a more modern vision of e-commerce development, with a framework-oriented approach, flexibility, and scalable architectures.
This combination could open a new chapter.
Not the disappearance of PrestaShop.
An evolution.
The challenge isn’t to remain frozen in what e-commerce was ten years ago.
The challenge is to build the foundation for the next ten years of e-commerce.
Open Source as a Strategic Answer
In a world where businesses are becoming dependent on technological building blocks they don’t always control, open source offers something rare:
the ability to understand, adapt, and evolve your tool.
This doesn’t mean open source is magical.
An open-source solution can fail if it doesn’t evolve.
It can become obsolete if its community disappears.
It must continue to innovate.
But it has a structural strength: it doesn’t rely solely on a commercial promise.
It relies on an ecosystem.
This is also why the activity around PrestaShop remains an important signal.
Communities like Friends of Presta continue to unite field players. Events like EO2S 2026 show that there’s still energy around this technology.
A living project isn’t just source code.
It’s a community that continues to build.
The PSE: A Negative Signal or a Difficult Choice in a Time of Acceleration?
The announcement of PrestaShop’s PSE (Performance and Sustainability Plan) has obviously raised concerns.
This is understandable.
When a company reduces its workforce, the first reaction is often to interpret it as a sign of retreat.
But I think we should also consider this decision in the current context.
The tech industry is going through a period of brutal transformation.
Artificial intelligence is changing development methods, production cycles, user expectations, and business models.
In this context, all organizations must rethink how they operate.
This doesn’t automatically mean the end.
It can also be an attempt at deep transformation.
Is it a risky bet? Yes.
But sometimes, not changing is an even greater risk.
The Interesting Signal: PrestaShop Begins to Look at the AI Era
Another element seems particularly interesting to me: the presence of the .ai directory in the PrestaShop repository.
This is not a trivial detail.
The e-commerce of tomorrow won’t just be a store with a catalog and a checkout process.
It will be augmented by agents, assistants, automations, and systems capable of helping make decisions.
The real question will then be:
Who will control these intelligences?
A closed platform that imposes its own rules?
Or an open ecosystem where merchants can choose, adapt, and integrate their own solutions?
E-commerce sovereignty and AI sovereignty will likely converge.
Will the Future of E-Commerce Be Open?
I don’t think the future will simply pit open source against SaaS.
Both models will likely continue to coexist.
But in a world where every business is becoming dependent on its digital tools, the ability to maintain control is becoming a strategic advantage.
E-commerce is no longer just about selling online.
It’s a question of infrastructure.
And critical infrastructure must be mastered.
This is why I believe PrestaShop, with its history, its community, and this new phase alongside players like Sylius, has an important card to play.
Not by looking at the past.
But by building the next chapter.
The real question may no longer be:
"Which platform should we choose?"
But rather:
"Who do we want to let control the digital commerce of tomorrow?"
