Speaker Spotlight: Liz Williams, CEO, El Pollo Loco
Liz Williams, CEO of El Pollo Loco, will speak at the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit in San Diego on March 16‑18, 2026. In the interview she outlines her career path from a paper route to leading a national fast‑casual chain, highlighting a key achievement: helping turn around Taco Bell’s brand perception in 2010. Williams stresses that deep discounting is unsustainable and that El Pollo Loco will grow by delivering quality, experience and innovative menu items. She also notes her commitment to youth advocacy through CASA and the brand’s ambition to become a global player.
Gartner: Why Neoclouds Are the Future of GPU-as-a-Service
Gartner predicts neoclouds—purpose‑built providers for GPU‑intensive AI—will capture about 20% of the $267 bn AI cloud market by 2030. These specialists deliver bare‑metal GPU performance, rapid provisioning and consumption‑based pricing that can cut costs 60‑70% versus hyperscaler instances. Rather than replacing...
Despite U.S. Mortgage Rates Falling to 6 Percent, Homebuyers Remain Hesitant
Pending home sales in January 2026 fell 0.8% month‑over‑month, despite mortgage rates slipping to a six‑year low of 6.01% for the 30‑year fixed loan. NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun notes that the rate drop makes 5.5 million households newly mortgage‑eligible, yet...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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,...
Ascentis Wealth Buys Newly Launched Practice In Dallas With $250M AUM
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...
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...
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"...
Vanguard Eyes Non-U.S. Markets To Hedge High-Grade Debt Exposure
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...
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...
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....
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...
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....
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,...
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...
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...
“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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
Minions – Stripe's Coding Agents Part 2
Stripe’s minions are unattended LLM‑driven coding agents that now generate over 1,300 pull requests each week, all created without human‑written code. The system runs on Stripe’s pre‑warmed devboxes—standardized EC2 instances that spin up in about ten seconds—providing isolated, parallel environments...
Center Parcs Brings Forest to Life at Tube Station
Center Parcs has launched an eye‑catching out‑of‑home campaign that transforms a London Underground station into a lush forest environment. Creative agency Neverland installed realistic trees, foliage and ambient wildlife sounds to immerse commuters in the brand’s nature‑focused ethos. The installation...
Turning Equity Into Clarity: How HR Can Explain Stock Options The Right Way
HR teams that demystify stock options improve candidate confidence and close offers faster. The article outlines a repeatable process that starts with simple definitions of grant, strike price and vesting, then visualizes vesting schedules as timelines rather than percentages. It...
Aware Super Establishes Private Markets Division with Jenny Newmarch as Head
Australian superannuation giant Aware Super has created a new private markets division, appointing Jenny Newmarch as its head. Newmarch, previously the fund’s global head of private equity, will now oversee private equity, infrastructure and other alternative assets. She will report...
How Moody's Can Be an AI-Enabler, but Remain Resilient to AI Disruption Itself. CEO Robert Fauber Lays Out the Data
Moody’s CEO Robert Fauber argues that a massive, proprietary data estate is the cornerstone of AI adoption for regulated financial institutions. The firm is unifying its data, models, ratings and research into a trusted context layer that makes raw information...
The Rise of Context-Aware Platforms in Cloud-Native Engineering
Cloud‑native engineering’s reliance on decoupled containers and Kubernetes has delivered scale but fractured operational context, creating a “Crisis of the Broken Context.” Vendors now advocate a shift from pure automation to context‑aware platforms that can reason about code, infrastructure, and...
Pontiro Secures £357,500 to Expand Healthcare AI Infrastructure
Pontiro, a health‑tech firm that streamlines medical‑image data for AI, secured £357,500 in a round led by SFC Capital with participation from Plug and Play Ventures and the British Business Bank. The company’s platform has already processed more than two...
How Fintech in Asia Is Enabling and Making Education Affordable for Everyone
Fintech platforms are partnering with Southeast Asian schools to provide affordable student loans, solving the cash‑flow timing mismatch between tuition costs and post‑graduation income. By offering predictable financing, schools can invest in teachers, classrooms, and digital infrastructure without fearing enrollment...
Schneider Electric Canada’s Head of Communications on Rethinking the Executive Script
Jodi Smith-Meisner, head of communications for Schneider Electric Canada, argues that authenticity now outweighs polished messaging in executive communications. She warns that organizations often go silent during periods of change, allowing rumors to fill the void. Smith-Meisner advocates an internal‑first...
Rotageek Founder: Your First Idea Is Probably Wrong
Rotageek co‑founder Chris McCullough warns first‑time founders that their initial idea is often wrong, but solving a real, paying problem is essential. He discovered that while hospital rostering was broken, the first market with budget and urgency was retail, prompting...
Bulgaria Court Confirms United Group’s Bulsatcom Infrastructure Deal Not Subject to Merger Notification
Bulgaria’s Supreme Administrative Court has upheld the competition authority’s view that United Group’s purchase of Bulsatcom’s telecom infrastructure does not constitute a notifiable concentration under Bulgarian law. The decision dismisses appeals from A1 Bulgaria, Yettel Bulgaria and CETIN Bulgaria, confirming...