News•Feb 20, 2026
Investor Intentions: NCIA Looking to Grow Its Private Infrastructure Portfolio
The National Council for Infrastructure and Assets (NCIA) is signaling a strategic push to expand its private infrastructure holdings, with allocations projected to reach between $8 billion and $10 billion. This represents a sizable portion of the council’s overall investment portfolio and underscores a broader shift toward long‑term, asset‑backed capital. The move follows heightened demand from institutional investors seeking stable, inflation‑linked returns. Detailed allocation data remains behind a subscription wall, emphasizing the premium nature of the insight.
By Infrastructure Investor (PEI Group)
News•Feb 20, 2026
The Fallacy of Treating AI Agents as Fellow Employees
The article contends that AI agents should not be treated as employees but as advanced tools akin to computers. It explains that while agents like ChatGPT simplify tasks, they lack autonomy and require human supervision and prompt‑engineering. Using a marketing...
By Human Resource Executive
News•Feb 20, 2026
The Fallacy of Treating AI Agents as Fellow Employees
The article argues that AI agents should not be classified as fellow employees, emphasizing that they remain tools rather than workers. It critiques the notion of extending employee‑like rights or treatment to autonomous software. The author stresses that HR’s focus...
By HRTechFeed
News•Feb 20, 2026
The Illusion of Choice in Enterprise Desktop Strategy
Enterprises are finding that desktop‑OS choices in 2026 are no longer a tactical IT decision but a forced strategic commitment driven by the Windows 10 end‑of‑support deadline, costly Windows 11 upgrades, and the tax‑like Extended Security Updates (ESU). The pressure to meet...
By TechTarget SearchERP
News•Feb 20, 2026
Badge Raises $17M to Shape the Future of Digital Wallets
Badge, a digital‑wallet platform founded in 2023, raised $17.1 million in a Series A round—$13.8 million led by TTV Capital and a $3.3 million seed from QED Investors and Infinity Ventures. The company builds interactive elements for Apple Pay and Google Pay, letting brands embed loyalty,...
By Ventureburn
News•Feb 20, 2026
When Spreadsheets Stop Scaling: Rethinking Technology for Growing SMEs
SMEs often rely on spreadsheets until they become bottlenecks, causing data errors, version‑control chaos, and delayed reporting. As growth accelerates, these ad‑hoc tools hinder visibility and increase operational risk. The article argues that bespoke technology, delivered in modular, phased increments,...
By Startups Magazine
Blog•Feb 20, 2026
Unintended Consequences
EchoStar exited the facility‑based cellular market after FCC pressure to monetize its spectrum, selling valuable bands to Starlink and AT&T while walking away from thousands of tower lease payments. The lease abandonment has prompted tower owners to seek FCC intervention,...
By POTs and PANs
News•Feb 20, 2026
Meta Trims Staff Stock Awards Again as AI Spending Surge
Meta has reduced the value of annual staff stock awards by about five percent, marking the second consecutive year of equity cuts after a ten‑percent reduction last year. The move coincides with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to pour billions into...
By HR Katha (India)
News•Feb 20, 2026
Lithuanian Regtech Copla Bags €6 Million to Scale Compliance Infrastructure Beyond the EU
Lithuanian regtech Copla secured €6 million Series A financing led by Iron Wolf Capital, with participation from Operator Stack and existing backers. The startup provides a real‑time ICT compliance platform that translates complex EU rules such as DORA, the AI Act and...
By ArcticStartup
News•Feb 20, 2026
Salesforce Acquires Momentum: What It Means
The episode breaks down Salesforce’s acquisition of Momentum, a revenue‑orchestration startup that transforms unstructured voice and video conversations into structured CRM data and automated workflows via Agentforce 360 and Slackbot. It explains how this move lets Salesforce own the "ground truth"...
By Forrester Blogs
Blog•Feb 20, 2026
Why Pershing Square Holdings Trades At A Deep Discount To NAV
Pershing Square Holdings (PSH) trades about a 25 % discount to NAV, reflecting its closed‑end, London‑listed structure and a portfolio of public equities that investors can replicate. The lack of daily redemption limits arbitrage, while a 1.5 % management fee and 16 %...
By Financial Samurai
News•Feb 20, 2026
Reach for the Stars to Boost Britain's Space Industry
Orbex, a UK‑based rocket developer once valued at $220 million, entered administration after the government withdrew a planned funding round despite earlier £26 million support. The collapse underscores the repeated failure of state‑led investment in Britain’s nascent space sector. Meanwhile, the global...
By MoneyWeek – All
News•Feb 20, 2026
SA Developers Take Centre Stage as Code4Mzansi Kicks Off
Huawei’s Code4Mzansi developer competition has launched in South Africa, inviting university students, start‑ups and small‑business founders to build cloud‑first solutions. Partnering with the Department of Small Business Development and local universities, the programme offers access to Huawei Cloud tools, mentorship...
By ITWeb (South Africa) – Public Sector
News•Feb 20, 2026
Eagle Wireless Raises $30M Series B for 5G Expansion
Eagle Wireless announced a $30 million Series B round, bringing its total capital to $44 million. The financing, led by Asymmetric Capital Partners and The O.H.I.O. Fund, will fund accelerated 5G research, development, and a shift to full‑device production in the United States....
By Ventureburn
Social•Feb 20, 2026
Design Wins When You Redesign the Entire Service
I once worked with a company that sold frozen ready meals to elderly customers. They wanted better website conversion rates. Straightforward brief, right? We did user research and found the real problems had nothing to do with the website: - Customers were...
By Paul Boag
1
News•Feb 20, 2026
Preparing for the Agent-Driven Future of B2B Marketing
Gartner’s 2026 strategic outlook warns that AI will move beyond acceleration to reshape B2B buying, with agents mediating up to 90% of purchase decisions by 2028. Marketing teams must treat AI fluency as a core competency, embedding prompting skills and...
By Heinz Marketing
Podcast•Feb 20, 2026•1 min
Building a High-Impact Enterprise SEO Team
In this 1‑minute 42‑second episode of Voices of Search, host Tyson Stockton chats with Ahrefs expert Patrick Stokes about building a high‑impact enterprise SEO team. They discuss the evolving nature of SEO, the importance of giving back to the community,...
By Voices of Search
News•Feb 20, 2026
This Press Release Strategy Actually Earns Media Coverage
Press releases alone no longer guarantee coverage, but a data‑driven, journalist‑centric approach can revive their impact. By researching recent relevant stories, citing journalists in the release, and then pitching them directly with tailored messages, practitioners can secure multiple organic features....
By Search Engine Land
Social•Feb 20, 2026
Protecting Domestic EVs Requires Tariffs or Local Content Rules
Very good Rhodium piece on the cost advantage of Chinese EVs: “In practice, countries seeking to protect domestic industries have two broad options. One is to impose very high tariffs that account not only for subsidies but also for structural...
By Michael Pettis
Social•Feb 20, 2026
AI Becomes Mandatory Backbone of Enterprise Customer Service
Customer service is where artificial intelligence has officially moved past the hype. @NICEComms recently reported their full-year 2025 financial results, and the numbers point to a clear structural shift in enterprise adoption. Their AI annual recurring revenue grew 66% year over...
By Shashi Bellamkonda
News•Feb 20, 2026
Commodity Boom Helps to Drive JSE Confidence
South Africa’s commodity surge—gold up 65% and platinum 125%—is fueling a boom on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, with mining firms delivering double‑digit returns. The JSE’s recent rule changes, cutting shareholder approval thresholds from 75% to 50% and aligning disclosure standards,...
By African Business
News•Feb 20, 2026
Why Verifying a Business in Africa Is Harder than Moving Money
Cross‑border payments in Africa now settle in seconds, but verifying the counterpart business can take weeks. The delay stems from fragmented, offline national registries and a lack of cross‑border data harmonisation, creating a “registry gap” that hampers the African Continental...
By TechCabal
News•Feb 20, 2026
The Banking Revolution: Balancing Convenience and Security in the Digital Era
Digital banking has become the cornerstone of modern finance, delivering round‑the‑clock services through mobile apps. Consumers now deposit checks, transfer funds, and invest without stepping into a branch, enjoying lower fees and personalized experiences. At the same time, providers are...
By e27
Social•Feb 20, 2026
Gold's Parabolic Surge May Be Overheated, Reversion Likely
The Rock May Be Too Hot - Gold vs. Commodities - Inflation is notably absent from gold's parabolic rally, which may suggest a too-hot rock if history is a guide. From a base of 100 in 1964, gold in terms...
By Mike McGlone
News•Feb 20, 2026
“If You Can Work Together on a Boat, You Can Build a Startup”
Yasido, founded by two sailors, has turned a private yacht‑booking tool into a Europe‑focused marketplace likened to "Booking.com for yachts." The platform automates the complex legal, logistical and trust‑building steps of chartering, cutting dozens of emails to a single click....
By The Recursive
News•Feb 20, 2026
Liran Peterzil Named CMO of Valentino
Liran Peterzil has been appointed chief marketing officer of Valentino, effective March 2, reporting to CEO Riccardo Bellini. He will steer the maison’s global brand strategy, overseeing marketing, communications, events, media relations and the overall brand experience. Peterzil arrives from luxury...
By Brand Innovators — CMO Moves
News•Feb 20, 2026
Danish Foodtech REDUCED Brings Series A to €12 Million to Support Industrial Rollout of Clean-Label Savoury Ingredients
Copenhagen‑based REDUCED announced a €4 million Series A extension, bringing its total Series A funding to €12 million. The round, co‑led by Delphinus Venture Capital and backed by Novo Holdings, ECBF and EIFO, will finance scale‑up of its solid‑state fermentation platform that transforms food‑industry...
By ArcticStartup
News•Feb 20, 2026
First Gen to Take 40% Stake in Prime Infra’s 2GW Pumped Storage Portfolio
First Gen Corporation will acquire a 40% equity stake in Prime Infrastructure Capital’s pumped‑storage portfolio for roughly 75 billion pesos ($1.34 bn). The deal covers the 600 MW Wawa project in Rizal and the 1.4 GW Ahunan (Pakil) project in Laguna, together delivering 2 GW...
By Power Technology
News•Feb 20, 2026
Hapag-Lloyd, WiseTech Global in Container Visibility Initiative
WiseTech Global and Hapag-Lloyd have launched a trial that equips the carrier’s more than two million containers with IoT smart devices, delivering real‑time location updates to WiseTech’s CargoWise platforms. The pilot processes millions of data points daily and introduces a...
By FreightWaves
Podcast•Feb 20, 2026•28 min
Tariffs Ineffective Against US Trade Deficit? & Family Feud Over Reese’s Recipe
Neal and Toby examine why the U.S. trade deficit continues to grow despite the Trump administration's aggressive tariff policy, highlighting the limited impact of tariffs on the broader balance of payments. They then shift to a family dispute over the...
By Morning Brew Daily
News•Feb 20, 2026
Interview: Ankur Anand, Group CIO, Nash Squared
Ankur Anand, group CIO of Nash Squared, is reshaping the recruiter’s technology agenda to turn data and AI into competitive advantages. He merged day‑to‑day IT operations with a growth‑focused digital strategy, integrating disparate systems to create a single candidate view. Anand...
By ComputerWeekly – DevOps
News•Feb 20, 2026
Why MAGA Fears Europe
President Donald Trump and his MAGA allies continue to cast the European Union as weak and misguided, a theme echoed at both Davos and the Munich Security Conference. The article counters this narrative, highlighting the EU’s social‑market model and its...
By Project Syndicate — Economics
Social•Feb 20, 2026
AI Writes Code Faster than We Can Review
▶ Reading unfamiliar code is exhausting. Now imagine that code is coming from an LLM that writes faster than you can think and doesn't take lunch breaks ◀ This 👆 perfectly captures the AI productivity paradox: code is written faster than...
By Tom Johnson
Social•Feb 20, 2026
Dollar Holds Firm Amid Looming Tariff Decision and US Data
Tariff Decision Day?: The US dollar is trading mostly firmer but quietly in what could be a volatile North American session. It is not just about the US data, of which there is plenty—including the PCE deflator and the first...
By Marc Chandler
News•Feb 20, 2026
Lithium Battery Fires Put the Heat on P&I Clubs
P&I clubs have recorded a ten‑year peak in marine liability claims, resulting in a $98 million underwriting loss over the past three years. The surge is driven primarily by lithium‑ion battery fires on vessels carrying electric vehicles and other battery‑powered cargo,...
By Seatrade Maritime
Social•Feb 20, 2026
Strong US Data Must Decouple to Trigger Dollar Decline
The US is outgrowing everyone else and that'll stay that way into this year's midterms. So, for the Dollar to fall, you need a correlation break whereby strong US data cause USD to fall. This is how the Dollar traded...
By Robin Brooks
Social•Feb 20, 2026
Oil Won’t Ride Super‑Cycle; Growth Slowdown Limits Prices
Beware of the "bull-run narrative" @Matalasdavid Oil's a risk asset unlike value commodities. It's unlikely to have a super-cycle trajectory. 👇 https://t.co/7PUYBWe4PR As economic growth slows, oil will slow. #energy #OOTT #oilandgas #WTI #CrudeOil #fintwit #OPEC #Commodities #commoditiesmarket
By Art Berman Blog
Blog•Feb 20, 2026
Gold and Silver Recovering
The episode reviews a recent rally in gold and silver prices, noting modest gains in Europe and unusually low trading volumes on the U.S. Comex market due to a holiday. It highlights the scant speculative interest and low open interest...
By McleodFinance (Alasdair Macleod)
Social•Feb 20, 2026
USD Firming Ahead of Data, SCOTUS Tariff Ruling
$USD enjoys a firmer tone ahead of US data and possible SCOTUS decision on POTUS use of emergency powers to levy broad tariffs. Mkt tensions over possible US-Iran conflict seems to have eased for the moment but have not...
By Marc Chandler
News•Feb 20, 2026
Can US Small Caps Survive the Software Selloff?
US software megacaps have slumped roughly 30% this year, dragging the S&P 500 to a modest 0.5% gain, while the MSCI ACWI ex‑USA rose 9.1%. By contrast, the S&P 600 small‑cap index posted a 7.9% rise, narrowing the performance gap with global...
By MoneyWeek – All
News•Feb 20, 2026
Scaling a Financial Reconciliation Pipeline With Serverless
The team built an event‑driven reconciliation pipeline on AWS using Step Functions, Lambda, and DynamoDB. At low volumes it performed well, but processing million‑transaction daily batches exposed two bottlenecks: Lambda’s 15‑minute timeout and hot DynamoDB partition keys. They resolved these...
By Container Journal
News•Feb 20, 2026
Treasury Launches Recruitment Campaign for Chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility
HM Treasury announced an open, competitive recruitment campaign to appoint a new Chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The Chair, who leads the Budget Responsibility Committee, will be selected by the Chancellor and must receive Treasury Committee consent....
By HM Treasury – Atom feed
News•Feb 20, 2026
Build vs Buy: Why Pricing Strategy Choices Matter More in 2026
The article argues that the classic build‑vs‑buy debate in pricing modernization has shifted from technical feasibility to strategic resource allocation. Cloud platforms and open‑source tools now let banks prototype pricing engines in months, but maintaining custom systems diverts scarce engineering...
By Fintech Global
News•Feb 20, 2026
Ericsson Set for MWC26; Meta Mega-Deal; Vodafone Dutch Sale
Meta Platforms signed a multiyear, multibillion‑dollar agreement with Nvidia to install millions of AI processors for both training and inference, including confidential‑computing GPUs for WhatsApp. Vodafone Group sold its 50% stake in Dutch joint venture VodafoneZiggo to Liberty Global for...
By Mobile World Live
News•Feb 20, 2026
Canadian ETF Market Closes 2025 at Record $735B as Equity Dominance Reshapes Flows
Canada’s ETF industry closed 2025 with a record $735.1 billion in assets, a 37.5% increase over the prior year. Equity‑focused funds dominated, representing roughly 67.5% of total holdings, while the number of listed ETFs rose to 1,472, adding 255 new products....
By Wealth Professional Canada – ETFs
News•Feb 20, 2026
CIBC Asset Management Inc. Announces Launch of Canadian and U.S. ETFs with Avantis Investors by American Century Investments
CIBC Asset Management announced the launch of four Avantis CIBC ETFs on the Toronto Stock Exchange, covering Canadian equity and three U.S. equity strategies – all‑cap, large‑cap value and small‑cap value. The products are the result of a strategic partnership...
By ETFtv
News•Feb 20, 2026
Optimising Cross-Border Payments for Seamless APAC Expansion
APAC’s rapid digital growth is hampered by fragmented cross‑border payment ecosystems. Companies expanding from hubs like Singapore face higher merchant discount rates, FX volatility, and regulatory bottlenecks when transactions are processed through non‑local acquirers. Payment orchestration emerges as a unifying...
By e27
News•Feb 20, 2026
Build the Moment: 2026 Is All About Brand Aura
In 2026 the advertising landscape has moved beyond the battle for eyeballs to a fight for relevance. Brands are being urged to build a lasting "brand aura" by crafting moments that matter rather than merely capturing attention. The article argues...
By Campaign UK
Blog•Feb 20, 2026
Bloomberg Reports: Quantum Startup Pasqal Seeks €200 Million to Fuel Growth
French quantum computing startup Pasqal announced it is in talks to raise €200 million, valuing the company at over $1 billion pre‑money. The round, led by undisclosed investors, would fund the expansion of its neutral‑atom quantum processors and full‑stack hardware‑software platform. Co‑founder...
By Quantum Zeitgeist
Podcast•Feb 20, 2026•7 min
Shutdown Shadow
The episode examines the impact of the 43‑day government shutdown on U.S. GDP reporting, noting that growth is still projected to be robust despite the delay. It discusses emerging signs that higher‑income households are curbing discretionary spending and outlines what...
By Reuters Morning Bid