Confessions of a Former Saks Designer: ‘If Your Retail Partner Is Knocking You Off, That’s a Red Flag’
Former Saks Fifth Avenue designer Hadley Pollet left the department‑store partnership in 2018 after witnessing buyers request cheap copies of luxury designs and a shift toward an asset‑light, drop‑shipping model. Saks later filed Chapter 11, leaving many boutique vendors uncertain about repayment. Pollet pivoted to direct‑to‑consumer sales, emphasizing handcrafted details, events, and a small network of specialty retailers. She warns that AI‑driven buying and homogenized assortments threaten creativity and brand sovereignty.
How Mark Essien’s 4-Month Old Product Made $2.3 Million with Less than 30 Customers
Mark Essien’s newest venture, Tripdesk, an AI‑driven travel‑management platform, generated $2.3 million in revenue within four months, serving fewer than 30 enterprise customers and delivering a 30% profit margin. The product grew out of Hotels.ng’s VIP client needs, automating travel requests,...
UAE Horizon 2026 to Take Place in Singapore, Spotlighting New Investment Opportunities
The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce and TXTK Tax Tech will co‑host the UAE Horizon 2026 roadshow in Singapore on March 8. The invite‑only event targets CEOs, family offices and high‑net‑worth individuals seeking to tap the UAE’s low‑tax environment and free‑zone ecosystem....
How a Romanian Startup Found Its Strongest Growth in Latin America
Pluria, a Romanian‑founded hybrid‑work platform, has seen its strongest growth in Latin America, especially Colombia, Mexico and Argentina, with 2025 revenue expanding 2.5 times versus the prior year. The company entered the region opportunistically, bypassing traditional market analysis, and quickly...
CMA CGM Group, Marlink, and Eutelsat Partnership
CMA CGM, Marlink, and Eutelsat have signed a multi‑year partnership to equip over 300 CMA CGM vessels with OneWeb LEO satellite connectivity. The rollout will be completed within nine months, using a hybrid LEO/GEO architecture via Marlink’s XChange NextGen edge...
FourKites Launches Loft: AI Platform to Orchestrate Enterprise Systems with Real-World Intelligence
FourKites introduced Loft, an AI orchestration platform that lets enterprises automate workflows across any system using its Sophie AI developer agent. Sophie converts natural‑language operational requirements into production‑ready automations in days, cutting traditional deployment cycles from months. Loft uniquely blends...
Instinctools Adds Palantir Foundry and AIP to Its Enterprise Data and AI Portfolio
Instinctools announced the addition of Palantir Foundry and Palantir AIP to its enterprise data and AI portfolio. The integration gives clients a unified data operating system with built‑in governance, lineage, and integration capabilities. Palantir AIP layers large‑language‑model‑driven agent workflows on...
Cineverse Launches Matchpoint® Creative Labs, Leveraging Generative AI to Enable Creative Services for FAST and Ad-Supported Streaming Services
Cineverse has unveiled Matchpoint® Creative Labs, an in‑house agency that delivers motion‑first video advertising for connected TV, FAST and ad‑supported streaming services. The unit blends traditional creative processes with generative AI to produce native‑looking ads, channel IDs and branding assets...
Datarails Launches Spend Control to Give CFOs Full Visibility on Contracts and Eliminate Zombie Subscriptions
Datarails unveiled Spend Control, an AI‑powered spend‑management platform that uniquely integrates with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The tool creates a centralized contract hub, automatically extracts key terms, benchmarks market alternatives and drafts renewal requests. By flagging duplicate tools and...
ZeroToOne.AI and Horizon Media Announce AI Partnership to Power Predictive Behavioral Intelligence Within HorizonOS
ZeroToOne.AI and Horizon Media have forged an enterprise partnership to embed ZeroToOne’s proprietary Large Behavioral Model into HorizonOS, the open operating system powering Horizon’s Blu AI‑native marketing intelligence platform. The model claims over 85% accuracy in forecasting real‑world consumer actions,...
Loyyal Launches Perxi AI: A WhatsApp Based AI Agent That Simplifies Loyalty for SMEs
Enterprise SaaS firm Loyyal unveiled Perxi AI, the first AI‑driven loyalty agent that operates entirely within WhatsApp. The solution lets small and medium businesses launch and manage branded loyalty programs instantly at zero cost, eliminating traditional software, staffing, and app‑installation...
IPcook Empowers AI Training Data Acquisition with High-Performance Residential Proxies
IPcook has launched a high‑performance residential proxy service aimed at AI developers needing large, diverse training datasets. The platform delivers over 55 million IPs in 185 locations, with response times under 0.5 seconds and bulk pricing as low as $0.5 per gigabyte....
Marketing Compliance in Cryptocurrency – Lessons for Martech
Cryptocurrency marketers, led by exchanges such as Binance, have made regulatory compliance a core design constraint rather than an after‑thought. By embedding automated approval workflows, jurisdiction‑aware messaging, and transparent disclosures into their martech stacks, they maintain scale while avoiding violations....
Stepan Kazaryan on Search and Trust
Stepan Kazaryan argues that online search has become the primary trust filter, shaping perceptions before any direct interaction. He highlights that credibility now hinges on the structure and consistency of digital signals rather than volume or promotional activity. Neutral, informational...
Rankpage Introduces Expanded AI-Driven SEO Offerings to Support Businesses of All Sizes Across Malaysia
Rankpage, a Malaysia‑based AI‑driven SEO agency, announced an expanded suite of AI‑powered search optimization services. The rollout includes a fortified Search Dominance Framework—featuring SERP‑Dominating Technology, Global AI Connectivity Backlink, and a Satellite Ecosystem—and tiered packages priced from RM1,500 to over...
Dunelm Strengthens Executive Team with Two Senior Hires
Dunelm announced the appointment of Laura Harricks as chief customer officer and Caroline Angell as chief people officer, both slated to start in March. Harricks arrives from Ocado Retail, where she led customer‑centric digital transformation and loyalty programmes. Angell joins...
Beyond Model Benchmarks: Algolia CTO Xavier Grand Joins AI Day France 2026 Panel on Algolia’s Role in the GenAI UX...
Algolia announced that Chief Technology Officer Xavier Grand will speak at AI Day 2026 in Paris, joining leading French tech figures for a panel on the GenAI UX revolution. The event, hosted at Station F by France Digitale, will attract roughly...
New York CEO Dan Herbatschek of Ramsey Theory Capital Delivers New Real-Time Governance for Enterprise AI Systems as AI Safety...
Ramsey Theory Capital, led by CEO Dan Herbatschek, unveiled a real‑time AI governance platform to help enterprises meet the new New York RAISE Act and similar state AI safety laws. The solution embeds compliance, risk analytics, and automated documentation throughout...
The Future of Immersive Media: Volumetric Video Market Explodes as AR/VR and Metaverse Demand Surge Globally
The volumetric video market is experiencing rapid expansion, driven by accelerating AR/VR adoption, AI‑enhanced compression, and surging metaverse demand. Software solutions dominate, with rendering, compression, and playback technologies seeing the strongest growth. North America leads the market, supported by early...
Myer Announces Exclusive D-Store Deal with Mac Cosmetics
Myer has secured an exclusive partnership with MAC Cosmetics, becoming the only department store in Australia to carry the brand from mid‑year onward. The deal follows the arrival of Fenty Beauty in May and adds to more than 22 new...
Novi AI Launches Independent AI Creation Studio Following Brand Upgrade
Novi AI has launched an independent website, rebranding itself as a standalone AI Creation Studio for images, videos, and multimodal content. The platform consolidates leading AI models—including Veo 3.1, Sora 2, Kling, Nano Banana, and Seedream—into a single workflow, simplifying...
HitPaw API Is Integrated by Comfy for Professional Image and Video Enhancement to Global Creators
HitPaw, an AI visual‑enhancement provider, announced its integration with Comfy, a global content‑creation platform. The partnership embeds HitPaw’s Image and Video Enhancer APIs directly into Comfy’s workflow, offering creators one‑click super‑resolution, denoising, and generative restoration for photos and frame‑aware video...
How to Design the Perfect Embedded Investing Offering: Tips From DriveWealth’s Harry Temkin
Embedded investing is emerging as a 2026 growth driver, with fintech firms adding micro‑investing and trading features to non‑financial platforms. DriveWealth’s chief digital officer Harry Temkin outlines a methodical, four‑pillar approach that starts with brand‑specific UI mockups and proceeds through...
How I Built Singapore’s 8th Fastest-Growing Company without Investors
In 2020 a 25‑year‑old ex‑agency manager founded KPI Media on a bold promise: refund half of any retainer if key performance indicators aren’t met. The agency operates solely with month‑to‑month contracts and a performance‑based guarantee, remaining fully bootstrapped. Five years...
Partners Capital, iCapital Partner to Enable Access to Private Equity Investments
iCapital and Partners Capital have launched an open‑ended private‑equity platform that expands institutional‑quality access to wealth managers across Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The new evergreen structure replaces a pilot closed‑end fund, allowing broader participation from high‑net‑worth and retail...
Scale's New CEO on Life After the $14.5 Billion Meta Deal
The episode explores how Scale AI, under new CEO Jason Droege—formerly of Uber—thrived after the $14.5 billion acquisition of founder Alexandr Wang by Meta. Droege explains that Scale achieved a record‑breaking revenue run‑rate by splitting its business into two tracks: one...
UK’s Starling Bank Focuses on Global Growth with Software Sales to US Lenders
Starling Bank is shifting its growth strategy by selling its Engine banking software to U.S. lenders, targeting regional banks with $5‑50 billion in assets. The fintech has hired Deloitte and PwC to scout partners and expects its first U.S. client by...
RC Mowers Awarded Canoe Procurement Group Cooperative Contract
RC Mowers has secured a cooperative purchasing contract with Canoe Procurement Group, granting Canadian municipalities, public agencies and nonprofits streamlined access to its autonomous mowing systems. The agreement reduces procurement cycles from months to weeks and aligns with Canoe’s partnership...
Amazon’s AI Vision Points to a New Front Door for B2B Buying: Agents
Amazon’s Q4 earnings call highlighted a future where AI "agents" replace traditional marketplaces and websites for B2B purchasing. Executives said agents will research products, compare options, and place orders directly within enterprise systems. AWS unveiled new agentic workload tools, custom...
MassPay Integrates TaxBandits Capability
MassPay announced a partnership with TaxBandits to embed full‑stack tax compliance into its payout orchestration platform. The integration adds automated 1099 and 1042 form generation, streamlined W‑8/W‑9 collection, and real‑time IRS TIN matching directly into the payment workflow. By consolidating...
The Home Depot Debuts Material List Builder AI
The Home Depot has launched Material List Builder AI, a free tool for Pro Xtra members that creates project material lists from voice prompts, emails, texts, or existing documents. The AI automatically suggests products, shows preferred pricing, and checks inventory, allowing pros...
Under Armour CEO: ‘Most Disruptive’ Phase of Turnaround Is Over
Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank said the most disruptive phase of the company’s turnaround is behind it, as revenue volatility eases and inventory cleans up. The brand posted a 5% year‑over‑year revenue decline to $1.3 billion, with North America sales down...
AI Torches Software Stocks, Even as Investors Fret About All that AI Factory Spending
AI enthusiasm has turned into a market shock, sending shares of SaaS giants like ServiceNow, Salesforce and Palantir sharply lower. At the same time, investors are uneasy about the soaring capital‑expenditure plans of AI‑heavy firms such as Alphabet, Amazon, Oracle...
Drug Digest: Outsourcing Partnerships Fuel Global Biopharma Discovery and Scale-Up
Strategic outsourcing is reshaping biopharma by linking discovery, formulation, and early‑clinical manufacturing through specialized external partners. In a Drug Digest interview, iOrganBio CEO Daniel Delubac explains how risk‑focused partner selection and integrated data flows accelerate cell, gene, and RNA therapies...
Hey, Senior PMs: Shipping Faster Won’t Get You Promoted
Senior product managers often equate speed with success, but the article shows that unchecked velocity can erode margins and stall career growth. By examining a $25 M ARR SaaS firm, the author reveals how a focus on feature output ignored the...
Agenzee Launches Tool to Simplify Insurance Compliance
Agenzee has introduced Agenzee Assist, a fully managed compliance service that handles licensing, regulatory monitoring, and related tasks for insurance producers. The offering blends the company’s automation platform with a team of compliance specialists, delivering end‑to‑end license application processing, renewal...
TokTak Launches New Video Editing Feature to Enhance AI-Powered Content Automation
TokTak, the AI‑driven social‑media content platform, has added a Video Editing feature that lets users modify transitions, captions, images, and background music in AI‑generated short‑form videos. The tool provides real‑time previews and scene‑by‑scene editing, enabling creators to fine‑tune each element...
How Knowband Is Driving Innovation Across the Global eCommerce Platform Ecosystem with Generative AI
Knowband, a long‑time eCommerce solutions provider, has launched two generative‑AI plugins for PrestaShop and OpenCart. The AI Chatbot module delivers real‑time, multilingual support by pulling live catalog and order data, while the LLMs.txt Generator automatically creates structured files that feed...
Xtm Launches Intelligent Post-Editing to Bring Ai-Driven Review Automation to Enterprise Localisation
XTM International has introduced Intelligent Post‑Editing, an AI‑driven feature that automates routine review and correction of translated content within XTM Cloud. Leveraging large language models, the tool applies context‑aware edits for terminology, formality, gender neutrality, and locale‑specific rules while keeping...
Sproutr Introduces Program Placement Services for MGAs and MGUs
Sproutr, a specialist insurance programme architect, has launched Program Placement Services to combine carrier placement with its existing design and underwriting capabilities. The new offering aims to eliminate the traditional split between programme design and carrier negotiations, which often causes...
Visa Expands Into Small Business Tools Beyond Payments
Visa has launched a new platform that merges financing options, transaction analytics, and operational tools into a single hub for small businesses. The solution lets merchants view lender offers alongside real‑time sales data, while providing dashboards that surface spending trends...
Reach Selects DeeperDive From Taboola, Gen AI Answer Engine Built for the Open Web, to Connect Readers with Timely, Contextual...
Reach PLC announced it will deploy Taboola’s DeeperDive, a generative‑AI answer engine, across its flagship titles such as Express and Daily Star. DeeperDive lives directly on publisher sites, pulling from each outlet’s own editorial archive to deliver instant, conversational answers...
BFJ Digital Details Strategic Criteria for Choosing the Right CRM to Optimise Customer Sales
BFJ Digital, a Brisbane‑based digital marketing consultancy, published a strategic analysis outlining the essential criteria for selecting a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. The report categorises leading platforms—HubSpot, Salesforce Essentials, Zoho, Microsoft Dynamics, and enterprise solutions like SAP and Oracle—by...
Gallea Ai Joins IBM Partner Plus as an IBM Business Partner to Deliver Enterprise Grade AI and Hybrid Cloud Capabilities...
Gallea Ai has joined IBM Partner Plus, earning IBM Business Partner status to deliver enterprise‑grade AI and hybrid cloud solutions to small and mid‑sized businesses across North America and the United Kingdom. The partnership grants Gallea Ai access to IBM’s...
CSSC Opens Qatar Representative Office
China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) inaugurated a representative office in Doha, managed by its subsidiary China Shipbuilding Trading (CSTC). The office, staffed with marketing, technical and service experts from Hudong‑Zhonghua Shipbuilding and CSSC Power/WinGD, is positioned as a hub for...
Bondi Sands Bets on Feeling, Not Forecasts, with ‘Summer Never Ends’
Bondi Sands launches the "Summer Never Ends" global platform, shifting its narrative from a seasonal tagline to a year‑round confidence mindset. The campaign relies on authentic, mood‑driven creative and diverse ambassadors, extending across social, OOH, digital and in‑store touchpoints. It...
Mrge Releases New Industry Report “State of Commerce Advertising 1/2026”
mrge released its semi‑annual “State of Commerce Advertising 1/2026” report, highlighting a market shift from pure traffic provision to trusted authority. The study finds consumers increasingly rely on AI‑summarised results, making “zero‑click discovery” a critical factor. Only 11.3% of companies...
New Global Expansion Report Benchmarks the Hidden Costs and Risks of Scaling Across 19 Markets
Native Teams released its Global Expansion Report, benchmarking the hidden costs, timelines, digitalisation levels and regulatory risks of establishing legal entities in 19 jurisdictions. The study, based on data from over 3,000 companies and input from 17 legal and compliance...
Qlik Connect 2026 Expands Keynote Program as Enterprises Prepare for the Next Wave of AI
Qlik announced an expanded keynote program for Qlik Connect 2026, scheduled for April 13‑15 in Kissimmee, Florida. The lineup now features AI commentator Jason Del Rey and AI ethics expert Dr. Rumman Chowdhury alongside Qlik’s chief strategy officer. The event will focus...
Monthly Vs. Quarterly Bookkeeping: Which Is Right for Your Business?
Choosing between monthly and quarterly bookkeeping hinges on transaction volume, cash‑flow volatility, and growth complexity. Monthly bookkeeping delivers near real‑time financial visibility, smoother tax readiness, and proactive cash‑flow management, making it ideal for fast‑growing or transaction‑heavy firms. Quarterly bookkeeping cuts...