IT, AI & Telecommunications

Windhof – October 31, 2026 -- Sword Group has acquired CirrusHQ, an Edinburgh-based Amazon Web Services (AWS) Premier Consulting and Solution Provider partner that generates £6.0M in annual revenue at an EBIT margin of 12% or more.

CirrusHQ is consolidated in Sword's accounts from May 1, 2026

The Luxembourg-based group will include the Scottish company in its financial statements with effect from May 1, 2026. Sword budgets organic growth for CirrusHQ at 20% per year once the company is integrated into the group.

Global – October 31, 2026 -- Only 21% of customer success (CS) leaders can tie AI to revenue outcomes, versus 57% of sales leaders, according to ChurnZero's 2026 Customer Success Leadership Study of 580 CS and revenue leaders.

Sales teams reach for AI first and measure it more consistently

Some 48% of sales teams turn to AI first when solving a problem, compared with 32% of CS teams. CS leaders also trail sales on measuring AI by function, including time saved and team efficiency.

Measurement is the widest gap: 63% of CS leaders have no consistent method to measure AI success, versus 20% of sales leaders.

Pressure to adopt AI reaches 91% of CS and support leaders

A recent Gartner survey cited in the study found 91% of customer success and support leaders are under pressure to implement AI. ChurnZero warns that this pressure can push teams to automate too many processes too quickly, without a strategy or a way to measure results.

Global – October 31, 2026 -- Net revenue retention (NRR) in SaaS has not improved in three years, even though 81% of customer success (CS) leaders say AI cuts the time their teams spend on manual tasks, according to ChurnZero's 2026 Customer Success Leadership Study.

The survey polled almost 580 CS leaders. Respondents named logging tasks, summarizing leads and calls, and account research as the main workloads AI now handles. NRR remained flat from 2024 through 2026.

Teams with mature AI report higher retention: 64.6% versus 39.4%

AI maturity, not time savings, tracks with results. Among strategic, AI-driven teams, 64.6% reported NRR of 100% or higher. Among teams with underdeveloped AI, the share was 39.4%.

Global – October 31, 2026 -- Sixty-five percent of strategic and AI-driven customer success teams report net revenue retention (NRR) of 100% or higher, versus 39% of the least mature AI teams, according to ChurnZero's 2026 Customer Success Leadership Study.

SaaS NRR stays flat from 2024 through 2026

ChurnZero polled nearly 600 customer success (CS) and revenue leaders. Reported NRR has not moved across the three-year period, while the 26-point gap between the most and least mature AI teams on the 100% threshold stands out.

ChurnZero notes that other factors may contribute to the gap, including stronger data, advanced products and services, or better-funded CS teams with more resources.

Online – October 31, 2026 -- Expansion ARR now accounts for 40% of total new ARR, up five points year on year, according to a 2025 Benchmarkit SaaS report cited at a ChurnZero webinar. The figure sharpens a decision facing customer success (CS) leaders planning for 2027: whether their teams own retention, expansion, or both.

Unanet ties CSM performance to net bookings across both revenue streams

Unanet's CS team owns retention and expansion, and CSMs are measured on a net bookings basis, said Jeff Davison, the company's Chief Customer Officer. His reasoning: accounts cannot grow unless the company retains them.

Global – October 31, 2026 -- Nearly two-thirds (63%) of customer success (CS) leaders have no consistent method to track AI performance, according to ChurnZero's 2026 Customer Success Leadership Study, which surveyed nearly 600 CS and revenue leaders.

Only 21% of CS leaders link AI to revenue, versus 57% in sales

Almost all respondents use AI to automate administrative work such as logging tasks, summarizing calls and researching accounts. Yet only 21% of CS leaders can tie AI to revenue outcomes, compared with more than half (57%) of sales leaders.

The gap carries an operational cost. CS teams that cannot measure AI impact are four times more likely to require manual sign-off on every AI recommendation, which leaves staff less time for strategic work. Without performance data, leaders also struggle to justify AI spend.

COLUMBUS – October 31, 2026 -- Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE: VRT) has completed its acquisition of Utility Innovation Holdings, Inc., which operates as UtilityInnovation Group (UIG), for about $1.45 billion in upfront cash. The deal also carries up to $1.15 billion in contingent cash consideration, tied to EBITDA targets over 12- and 24-month periods.

Upfront price equals 13x expected 2027 EBITDA

The upfront price represents approximately 13x expected UIG 2027 EBITDA. Vertiv expects the multiple to fall significantly if the full earnout is paid. The company expects the acquisition to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share in the first year after completion.

Columbus, Ohio – October 31, 2026 -- Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE: VRT) launched SmartIT, a factory-validated AI infrastructure platform that combines rack, power, liquid cooling and monitoring in one pre-engineered design, and made it available globally from day one.

The platform targets enterprises, research institutions and colocation providers. It deploys in existing facilities and new data centers. Vertiv says it also covers commercial spaces and hyperscale environments, in each case without redesign.

SmartIT integrates five infrastructure layers before shipment

The solution combines rack infrastructure, DC power conversion and distribution, direct-to-chip liquid cooling, in-rack cooling distribution and monitoring. Vertiv validates these systems at the factory, which limits on-site commissioning to facility power and cooling connections. The design was previously deployed with NVIDIA to support the NVIDIA DGX GB300 system.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – October 31, 2026 -- Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE: VRT) has completed its acquisition of King Environmental Services Ltd. (KES), extending its thermal and fluid management services into Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Financial terms were not disclosed, and Vertiv does not expect the deal to be material to its financial results.

KES adds fluid management and load testing for liquid-cooled data centers

KES is a Europe-based provider of fluid management, commissioning and load-testing services for high-density, liquid-cooled data centers. Founded in 2002, it is headquartered near Dublin, Ireland, and serves EMEA customers from hubs in North Dublin and Frankfurt.

Its service scope covers design review and feasibility studies, pipework flushing, filtration and water treatment, testing, adjusting and balancing (TAB), data logging and thermography, and large-scale thermal and electrical load testing.

Berlin – October 31, 2026 -- Vertiv and NVIDIA modeled up to 30% more cumulative token output in the first 12 months at equal installed capacity. The gain comes from a combined design-and-deployment approach for AI factories, introduced at NVIDIA GTC Berlin. Polar Data Centers is applying the factory-built element to the first 41 MW phase of its multiphase AI data center at Herøya, Norway.

The pitch targets sequential engineering of power, cooling and facility systems, which Vertiv says creates complexity and potential delays. The new approach starts from pre-engineered reference architectures. These are configured to site requirements, virtually validated, then built as factory-made infrastructure.