Digital Transformation

Hackensack, N.J. -- September 18, 2026 -- Hindsait, Inc. has been approved for the Electronic Prior Authorization category within the CMS Health Tech Ecosystem, placing the clinical AI firm among organizations working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to modernize prior authorization ahead of the CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule (CMS-0057-F), which takes effect in 2027.

CMS ecosystem brings payers and providers together on interoperable workflows

The Electronic Prior Authorization initiative unites payers, providers, EHR vendors, and digital health developers to shift prior authorization toward end-to-end interoperable processes before the 2027 deadline.

Dallas – September 18, 2026 -- E Source has launched advanced scenario planning capabilities within its GridInform® Vegetation Intelligence software, allowing electric utilities to model multi-year vegetation management strategies and quantify reliability, risk, and cost tradeoffs before deploying field crews or capital.

New tool cuts vegetation planning timelines from months to minutes

The software lets utilities run long-term planning scenarios directly within the platform rather than relying on static, point-in-time analyses or external studies. Planners can evaluate vegetation investment strategies over five- to ten-year horizons by integrating infrastructure data, vegetation conditions, weather exposure, and outage history.

Users can compare cycle-based maintenance against targeted work programs and test how changes in funding levels and prioritization affect future reliability outcomes and cost trajectories.

New York – September 18, 2026 -- Qloo has secured a spot in the top-tier "Set Diamonds (Front Runners)" category of a Gartner report on synthetic population and behavioral simulation, ranking as one of just two companies in the upper-right segment among 33 vendors profiled.

Gartner report singles out Qloo among 33 profiled AI vendors

The recognition comes from Gartner's "Emerging Tech: AI Vendor Race: Startups to Watch in Synthetic Population and Behavioral Simulation" report, authored by analyst Vibha Chitkara. Qloo's placement in the highest-maturity category distinguishes it from the broader field of startups tracked in the space.

San Diego – September 18, 2026 -- Wildfire Systems has tripled quarterly booking volume on its Wildfire Commerce Network (WCN), with 235 unique advertisers now recording returns on ad spend of up to 72x.

Advertiser growth accelerates as brands chase measurable, closed-loop results

The San Diego-based loyalty and consumer insights platform said the surge is driven by advertisers in banking, fintech and travel who are increasingly targeting WCN's high-intent shopper audiences across client networks including KashKick, Shop Your Way and Travel Arrow. Top advertisers are rebooking five to seven times per year, while a growing pool of new brands is launching campaigns on the network. In the second quarter of 2026, 54% of WCN bookings came from net-new advertisers, according to Wildfire.

San Francisco – September 18, 2026 -- Medallion has acquired Andros, an NCQA-certified credentials verification organization, in a deal that consolidates over a million healthcare providers across nearly 400 organizations and health plans onto a single AI-driven credentialing platform.

Deal creates largest AI-native credentialing platform in the U.S.

The acquisition combines Medallion's automated credentialing and enrollment technology with Andros's 13-year track record serving health plans, health systems, provider groups, and telehealth companies since 2013. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Bailey & Company served as exclusive financial advisor to Andros.

Horsham, Pa. – September 18, 2026 -- Augmentir has launched two conversational AI interfaces, Augie Command Center and Augie Procedure Studio, that let manufacturing staff build workflows, procedures, and AI agents by describing them in plain language rather than navigating software menus. The company unveiled the tools at IMTS 2026, positioning them as a replacement for traditional software navigation on factory floors.

Command Center Lets Frontline Leaders Deploy AI Agents Through Conversation

Augie Command Center allows users to analyze live operational data, build dashboards, schedule work, and create Industrial AI Agents without report builders, SQL, or coding. The system generates charts, insights, and recommended actions conversationally, then chains workflows, procedures, training, and integrations into a single deployed response rather than requiring separate tools for each step.

Stockholm and London – September 18, 2026 -- DanAds, a self-service advertising technology provider, and Nodals AI, an autonomous AI platform for publishers, have entered a strategic partnership that combines predictive-outcome modeling with self-service ad buying, letting publishers sell performance-based campaigns without sacrificing yield.

Nodals AI's models predict clicks, conversions and video completions from publisher data

Nodals AI trains on a publisher's own first-party data to forecast advertiser outcomes such as clicks, conversions or video completes. That capability lets publishers offer CPC- or CPA-style outcome campaigns directly inside their existing ad stacks, matching advertiser demand for performance-based buying.

San Francisco – September 18, 2026 -- GrubMarket has launched a new USDA Pricing AI Analyst, giving produce distributors and wholesalers conversational access to U.S. Department of Agriculture market pricing data for fruits and vegetables.

New tool joins GrubAssist AI platform alongside three existing analysts

The USDA Pricing AI Analyst is the latest addition to GrubMarket's GrubAssist AI lineup, which already includes the Business Analyst, Inventory Analyst, and Cash Flow Analyst. It draws on data from the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, covering fruits and vegetables sold across the United States, and combines that with a distributor's own sales and purchasing records when connected to their ERP system.

Waltham, Mass. – September 18, 2026 -- Sales messages that tell B2B technology buyers they control a positive outcome hold attention 31% longer and produce 31% better recall than fear-based pitches, according to new neuroscience research from Allego, Inc. that challenges a nearly 50-year-old sales doctrine.

The study, conducted with cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Carmen Simon of Enhancive, tests the real-world application of Prospect Theory, the 1979 model by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky holding that fear of loss motivates buyers more than potential gain. Kahneman won the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics partly for that work.

Southlake, Texas – September 18, 2026 -- Travel companies are accelerating rather than retreating from AI investment despite persistent economic and geopolitical uncertainty, according to new research from Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR). Just 17% of executives surveyed are curbing modernization spend, while 27% are accelerating AI investment and 41% are protecting their existing technology roadmaps.

Sabre's Compass report blends survey data with Cantor Fitzgerald macro analysis

The findings come from "Compass: Navigating the Fog," a Sabre report combining independent macroeconomic analysis from Cantor Fitzgerald with a proprietary survey of more than 140 airline, agency and hotel executives conducted in June 2026. Sabre characterizes the industry posture as "protection mode": long-term AI roadmaps remain intact while near-term spending shifts toward initiatives with faster returns.