The big questions behind AI's next chapter

On 27 October, OLX Group brought together more than 250 participants for CLAIM Online 2026, the latest edition of CLAIM, an event created by OLX Group to bring business leaders, researchers and technology experts together to explore how artificial intelligence is changing the marketplace industry and the world around it.

Following the first in-person edition in Lisbon in February, this online event continued the discussion with a closer look at the opportunities, challenges and real-world applications emerging as AI becomes more capable.

Across keynotes, panel discussions and demonstrations, the conversations offered answers to some of today’s biggest questions about AI, while raising new ones worth exploring. 

Here are some of the questions that stood out.

What does the future of classifieds look like?

For years, online marketplaces have helped people find what they need by connecting buyers and sellers through listings, filters and search tools.

AI is beginning to change that experience.

This was the focus of the opening keynote, Building the future of marketplaces, which explored how the industry is preparing for a world in which AI can do more than simply recommend products or display search results.

Instead of relying only on predefined criteria, AI-powered systems can understand more natural requests, recognise preferences and help people navigate complex decisions. Increasingly, they can also take action, completing tasks and coordinating different steps of a customer journey.

The shift is from helping people find information to helping them achieve a goal. Someone looking for a car, for example, might eventually ask an AI assistant to explore suitable options, compare prices, contact sellers and arrange the next steps.

The conversation continued with Andreas Merentitis, Chief Data Officer at OLX Group, who explored the future of online classifieds and how OLX is preparing for these changes.

For marketplaces, this brings new opportunities but also new responsibilities. If AI agents increasingly interact with platforms on behalf of customers, marketplaces will need to provide reliable information, relevant services and secure ways for those agents to operate.

The question is no longer only how to make search smarter, but how to make the entire experience more useful.

As AI takes over work tasks, how will young people build experience?

AI’s impact on work was another major topic, particularly when it comes to leadership, entry-level jobs and the development of human judgement.

These questions were explored in the panel Work and leadership reimagined: when AI enters the workforce, moderated by Marta Jakowluk from OLX Group, with Sam Burman from Heidrick & Struggles and Aleksandra Przegalińska from Kozminski University and Harvard University.

As AI takes on more routine activities, professionals can accomplish more in less time. But greater productivity also introduces unexpected challenges.

The discussion explored how AI’s ability to work continuously can make people feel overwhelmed. When there is always another idea to develop, another task to automate or another result to improve, knowing when to stop and reflect becomes increasingly important.

Research discussed during the panel also challenged the assumption that the most helpful AI is always the one that provides the quickest answer. In one experiment, an AI assistant that offered feedback rather than completing tasks encouraged participants to engage more deeply with their own work.

Sometimes, the value of AI may come from helping people think, rather than thinking for them.

That becomes particularly important for people starting their careers.

Many of the tasks traditionally assigned to interns and junior employees are precisely the ones AI can now perform. While this creates efficiency, it also raises a longer-term question: how will the next generation develop the practical experience and judgement needed to become tomorrow’s leaders?

The discussion highlighted the importance of mentorship, apprenticeships and giving young professionals meaningful responsibilities from the beginning of their careers.

It also raised questions about recruitment itself. When AI can help anyone produce a polished CV, evaluating candidates may increasingly require looking beyond applications and focusing on their reasoning, adaptability, creativity and ability to demonstrate their skills.

Will AI change recruitment for better, or for worse?

The challenges facing younger professionals were explored further in the OLX Jobs: getting people ready for work in the AI era session, presented by Michał Malewski and Oana Chiro from OLX Jobs.

Research presented during the event showed that six in ten young Europeans feel anxious about their future careers in the context of AI and changes in the labour market.

Competition for jobs is another source of pressure. The figures shared during the session pointed to an average of 183 applications per job in Europe in 2025, nearly double the level recorded in 2022.

And even when candidates secure an interview, preparation remains a challenge.

This is where AI can play a different role: not just supporting recruiters in evaluating candidates, but helping candidates become better prepared.

OLX Jobs demonstrated AI-powered solutions designed to help people practise interviews, receive feedback on their answers and understand how well their experience matches a particular vacancy.

An AI interview tool gives candidates a chance to practise before facing a real recruiter, while a CV optimisation solution helps them identify relevant skills, improve their applications and assess whether a role is a good match.

The underlying idea is that AI can support people in demonstrating their potential, rather than simply becoming another technology they have to compete against.

Should people let AI into high-stakes decisions?

AI assistants are becoming part of everyday life, from researching holidays to comparing products and organising purchases. But how much responsibility are people actually prepared to give them?

This question was at the centre of High-stakes transactions: when AI agents enter the deal, a panel moderated by Andrew Garrihy, Chief Marketing Officer at OLX Group, with Gertrud Kolb from Scout24, Martín Alcalá Rubí from Zapia and Joana de Quintanilha from Forrester.

The conversation explored what happens when AI agents move beyond making recommendations and begin acting on behalf of buyers and sellers.

Research from Forrester presented during the discussion showed that only 16% of online adults surveyed trust information provided by AI, while 46% worry that AI could scam them.

These findings highlight an important distinction: using AI does not necessarily mean trusting it to make decisions.

Someone might comfortably ask an assistant to compare cars or research properties, while still wanting to speak directly with a seller, visit a home or personally approve the final transaction.

The discussion also explored what happens when AI agents start negotiating with one another.

Imagine a buyer’s agent trying to secure the lowest price while a seller’s agent aims to maximise the value of the deal. Both could perform their assigned tasks correctly, yet the outcome might still be unfair or fail to reflect what the people involved actually wanted.

In that environment, marketplaces have an important role to play in defining the rules of engagement. That includes verifying which agent is acting for whom, establishing what each agent is authorised to do, protecting sensitive information and ensuring transactions can be reviewed or corrected when something goes wrong.

Another interesting question emerged: as more customers use AI agents to explore products and services, businesses will also need to think about how those agents discover and choose which platforms to interact with.

Reliable data, transparent terms, established reputations and secure access could become increasingly important.

Trust, in other words, will matter not only between businesses and customers, but across the entire network of agents interacting on their behalf.

What are AI agents already doing for us?

Alongside the wider discussions, CLAIM Online also showcased how OLX Group is applying agentic AI to real customer needs.

In a session dedicated to OLX agentic transactions in action, product teams from across the Group demonstrated three solutions addressing different challenges in Motors, Real Estate and Goods.

AutoIQ, presented by Mohit Kumar, Director of Product at OLX Group, is an AI-powered assistant for automotive dealers that helps professionals manage daily activities, review leads, analyse vehicle prices and identify suitable inventory. A task that might previously have taken a dealer between 30 minutes and an hour to review can now be summarised in seconds. The solution is already available to dealers in Poland and Portugal.

In Real Estate, Agentic Selling, presented by Daria Brylova from the OLX Real Estate team, aims to simplify the process of selling a property. Developed from concept to beta in ten weeks, the experience is being tested with a limited audience in Poland. It can help private sellers understand property values, analyse photos and neighbourhood information, write descriptions and create listings, bringing several traditionally separate tasks into one experience.

For buyers, DealFinder was introduced by Jeremy Castan and Tommaso from the OLX product team. The solution explores a more conversational approach to finding products. A beta test in Portugal allows users to search for vehicles through WhatsApp, receive personalised suggestions and set up alerts for new listings that match their preferences.

Further experiments are exploring how agents could help buyers discover suitable items and interact with sellers on their behalf.

Although these solutions address different needs, they share a common direction: making marketplaces more useful by reducing repetitive work and helping people move more easily from searching to taking action.

Importantly, these experiences are being developed and tested progressively, with customer feedback helping determine where AI adds value and where people still want to remain directly involved.

How do we build AI people can trust?

CLAIM Online 2026 brought together different perspectives on AI, but several ideas connected the discussions.

In the workplace, the challenge is to use AI in ways that strengthen human judgement and create opportunities for people to grow.

In recruitment, it is about making technology useful to candidates as well as employers.

And in marketplaces, it is about making transactions more convenient while protecting the trust, fairness and transparency that people expect when making important decisions.

Perhaps the most important takeaway is that technological capability alone will not determine how AI is adopted. People will decide which tasks they want to delegate, how much control they are comfortable giving up and which experiences genuinely make their lives easier.

For OLX Group, these questions are particularly relevant. Helping people buy a home, find a car or access a new job means supporting decisions that can have a significant impact on their lives.

As AI becomes a bigger part of those journeys, understanding what people need and what they are willing to trust will be just as important as developing the technology itself.

CLAIM will continue exploring these questions as AI evolves, bringing together perspectives from across the industry and connecting emerging ideas with practical experience.