Glassbox Taps Customer Success Veteran to Lead Enterprise Experience Strategy

Digital experience analytics provider Glassbox has appointed Ido Ophir as its first-ever Chief Customer Officer, signaling a deeper push into enterprise markets and a renewed focus on scalable customer success programs.

With over two decades of leadership in enterprise software—including pivotal roles at Personetics and NICE Actimize—Ophir brings a proven track record in scaling global customer-facing teams. At Personetics, he helped build a global customer success and professional services organization from the ground up, while his work at NICE Actimize helped cement its leadership in financial crime and compliance software.

Now, at Glassbox, he’ll take on a newly created executive role aimed at building stronger partnerships with enterprise clients—especially in highly regulated industries like financial services—and ensuring that every customer interaction yields measurable business outcomes.

“Glassbox is built on the idea that better data leads to better experiences,” said Chairman Alex Assim. “Our clients don’t just want dashboards—they want strategic alignment. Ido is the right leader to deliver that.”

The hire comes at a high point for the company. Glassbox was recently named a 2025 TrustRadius Top Rated Award Winner in the marketing software category, driven by glowing customer reviews.

In Ophir’s own words, “Glassbox is uniquely positioned to help financial institutions and other enterprises turn customer behavior into meaningful business outcomes.” His focus will be on elevating customer support and executive engagement, especially for mission-critical deployments.

His arrival aligns with broader trends in the digital experience space, where data-rich insights are no longer enough—clients increasingly demand strategic value and operational outcomes. The addition of a CCO reflects Glassbox’s ambition to move beyond product and into long-term partnership mode.

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EX.CO, a leader in machine learning video technology, has launched a cutting-edge AI-driven taxonomy solution designed to transform how publishers classify, discover, and monetize their video content. The new feature is already live across Ziff Davis properties, including PCMag and Mashable.

This new agentic AI taxonomy leverages Large Language Models (LLMs) to automatically analyze video content frame-by-frame, generating rich metadata across more than 30 attributes—such as sentiment, tone, contextual relevance, and IAB categories. This enables publishers to convert sprawling, unstructured video archives into organized, searchable, and monetizable assets—without the manual overhead.

“EX.CO’s AI taxonomy solution has allowed us to deeply tag our extensive video library with a fraction of the necessary time,” said Dan Kamas, Senior Product Manager at Ziff Davis. “This gives the product team confidence in the recommendations being powered by this new technology.”

Unlike legacy video management systems that depend on labor-intensive tagging workflows, EX.CO’s platform brings precision automation with editorial flexibility. The system supports both industry-standard and custom classification models, enabling publishers to retain their existing editorial frameworks while enhancing them with intelligent AI tagging.

Key capabilities include:

• Real-time metadata enrichment across 30+ dimensions, including safety, tone, and context.

• Support for existing taxonomies, allowing seamless integration into legacy content systems.

• Improved ad targeting and yield optimization, by aligning content with demand more effectively.

• SEO enrichment, with taxonomy data embedded directly into video metadata.

• Smarter discovery and curation, boosting both internal CMS workflows and audience-facing searchability.

"What makes this solution different isn’t just automation—it’s precision and adaptability,” said Tom Pachys, EX.CO co-founder and CEO. “We’re recreating a publisher’s unique content hierarchy with LLMs, evolving alongside editorial strategy, and translating that into monetization.”

The taxonomy engine also provides configurable confidence thresholds for category assignment, ensuring high levels of accuracy tailored to publisher needs. It is available to all EX.CO publisher partners with AI-powered analysis enabled, delivering end-to-end tagging at a fraction of the cost of manual workflows.

“Our new agentic AI taxonomy feature doesn’t just drive revenue,” added Pachys. “It deepens our value with editorial and video teams who depend on speed and accuracy to deliver great experiences.”

With this rollout, EX.CO positions itself at the forefront of AI infrastructure for digital publishers—bridging editorial precision with next-gen monetization tools at scale.

Birdelo 2.0: A "New" PR-Tech Platform That’s Actually Been 15 Years in the Making

While PR-tech startups are having their moment, Birdelo is reminding the industry it got there first.

Originally launched in 2008 under a different name, the platform now known as Birdelo quietly solved a problem that has only recently become trendy: how to make brand-to-media collaboration more seamless. Now, with its AI-enhanced relaunch as Birdelo 2.0, co-founders Nikki Carlson and Kailynn Bowling are drawing attention to the system’s early roots—and why that matters in today’s fragmented media landscape.

“We built the original version in 2008 because we were living the pain points ourselves,” said Carlson. “We didn’t see a solution in the market—so we built one.”

Back then, Carlson and Bowling were wearing multiple hats—running ChicBlvd Magazine, launching the consumer tech brand ChicBuds, and scaling their PR firm ChicExecs. The problem? No centralized tool existed for sharing brand assets, samples, and pitches with journalists. The duo built one internally and quietly used it to power their firm for over a decade.

Fast forward to 2024, and PR-tech has become a buzzword. Yet Birdelo 2.0 isn’t just jumping on the AI bandwagon—it’s built on battle-tested infrastructure, now supercharged with automation and smarter matchmaking.

What’s New in Birdelo 2.0?

The platform now connects nearly 100,000 brands with major media outlets through a simplified interface designed to serve journalists and PR teams alike. Editors can access story ideas, affiliate-ready product links, hi-res imagery, and samples all in one place—without the usual back-and-forth emails.

Media outlets already leveraging the system include CNN, The Today Show, InStyle, Good Housekeeping, Women’s Health, GQ, and E! News—a testament to Birdelo’s quiet relevance over the years.

This isn’t a beta-stage product with bugs to iron out. It’s a refined system with over a decade of iteration behind it. The proof? A 2011 video demo of the original platform (then called the ChicExecs Media Networking System) and an 8-year-old YouTube case study showing the tool in action with Madison Media.

Birdelo’s timing couldn’t be better. As the lines blur between editorial and branded content, and journalists grow more selective in the pitches they accept, having a unified system to facilitate authentic, streamlined collaboration is invaluable.

But Birdelo isn’t chasing the hype. “This isn’t a new concept,” Bowling emphasized. “It’s a reimagining of something that’s already worked—for years.”

The startup narrative often favors flash over function. But Birdelo’s story flips the script: function first, flash later. And with AI now part of its DNA, Birdelo 2.0 is positioned to scale its quiet advantage into something far louder in today’s noisy PR-tech race.

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Grossman Marketing Group Acquires Cooley Group, Strengthens Local Roots with National Reach

In a strategic move to deepen its capabilities and broaden its geographic footprint, Grossman Marketing Group has acquired Cooley Group, a Rochester, NY-based provider of custom promotional, print, and fulfillment services.

While many acquisitions focus solely on size or scale, this one is rooted in something far more resilient: shared values. Both companies are family-owned, people-first, and community-driven—traits that have helped them thrive in a crowded marketing services industry.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Cooley Group to the Grossman family,” said David Grossman, Co-President of Grossman Marketing Group. “We both believe our greatest asset is our people—and that’s the foundation of this partnership.”

From Upstate New York to Nationwide Reach

Founded in 1945, Cooley Group has built a stellar reputation in the Northeast for client service, workplace culture, and industry leadership. Named a Top 100 Distributor by PPAI and a Best Company to Work For in New York four years running, Cooley brings both pedigree and performance.

With deep experience in sectors like healthcare, higher education, professional services, food and beverage, and manufacturing, Cooley complements Grossman’s own industry reach—and gives Grossman added strength in key growth markets.

Post-acquisition, Cooley will continue operating under its existing name as a division of Grossman Marketing Group, retaining its full team and offices in Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Albany, and the Hudson Valley.

Why It Matters: Capabilities, Culture, and Continuity

Grossman isn’t new to this game. Over the past decade, the company has steadily expanded through targeted acquisitions, focusing not just on capabilities, but on cultural fit. That’s why this merger clicks.

“For 80 years, we’ve helped clients showcase their brands while staying true to our local roots,” said Phil Yawman, President of Cooley Group. “But clients’ needs are changing, and we need access to more resources to keep pace. Grossman brings that—and more.”

Among those resources: Grossman’s award-winning technology stack, advanced e-commerce platforms, global logistics, and sustainability leadership. That includes SwagCycle, an industry-first program for giving branded products a second life via donation or recycling. So far, it’s redirected over $11 million in branded items from landfills and into the hands of nonprofits or reuse systems.

The Bigger Picture: A People-First Marketing Powerhouse

With Cooley now onboard, Grossman’s value proposition only gets stronger. It further positions the company as a national player with local roots—a rare blend in an industry that’s increasingly being swallowed by conglomerates or sidelined by startups.

“This is about expanding what’s possible for our clients,” said Ben Grossman, Co-President of Grossman Marketing Group. “And we’re doing it while preserving the culture and community focus that make both companies strong.”

Grossman’s growing portfolio now supports some of the world’s most recognizable organizations across sectors like higher education, healthcare, tech, and pro sports—all while maintaining its fourth-generation, family-owned ethos.

It’s not just a merger. It’s a reinforcement of what modern marketing clients want: innovation with integrity, scale with service, and growth that doesn’t forget its roots.

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Conduent Supercharges EBT Security: Locking Features, Chip Cards, and Mobile Wallets Aim to Fight Fraud at Scale

As fraud tactics grow more sophisticated, so do the tools to stop them. Conduent Incorporated, a key player in tech-driven public service infrastructure, has unveiled major upgrades to its Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) solutions. These include user-controlled account locks, AI-driven fraud detection, EMV chip card readiness, and plans for mobile wallet support — all aimed at protecting recipients of government aid like SNAP from unauthorized access.

With its latest rollout, Conduent isn't just offering upgrades. It's pushing the EBT ecosystem into a future where fraud prevention is proactive, intuitive, and mobile-friendly.

Giving Users the Power to Lock Down Their Benefits

At the heart of the update is a seemingly simple—but powerful—feature: the ability for recipients to lock or unlock their EBT accounts. Available via the ConnectEBT mobile app and web portal, users can block all purchases or limit transactions to their home state, instantly shutting down out-of-state misuse attempts.

Currently deployed in 12 states — including Georgia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania — the lock/unlock capability is gaining traction as agencies look to empower users while tightening fraud controls.

“Our EBT lock-and-unlock feature is one of many solutions Conduent is delivering to combat fraud that threatens taxpayer funds,” said Anna Sever, President of Government Solutions at Conduent.

Anti-Fraud Intelligence Built-In: Meet VeriSight

This account control tool is part of Conduent’s VeriSight Anti-Fraud Suite, a layered security platform already used by several U.S. state agencies. VeriSight leverages real-time behavioral analytics to spot red flags — like repeated IVR calls from a single number — and automatically flag or block suspicious behavior.

In addition to voice channel monitoring, Conduent’s ConnectEBT app also offers real-time usage alerts, giving benefit recipients an early warning system against unauthorized transactions.

Coming Soon: EMV Chip Cards and Wallet Integration

Looking ahead, Conduent is preparing to support EMV chip-enabled SNAP cards, a shift that mirrors the broader payment industry’s evolution away from magnetic stripes. These chip cards significantly reduce the risk of cloning and point-of-sale fraud — a growing threat in public assistance programs.

Conduent is also future-proofing access with mobile wallet integrations, including support for Apple Pay and Google Pay. That move not only adds convenience for users, but aligns with rising consumer expectations for digital payment flexibility.

Why It Matters: Securing the Frontline of Public Assistance

Each year, Conduent helps disburse $85 billion in government payments, supports 2.3 billion customer interactions, and processes nearly 13 million tolling transactions per day. But public benefit programs like SNAP sit at the core of its social impact work.

In an era when fraudsters target vulnerable populations and public resources with increasing sophistication, giving recipients more control, agencies more visibility, and systems more intelligence isn’t just a technical upgrade — it’s a mission-critical necessity.

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Marketing Firms Are Ditching Spreadsheets for Smarter Bookkeeping. Here’s Why.

As U.S. marketing and creative agencies shift to digital delivery, decentralized teams, and fast-paced client demands, one function is struggling to keep up: accounting. In an industry defined by campaign pivots, fluctuating vendor costs, and project-based billing, traditional bookkeeping is falling flat.

More firms are turning to specialized accounting & bookkeeping services—like those from IBN Technologies—to bring structure, accuracy, and insight into their financial workflows. The goal? Free up internal bandwidth and enable leadership to focus on what really matters: strategy, creativity, and client outcomes.

When Billing Chaos Meets Creative Speed

Ad agencies aren’t built like traditional businesses—and their books shouldn’t be either.

With every new client or campaign comes a flood of financial complexity:

• Time-based invoices

• Freelance contracts

• SaaS subscriptions

• Ad platform charges

• Performance bonuses

• And constant revisions to everything

In-house finance teams often find themselves buried in reconciliations, delayed reports, and misclassified expenses. Spreadsheets break. Generic accounting software falls short. And leadership loses financial visibility at precisely the moment it’s most needed.

IBN Technologies: Bookkeeping Built for Agencies

Enter IBN Technologies, a firm with 26+ years of experience and a sharp focus on the financial intricacies of marketing, branding, and creative agencies.

What makes IBN different isn’t just automation—it’s domain expertise. Their systems are purpose-built to handle the fluid nature of agency operations and provide real-time insights that help leaders make better decisions.

IBN’s marketing-centric bookkeeping includes:

• Retainer, project, and time-based invoice recording

• Ad platform and bank feed reconciliation

• Vendor tracking for media, tech, and freelance

• Payroll and commission handling

• Campaign-level P&L segmentation

• CPA collaboration and tax prep

• Seamless integration with tools like QuickBooks Online, Xero, and agency software

The result? Better billing accuracy, faster closes, and fewer financial surprises.

From Clutter to Clarity: Real-World Results

IBN’s clients include marketing agencies across the U.S.—from nimble design studios to large performance marketing teams.

One creative firm reduced admin workload by 30%, redeploying staff from back-office duties to client delivery. Another branding agency passed a financial audit with zero corrections—thanks to clean, compliant books maintained by IBN.

This isn’t just outsourced accounting. It’s an operational upgrade.

Why Outsourced Bookkeeping Is the New Growth Lever

As agencies diversify services—from content creation to influencer partnerships to SaaS reselling—the complexity of billing and reconciliation scales quickly. And so do the risks of delay, error, or lost revenue.

Bookkeeping tailored to agency workflows gives firms a competitive edge:

• Faster financial reporting

• Confident client billing

• Smarter budgeting

• Healthier cash flow

• Less admin, more creative execution

IBN Technologies provides that edge.

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BitNile Unveils Strategic Roadmap for $NILE Token to Power Solana-Based Web3 Ecosystem

BitNile.com, the Web3-focused subsidiary of Hyperscale Data, Inc. (NYSE American: GPUS), is taking a major leap into blockchain-powered entertainment. The company has announced a sweeping strategic roadmap for $NILE, its native utility token built on the Solana blockchain, designed to anchor a suite of crypto-enabled mobile games, validator nodes, and real-time blockchain applications.

Currently boasting an estimated $103 million market cap (with 99% of the token held by BitNile), $NILE is poised to become the core digital asset driving user engagement, in-game economies, and validator incentives across the company’s new Web3 initiatives.

From Token to Ecosystem: What $NILE Will Power

BitNile isn’t content with a passive coin. The roadmap positions $NILE as a multi-functional asset embedded in the company’s entire Web3 entertainment architecture. Here’s what’s on deck:

• Mobile Gaming Integration: A portfolio of crypto-enabled games will soon launch on Google Play and Apple’s App Store, using $NILE for in-game rewards, NFT licenses, and leaderboard-based achievements.

• Validator Node Participation: BitNile plans to establish a network of validator nodes where players and users can participate in verifying game-based blockchain events—earning $NILE as a reward for contributing to the ecosystem’s integrity.

• Blockchain Utility: From user-to-user rewards to developer incentives, $NILE will be integrated across various apps connecting players, content creators, and developers in a shared, token-powered economy.

Although currently traded via decentralized exchanges, BitNile aims to expand accessibility and visibility for $NILE as adoption grows, especially in the second half of 2025.

“We’ve made a significant investment in BitNile.com and believe $NILE can serve as the backbone of a new Web3 entertainment community,” said Joe Spaziano, CEO of BitNile. “Gaming, engagement, and real-time crypto rewards are where we see the next phase of user experience unfolding.”

Backed by Hyperscale Data’s Expanding Tech Portfolio

BitNile’s moves are part of Hyperscale Data’s broader vision to evolve into a digital infrastructure powerhouse. While its roots lie in data center operations and digital asset mining (via its subsidiary Sentinum), Hyperscale is actively growing into AI, Web3, and blockchain-driven verticals.

This includes the anticipated divestiture of Ault Capital Group (ACG)—its diversified holding subsidiary—by the end of 2025. Post-divestiture, Hyperscale plans to focus exclusively on high-performance data centers and services that support AI and blockchain ecosystems.

The company’s combined focus on infrastructure, token economics, and application layers reflects a growing trend: vertical integration within Web3, where the same entity develops the hardware, builds the app layer, and controls the token economics.

The Bigger Picture: Solana, Scalability, and Real-Time Rewards

Choosing Solana, one of the fastest and most scalable Layer 1 blockchains, is a calculated move. Solana’s low fees and high throughput make it well-suited for microtransactions, dynamic gaming environments, and real-time validator events—precisely the use cases BitNile wants to dominate.

If BitNile delivers on its roadmap, $NILE could join a new class of utility tokens that go beyond hype to deliver real, usable value within a closed-loop, gamified economy.

With Solana’s performance architecture, BitNile’s validator plans, and mobile gaming integration on the horizon, $NILE isn’t just another crypto—it’s a bid to mainstream Web3 through entertainment.

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ViViEN™ 2.0: Ecosystems' AI Agent Aims to Make B2B Sales About Outcomes, Not Just Products

In an era where B2B buyers want value, not just features, Ecosystems is doubling down on its mission to help providers and customers speak the same language. The pioneer of the Customer Value Management (CVM) category just rolled out ViViEN™ 2.0, the latest evolution of its Virtual Value Engineer—a collaborative AI agent built to bring structure, intelligence, and transparency to the B2B go-to-market (GTM) motion.

Rather than pitch decks or static value props, ViViEN 2.0 creates a real-time, interactive workspace where providers and customers co-create, quantify, and track business value—from first call to renewal. And it’s not just an idea—it’s already in the hands of users at companies like HP, New Relic, and over 1,500 members of the Customer Value Community.

What Makes ViViEN™ 2.0 a GTM Game-Changer

Forget clunky spreadsheets and scattered notes. ViViEN™ 2.0 sits inside your CRM and does the heavy lifting—synthesizing call transcripts, sales documents, and external intel to surface tailored value insights before your first meeting.

“It turns scattered insights into a conversation on outcomes and business value that resonates with every stakeholder,” said Mark Crawford, VP of GTM Strategy at New Relic.

Here’s what’s new and notable in ViViEN™ 2.0:

• AI-Guided Personalization: Pulls data from across sources to auto-generate industry-specific engagement materials, customized to each customer’s business challenges and goals.

• Dynamic Collaboration: Sales reps and customers co-edit value stories in a shared workspace, with real-time feedback loops replacing static documents.

• Outcome-Based Value Quantification: Uses industry benchmarks and financial data to quantify value credibly—no more guessing or inflated ROI calculators.

• Post-Sale Alignment: ViViEN™ bridges the gap between pre-sale promises and post-sale delivery, tracking actual results and supporting renewals with proof of performance.

• Continuous Learning Engine: Every deal makes ViViEN™ smarter. It refines suggestions over time, building a proprietary knowledge base of what drives customer value across industries.

This isn’t just AI layered onto sales ops. It’s a rethink of how value is defined, delivered, and discussed.

“ViViEN™ 2.0 is just the beginning,” said Michael Plaskow, Chief Product Officer at Ecosystems. “We’re unleashing AI to fundamentally rewire how value is co-created in every B2B relationship.”

The Strategic Impact: Why This Matters

At a time when B2B buyers demand proof, personalization, and partnership, ViViEN™ 2.0 provides all three—at scale. For sales teams, it shortens cycles and boosts win rates. For customer success, it fuels retention by keeping outcomes front and center. And for customers? It delivers the holy grail: a buying experience that feels collaborative, measurable, and aligned.

HP’s Barry O’Sullivan put it best:

“ViViEN™ researches insights before a single conversation begins. Then sellers and customers refine that message together—turning insights into outcomes.”

AI That Doesn’t Just Assist—It Accelerates

While most sales tech claims to “support” reps, ViViEN™ 2.0 aims to drive the conversation. It automates research, personalizes content, enables transparent value discussions, and learns as it goes—essentially becoming a living, learning value engine.

With adoption underway across leading enterprise GTM teams, ViViEN™ 2.0 is redefining what it means to “sell on value.”

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