Today's B2B Growth Pulse
RSA America teams with AWG to bring digital commerce to 1,100 independent grocers
RSA America announced a strategic partnership with food wholesaler Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) to deploy its integrated digital commerce and retail media platform across AWG’s network of more than 1,100 independent grocery members and 3,500 stores. The solution equips retailers with enterprise‑grade tools for loyalty programs, e‑commerce, mobile apps and AI‑driven shopper insights, aiming to boost digital sales for independent stores.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Oxford Quantum Circuits raises $330M Series C
Madhive Taps Two Industry Veterans to Further Drive Evolution and Innovation In Local Media
Madhive, a local‑media operating system, announced the hiring of two industry veterans: Nicki Harkrider‑Probey as Chief Revenue Officer and Mindy Buckalew as Senior Vice President of Operations. The appointments aim to accelerate Madhive’s data‑driven, outcome‑based advertising platform and expand its reach in the $170 billion local ad market. Harkrider‑Probey brings three decades of revenue leadership, while Buckalew adds 19 years of digital operations expertise from Cox Media Group. Madhive now serves over 50,000 campaigns and counts major broadcasters such as Fox and Hearst among its clients.
AtData Launches Gibberish Detection to Strengthen Fraud Intelligence and Block Bot-Generated Identities
AtData introduced Gibberish Detection, a machine‑learning model that flags synthetic, random or AI‑generated email addresses at the point of capture. The real‑time signal identifies roughly 5% of incoming emails as gibberish, rising to nearly 10% for a global on‑demand services...
Scalefusion Achieves Zebra Technologies Validation for Unified Management Platform
Scalefusion, a unified endpoint management (UEM) provider, has earned Zebra Technologies validation after completing the company’s Enterprise Testing Program. The certification confirms seamless interoperability with Zebra’s thermal printers and other devices, meeting stringent performance and security benchmarks. As a result,...
E& and IBM Unveil Enterprise-Grade Agentic AI to Transform Governance and Compliance
e& and IBM announced a strategic partnership at the World Economic Forum to deploy enterprise‑grade agentic AI across e&’s governance, risk and compliance functions. The solution, built on IBM watsonx Orchestrate and integrated with OpenPages, delivers traceable, action‑oriented AI responses...
Top Talent Laid Off—Hire Resilient Professionals Now
You can do everything right — and still be forced to downsize. Several exceptional people at Agorapulse are suddenly on the market — through no fault of their own. This wasn’t a failure of talent. This wasn’t a failure of...
Ads Must Align With Real‑Time User Intent
For decades, digital advertising has trained marketers to optimize for interruption. You buy attention, compress a message into a few characters, and hope the click carries enough intent to survive the landing page. That model works when discovery and evaluation...
Mastercard Says Embedding Payments Is Key to Commercial Payments Acceptance
Mastercard says the future of commercial payments hinges on embedding payment options directly within corporate workflows. It labels this shift “adaptive commercial acceptance,” where ERP, procure‑to‑pay and vertical SaaS platforms dictate payment methods instead of traditional buyer‑supplier negotiations. The company’s...
WH Smith to Appoint Leo Quinn as Executive Chairman
WH Smith announced that former Balfour Beatty chief executive Leo Quinn will assume the role of executive chairman on 7 April, succeeding Annette Court who will step down after the AGM on 2 February. Simon Emeny will act as interim non‑executive chairman...
Worldline and YouLend Launch Cash Advance for European SMBs
Worldline and YouLend have introduced Cash Advance, an embedded financing solution that gives European small‑and‑medium‑sized businesses access to up to €250,000 within 48 hours. The product leverages Worldline’s payments infrastructure and YouLend’s data‑driven underwriting to deliver personalised offers linked to...
Battle SEO® Launches Multi-Location SEO Expansion to Help Franchises Dominate Regional Search Results
Battle SEO has launched a multi‑location SEO expansion aimed at helping franchise brands and multi‑site businesses dominate regional search results. The offering addresses common pain points such as inconsistent city rankings, duplicated location pages, and diluted brand messaging by providing...
Freeduhm.com Partnered With AdPlunge To Boost Both Brands Digital Advertising Business
Freeduhm.com, a global digital media and advertising firm, has entered a strategic partnership with AdPlunge.com, a programmatic ad network. The alliance merges Freeduhm’s data‑driven optimization platform with AdPlunge’s extensive publisher network to improve inventory utilization, fill rates and effective CPMs...
Wildix Positions AI as the Catalyst Moving the UC&C Channel Beyond Resale at 2026 Summit
At its 2026 virtual summit, Wildix emphasized AI as the catalyst moving its channel‑only model from simple resale toward advisory services that design, govern and optimize unified communications workflows. The company showcased the Wilma AI layer in live customer deployments...
Alorica Named Innovative Organization Winner in the 2026 BIG Innovation Awards
Alorica Inc. has been named an Innovative Organization winner in the 2026 BIG Innovation Awards, recognizing its ability to scale artificial intelligence across enterprise customer‑experience operations. The award highlights Alorica IQ, the company’s AI innovation engine, and evoAI, its conversational‑AI...
Seela Launches an All-in-One AI Creative Platform for Image Generation and Multi-Model AI Comparison
Seela has launched an all‑in‑one AI creative platform that combines text‑to‑image, image‑to‑image, and a multi‑model chatbot comparison workspace. The platform lets users submit a single prompt and receive side‑by‑side answers from LLMs such as ChatGPT, Claude, Grok and DeepSeek, while...
Represent Appoints Former Adidas Executive as Brand President for North America
Represent, the Manchester‑based men’s fashion label, has hired Jim Anfuso as its brand president for North America. Anfuso, who previously led commerce at Complex NTWRK and launched the Adidas Yeezy line, also held senior roles at Fox Racing and American Eagle....
How Pattern Beauty’s CEO Sets up Brand Strategy to Win in a Multi-Channel World
At the NRF conference, Pattern Beauty co‑CEO Christiane Pendarvis detailed the brand’s rapid multi‑channel expansion, launching its DTC site and adding Ulta within ten days before partnering with Target, Sephora, Nordstrom, Amazon and Macy’s. She explained that each retailer is...
Why Customer Service Is the Ultimate Competitive Edge in 2026
Customer service has become the decisive differentiator for businesses in 2026, with 89% of consumers abandoning a brand after a single poor interaction. The data shows it takes twelve positive experiences to offset one negative, and 55% of shoppers are...
Digital Translucency: Privacy Is Dying And Authenticity Is Your Only Defense
The blog argues that we have moved from managing an online image to a state of digital translucency, where every digital trace is permanent and eventually discoverable. Quantum‑computing advances and AI‑driven doxxing are eroding traditional privacy tools like encryption and...
Adalore: Turn Your Shopify Thank-You Page Into A Profit Engine
Adalore is an AI‑powered platform that converts Shopify thank‑you pages into a monetization channel by displaying curated, non‑competing offers from partner brands. The solution automates partner selection, offers performance‑based pricing, and provides real‑time analytics, allowing merchants to earn commissions without...
Six Threats Force SaaS to Deliver Smiling AI
“Can your team ship AI features that make you truly smile? If you don’t smile — your customers won’t either” Traditional enterprise software and SaaS is under assault. The leaders are all still growing, but in many cases slower than...
Dominate AI-Driven GTM at SaaStrAnnual 2026
AI is changing every GTM role. You can run from it. You can argue with it. Or ... you can learn to dominate the new world at SaaStrAnnual.com 2026. Join us.
How YC-Backed Bucket Robotics Survived Its First CES
Bucket Robotics, a Y Combinator Spring 2024 graduate, made its CES debut after founder Matt Puchalski drove 12 hours to Las Vegas to avoid flight delays. The startup showcased a vision‑based surface‑inspection system that generates simulated defects from CAD files,...
B2B Shifts to 70% AI, Old GTM Obsolete
The best B2B companies are now running with 30% humans and 70% AI agents. Or even higher. The old GTM playbook is dead. At SaaStr AI 2026, we're going deep on what the new playbook actually is. And what really...
Late AI Adoption Sparks 100% Growth for Veteran SaaS
Just got an investor update from a 10+ year old vertical SaaS company I invested in a looong time ago. Founders never quit, know space cold, but man it’s been a grind. And they are far, far from “AI Native”. However … They...
Dear SaaStr: What Do The Top 1% of Sales Reps Do … That The Other 99% Don’t?
The post argues that the single biggest differentiator for the top 1 % of sales reps is extreme time efficiency. These reps enter every deal with a pre‑mapped playbook, knowing exactly how to replicate a winning pitch across similar accounts. By...
Hire Talent Superior to You, Scale Infinitely
You can scale infinitely as a CEO or VP if you are relentless in recruiting people truly better than you to work for you You will slow down within months if you recruit VPs and execs under you that aren't
AI B2B Landscape Shifts: Lawsuits, Billion‑Dollar Valuations, and Market Moves
📰 Top AI+B2B News - Sun, Jan 18 https://t.co/MWFHfEuzpm Top Stories: 1. Musk Seeks Up to $134 Billion Damages From OpenAI, Microsoft 2. ClickHouse Lands $15 Billion Valuation in AI Database Race 3. Figma (FIG) Is Down 13.2% After AI Deal With OpenAI Top SaaStr...
BLACKBOX AI: Parallel AI Agents That Plan, Build, and Validate Code
Blackbox AI is a multi‑agent coding platform that runs several AI models in parallel and uses an orchestration layer to select the best implementation. It offers autonomous agents, IDE integrations, and on‑premise deployment for secure, large‑scale development. By coordinating multiple...
Earned Engagement Drives Inbox Dominance and Revenue
Master This One Email Truth The more you prioritize genuine engagement (clicks, replies, consistent opens), the more AI systems reward you with prime inbox placement, even as competitors get filtered out. The sooner you realize emails aren’t sent, they’re earned,...
Undeniable Offers Make Prospects Click Before They’re Ready
If your offer doesn’t get people to stop, it’s a line of copy. • A real offer makes them curious. • A great offer makes them hesitate. • A strong offer makes them click before they’re ready. People buy because...
Guest Post: Three GTM Challenges Killing Vertical AI Startups in 2026—And Why Market Shaping GTM Solves All of Them
Vertical AI startups face a paradox in 2026: funding exploded 85% to $211 billion while enterprise IT budgets barely grow 2% and consolidate vendors. Traditional SaaS GTM tactics—outbound blasts, demo‑first pitches, and volume‑driven pipelines—no longer win because buyers pick a preliminary...
Public Software Stocks Tank, Private AI Startups Soar
Strange World Indeed, 2026 January edition: - The worst time in our history to be invested in public software stocks - The best time in our history to be invested in private hot (AI fueled) startup stocks
Salesforce Emerges as Central Hub for AI GTM Agents
"When you have 5, 10, 20+ AI GTM agents ... you need a hub. And for the most part, that hub is @salesforce today. It's a Renaissance for @salesforce." with @kylecnorton CRO @owner https://t.co/IaEh5Zt3Gh
Earnings Show Banks Turning Transaction Banking Into a Platform Business
The 2025 earnings season showed major U.S. banks turning transaction banking into a digital platform rather than a back‑office utility. Investments in cloud‑native cores, APIs and event‑driven architectures now deliver real‑time cash visibility and faster cross‑border settlement. Executives highlighted revenue...
VC Expectations Escalate: From $1B to $100B Targets
10 years ago, VC was optimized around $1B+ outcomes, for the most part. 5 years ago, VC was optimized around $10B+ outcomes. Today, VC is optimized around $100B+ outcomes. It’s exciting and bold and startups in the Age of AI...
Four Key Factors for Choosing B2B Keynote Speakers
Finding the right keynote speaker for your next corporate event can often feel like searching for a needle in a haystack, especially with the myriad of options available. You want a compelling speaker who can inspire your audience to embrace...
How to Create Retargeting Ads on Meta, Google, and LinkedIn
Retargeting ads on Meta, Google, and LinkedIn let B2B marketers re‑engage prospects who have interacted with their content, shortening sales cycles at low cost. The guide recommends starting with a simple 180‑day website‑visitor audience and allocating roughly 10‑15% of total...
Structured, Clear Content Outranks Messy AI‑skimmed Pages
Most marketers assume AI “finds the best content” wrong. AI skims just like humans do, and if your content is messy, unstructured, or hard to parse, it gets skipped. Clean headings, clear sections, fast summaries. That’s what gets cited. If...
How to Leverage Claude Code for Your Business
I have many founders asking me about how to make Claude Code work for their business. Here are some of my responses: https://t.co/qAIwWiPKYh
GeoCue Partners with Coptrz to Expand TrueView LiDAR Across the UK Drone Market
GeoCue announced a distribution partnership with Coptrz, the UK’s leading commercial drone expert, to bring its TrueView LiDAR sensor lineup and LP360 processing software to British surveyors and engineers. The collaboration gives Coptrz access to the full range of GeoCue...
Built Custom AI VP to Drive 10K Attendees, $10M Revenue
So this year we’ve built an AI VP of Marketing for SaaStr. The v1 at least. We didn’t want to, we wanted to buying an AI agentic solution that does what we need in marketing. But we just couldn’t find...
Meet Gustavo Oduber-Quigley: The Founder Bringing A.I.-Driven Growth to Local Businesses
Gustavo Oduber‑Quigley founded OQ AI Creative Media to bring enterprise‑grade artificial intelligence to small‑ and medium‑sized businesses. His platform deploys custom‑trained AI receptionists that handle calls, messages, bookings and follow‑ups, delivering 24/7 customer engagement without extra staff. Powered by the...
Merciv Launches With $14M Seed Round
Merciv emerged from stealth with a $14 million seed round led by AI x IA, a partnership between Off Road Capital and Commonwealth Asset Management. Over two years, the startup proved its AI‑native consumer intelligence platform with several Fortune 500 companies, securing enterprise traction...
Urgent Pain Drives Price Sensitivity, Not Just ROI
Price is a really important element in marketing, and it's important to understand its role in demand even if you can't control it. Price impacts demand more than just about anything else we can affect in marketing, not only in...
App: Post and Retrieve HTTP Header Information
The Martech Zone tool lets users input a URL and optionally POST data to capture the complete HTTP request‑response cycle, including every redirect and header. It categorises headers—general, request, response, and entity—so users can quickly identify content type, caching policies,...
Skip “Strategist” Hires Until You Hit $20M ARR
Before $20,000,000 in ARR Maybe even before $50,000,000 in ARR Do not hire anyone with "strategist" in the first few lines of their LinkedIn bio
Ensuring the Supply Chain Through Purchasing Controls
Establishing a secure supply chain now starts with early, cross‑functional purchasing controls. Development, quality, and procurement teams must collaborate to define requirements, qualify suppliers, and create quality agreements before scale‑up. The Parenteral Drug Association’s upcoming ANSI/PDA Standard 001‑2020 formalizes these expectations...
Skip Meetings without a Clear Purpose
Life Tip (that took me years to learn): If you don't know *why* you’ve been invited to a meeting, don't go. Let's translate the "why": 👉 "To hear updates" ...That's an email. 👉 "To give input" ...That's a shared doc....
DIY Approach Fuels Craft Cocktail Brand
Liber & Co., founded in 2011 by three Texas friends, has grown from a single pot of syrup to multiple 1,500‑gallon tanks supplying premium non‑alcoholic cocktail syrups worldwide. The company’s DIY ethos drives in‑house manufacturing, warehousing, marketing and global sales,...
O3 Solutions Introduces Otto, a Personal AI Assistant for Capital Project Teams
O3 Solutions has launched Otto, an AI‑powered personal assistant embedded in its project execution platform for capital construction projects. Otto lets users ask natural‑language questions and receive real‑time answers, visualizations, and risk insights drawn from live project data and Advanced...