News•Feb 19, 2026
Keiran Beasley To Depart SBS After 13 Years
Keiran Beasley is leaving SBS Australia after a 13‑year stint as national manager of digital and TV sales. He joined in 2012 to lead the 2014 FIFA World Cup sales and later oversaw the 2018 tournament, the SBS Annual Upfronts and record‑breaking ad revenue for the 2026 World Cup. Beasley also expanded SBS On Demand while protecting linear TV revenue. SBS has opened a search for his successor, with interim support until June 26.
By B&T (Australia)
News•Feb 19, 2026
Shahbandr and Tabby Partner to Bring BNPL to 20,000 Online Stores
Shahbandr, a Saudi e‑commerce enablement platform, has teamed up with fintech app Tabby to embed its Buy‑Now‑Pay‑Later solution across the network. The integration will cover more than 20,000 online stores in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, allowing shoppers to split purchases...
By The Fintech Times
News•Feb 19, 2026
True Market-Cap Exposure to Communication Services>
VanEck launched the Communication Services TruSector ETF (TRUC) to give investors true market‑cap exposure to the Communication Services sector. Traditional sector ETFs are constrained by diversification rules that cap single‑stock holdings at 25% and limit the total weight of stocks...
By VanEck – Insights
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Air Astana Names Former Wizz Air Exec as FlyArystan President
Air Astana has appointed Johan Eidhagen as President of FlyArystan, effective March 1, 2026. Eidhagen joins from Wizz Air, where he most recently served as Managing Director of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi and previously held senior roles including Chief People &...
By Bilqis Bahari
Social•Feb 19, 2026
China Cuts US Treasury Holdings to Crisis Low
🚨Chinese officials had urged banks to limit purchases of US government bonds, and instructed those with high exposure to SELL their positions. Data shows China’s holdings of US Treasuries fell to $682.6 billion, the lowest since the Financial Crisis.👇 https://globalmarketsinvestor.beehiiv.com/p/is-the-us-dollar-gradually-losing-its-safe-haven-status
By Global Markets Investor (newsletter author)
News•Feb 19, 2026
Sport, Trade and Visa
Visa Consulting & Analytics reports that the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan boosted overseas Visa cardholder visits by more than 60%, with U.S. travelers up 160% year‑on‑year. European visitors, especially from Germany, also surged, driving average spends of €297, €267...
By The Finanser
News•Feb 19, 2026
‘What We Don’t Want Are Bad Apples,’ DCALTA Founder Says
Jonathan Epstein, founder of DCALTA, has spent over a decade lobbying for retirement savers to gain access to private‑fund investments. He argues that broader participation can boost portfolio diversification and returns for workers. On the brink of a major regulatory...
By Private Funds CFO
News•Feb 19, 2026
4 Ways to Automate Plaud with Zapier
Plaud, an AI notetaker with wearable hardware, captures in‑person and virtual conversations and generates transcripts and summaries. By linking Plaud to Zapier, users can automatically route those outputs to file storage, note‑taking apps, task managers, and communication platforms. The integration...
By Zapier – Blog
News•Feb 19, 2026
8 Ways to Automate X (Formerly Twitter)
Zapier now offers eight pre‑built Zaps that automate key X (formerly Twitter) workflows for businesses, from archiving brand mentions to turning tweets into support tickets. The templates let marketers log every mention in a spreadsheet, push real‑time alerts to Slack,...
By Zapier – Blog
Blog•Feb 19, 2026
WHEN STRATEGY LEAVES THE PAGE WHY WARGAMING STILL MATTERS
In this episode, Wes Daugherty argues that while writing is essential for clarifying strategic thought, it cannot test how leaders perform against a thinking adversary. He illustrates this with a classroom example where a well‑written analysis collapsed in a wargame...
By War Room Podcast
News•Feb 19, 2026
Trade Information Warehouse Successor Event Processing for Civitas Resources, Inc. - Revised
DTCC’s Trade Information Warehouse (TIW) announced a successor event for Civitas Resources, Inc., transitioning its reference entity to SM Energy Company. The auto‑auto adherence will rename all related transactions effective February 13 2026, with processing occurring February 25‑27 2026. Market participants must un‑adhere any...
By DTCC – All Important Notices
News•Feb 19, 2026
Big Food Pours Millions Into Rebrands as Obesity Drugs Reshape US Demand
US food and beverage giants are accelerating rebranding and product reformulation as GLP‑1 obesity drugs reshape consumer demand. Appetite‑suppressing medications are projected to erase up to $12 billion in snack sales over the next decade, prompting companies like PepsiCo, Coca‑Cola and...
By ET BrandEquity (Economic Times) — Marketing
News•Feb 19, 2026
Ericsson Strikes Microsoft, AWS Deals for Enterprise 5G
Ericsson announced strategic deals with Microsoft and Amazon Web Services while unveiling a new telecoms innovation R&D centre in Yokohama, Japan. The Microsoft partnership embeds AI‑driven 5G laptop management into Windows 11, using Intune and Ericsson Enterprise 5G Connect to automate connectivity, eSIM...
By ComputerWeekly
News•Feb 19, 2026
Extending Scientific Rigor From Bench to Boardroom
Researchers who launch biotech startups often abandon evidence‑based decision‑making once they enter the boardroom, falling prey to technology myopia, base‑rate neglect, and confirmation bias. Their lack of formal training in commercialization, financial modeling, and competitive analysis amplifies these pitfalls, leading...
By BioSpace
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Find the Sweet Spot Between Overly Broad and Narrow ICP
One of the Goldilocks problems in B2B startups is defining who you are selling to. On one extreme is the entrepreneur that says "we sell to everyone." That could be every company, every role or both. The challenge is how do...
By Nick Mehta
News•Feb 19, 2026
How This Trousers Brand Is Making Fit The Real Differentiator
The Pant Project, founded by Dhruv and Udit Toshniwal, tackles the chronic fit problem in Indian men’s trousers by using in‑house pattern engineering and stretch‑blend fabrics. The brand has grown from a made‑to‑measure startup to a ready‑to‑wear label with 300+...
By Inc42
Blog•Feb 19, 2026
C-Suite Turnover: Plenty of Volatility at the Top
CristKolder’s 2025 C‑Suite Volatility Report shows 78 CEO changes and 120 CFO swaps across Fortune 500 and S&P 500 firms last year. The consumer sector led CEO turnover at 24.4%, while energy was most stable at 9.0%. External recruitment fell sharply, with...
By The CorporateCounsel.net Blog
Blog•Feb 19, 2026
Blackstone’s “Defensive Pivot” Week: Home Services Deal + AI Infrastructure:
Blackstone announced the acquisition of Champions Group, a leading home‑services provider, while Odyssey and its management retain a minority stake. Simultaneously, the firm is leading a financing round of more than $1 billion for Neysa to build India’s premier AI‑infrastructure platform....
By HedgeCo.net – Blogs
News•Feb 19, 2026
Make in India, Think in Dialects: Why Sarvam’s AI Bet Feels Personal
At the India AI Impact Summit, Sarvam AI unveiled two indigenous large language models—30 billion and 105 billion parameters—trained from scratch on Indian languages. Both models employ a Mixture‑of‑Experts architecture to boost efficiency while keeping performance across reasoning, coding, and tool use....
By ET CIO (India)
Blog•Feb 19, 2026
Brookfield “Top-Performing Alternative Firm” Unshaken in 2026 by AI or Private Credit:
Brookfield Asset Management has emerged as the top‑performing alternative firm in 2026, outpacing peers as AI and private‑credit turbulence reshape the industry. Its portfolio is anchored in global infrastructure, renewable power, and essential services that generate contracted, inflation‑linked cash flows....
By HedgeCo.net – Blogs
News•Feb 19, 2026
No Reason to Believe India Has Changed Stance on Purchasing Crude Oil: Russia’s Foreign Ministry
Russia’s foreign ministry asserted that India has not altered its policy on buying Russian crude, emphasizing the mutual benefits of the trade. However, Indian import data for January 2026 shows a 40.5% drop in total merchandise from Russia, with crude...
By Mint (India) – Economy
Blog•Feb 19, 2026
AI in M&A: McKinsey, For One, Welcomes Our New Gen AI Overlords
McKinsey’s latest survey shows generative AI is reshaping M&A, delivering roughly 20% cost savings and accelerating deal cycles by 30‑50%. While 42% of respondents believe AI can transform the transaction process, only 30% are using it at moderate to high...
By DealLawyers.com Blog
News•Feb 19, 2026
How Clarins Reached 70% Conversion and Doubled Its Basket Size in Brick-and-Mortar Test of Shade-Matching Tech
Clarins piloted its AI Shade Finder in 20 French and UK stores, using an iPhone‑based spectroscopic tool to match foundation shades. The trial lifted conversion to 70% and doubled average basket size, while boosting associate confidence and prompting cross‑selling of...
By Glossy
News•Feb 19, 2026
‘Comment Sections Are Not Customers’: American Eagle Brings Back Sydney Sweeney Amid Celebrity Push
American Eagle has revived its partnership with actress Sydney Sweeney, featuring her in a NYSE bell‑ringing appearance after the controversial “good genes” denim campaign sparked backlash over perceived racial undertones. The retailer defended the ad, hired a crisis‑comms firm, and...
By Digiday
News•Feb 19, 2026
‘We Have some Work to Do’: Nasdaq Stockholm’s President on Losing Klarna to New York
Nasdaq Stockholm’s president warned that the exchange must act after Klarna chose a New York listing, a move that underscores growing competition from U.S. markets. Last year Nasdaq Stockholm and its Nordic peers captured 60% of Europe’s equity capital‑market activity,...
By Sifted
News•Feb 19, 2026
Turkey Launches Ramadan Food Price Crackdown as Inflation Anger Intensifies
Turkey’s government has banned chicken exports and launched a nationwide crackdown on "exorbitant" food prices as Ramadan begins. Trade inspectors are sweeping markets for hoarding and misleading practices, with fines up to TL 1.8 million for violations. Food inflation is running at...
By Financial Times » Start-ups
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Rising Capex May Curb Buybacks, Pressure Valuations
With credit spreads low and profit margins seemingly on the rise, valuations seem OK at current levels. These two variables are important drivers for the equity risk premium, which is currently at 4.0% according to my version of the DCF...
By Jurrien Timmer
News•Feb 19, 2026
The Olympics’ Beauty Moments, Plus CEO Catherine D’Aragon on First Aid Beauty’s Partnership with Team USA
First Aid Beauty announced its first brand redesign in nearly two decades, aligning the launch with the 2026 Winter Olympics. The company secured the role of official skin‑care partner for Team USA, gifting products to every athlete. CEO Catherine D’Aragon...
By Glossy
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Leadership Is Forged on the Shop Floor, Not in Classrooms
My MBA gave me tools; the shop floor gave me wisdom. 🛠️ Classrooms teach strategy. Real leadership? That’s forged in the world. Leadership happens when you: • Manage uncertainty without a case study. • Lead people who don’t speak in slides. • Decide with incomplete...
By Abraham Kah
News•Feb 19, 2026
Customers Have New Expectations. Is Your CX Ready?
Customer experience is evolving as technology delivers practical benefits through better design, integration, and intent. Modern voice bots, unified CX platforms, and structured knowledge bases enable faster, more consistent service while reducing pressure on agents. Proactive, AI‑first approaches shift support...
By TechCentral (South Africa)
News•Feb 19, 2026
Roy Morgan Survey Reveals 2.5M Young Aussies Watch YouTube
Roy Morgan’s Young Australian Survey finds that 2.5 million children aged 6‑13 – roughly 89 percent of the cohort – regularly watch YouTube. Gaming and animation dominate the platform, with 1.33 million viewers for gaming and 930,000 for animation. Boys drive gaming and sports...
By B&T (Australia)
News•Feb 19, 2026
Law Firm Introduces AI Chatbot for Job Interviews
London boutique Mishcon de Reya has deployed an AI‑powered chatbot to conduct first‑round graduate interviews. The tool, built by Bright Network, pulls data from each applicant’s submission to generate a customized conversation and produces a transcript for the firm’s early‑careers...
By Personnel Today
News•Feb 19, 2026
EGI Innovations Hires Jon Hatchuel as First Aussie Country Manager
eG Innovations, a US‑based software vendor, has appointed Jon Hatchuel as its first country manager in Australia, marking the firm’s first dedicated employee in the market. Hatchuel, who brings over 20 years of senior IT experience, will focus on expanding...
By ARN (Australia)
Blog•Feb 19, 2026
A Brief Illustrated History of the Federal Reserve’s Balance Sheet: 1914-2026
The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet has undergone dramatic swings since its 1914 inception, expanding modestly for decades before exploding after the 2008 financial crisis. Between 2008 and 2022 the sheet grew from roughly $0.9 trillion to over $9 trillion, driven by large‑scale...
By Mostly Economics
News•Feb 19, 2026
South Africa’s Cybersecurity Challenge Is Not a Tool Problem
South African enterprises are pouring significant budgets into cybersecurity tools, yet breach rates keep rising. The core issue is execution: security teams are overwhelmed by data and lack the capacity to turn visibility into action. Unified platforms like Rapid7’s Command...
By TechCentral (South Africa)
News•Feb 19, 2026
How DrinkPrime Grew To ₹70.4 Cr By Turning RO Into A Service Model
DrinkPrime, a Bengaluru‑based water‑purifier startup, has turned reverse‑osmosis (RO) systems into a subscription service, offering rent‑to‑own units with free lifetime maintenance, delivery and relocation. Leveraging city‑specific product designs and a hyper‑local approach, the company now offers 24 SKUs tailored to...
By Inc42
News•Feb 19, 2026
Figma's Answer to the AI Software Sell-Off
The episode examines Figma’s latest AI integration with Anthropic’s Claude Code, exploring how the partnership emerged organically and what it means for the design‑to‑code workflow. Host discusses Figma’s steep stock decline amid a broader SaaS AI sell‑off and probes CEO...
By Sources
News•Feb 19, 2026
Agentic AI Era: Cloud Security Shifts From Asset Protection to Identity-First Zero Trust
At the ETCIO Cloud Summit, leaders from Starbucks India and Jio argued that cloud security must shift from protecting static assets to continuously validating identities, especially as AI agents and autonomous workloads proliferate in hybrid environments. They emphasized that bots,...
By ET CIO (India)
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Agent Identities Demand New Sandboxing and Access Controls
Agent identities is going to be a super fun and hard problem for software in the coming years. Most agentic systems today assume that the agent can do everything the user can do, and just operate as an extension of...
By Aaron Levie
Social•Feb 19, 2026
AI-Generated Deepfakes Threaten Authenticity in Hiring
#Deepfakes in the #talentpool: How #AI is reshaping hiring @HR_Exec https://t.co/fnus5j0LpD #HCM #HRM #HumanResources #HRTech #CHRO #CPO #Hiring #Recruitment #PeopleManagement #Culture #Change #FutureofHR #HRCurator
By Dave Millner
News•Feb 19, 2026
Sacking Employee over "Extremely Inappropriate" Gestures Was Fair
The Fair Work Commission upheld Pacific National Services' dismissal of a train driver who performed Nazi‑salute gestures from Mittagong station, deeming the conduct serious misconduct. Deputy President Bryce Cross rejected the employee’s claim that the gestures were an "all clear"...
By HR Daily (Australia)
Social•Feb 19, 2026
India Drives South Asia's 6‑7% Growth; Rest Lags
According to the World Bank, South Asia growth stays near 6-7%. Strip out India, and the region slows sharply. India is the growth story. https://t.co/Q8e7g9b1j3
By Steve Hanke
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Tencent's Tiny Wildlight Stake Dwarfed by Massive Cash Flow
Tencent's free cash flow last quarter was US$13B, so the amount they invested in Wildlight is (probably) minuscule for them. They and competitor Netease are in plenty of other deals that are not made public, both in the West...
By Serkan Toto
News•Feb 19, 2026
From Migration to Monetisation: Enterprises Reimagine Business Models on Cloud
Enterprises are moving beyond cloud migration to re‑engineer business models around platformization, monetisation and ecosystem scale. Leaders at the ETCIO Cloud Summit highlighted how insurers, manufacturers and service firms are using APIs, data and product‑centric thinking to unlock new revenue...
By ET CIO (India)
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Indonesia Leads Malaysia in Palm Oil and Economic Growth
What do Indonesia and Malaysia have in common? They are the two biggest palm oil exporters in the world. Since 2008, Indonesia’s economy has outperformed Malaysia’s. https://t.co/mTUct95oZv
By Steve Hanke
Social•Feb 19, 2026
North Korea's Inflation Soars to 74.6%, World’s Third Highest
#NKWatch🇰🇵: Today, I measure North Korea’s inflation at 74.6%/yr — that’s the THIRD HIGHEST IN THE WORLD. Kim’s rockets fly, but inflation is what’s truly SKYROCKETING. https://t.co/EbYJ0oBnAW
By Steve Hanke
Podcast•Feb 19, 2026•0 min
Stop Layering AI on Your GTM Stack
In this episode, Emir Atli, co‑founder and CRO of HockeyStack, explains why the traditional, tool‑heavy GTM stack can’t simply have AI bolted on—it must be rebuilt around a unified, AI‑native platform with a single data foundation. He outlines HockeyStack’s evolution...
By The GTM Newsletter
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Korea's Index Slides Below Historical Average After 150% Surge
It’s wild how Korea’s stock index is trading below its historical average following a nearly 150% price rally https://t.co/TyCTVuO5pW
By David Ingles
Social•Feb 19, 2026
US Iran Strike Would Spark Prolonged, Global Fallout
If the US strikes Iran, it won’t be a weekend event, writes @TheMichaelEvery Retaliation risks include terror cells in Europe The broader Middle East is flammable Energy markets are rightly pricing tail risk—but the real question is duration, not ignition #OilMarkets #Iran #Geopolitics...
By Art Berman Blog
Social•Feb 19, 2026
IMF: China's Export Growth Harms Its Trading Partners
The latest IMF analysis of China (The staff report/ Article IV) highlights that China's export driven growth has come at the expense of its trading partners. That is welcome, and very necessary message 1/many https://t.co/RTYAzRkFAv
By Brad Setser