Leading CX innovator to deliver industry's most advanced AI agents and only complete CX platform for the AI-first era 

Zendesk announced today it will acquire Ultimate, an industry-leading provider of service automation, to deliver the most complete AI offering for customer experience (CX) in the market¹. As unprecedented demand for AI drives up the speed and frequency of customer engagement, AI agents push beyond traditional bot capabilities to help brands transform CX into a competitive advantage. With Ultimate, Zendesk will offer AI agents with enhanced intelligence that are not just reactive, but proactive problem solvers, complementing human expertise.

"AI is the future of CX and the next generation of AI agents are not just a tool, but a necessary and fundamental shift in how businesses will engage with their customers," said Tom Eggemeier, CEO of Zendesk. "With Ultimate, we will help our customers set a new standard, with AI agents giving customers the support they need quickly and effortlessly. This means human agents can focus on what they do best: building relationships, resolving complex challenges, and applying innovation and creativity to move businesses forward."

"Our mission has always been to help businesses use AI to deliver joyful support experiences. We've seen 99 percent of CX organizations who adopt AI shift permanently to a hybrid human and AI agent approach," said Reetu Kainulainen, CEO and co-founder of Ultimate. "As part of Zendesk, we now have the scale to drive this transformation for every business."

Ultimate's AI agents automate up to 80 percent of support requests. They leverage any knowledge source and offer full customization to resolve even the most sophisticated use cases. Its automation platform integrates with any backend system and provides robust analytics and reporting. Together, Zendesk and Ultimate will offer companies the flexibility and control to deliver customer support their way – be it fully autonomous AI agents, workflow automation or human touch.

"In the era of AI, the challenge of delivering exceptional customer service has never been more demanding. It's not just about streamlining operations or leveraging new technology; it's about redefining excellence in customer service," said Kelsey Hales, senior Zendesk lead at Taskrabbit. "With Zendesk and Ultimate, we will not only meet but exceed our customers' expectations, all while keeping an eye on efficiency and cost-effectiveness."

"Traditional chatbots are great in meeting basic CX needs. AI agents can be smarter, more reliable and provide precision support," said Daniel Newman, CEO of The Futurum Group. "With Ultimate, Zendesk is well positioned to offer AI agents that can tackle sophisticated and complex service use cases, helping resolve customer issues with personalization, speed and dynamic responsiveness."

This acquisition builds on the launch of Zendesk AI, the fastest-adopted product in the company's history. With Zendesk AI, Ultimate and the company's AI-powered Workforce Engagement Management solutions, Zendesk offers the only complete CX platform that elevates customer experiences, manages service quality and accelerates business growth.

• LTK Connected TV, a first-of-its-kind offering, scales brands’ creator marketing strategy with instantly shoppable LTK Creator content through Connected TV platforms.

• LTK 360, the 24/7, full-funnel measurement and analytics platform, empowers brands to understand their creator marketing efforts from every angle - all in one place

LTK, the platform that powers Creator Commerce™, unveiled two new solutions to help brands accelerate their creator marketing programs with Connected TV (CTV) advertising and LTK 360, a full-funnel influencer marketing measurement and analysis platform. These offerings come at a time when brands are increasingly seeking innovative ways to engage consumers and maximize the effectiveness of their marketing investments - leaning on the authenticity of creators and consumers’ trust in them.

Unlocking a New Audience With LTK Connected TV (CTV)
LTK is unveiling a first-of-its-kind offering where brands can now use LTK Creator content to create CTV advertising spots that are instantly shoppable from the creator’s LTK Shop. Brands maximize their creator investment to reach more shoppers, grow brand awareness and drive sales while saving time and budget compared to traditional TV ad production. LTK Creators gain increased exposure for their LTK Shop and a new way to earn through LTK.

A recent LTK study with Northwestern University found that creator marketing and CTV are the two top marketing investment growth areas for global brands this year. LTK CTV advertising is empowering brands to leverage this medium and the authentic messaging of LTK Creators, especially as creators are now more trusted than brand ads, friends and family.

Revolutionizing Creator Measurement With LTK 360
LTK 360 is an all-new, real-time and full-funnel measurement and analytics platform for brands with the unmatched insights of LTK’s 40M+ monthly shoppers and 13 years of proprietary data. Powered by LTK AI, LTK 360 gives brands a holistic view into their creator marketing efforts and investments to help measure their success and be even more strategic in their decision-making, including:

• Earned Media Value (EMV): Showcasing the earned media value from LTK Creators’ content, identifying value beyond sales and conversions.
• Upper Funnel Performance: Measuring awareness metrics, cross-platform reach and engagement.
• New Traffic Visualizations: Demonstrating the top Traffic Producing Influencers (TPI™)
• Lower Funnel Engagement: Detailing the closest to sales metrics, including ROAS.
• Campaign Layering: Providing overlays and displays of multi-layered campaign views to streamline analysis.

“These new features are game-changers for our brand partners as LTK CTV advertising expands the possibilities with their investments in creators and reaching more audiences through this growing medium. Additionally, the unmatched analytics capabilities of LTK 360 underscores LTK’s commitment to helping our brand partners understand and value the full impact of their creator marketing efforts,” said Rodney Mason, Head of Marketing, Brand Platform at LTK.

The launch of LTK 360 is the latest example of how LTK is harnessing AI to strengthen our tools for brands and creators alike. LTK Marketplace enables creators to connect directly with brands and apply for brand partnership opportunities, which has significantly grown the number of weekly brand-creator campaigns by 300% - changing the way business is done in the influencer industry. LTK Match.AI instantly matches creators and brands for campaigns to drive maximum performance.

LTK is also rolling out its own CTV ad campaign with LTK co-founder and President, Amber Venz Box, to tell the founding story of LTK and drive awareness with marketers.

The 55 million-strong blockchain community celebrates five years unlocking unprecedented utility for Pi and empowering developers on its platform 

Pi Network, a Web3 app ecosystem and developer platform with a community of tens of millions of humans mining Pi cryptocurrency, has announced the pilot launch of the Pi Ad Network, heralding an enormous utility potential for the Pi cryptocurrency.

Advertisers who wish to place ads on the Pi apps platform on Pi Browser will need to acquire Pi, a key element of the vision of the Pi Ad Network during the upcoming Open Network period. Thereafter, Pi will, in turn, be distributed to the developers of Pi apps displaying ads on the platform. In addition to the diverse utilities created by various Pi apps in the Pi ecosystem, the ad network has the potential to generate massive utilities at the platform level.

This benefits all 'Pioneers,' as this community of over 55 million engaged members is often endearingly referred to. "When we combine our collective resources such as attention and distributed computing power and add to it that over 9 million Pioneers are already KYC'ed, with millions more on course to join the network and the ranks of identity-verified Pioneers, the utility-generating potential on the platform level is tremendous," said Chengdiao Fan, one of the founders of Pi Network and Head of Product. "And the platform-level utilities don't stop here. Think of how much better positioned Pi Network will be to solve the authenticity and ownership issues of the future Web3 world pervasive of AI with its large network of identity-verified, crypto-enabled humans, and the utilities that will be generated from those processes. Think of what our large distributed network of hundreds of thousands of computer nodes can provide for the evolving technological need for distributed computing at scale. We are just getting started."

The Pi Ad Network allows Pi apps developers to monetize the attention resources collectively contributed by Pioneers and provided by the Pi platform via Pi Browser, in proportion with the app's user traffic, and hence, its operational costs. This platform-level mechanism for sustainable app development incentivizes developers to build useful and innovative apps for Pioneers, contributing to more engagement and setting off a virtuous cycle between the quality of Pi apps and the platform's collective attention resource. Further, the ad network is positioned to potentially source better ads from reputable ads providers following industry practices, thereby upholding standards for user experience and safety on the platform and Pi apps.

"To achieve our vision for the Pi Ad Network, using exclusively the Pi cryptocurrency, we need first a stepping stone," shared Nicolas Kokkalis, the other Pi Network founder and Head of Technology. "In the current Enclosed Network phase, we ensure that Pi Apps developers can begin monetizing their apps by providing them payments in USD or USD-equivalent, setting a solid foundation before transitioning to the Open Network." He further highlighted the strategic rollout, mentioning, "Our pilot with Fireside Forum is just the beginning. Following extensive testing, we will extend the Pi Ad Network to the broader developer community through the Pi SDK, empowering developers." This initiative underscores the network's commitment to fostering a thriving and sustainable ecosystem for developers and users alike.

In December 2023, Pi Network announced its plans to go to Open Network in the year 2024, with some conditions such as 15 million KYC'ed members, 10 million Mainnet-migrated members, and 100 Mainnet or Mainnet-ready apps in its ecosystem. 

New sustainability capabilities in Oracle Cloud EPM help business leaders efficiently plan, track, and report on initiatives and comply with new reporting standards 

Oracle CloudWorld -- Oracle today announced Oracle Cloud EPM for Sustainability, a new solution in Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) that helps organizations efficiently measure and effectively manage sustainability initiatives. The new solution will help business leaders gain the insights they need to make progress on sustainability goals by connecting data, plans, and targets across their organization, and by modeling multiple scenarios to optimize outcomes.

Environmental data is sourced from many locations, business units, and systems within an organization and from suppliers and business partners. It is often manually consolidated in spreadsheets, so reporting and analyzing this data can be a slow, inefficient, and error-prone process. To address these challenges, improve the reporting process, and efficiently and accurately compile the information needed for emerging reporting guidelines, organizations need to leverage a purpose-built solution with embedded automation, AI, and machine learning.

"Many organizations are beginning to treat sustainability reporting requirements with the same rigor, governance, and technical expertise as financial reporting," said Hari Sankar, group vice president, Product Management at Oracle. "With Oracle Cloud EPM for Sustainability, our customers can leverage a trusted solution that embeds AI and other advanced technologies to help improve efficiency, deliver insights, promote compliance, and effectively manage their progress on sustainability initiatives."

Oracle Cloud EPM for Sustainability helps organizations accelerate their sustainability efforts. The new solution enables organizations to:

• Collect, Connect, and Transform Data: Direct connections and file-based uploads enable organizations to consolidate disparate data sources to help meet International Financial Reporting (FRS) and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. For example, organizations can align energy use, fleet mileage, procurement data, and other applicable data sources to meet the requirements of the relevant frameworks and standards. In addition, built-in process management tools help capture all data, which not only improves the clarity of calculations, but also enables errors to be identified and discrepancies to be reconciled.
• Model Different Scenarios: Embedded scenario modeling capabilities enable organizations to run an unlimited number of scenarios simultaneously to determine the best path forward. With an enhanced understanding of the risks and opportunities for each initiative, organizations can make smarter decisions about sustainability initiatives and drive greater impact.
• Explore AI-Powered Insights: Built-in pattern recognition capabilities provide automated alerts on anomalies and variances, while self-service capabilities for filtering, sorting, and visualization enable users to drill into the data in a safe, effective manner. With purpose-built dashboards and automated analysis, organizations can monitor progress and take corrective action in a timely manner.
• Create Intelligent Plans: Predictive planning enables organizations to create and validate forecasts and predict future performance. In addition, embedded AI and machine learning helps business leaders continuously improve plans.
• Report and Act on Goals: Narrative reporting capabilities help business leaders align data with relevant reporting standards and produce reports with contextual detail that can be shared with key stakeholders. Timely, accurate, and insightful reports help organizations identify areas for improvement and quickly take action to reduce environmental impact.

Part of Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Oracle Cloud EPM offers a comprehensive set of enterprise performance management capabilities that help organizations align financial and operational planning, close the books faster, and manage enterprise master data.

Closed ecosystems benefit; smaller publishers face daunting, costly challenges

Today IAB released its annual report, "State of Data 2024: How the Digital Ad Industry is Adapting to the Privacy-by-Design Ecosystem." 

The study, conducted by IAB in partnership with BWG Strategy, surveyed over 500 advertising and data experts at brands, agencies, and publishers. It reveals the substantial operational and financial adjustments being undertaken by the digital ecosystem as it moves towards a privacy-by-design architecture.

"The meaningful investments being made are proof positive of the industry's commitment to a privacy-first orientation," said David Cohen, Chief Executive Officer, IAB. "Executives are taking notice and funding the right initiatives for the next stage of industry growth."

Key findings from the study include:

Nearly all (95%) advertising and data decision-makers at brands, agencies, and publishers expect continued signal loss and/or privacy legislation in 2024 and beyond.
The industry is investing in hiring new Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), updating training for their staff, creating dedicated teams, expanding their legal expertise, leveraging new technologies, and increasing first-party data efforts.

Additionally, 82% of the respondents said the makeup and structure of their organizations have been impacted by legislation and signal loss. Nearly 80% are training or planning to train their staff directly in data/privacy-related topics, while half of companies are creating or planning to create dedicated teams/departments (49%) and hiring or planning to hire external SMEs (48%).

Respondents believe the new paradigm will challenge targeting, personalization, and measurement. 
More than half expect it to be harder to track conversions overall (55%), post-view conversions (52%), attribute campaign/channel performance (55%), measure ROI (55%), make optimizations (50%), and measure frequency (50%) and reach (47%). Nearly nine-in-ten ad buyers report shifts in personalization tactics, ad spend, and their mix of first, second, and third-party data. Over three-in-four cite selection changes in media channels and KPIs, along with more seller-direct deals.

To improve data quality, brands, agencies, and publishers are turning to first-party data and data-enrichment tools. 
The study found that 71% of brands, agencies, and publishers are currently or planning to grow their first-party datasets, nearly twice the rate of just two years ago (41%).

"To tackle data quality challenges, it's crucial for brands, agencies, and publishers to continue to adopt innovative analytical methods including Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, and media mix modeling that are less dependent on tracking signals and third-party cookies," said Angelina Eng, VP Measurement, Addressability & Data Center, IAB.

The shift to privacy-by-design is transforming media planning and buying.
Ad spend that taps first-party data and engages audiences at scale are being prioritized. Nearly nine-in-ten ad buyers report a shift in message personalization strategies (89%), ad investment costs (87%), and over three-in-four cite selection changes in media channels (81%) and KPIs (79%), along with more seller-direct deals.

Ad buyers are shifting budgets to Connected TV, retail media, search, and social networks which rely less on cookies, provide access to valuable first-party data and precise targeting, and contain embedded measurement.

Overhauling and reinventing data processes is a costly sea change that will hurt small and medium-sized publishers and favor giants.
Large companies are investing more in identity anonymization training (79%) than small companies (64%). They are also investing more in training in privacy-preserving technologies (62%) — which can cost over $2 million annually — than small companies (44%).

Signal loss is already pushing advertising budgets toward closed ecosystems at a moment when independent publishers can least afford to lose revenue. 

"The industry's embrace of privacy-by-design is the right thing for the industry and consumers alike," Eng continued. "But if small independent publishers aren't protected, the vibrant, independent open web that consumers love is at serious risk."

The appointment of its first CMO marks a significant milestone for the company as it continues to expand its reach for the benefit of its enterprise clients 

Terakeet, the preferred performance marketing and technology company for Fortune 500 brands, announced the appointment of David Minifie as the company's first chief marketing officer (CMO). Bringing his extensive experience working with some of the world's largest companies, Minifie epitomizes Terakeet's commitment to elevating its brand presence and driving innovative marketing solutions for its enterprise clients.

As CMO, Minifie will play a pivotal role in shaping and executing the company's global marketing strategies. Leading a team of 10, he will be responsible for fostering brand awareness, expanding market reach, and further solidifying Terakeet's position as an industry leader and innovator.

"We are thrilled to welcome David to our leadership team as Terakeet's first chief marketing officer," said Mark Kennedy, Terakeet President. "With a history as an advisor to our organization, Dave has played a key role in strengthening our brand position. Dave's experience advising Fortune 50 brands, combined with his deep understanding of Terakeet, will allow him to quickly step in and support our mission of delivering exceptional value to our clients, stakeholders, and the communities we serve."

A former U.S. Marine and Naval Academy graduate, Dave spent more than a dozen years at Procter & Gamble learning the art and science of brand building. He also served as the chief experience officer of Centene, the largest Medicaid managed care organization in the United States. Most recently, he served as an advisor to enterprise brands looking to drive long-term growth potential by articulating and aligning organizational beliefs with business and brand strategies.

"I am honored to officially join the leadership team at Terakeet," said David Minifie, CMO, Terakeet. "I have had the opportunity to work with Terakeet for more than two years as an outside advisor. During that time, I witnessed the company's exceptional growth and dedication to creating innovative marketing technology solutions for their clients. I am proud to serve as the company's first CMO, and I look forward to supporting Terakeet's growth, evolution, and industry leadership in the months and years to come."

In addition to Minifie's appointment, the company revealed its strategic growth initiative, which includes strengthening its leadership team, continuing to advance its technology, and expanding its nationwide job recruitment efforts to deliver solutions for Fortune 500 brands looking to drive more meaningful consumer connections and increase ROI.

Sprout Social, Inc., an industry-leading provider of cloud-based social media management software, today announced the appointment of Crystal Boysen to chief people officer (CPO), effective March 25, 2024. As CPO, Boysen will oversee Sprout’s global people function and have an essential role in building and elevating Sprout’s world-class team.

Boysen brings more than 15 years of deep, cross-functional HR experience. Prior to Sprout, Boysen was the CPO at Vimeo where she was responsible for driving a people-first organization and culture, and attracting, engaging and retaining talent globally as the company scaled. Boysen also previously held the role of Global Head of People at Canva where she oversaw a people team of 140 and drove the people strategy to enable Canva’s hyper-growth. Under her leadership, Canva scaled from 500 to 2,500 employees while growing from $200 million to $750 million in annual recurring revenue, and was recognized as one of Australia’s Greatest Places to Work.

"The dedication and intentional focus Sprout has put on developing their people to reach their highest potential is inspiring, and I am energized by the opportunity to fuel innovation and growth with an exceptional team,” said Boysen. “Together, we'll foster a high-performance culture where everyone thrives and teams not only excel professionally, but find fulfillment in their work.”

“Crystal has the perfect combination of experience, passion, humanity and high standards that we look for in our leaders—with a deep understanding and thoughtful perspective on what it takes to build and elevate an engaged, inclusive culture and world-class team,” said Justyn Howard, CEO of Sprout Social. “Our team is critical to the success of our business and customers, and creating a workplace where they continue to be empowered to do their best work will be a key priority for Crystal and the People team.”

New offering brings together Brevo’s Marketing, Conversations, and Customer Data Platforms, providing a cohesive experience for customers

Brevo, a leading provider of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions, announced the launch of Brevo Commerce Suite, a new solution that provides retailers and e-commerce companies with a 360-degree view of their customer data, empowering them to easily retain and engage customers with personalized, multi-channel communications. With 30 percent of its existing customers in the retail and e-commerce industries, Brevo Commerce Suite will accelerate the company’s position in the global e-commerce market, which is projected to be worth $8 trillion by 2027.

Tackling the Industry’s Most Complex Issues
Consumer demand for better customer experience continues to grow in line with the rapid growth of the global e-commerce market. However, providing an ideal customer experience has become increasingly complicated for merchants who have both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar locations, where online and offline data don’t always communicate with each other.

With the Brevo Commerce Suite, merchants can analyze the full spectrum of their customers’ purchasing habits across all channels, allowing them to send more personalized recommendations. They can also improve the customer experience through multi-channel communication adapted to each customer by email, SMS, chat, and social media.

“Today’s merchants face fierce competition when it comes to attracting and retaining customers,” said Armand Thiberge, CEO and founder of Brevo. “Consumers expect hyper-personalized content, immediate answers to their questions, and seamless customer experiences. Failing to meet these expectations could lead them to shop elsewhere next time.”

Brevo Commerce Suite: A Turnkey Solution
Brevo Commerce Suite extends the comprehensive suite of Brevo’s best-in-class solutions and capabilities and enables retailers and e-commerce companies to:

• Increase the customer lifetime value
  • Expand reach and push contacts closer to purchase with multichannel campaigns (email, WhatsApp, SMS, Web Push and more).
  • Use automation to increase abandoned cart recovery, make product recommendations, and more.
  • Personalize content and suggest relevant products using enriched data.

• Leverage consolidated customer and product insights
  • Unify online and offline customer data, mapping it to a multi-table retail data model.
  • Integrate with e-commerce store data to get a full view of their customer purchase history.
  • Incorporate analytics and built-in dashboards to help identify product performance, repeat customers, purchase frequency and more.

• Optimize customer experience and engagement
  • Empower customers to interact on their preferred channels, from website chat to social media messages and phone calls.
  • Humanize the digital buying experience by proactively starting live chat conversations with online visitors, helping them find what they need and get to checkout faster.
  • Provide instant 24/7 service using automated responses and predefined scenarios in a chatbot, even when agents are offline.