In a record-setting moment for MENA’s AI ecosystem, Lucidya, the Saudi-born customer experience management (CXM) platform, has raised $30 million in Series B funding—the largest AI investment to date in the region. Led by VC powerhouse Impact46 (backers of IPO stars Jahez and Rasan), the round also drew heavyweight support from Aramco’s Wa’ed Ventures, Takamol Ventures, SparkLabs, and returning investors Rua Growth Fund and ARG.

The raise marks a major milestone not just for Lucidya, but for the growing appetite for Arabic-first AI technologies amid a broader digital transformation wave in the region.

Founded in 2016, Lucidya took an early bet on AI long before the hype cycle peaked. That foresight is now yielding returns. “We bet on AI before it became a boardroom buzzword,” said CEO and founder Abdullah Asiri. “That conviction is now making us the go-to AI partner for customer experience in MENA.”

Lucidya operates in 11 countries and caters to enterprise clients across telecom, BFSI, healthcare, hospitality, and the public sector—collectively serving over 75 million people. It’s a client base with a combined market cap north of $250 billion, a testament to the platform’s regional influence.

At the heart of Lucidya’s success is its proprietary Arabic-language AI engine. Boasting over 92% accuracy, it’s a key differentiator in a market underserved by global CRM and CX giants. For many enterprises in MENA, nuanced Arabic understanding isn’t optional—it’s mission-critical. Lucidya offers sentiment analysis, behavioral prediction, and engagement automation with linguistic precision that Silicon Valley rivals still struggle to match.

This linguistic edge is helping Lucidya zero in on the CRM and CX software market in MENA, projected to balloon to $9 billion by 2030. With the new funds, Lucidya aims to expand its AI Agent offering—transforming traditional CX roles into scalable, AI-driven digital workforces.

“We’re not just improving workflows—we’re reimagining what CX looks like in a region where labor and compliance dynamics are unique,” said Asiri. “AI Agents let us tap into the labor economy while maintaining compliance with frameworks like PDPL.”

Impact46’s Basmah Alsinaidi agrees: “Lucidya is solving real regional challenges with a rare combination of defensible tech and strategic grit. They’re poised to define a new category.”

While the Series B round adds significant runway, it also raises the stakes. Lucidya is entering an increasingly competitive AI space, but its Arabic-first foundation and regional focus may give it a home-field advantage. If successful, it won’t just scale CX—it could redefine the role of AI in public and enterprise services across the region.

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In a move signaling deeper commitment to innovation and operational scale, Operative has appointed three heavyweight executives to lead its charge across AI, cloud infrastructure, and global customer support. The new hires include Nick Thor as Head of AI, Karthik Marimuthu as SVP of Cloud Operations & CIO, and Will Christacakos as VP of Global Customer Support.

The trio brings a combined firepower of deep tech, SaaS, and enterprise operations experience—timed perfectly as media companies face mounting pressure to modernize their stacks and streamline delivery across both digital and linear ecosystems.

“As media companies evolve how they operate, sell, and connect with audiences, they need partners building for the next era of convergence and automation,” said Operative CEO Michael Grossi. “These new leaders bring critical expertise to deliver transformative solutions across AI, infrastructure, and customer experience.”

Betting Big on AI, with a Generative Edge

At the forefront of this tech upgrade is Nick Thor, a machine learning veteran who now helms Operative’s AI strategy. His remit? Elevate Operative’s generative AI platform, Adeline, and push the boundaries of agentic systems, predictive automation, and cross-channel workflow intelligence. In an industry hungry for more flexible and scalable solutions, Thor’s appointment signals Operative’s intent to stay competitive in the accelerating AI arms race gripping the adtech and martech sectors.

Expect a sharper focus on AI interoperability—especially as media clients demand smarter automation across programmatic, linear, and addressable inventory planning.

Enterprise-Grade Cloud for Enterprise-Scale Media

Joining as SVP of Cloud Operations and CIO, Karthik Marimuthu will be responsible for optimizing Operative’s global infrastructure. With decades of experience in cloud architecture and systems resilience, Karthik will help ensure Operative’s media clients experience enterprise-grade uptime and performance, even as their operations grow more complex and hybridized.

With ad operations now spanning OTT, CTV, programmatic, and traditional linear, Marimuthu’s role is central to ensuring that Operative’s platform can flex and scale—without cracking under pressure.

CX as a Competitive Advantage

Rounding out the executive additions is Will Christacakos, the new VP of Global Customer Support. A seasoned SaaS leader with a 20-year track record in building world-class support teams, Christacakos will take charge of client retention and experience across all regions and product lines.

In a market where martech and adtech vendors often struggle with fragmented customer support, Christacakos' appointment could help Operative stand out—particularly among global media conglomerates navigating platform unification efforts.

The Bigger Picture

This trio of appointments lands as the media industry pivots hard toward convergence—where content, inventory, and revenue management need to work across every screen and sales channel. Operative’s unified advertising technology platform aims to be the connective tissue that ties it all together.

And while innovation is the banner message here, the real story may be about resilience: investing in the leadership muscle needed to future-proof its offering as client needs grow more complex and expectations soar.

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iHomefinder, the real estate tech company behind the AI-powered Max™ Growth Operating System, has appointed seasoned product executive Cale Bruckner as its new Vice President of Product. The move reflects iHomefinder’s sharpened focus on AI-driven automation and smarter lead engagement for real estate and mortgage professionals.

Bruckner brings more than 25 years of product innovation experience, including a stint as President of Concentric Sky, where he led award-winning AI initiatives adopted by Fortune 500 firms and global institutions. From startup scrappiness to M&A integrations, Bruckner has operated across the full spectrum of product lifecycle and scale.

Now, he’s stepping into a space that’s both high-touch and high-tech: the everyday workflows of real estate agents and lenders navigating one of the most volatile markets in years.

“Cale's blend of technical rigor and customer empathy is exactly what Max needs for its next chapter,” said Nick Parmenter, President of iHomefinder. “He has a proven ability to turn emerging technology into products agents actually use—and love.”

From Dashboards to Real-Time Intelligence

Max™, iHomefinder’s AI-powered platform, promises more than just lead tracking—it aims to be a real-time intelligence layer for agents and loan officers. Bruckner’s appointment is expected to accelerate Max’s evolution into a true growth operating system, one that seamlessly fits into mobile-first workflows and provides actionable insights exactly when agents need them.

“Agents don't need more dashboards—they need intelligence that shows up at the right moment,” said Bruckner. “iHomefinder has the data and the vision to deliver that, and I'm excited to help unlock the next wave of innovation.”

Expect the roadmap ahead to lean into predictive insights, adaptive automation, and tighter integrations—especially in a landscape where timing and personalization can make or break a deal.

The Competitive Context

As the proptech and mortgage tech sectors become increasingly crowded with AI buzz, Bruckner’s hire signals that iHomefinder isn’t just playing with the latest tools—it’s betting on practical AI that solves day-to-day problems. While others tout abstract solutions, iHomefinder is focused on utility: using automation to nudge deals forward, not bury agents in complexity.

The appointment also underscores a broader trend: AI product leadership roles are becoming core to how SaaS companies scale their next growth phase. With data-rich verticals like real estate ripe for disruption, Bruckner’s role could define not just the future of Max, but the evolving expectations of digital-first agents and brokers.

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In a bold challenge to the outdated foundations of marketing measurement, Prescient AI has launched what it calls the first new model architecture since the dawn of marketing mix modeling (MMM) in the 1960s. And it’s not a retrofit. Built entirely from scratch, Prescient’s platform is rewriting the rules of media attribution, campaign forecasting, and spend optimization—with a level of accuracy and insight that legacy models can’t touch.

Marketing leaders have long struggled with lagging MMM frameworks—clunky, correlation-heavy models based on regression math designed for simpler times. Prescient’s new engine replaces these blunt tools with what it dubs a “decision intelligence” platform—capable of parsing today’s high-speed, high-complexity media environments with precision.

“Prescient’s model sets a new benchmark for insight and forecasting accuracy,” said David Baker, Chief Digital Officer at Beekman 1802, adding weight to the claim. Baker, who’s worked with MMM systems for over 15 years, calls the technology “true innovation,” not just an incremental upgrade.

Built From Scratch, Because the Old Math Just Doesn’t Cut It

Rather than polish up dated regression models like most modern MMM providers, Prescient's team made the radical decision to start from zero. CTO and cofounder Cody Greco explained why: “We put every available open-source model to the test... and realized building on them would limit us. So we started over.”

That blank-slate mindset paid off. Prescient’s new model isn’t just about seeing what worked—it’s about uncovering why it worked. It identifies cause-and-effect relationships between campaigns and outcomes, handles multi-touch dynamics with daily granularity, and accounts for real-world marketing behaviors—like halo effects, nonlinear ad saturation, and channel interdependence.

What the Model Delivers

Prescient’s reimagined platform brings together some powerful new capabilities, already live:

• Retail Attribution: Unlike traditional models that treat channels as silos, Prescient tracks media influence across direct-to-consumer (DTC), wholesale, retail, and Amazon. Marketers get a unified view of where media spend actually converts, and how campaigns amplify each other.

• Granular, Daily Forecasting: Campaign-level performance is refreshed daily, not monthly or quarterly—allowing agile optimization at a pace that reflects today’s digital environments.

• Cause, Not Just Correlation: The model goes beyond pattern-spotting to detect true causality in media impact, allowing marketers to act on insights, not assumptions.

• Adaptive Efficiency Modeling: Instead of assuming a linear relationship between spend and return, the platform recognizes that each channel, brand, and campaign has its own efficiency curve.

• Agnostic Data Ingestion: Brands can feed in third-party measurement data from MTA, incrementality tests, MMM tools, or even post-purchase surveys. The model doesn’t dictate the “right” source—it validates all of them for consistency, transparency, and insight quality.

Independent by Design

Prescient’s independence may be its biggest strategic asset. As major ad platforms bolt MMM into their broader offerings, they often blur the line between measurement and media sales. Prescient, in contrast, takes no media dollars—giving brands confidence that insights and recommendations aren’t biased by a vendor’s agenda.

“Optimizing paid media with incomplete data is like flying blind,” said Connor Rolain, Head of Growth at HexClad. “Prescient gives us a complete, daily-updating picture of what drives sales across our ecommerce store and Amazon. This next evolution of the model lets us do the same for retail—and that's a game-changer.”

The Future of Decision Intelligence

Fresh off being named Predictive Modeling Solution of the Year by the 2025 AI Breakthrough Awards, Prescient is eyeing a broader application for its platform. While marketing optimization is the first battlefield, its architecture has potential well beyond media—into finance, supply chain, and any domain where predictive agility is now a business imperative.

In an industry defined by borrowed math and outdated benchmarks, Prescient’s proprietary model offers something rare: a truly new foundation for faster, smarter, and more confident marketing decisions.

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In a major step toward redefining customer experience in the AI era, Cyara has officially launched its next-generation CX assurance platform—a unified solution designed to help enterprises deploy AI at scale, prevent costly customer experience failures, and accelerate innovation across all engagement channels.

With fragmented tools and manual QA processes still hampering many CX efforts, Cyara’s platform offers a tightly integrated suite that combines AI validation, real-time performance monitoring, and no-code test automation into a single enterprise-grade solution. The goal? Replace the patchwork of legacy systems and provide consistent, high-quality CX across voice, digital, and generative AI-powered channels.

“We created the CX assurance category—and now we’re redefining it,” said Cyara CEO Rishi Rana. “These innovations represent the most complete and trusted enterprise-grade CX assurance available today.”

Scaling Global CX, One Carrier at a Time

Cyara's global footprint is expanding fast. Its Pulse 360 engine now spans over 360 carriers in 120+ countries, providing enterprises with unmatched visibility into real-world CX quality and AI system behavior. That scale helped Pulse 360 earn a Customer Magazine Product of the Year Award, validating its status as a go-to for global enterprises managing massive, distributed CX networks.

Built for the AI-First Enterprise

With generative AI rapidly reshaping the customer service landscape, Cyara is leaning into the shift with three headline features aimed at boosting trust, productivity, and safety in AI deployments:

• AI Trust: Cyara’s award-winning validation suite for GenAI-powered interactions helps detect hallucinations and brand-damaging responses through FactCheck and Misuse modules. In just six months, it’s analyzed over 500,000 AI-generated replies, reducing manual QA effort by 80%. Fortune 50 firms are already embedding it into their pipelines to meet rising compliance and safety standards.

• Cyara Agent Assist Assurance (AAA): As Agent Assist tools proliferate, Cyara AAA is the first purpose-built solution for validating their real-time performance. It ensures AI-guided support tools are accurate and contextually helpful—critical for high-stakes sectors like banking and healthcare.

• Cyara Copilot: An agentic AI companion that offers contextual guidance directly within the Cyara platform—and even inside Slack—Cyara Copilot helps QA and CX teams get from problem to solution faster, dramatically improving time-to-insight.

Leading the Shift to Agentic AI

As AI evolves from reactive tool to autonomous partner, Cyara is laying the groundwork for the next wave: Agentic AI. Unlike basic bots, agentic systems can flag compliance issues, adapt workflows in real time, and continuously learn—delivering CX improvements without constant human direction.

Industry signals are aligned. Deloitte projects that 25% of GenAI adopters will deploy AI agents by 2025, and that number will double by 2027. Cyara's next-gen architecture, anchored by AI Trust, Copilot, and AAA, is built for exactly this future.

Test Automation That Anyone Can Use

No-code is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s an expectation. Cyara’s Test Case Designer brings visual, no-code test creation to CX professionals, streamlining testing and empowering teams outside of engineering. Already used by more than 100 enterprise teams, it’s been a game-changer for collaboration and speed.

And for teams seeking more than dashboards, Intelligent Insights turns CX data into real-time intelligence—allowing businesses to identify performance gaps and act immediately. A leading U.S. healthcare provider described it as “immediate value,” while a major bank noted how it clarified process improvements without any steep learning curve.

The Bottom Line

In a CX world defined by increasing complexity and AI integration, Cyara’s next-gen platform doesn’t just keep pace—it’s built to lead. With unified testing, real-time monitoring, and powerful AI guardrails, the platform gives global enterprises the confidence to scale innovation without risking customer satisfaction.

For businesses navigating a fast-changing CX landscape, Cyara may just be offering what the industry needs most: visibility, speed, and trust—at scale.

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In a world where a single cloud outage or cybersecurity lapse can paralyze enterprise operations, GlobalMeet is stepping up with a solution designed for the new era of business continuity. The company today announced CORE (Communications and Operational Resiliency), a turnkey platform engineered to keep communication flowing when it matters most—during system failures, security breaches, or any disruption to primary communication channels.

Available as both an annual service and on-demand event offering, CORE is built on GlobalMeet’s private streaming infrastructure and more than two decades of experience in mission-critical communications. The goal: ensure executive teams, employees, and stakeholders can securely and reliably deliver high-stakes messages at scale, regardless of the status of their primary tools.

No App, No Problem: Secure Communication When Platforms Fail

With no software to install, CORE bypasses the friction common with traditional platforms. It provides access through the internet or even traditional phone lines—ensuring delivery when other systems fail. As Trent Waterhouse, CMO of GlobalMeet, put it:

“The frequency of problems with popular video conferencing platforms is driving CIOs, CISOs, and corporate communications leaders to seek a reliable, scalable, and secure alternative.”

That’s not an exaggeration. From Zoom outages to Teams degradation during critical company meetings, disruptions are increasingly common—and expensive. In industries like aviation, healthcare, energy, or financial services, downtime can cost millions per hour.

CORE aims to be the safety net that keeps communications intact, even as your primary stack falters.

Full-Service, From Setup to Execution

This isn’t just another platform; it’s a communications continuity program. CORE includes:

• Onboarding, scenario planning, and practice sessions

• Network testing and presenter coaching

• Built-in transcription, captioning, and multilingual translation for accessibility and compliance

• Robust analytics covering engagement, attendance, Q&A, polling, and collateral downloads

The system also supports SSO and CRM integrations, so only the intended audience—whether employees or external partners—can access sensitive briefings.

And when it’s go-time, you’re not alone. GlobalMeet provides 24/7 tech support and seasoned event producers to ensure delivery runs without a hitch.

Meeting Regulatory Demands with Built-In Resilience

Enterprises are also facing rising pressure from regulators to embed operational resilience into core functions. Frameworks like the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and the UK FCA/PRA requirements are no longer optional, especially in sectors like banking, utilities, and tech.

Ken Roberts, CTO of GlobalMeet, summed it up:

“Large enterprises must invest in proactive measures to ensure communication remains uninterrupted when primary systems are compromised.”

By enabling pre-approved message templates, clear chains of command, and omnichannel capabilities, CORE helps organizations stay audit-ready while staying connected.

A CXO-Ready Answer to a Growing Risk

The broader message here is simple: your communications strategy needs a contingency plan—and GlobalMeet CORE is aiming to be the gold standard.

Whether the risk comes from geopolitical instability, cybercrime, or platform outages, CORE gives companies the confidence to communicate without interruption. For executive leadership that increasingly must weigh travel risks and platform reliability, it’s not just a backup—it’s a mission-critical asset.

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PebblePost, known for pioneering Programmatic Direct Mail, is stepping into the connected TV spotlight—literally. Today, the company launched Performance CTV, a major platform expansion that brings its outcome-obsessed performance marketing philosophy to the booming $33 billion CTV landscape.

For a sector often stuck in awareness mode, this could be a game-changer. Rather than chasing impressions or relying on click-through proxies, PebblePost’s new CTV product zeroes in on incremental revenue and verified ROAS—the metrics that actually move the needle for marketers.

"CTV has traditionally been viewed as a top-of-funnel awareness tool, but marketers today need more than eyeballs—they need results,” said Jacob Ross, CEO of PebblePost. “This is performance marketing, redefined for the TV screen.”

From the Mailbox to the Living Room

Backed by over a decade of innovation in Programmatic Direct Mail, PebblePost’s Performance Marketing Engine is now powering screen-based campaigns for major retail, travel, financial services, and commerce brands. But instead of relying on flimsy digital signals, PebblePost is leaning on $100B+ in verified transactions and high-intent CRM data sourced from hundreds of top brands.

The PebblePost Difference: Real People, Real Results

While many CTV solutions still chase vanity metrics, PebblePost is building its product on three differentiators:

• Scalable Identity Resolution: With an 80% match rate across U.S. streaming households, PebblePost maps online and offline signals to real people—not anonymous cookies—enabling precise targeting and attribution.

• Granular Targeting with Verified Purchase Data: No guesswork here. Audiences are created using real transaction data—not proxies like clicks or interests—and updated daily with real-time intent signals. AI-driven models continually re-score households to stay in step with shifting consumer behavior.

• True Incrementality Measurement: Every campaign includes a holdout group, enabling marketers to isolate actual lift. PebblePost also integrates with leading measurement providers to deliver third-party validation and complete transparency.

Proven Performance in the Wild

If you're wondering whether all this adds up to impact, ask Blue Nile. After success with PebblePost’s direct mail programs, the company tested Performance CTV and found it delivered the highest incremental ROAS of any channel in a head-to-head internal test.

“We’re excited to continue leveraging PebblePost's innovative approach to connect with our audience in impactful ways,” said Megan Sturdivant, Senior Director of Marketing at Blue Nile.

Rethinking CTV as a Performance Channel

CTV’s meteoric rise has been marred by fragmentation and identity challenges, often leaving marketers with high reach but unclear returns. PebblePost’s entry comes at a pivotal moment—offering a solution that treats CTV not as a digital billboard, but as a performance-driven channel where every impression is measured against business outcomes.

In doing so, PebblePost is not just expanding into streaming—it’s aiming to reframe how CTV is used altogether.

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Attain, a leader in permissioned commerce data, is giving marketers a serious upgrade with its relaunch of OutcomeHQ—a unified platform that turns $700 billion in verified consumer spend into real-time, actionable insight. No more guesswork. No more post-campaign regrets. With OutcomeHQ, brands can plan smarter, activate faster, and optimize campaigns while they’re still in flight.

Once known mostly for outcomes measurement, Attain has expanded its mission. OutcomeHQ now combines audience building, performance optimization, retail intelligence, and sales lift measurement into a single, intuitive interface. Think of it as an operating system for outcome-driven media.

"OutcomeHQ isn't just about data—it's about what marketers can do with it," said Brian Mandelbaum, CEO of Attain. “We’re moving from retrospective analytics to real-time decisioning. That changes everything.”

A Platform Built for Today’s Marketer

The revamped OutcomeHQ delivers three standout features:

• Premium Insights: Real-time, always-on purchase intelligence across Amazon, Walmart, Target, and thousands of other retailers—no longer gated behind custom reports or third-party vendors.

• One Click Audiences: Turn any insight into a targetable audience with a single click. With integrations across Meta, TikTok, The Trade Desk, and 20+ others, activation is immediate and platform-agnostic.

• AI-Powered Planning: Ask OutcomeHQ to build audience strategies using natural language prompts or PDFs. Whether it's “tech dads who buy Starbucks weekly” or custom behavioral cohorts, the system returns verified insights and recommended plans—fast.

Real Purchases, Not Proxy Signals

Most platforms still rely on digital intent signals or modeled data to inform strategy. Attain plays a different game. Its edge comes from actual, verified purchases made by 10 million+ permissioned consumers, representing over $700 billion in annual spend.

And it’s not just raw volume—it’s what the data reveals: recency, frequency, brand-switching behavior, psychographics, and more. That depth gives marketers what they’ve always wanted: the ability to understand who their customers are, what they’re buying, and why.

Michael Treon, Head of CTV & Video Strategy at PMG, praised the platform’s ability to turn complex datasets into clear, immediate value:

“The speed and accuracy of insights—especially around switching behavior and recency—are a big leap forward. OutcomeHQ gives us an end-to-end view that’s both actionable and precise.”

A New Operating Model for Media

OutcomeHQ’s power lies not just in its data, but in its integration across teams. Planning, analytics, activation, and measurement can now work in sync from one system—with shared visibility and aligned goals. No more fragmented workflows or delayed performance reads.

It also removes the dependency on external measurement vendors, which often add latency and cost. Brands now have direct, immediate access to data that ties media investment to actual sales—as they happen.

Bigger Picture: Reshaping the Data Economy

Attain’s broader strategy with OutcomeHQ goes beyond platform functionality. It’s about building a more equitable, permissioned data-sharing ecosystem, one that puts power back in the hands of marketers and consumers—rather than opaque intermediaries.

In a privacy-centric future where third-party cookies and modeled guesswork are fading fast, platforms like OutcomeHQ could define the new standard: real signals, real shoppers, real results.

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