Artificial Intelligence

New York – September 28, 2026 -- Eighty-four percent of global wealth management firms say their operating models need a fundamental redesign to capture AI's full value, yet fewer than 10% report being prepared for that shift, according to a new HCLTech study.

The report, titled "Hidden In Pl(AI)n Sight," is based on a synthetic research methodology surveying 1,066 AI personas modeled on senior wealth management decision-makers across 17 global markets. It was produced in partnership with research firm Evidenza.

Adoption outpaces agentic AI deployment by a wide margin

While 98% of leadership teams in the sector are actively pursuing an AI agenda, only slightly more than 7% are building agentic AI capabilities, the study found. HCLTech attributes the gap to firms funding AI primarily for efficiency gains rather than structural transformation.

St. Louis – September 28, 2026 -- Balto Software has launched Kodi, an AI coworker for contact center leaders that moves beyond generating insights to directly executing approved changes across the tools teams use to run daily operations.

Kodi investigates problems and implements fixes without manual handoffs

Kodi can investigate underlying customer interactions, identify factors driving a given outcome, and present evidence before recommending a course of action. Once a leader reviews and approves the recommendation, Kodi executes it directly within Balto's platform through Agent Assist, coaching modules, QA scorecards, compliance scorecards, Notes, dynamic prompts, checklists, dashboards, and data fields.

Kyle Jones, VP of Product at Balto, said most insights tools stop at identifying a problem, while Kodi is designed to carry the process through to execution inside the platform.

Toronto – September 26, 2026 -- Jobber has launched two new integrations, a Plugin in ChatGPT and a Connector for Claude, that let home and commercial service businesses pull their Jobber account data directly into leading AI chat platforms.

New MCP integrations connect Jobber data to ChatGPT and Claude

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations allow service pros to ask ChatGPT or Claude questions about clients, properties, jobs, quotes, invoices, requests, and visits, with answers grounded in their actual Jobber account. Users can also dictate or paste call and job notes into the AI tools, which then update the corresponding client, property, and request records inside Jobber.

Shanghai – September 25, 2026 -- Nutshell Therapeutics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. has received FDA clearance of its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for NTS231, a covalent allosteric molecular glue degrader targeting NRF2, allowing the company to begin clinical development in the United States. NTS231 is the first NRF2 degrader originating from China and only the second such molecule worldwide to reach clinical-stage development.

San Diego – September 25, 2026 -- SOCi Inc. secured three separate industry recognitions in the third quarter of 2026, ranking #1 in Marketing Products & Services on Entrepreneur's 9th Annual Top Franchise Suppliers list, landing on the Inc. 5000 for a ninth consecutive year, and reaching finalist status in five categories at The 2026 A.I. Awards.

Franchisors rate SOCi highest in its category for a second straight year

Entrepreneur's ranking draws from an annual survey of franchisors that generated more than 1,000 responses this year, scoring over 180 suppliers across 13 categories on quality, cost, and value. More than 75 franchise brands reported using SOCi, giving it an average rating of 4.57 out of 5 and the top spot in Marketing Products & Services -- SOCi's second consecutive year at #1 and seventh straight year in the top three. The list appears in Entrepreneur's September/October 2026 double issue.

Palo Alto, Calif. – September 25, 2026 -- Prime Minute emerged from stealth with $15 million in pre-seed funding led by Eclipse, with participation from 8VC, to build what it calls the first global resilience prime for natural disaster response.

Wildfires cost the US an estimated $424 billion annually, driving urgency for faster response

The company's initial product targets rapid initial attack against wildfires, addressing gaps in detection, coordination, and suppression that determine whether a fire is contained early or escalates into a major disaster. The system combines real-time intelligence, AI-assisted mission analysis, and precision aerial suppression capabilities designed to operate during high winds, nighttime incidents, degraded visual environments, and when ground crews cannot reach a scene.

Knoxville, Tenn. – September 24, 2026 -- ResultStack has completed a national benchmark evaluating hundreds of convenience-store brands to rank the 100 strongest digital ecosystems in the industry, with results to be shared privately at NACS 2026 in Las Vegas.

Benchmark evaluates connectivity, not just app features

The Top 100 C-Store Digital Ranking assesses mobile, loyalty, payments, ordering, personalization, rewards, partnerships and connectivity as an integrated system rather than isolated tools. ResultStack, whose team combines more than 50 years of operator-side convenience retail experience, built the framework to measure how effectively these capabilities work together across the customer journey.

Los Angeles – September 24, 2026 -- Brahma AI has raised $150 million through a preferred share issuance, anchored by a $100 million investment from Multiples Alternate Asset Management, with an additional $100 million in investor interest still pending allocation.

Funding will fuel R&D and a new Silicon Valley presence

The capital will accelerate research and development, expand Brahma AI's global go-to-market operations, and establish a significant presence in Silicon Valley. Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. served as sole placement agent on the financing.

Anchor customers span entertainment, sports and healthcare

Brahma AI operates across four verticals: media & entertainment, sports, healthcare and advertising. Global anchor customers include Warner Bros, the NBA and Mayo Clinic, while strategic distribution partners include Google, Hakuhodo and DNEG.

Shanghai – September 23, 2026 -- PATEO (02889.HK) has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding with Arm to jointly develop physical AI applications for the automotive sector, targeting next-generation perception- and interaction-driven computing workloads for vehicles.

PATEO's AI revenue jumps 588.6% year-on-year in first half of 2026

The company reported approximately RMB 209 million in AI-related revenue for H1 2026, a 588.6% increase from the prior-year period, as its physical AI initiatives move from proof-of-concept to scaled deployment.

Las Vegas – September 23, 2026 -- The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) outlined its artificial intelligence strategy at GroceryShop 2026, disclosing a phased approach that moves from assisted to fully autonomous AI use across customer and operational functions.

Kroger structures AI deployment into three governed stages

Yael Cosset, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer, said the company's AI roadmap progresses through assisted, augmented and autonomous stages, with the level of automation determined by risk, repeatability and the need for human judgment. "The goal is not autonomy everywhere," Cosset said, adding that governance remains central regardless of which stage a given use case occupies.