Alloy is turning up the heat on its marketing transformation strategy. The Atlanta-based agency, known for blending creativity with data-driven strategy, announced the acquisition of fellow Atlanta firm Hot Sauce, a digital marketing agency recognized for its expertise in martech and growth marketing.

The move signals Alloy’s deepening investment in AI-era marketing, uniting Hot Sauce’s martech know-how with Alloy’s existing portfolio of strategy, branding, and performance solutions. Together, the combined team aims to deliver more powerful, technology-enabled campaigns for clients navigating increasingly complex buyer journeys.

Founded in 2010, Hot Sauce carved a niche helping technology, financial services, and public sector clients refine their messaging and engage target audiences through digital transformation. Its data-driven approach and expertise in marketing technology make it a natural fit for Alloy’s growth-focused vision.

“Alloy’s mission has always been to help brands stand out, connect, convert, and grow,” said Raj Choudhury, CEO of Alloy. “Hot Sauce’s martech talent and experience in running sophisticated campaigns strengthen our capabilities, especially as we help clients reach and influence buyers in an AI-powered landscape.”

The acquisition comes amid a period of explosive growth for Alloy. The company recently ranked 121st among metro Atlanta’s fastest-growing businesses and 132nd statewide on the 2025 Inc. 5000 list—rising over 300 national spots from the prior year. A three-year revenue jump of 143% underscores its expanding leadership in the marketing and technology space. Alloy also landed a spot on the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Pacesetter List of the city’s 75 fastest-growing private companies.

For George Carless, founder of Hot Sauce, joining Alloy represents a strategic alignment. “We’ve long admired Alloy’s vision and share a similar mission,” Carless said. “Our team is thrilled to join forces and help shape the next chapter of the agency’s growth.”

Under the deal, Hot Sauce’s full team will integrate into Alloy, with its leadership taking active roles in guiding expanded martech and digital growth initiatives. The partnership underscores a broader trend in the marketing industry: agencies consolidating capabilities to keep pace with AI, automation, and evolving buyer behavior.

With the acquisition, Alloy positions itself as a stronger contender in the competitive martech ecosystem—where intelligence, agility, and integration are fast becoming the new differentiators.

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Alloy acquires Hot Sauce to expand its martech and digital growth expertise, fueling AI-era marketing innovation and client impact.

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Quad/Graphics Inc. is giving audience segmentation a conversational upgrade. The marketing experience company today announced the rollout of natural language prompting within its proprietary Audience Builder platform—powered by Snowflake’s Cortex AI—allowing marketers to create precise audience segments simply by typing conversational commands.

For an industry long reliant on data specialists and SQL queries, the shift is significant. Instead of writing complex queries, users can now ask questions like, “Build an audience of competitive bike riders in South Carolina,” and Audience Builder translates the request into an actionable dataset in seconds.

The integration with Snowflake’s Cortex AI enables Quad to tap into billions of household-level data points covering 92% of U.S. households and nearly 97% of the adult population. By using Snowflake’s natural language processing capabilities, Quad’s system can interpret prompts, analyze stored audience attributes, and enrich them with third-party demographic data—dramatically reducing the time and technical skill needed to design targeted campaigns.

“By tapping Snowflake’s AI expertise for natural language prompts, we’re introducing a new level of innovation to our audience targeting process,” said George Forge, Senior Vice President of Client Technology & Product Development at Quad. “In the increasingly complex world of marketing, we’re making it even easier, faster, and more precise to gather insights, build audiences, and help our clients make meaningful connections with their customers.”

Snowflake sees this as part of a larger trend in marketing AI. “Our collaboration with Quad is a testament to how AI can transform how marketers interact with their data,” said Erin Foxworthy, Global Head of Marketing & Advertising at Snowflake. “By combining natural language processing with the ease of use of the Snowflake platform, we’re helping brands unlock sophisticated insights and act on them with speed and precision.”

Quad originally developed Audience Builder to give advertisers a more transparent and efficient way to reach relevant audiences—especially as walled gardens like Google and Meta restrict data access. By leveraging household-based data, rather than volatile identifiers like email or IP addresses, Quad claims to provide a more stable, long-term foundation for cross-channel marketing.

The new AI prompt feature is another sign of how AI-driven audience design is becoming a competitive differentiator in marketing technology. While traditional segmentation tools depend on analysts and rigid taxonomies, Quad’s conversational approach lowers the technical barrier and allows marketers to focus on creative strategy rather than data mechanics.

In a landscape where privacy rules, cookie deprecation, and walled gardens have complicated data-driven marketing, Quad’s blend of AI-powered simplicity and household-level precision could help marketers regain some control over their targeting destiny.

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The age of AI assistants is giving way to something far more capable: AI agents that act. According to G2’s newly released 2025 AI Agents Insights Report, these systems are no longer experimental toys for the tech-savvy—they’re driving measurable business growth across industries.

Based on responses from over 1,000 B2B decision-makers, G2’s report reveals that 57% of organizations already have AI agents in production, and more than half plan to expand their scope or budgets in the next 12 months. It’s a striking sign that AI agents—autonomous systems capable of executing tasks and coordinating workflows—have crossed the adoption chasm faster than the generative AI tools that preceded them.

“Agents are the great leap in the application of AI technology that we’ve all been waiting for,” said Tim Sanders, Chief Innovation Officer at G2. “This shift moves us from measuring individual productivity to predicting organizational velocity.”

From Hype to Business Outcomes

Unlike the first wave of generative AI, which primarily assisted and advised, AI agents act—triggering real business operations and handling decision-based tasks. The report found that the median time to value for agent deployments is six months or less, a turnaround that equals or surpasses traditional AI investments.

Among surveyed companies:

• 40% have budgets exceeding $1 million for agent initiatives.

• 25% of large enterprises are prepared to spend over $5 million.

• 83% of buyers report satisfaction with agent performance.

• Velocity gains of up to 50% were reported in marketing and sales functions.

That momentum is translating into measurable operational gains. G2 data shows a median 23% improvement in speed-to-market, and nearly 90% of respondents reported higher employee satisfaction in departments where agents were deployed—suggesting that automation, when implemented thoughtfully, can enhance morale rather than threaten it.

Trust, the Key to Scaling AI

Perhaps the most telling insight: organizations that keep a “human in the loop” are seeing dramatically better results. These hybrid models were twice as likely to achieve 75% or greater cost savings compared to fully autonomous setups. In other words, trust isn’t just ethical—it’s economical.

“Agent systems are far more likely to advance to deployment when they maintain human oversight,” Sanders explained. “That’s what’s building the confidence to scale.”

SaaS Must Evolve—or Be Left Behind

The rise of agents is also shaking up the software-as-a-service (SaaS) ecosystem. G2’s report predicts that standalone SaaS tools will soon give way to “agent-augmented platforms.”

Key findings include:

• One in three companies would switch vendors to gain agent functionality.

• 68% of leaders see agents augmenting, not replacing, SaaS applications.

• The Agent-to-Agent (A2A) era has already begun, with half of companies reporting that their AI systems now coordinate across vendors and platforms.

That dynamic is likely to redefine the software market itself—pushing vendors to rethink pricing, packaging, and positioning in an agent-first world.

The Takeaway: AI Agents Are Here to Work

If generative AI represented imagination, AI agents represent execution. The shift from content creation to operational automation is redefining enterprise productivity—and G2’s data suggests the change isn’t theoretical. It’s happening now, across boardrooms, IT stacks, and front-line workflows alike.

As Sanders put it, “The organizations winning in 2025 are those that treat AI not as a tool, but as a teammate.”

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Yext, Inc. (NYSE: YEXT), the leading brand visibility platform, has released a landmark study analyzing 6.8 million AI citations across ChatGPT (OpenAI), Gemini (Google), and Perplexity. The findings reveal that 86% of AI-generated citations originate from brand-controlled sources such as websites and listings — challenging the notion that forums like Reddit dominate AI visibility.

The study emphasizes that AI visibility depends heavily on consumer context — including location and intent — not just brand prominence. “Discussions about measuring AI visibility are missing the most important factor: the consumer,” said Christian J. Ward, Chief Data Officer at Yext. “Our research clears this up. The message for marketers is that the most impactful sources are the ones they already control.”

Key Findings: Owned Sources Lead the AI Citation Race

• Websites dominate: 44% of AI citations come from first-party websites, followed by listings (42%) and reviews/social (8%).

• Forums underperform expectations: Reddit and similar sites accounted for just 2% of citations after factoring in query intent and location.

• Platform differences: Gemini favors websites (52.1%), OpenAI leans toward listings (48.7%), while Perplexity diversifies with MapQuest and TripAdvisor.

• Unbranded queries matter: Nearly 60% of citations for unbranded, objective questions come from first-party websites and local pages.

Industry Breakdown: Control Varies by Sector

• Retail: 47.6% of citations from brand-owned websites.

• Finance: 48.2% from authoritative brand domains.

• Healthcare: 52.6% from directories like WebMD and Vitals.

• Food Service: 13.3% from reviews/social, 41.6% from listings.

Across all industries, Yext found that 86% of citations come from brand-owned or managed assets, giving marketers a clear roadmap to influence their AI visibility.

AI Search Adoption Is Accelerating

According to Yext’s companion report, The Rise of AI Search Archetypes, over half of U.S. consumers now use AI assistants weekly. Yet 64% of marketing leaders remain uncertain how to measure AI search success, and 72% believe AI search will overtake traditional SEO within three years.

“Structured, accurate data is the foundation of digital visibility,” said Mike Walrath, CEO of Yext. “This research proves that when brands control their data, they control their visibility.”

The Road Ahead: How Marketers Can Optimize for AI Search

Yext recommends marketers:

• Measure visibility locally to track citations by source and region.

• Structure brand facts in machine-readable formats connecting locations, services, and providers.

• Distribute verified data to the sources AI models trust most — websites, listings, and reviews.

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Qlik®, a global leader in data integration, analytics, and AI, has been named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Business Intelligence and Analytics Platforms 2025 Vendor Assessment (doc #US52034725, July 2025).

The IDC report highlights the growing enterprise demand for “decision velocity” — the ability to make fast, data-driven decisions. Qlik’s analytics capabilities enable this through Qlik Cloud Analytics® and Qlik Sense®, which help users explore data, ask questions in natural language, and generate GenAI-powered explanations and actions within their workflows.

Empowering Real-Time Decision Intelligence

“Leaders are asking for one thing: shorten the distance between a question and an action,” said Brendan Grady, General Manager of Analytics at Qlik. “This recognition reflects how our customers apply governed AI and analytics to make confident decisions and automate next steps.”

Enterprises use Qlik’s high-performance analytics engine for in-memory calculations, non-linear data exploration, and AI-assisted insights — all governed to ensure data security. Through open APIs and SDKs, analytics can be embedded directly into applications, workflows, and customer-facing platforms for faster operational execution.

Customers Driving Value with Qlik

“Qlik puts trusted insight into the tools our teams use all day,” said Mikkel Hecht Hansen, Head of BI at Nordisk Film A/S. “We can ask questions in plain language, understand why a recommendation is made, and trigger the next step securely — all within one flow. That’s how we’re operationalizing AI responsibly.”

Analytics Without Boundaries

Qlik’s platform supports hybrid and multi-cloud environments, integrating data from major sources and pushing actionable insights into operational systems. With Qlik Predict™, Qlik Answers®, and event-driven automation, organizations are turning analytics into measurable business outcomes.

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Lorikeet, the AI company building universal concierges for businesses, has launched its Team of Agents platform — an industry first that enables multiple AI agents to collaborate in real time to resolve customer issues across voice, chat, email, and SMS.

Unlike traditional single-threaded chatbots that simply direct users to help articles, Lorikeet’s system orchestrates end-to-end problem solving. For instance, it can call logistics providers to track missing orders, text doctors for prescription follow-ups, or email hotels to arrange accommodations, all while keeping the customer informed through their preferred channel.

Why Lorikeet Stands Out

CEO Steve Hind explains, “Customers want someone to actually solve their problems. Our Team of Agents coordinates multiple agents across channels to deliver complete resolutions, not just responses.”

Key differentiators include:

• Multi-modal support: Deploy AI across voice, chat, email, and SMS, critical for real-world interactions.

• Fully configurable workflows: Adapt Lorikeet to your business logic, from structured processes to fully autonomous agentic solutions.

• Coordinated agent teams: Specialized agents engage third parties simultaneously, ensuring fast, accurate resolution.

Customer Success Stories

• Flex: Lorikeet helps renters manage monthly payments and avoid late fees, outperforming Decagon in accuracy and speed.

• Arbor: AI agents manage complex retail energy customer requests across 13 states, with high satisfaction and brand loyalty reported.

The result: higher customer satisfaction, stronger brand loyalty, and scaled agent productivity, allowing support teams to achieve more without adding headcount.

Industry Recognition

Lorikeet was also top-ranked in Andreessen Horowitz’s AI Spending Report, analyzing over 200,000 startups, highlighting its growing adoption as a solution for real, end-to-end customer experience automation.

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5WPR, one of the largest independently owned PR firms in the U.S., has launched a new integrated tech marketing offering aimed at supporting both fast-growth startups and enterprise technology brands. The service combines public relations, digital marketing, and reputation management to help companies build authority, drive demand, and accelerate growth.

The end-to-end approach covers strategic communications, narrative-driven PR campaigns, content creation, SEO, PPC, social media, influencer partnerships, and online reputation management. Specialized guidance is also offered for complex financial communications, including M&As and IPOs.

Driving Visibility in the Age of AI and Search

“Our integrated tech marketing offering is tailored to meet the unique challenges tech companies face today,” said Matthew Caiola, CEO of 5WPR. “By combining PR expertise with cutting-edge digital marketing and reputation management, we empower clients to stand out and build lasting connections with their audiences.”

The service leverages 5WPR’s proprietary GEO optimization tools and advanced digital strategies to enhance visibility across search engines, AI-driven platforms, and social channels. Campaigns are designed for measurable results, helping brands generate qualified leads, increase engagement, and reinforce thought leadership.

Supporting Growth Across All Stages

This launch reflects 5WPR’s commitment to providing results-driven solutions for tech companies at every stage — from early-stage startups seeking traction to established enterprises reinforcing industry leadership.

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In a digital world ruled by visuals, Cloudinary wants to make sure brands aren’t drowning in their own content. The image and video management platform today rolled out new AI-powered upgrades to its Cloudinary Assets digital asset management (DAM) system — headlined by People Search, an AI-driven feature that identifies individuals across massive content libraries, and enhanced analytics dashboards that help teams monitor usage and performance at a glance.

The goal? To make organizing, governing, and optimizing digital media as intuitive as creating it.

AI That Knows Who’s Who

With People Search, Cloudinary can automatically detect and tag people in photos, creating “named groupings” — say, for brand ambassadors, employees, or campaign talent. Every time a new image featuring that person is uploaded, it’s automatically added to the right collection. The result: no more manual sorting or endless file digging.

That’s particularly useful for brands managing sprawling visual libraries across global teams, where content often spans thousands of assets and dozens of contributors.

Smarter Insights, Faster Decisions

Cloudinary also introduced a new analytics suite that gives marketing and creative teams a clear view of how their visual content is performing — and how the DAM itself is being used. These dashboards surface metrics around content usage, team activity, and asset performance, enabling better governance and strategic planning.

“Delivering engaging visual experiences at scale is no longer optional — it’s expected,” said Rob Daynes, Managing Director of Cloudinary Assets. “These enhancements help teams move faster, stay compliant, and get more ROI from their creative work.”

The Bigger Picture: AI in DAM

Cloudinary isn’t the only player betting on AI to tame content sprawl. Rivals like Adobe, Bynder, and Aprimo have also infused AI into their DAM platforms to improve asset tagging, search, and compliance. But Cloudinary’s differentiator lies in its AI Vision, a built-in system leveraging large language models (LLMs) and specialized computer vision algorithms that can interpret prompts like “Does this image contain a person?” or “Is the model facing left?”

This lets users automate classification and tagging without custom AI training — a major efficiency boost for organizations juggling tens of thousands of images and videos.

Guardrails for the AI Age

As AI-generated and user-submitted visuals proliferate, Cloudinary’s content credentialing capabilities — compliant with C2PA standards — aim to ensure authenticity and trust in digital assets. AI-driven moderation adds another layer of brand safety by automatically flagging or filtering inappropriate or off-brand content.

What’s Next

Attendees at DAM New York 2025 can catch Cloudinary at booth #14 or during the session “Exploring Video in DAM” on October 14, featuring experts from Blackstone, MLSE, and ICP.

For current users, the new AI features and analytics tools are live today. And for anyone curious about the ROI of automation, Cloudinary even offers an AI Value Calculator to estimate savings.

Cloudinary’s latest move reinforces its push to keep enterprises’ visual content organized, intelligent, and future-proof — one pixel, one prompt at a time.

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