Artificial Intelligence (AI) is quickly transforming industries, and nearly 97% of CEOs are planning to integrate AI into their businesses. However, only 1.7% feel completely prepared. Despite recognizing AI's immense potential, CEOs are struggling with gaps in knowledge, skills, and infrastructure, making it difficult to implement AI successfully. This article explores the key findings of Cisco’s recent study on CEOs’ plans for AI integration, the barriers they face, and the strategies they plan to adopt to stay ahead of the competition.

1. AI Potential and CEO Concerns

• High Recognition of AI’s Importance: Four out of five CEOs acknowledge the transformative potential of AI for their businesses.
• Strategic Decision Challenges: CEOs worry that gaps in their understanding of AI will lead to missed opportunities and hinder strategic decisions.
• Fear of Falling Behind: Over 70% of CEOs are concerned that insufficient IT knowledge and infrastructure will leave them trailing behind competitors.

2. The Real Costs of Inaction

• Impact of Underinvestment: More than half of CEOs feel that underinvestment in technology is causing them to lose competitive advantage.
• Mounting Opportunity Costs: CEOs fear that without adequate investment, their companies will face higher operational costs, reduced productivity, and declining market share.
• AI as a Competitive Advantage: CEOs recognize AI’s potential to drive efficiency, innovation, and market leadership, but feel held back by existing barriers.

3. The Barriers Holding CEOs Back

• Skills Shortages: CEOs face challenges with a lack of skilled professionals who can manage AI integration.
• Infrastructure Gaps: Many companies are not yet equipped with the necessary infrastructure to fully capitalize on AI technologies.
• Cybersecurity Risks: Concerns over cybersecurity are growing as AI adoption increases, making secure implementation a top priority.

4. The CEO’s Blueprint for AI Integration

• People, Infrastructure, and Cybersecurity: CEOs are focusing on strengthening their workforce, modernizing their infrastructure, and enhancing cybersecurity to unlock AI’s full potential.
• Collaboration with Trusted Partners: 96% of CEOs plan to rely on trusted partners to future-proof their networks and prepare for AI adoption.
• Technology Leadership: CEOs are increasingly leaning on their CTOs and CIOs to provide the necessary expertise in AI integration and technology-driven growth.

5. Opportunities for Bold Action

• Transformative Potential: CEOs who embrace AI are setting the stage for innovation, operational efficiency, and a competitive edge in the market.
• Partnering for Success: Strategic partnerships will be essential for navigating the complexities of AI adoption and creating long-term value.

Conclusion:
As AI continues to evolve, CEOs are under increasing pressure to integrate AI within their organizations. While many recognize its potential, challenges such as skills shortages, infrastructure gaps, and cybersecurity risks remain significant obstacles. To stay ahead, CEOs are investing in their people, modernizing infrastructure, and forming strategic partnerships to ensure their businesses are AI-ready. Companies that act boldly today will lead the way in an AI-driven future, while those that delay may risk becoming irrelevant.

Doceree, the world's first global network of physician-only platforms for programmatic messaging, has introduced admanager—an advanced ad management platform designed exclusively for healthcare publishers. Leveraging proprietary ESPIYAN™ technology, admanager enhances HCP engagement, maximizes monetization, and improves ROAS with precision and efficiency.

Challenges for Healthcare Publishers:

• Managing digital ads effectively while ensuring compliance with industry regulations.
• Limited access to specialized ad platforms tailored to healthcare needs.
• Underutilized ad inventory leading to revenue loss.

How Admanager Solves These Challenges:

1. Healthcare-Specific Capabilities

   • Designed exclusively for healthcare publishers, ensuring compliance and targeted advertising.

2. Centralized Inventory Management

   • Connects publishers with premium healthcare advertisers for better fill rates, higher CPMs, and increased revenue.

3. End-to-End Monetization

   • Enables precise ad placements and seamless demand-side integration for revenue maximization.

4. AI-Powered Optimization

   • Uses real-time analytics and machine learning to enhance ad performance and engagement.

5. Seamless Integration

   • User-friendly interface that integrates easily with existing systems without disrupting operations.

6. Built-In Compliance & Security

   • Ensures compliance with HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA, and SOC2 standards for risk-free advertising.

7. AI Assistant – Ask Doceree

   • A 24/7 AI-powered assistant that provides real-time support on ad management best practices.

Industry Leaders on Admanager’s Impact:

• Harshit Jain, MD, Founder & Global CEO, Doceree:
  "Admanager is built exclusively for healthcare publishers, offering an optimized inventory management experience that enhances HCP engagement and maximizes revenue."

• Vijay Adapala, EVP – Global Supply Partnerships, Doceree:
  "Generic ad platforms don’t address healthcare’s unique challenges. Admanager is our latest innovation to help publishers fully utilize their ad inventory while maintaining compliance."

Doceree's admanager revolutionizes ad management for healthcare publishers by enhancing ad performance, automating compliance, and maximizing monetization. With AI-driven insights, seamless integration, and built-in regulatory compliance, it empowers publishers to take control of their ad strategies while delivering engaging, high-quality content to HCPs.

Cloudinary, the leading image and video platform powering top global brands, has unveiled AI Vision—an advanced generative AI solution that offers unmatched control and insight into visual media. Alongside this, Cloudinary has upgraded its popular Generative AI tools, making it easier for developers and brands to edit, optimize, and transform media at scale.

Introducing AI Vision – Media Intelligence with Generative AI

Managing large-scale visual media efficiently and accurately is a growing challenge. AI Vision enhances Cloudinary’s intelligent digital asset management (DAM) platform, bringing AI-powered automation to media workflows.

Capabilities of AI Vision:

1. Custom Taxonomy & Image Classification

   • Categorize, search, and find assets based on attributes like background color, subject orientation, and demographics—no manual tagging needed.

2. Content Moderation & Compliance

   • Detect branding elements, identify sensitive content, and maintain compliance with industry standards.

3. Visual Question Answering (VQA)

   • Generate SEO-friendly metadata and descriptive alt text by asking complex image-specific questions.

Major Upgrades to Cloudinary’s Generative AI Suite

Cloudinary continues to expand its generative AI tools, reducing complexity and unlocking creative possibilities for developers and brands.

Enhanced Generative AI Features:

1. Generative Fill

   • Improved contextual accuracy for filling whitespace when resizing images for different aspect ratios.

2. Background Removal & Replacement

   • More precise outputs for seamless background changes, even for complex assets.

3. Generative Extract (New Feature!)

   • Intelligently isolates objects, products, or people, enabling dynamic layered content creation.

4. Generative Enhance & Restore

   • Removes noise and imperfections, sharpens details, and restores image quality—ideal for reviving old or damaged images.

5. Generative Upscale

   • Increases image resolution without compromising quality, ensuring high-impact visuals across all channels.

6. AI Video Transcription & Chaptering

   • Automates video transcription and chapter generation for seamless video content management.

Industry Leaders on AI Vision & Generative AI Advancements

• Javier Acón, Audiovisual Documentalist, Fever:
  "These AI tools help us create multiple assets for different markets in a fraction of the time. They've been a game-changer for us."

• Nadav Soferman, Co-founder & Chief Product Officer, Cloudinary:
  "AI Vision automates and streamlines media workflows, reducing manual work while ensuring accuracy and compliance. Faster go-to-market times and optimized visuals are now within reach."

With the demand for high-quality, fast, and scalable visual content on the rise, Cloudinary continues to innovate with AI-powered automation. Whether through intelligent image classification, content moderation, or enhanced generative AI tools, brands can now deliver stunning visual experiences faster and with greater efficiency.

Rakuten, the leading Cash Back shopping platform, has introduced Programmatic Loyalty, an industry-first advertising solution that leverages AI and first-party data to deliver performance-driven outcomes with a guaranteed return on ad spend (ROAS). Retailers using this innovative solution have already witnessed remarkable growth, with a leading home and garden brand seeing a 107% year-over-year increase in shoppers during the second half of 2024.

Features of Programmatic Loyalty

1. AI-Powered Campaign Execution

Brands and retailers can build and execute campaigns in just three steps, optimized using automation, data, and personalization strategies:

• Aligned performance: Define campaign gross merchandizing value (GMV) based on budget and guaranteed ROAS.
• Fixed commission rate: Maintain a consistent commission rate throughout each month-long campaign.
• Dynamic Cash Back & media spend: AI-driven personalization dynamically adjusts incentives and placements to drive higher GMV, such as:
  • Adjusting Cash Back rates
  • Targeting different audience segments
  • Purchasing media inventory for optimal reach

2. Proven Performance for Retailers

Retailers leveraging Programmatic Loyalty are experiencing significant improvements in key metrics, including:

• 107% increase in shoppers (YoY growth for a home and garden brand)
• 81% rise in trips
• 5% boost in average order value (AOV)
• Consistently meeting monthly ROAS goals

Industry Impact

Rakuten’s Programmatic Loyalty is redefining the way retailers approach affiliate marketing and digital advertising. By offering goal-based advertising solutions, Rakuten ensures that brands achieve measurable outcomes.

Julie Van Ullen, Chief Revenue Officer at Rakuten Rewards, highlights the platform’s uniqueness:

"Programmatic Loyalty is revolutionizing the way in which retailers approach their affiliate investments. We trust our technology, data, and in-house expertise enough to take a bold stance and deliver a goal-based solution for retailers. That's something no other rewards platform can offer."

With AI-driven automation, first-party data insights, and guaranteed ROAS, Rakuten’s Programmatic Loyalty is empowering brands and retailers to optimize their advertising strategies, drive higher engagement, and maximize returns. As the retail advertising landscape continues to evolve, this solution offers a powerful competitive edge for businesses looking to scale their affiliate marketing efforts.

DynamicTracking has launched AI Reporting Studio, a cutting-edge solution designed to align compliance, marketing, and sales within a single platform. By correlating lead data with actual sales results, AI Reporting Studio provides actionable insights that help businesses optimize lead strategies and maximize ROI.

Challenges in Lead Generation & Compliance

The lead generation industry faces ongoing challenges, including:

• Stricter compliance regulations (e.g., TCPA)
• Lack of data transparency
• Disconnected marketing and sales processes

AI Reporting Studio addresses these issues by offering an integrated platform that connects lead performance metrics with verified consent data, ensuring businesses remain compliant while improving lead generation efficiency.

Key Features of AI Reporting Studio

1. AI-Powered Lead Performance Insights

• CRM Integration – Seamlessly tracks leads throughout the entire sales cycle.
• AI-Driven Lead Insights – Uses AI to analyze trends, optimize bidding strategies, and enhance conversion rates.
• Predictive Analytics – Evaluates lead intent in real time and offers insights for better resource allocation.
• AI-Generated Reports on Demand – Provides custom reports based on user queries, reducing the need for manual data analysis.

2. Integrated Compliance & Marketplace Support

Beyond lead performance tracking, AI Reporting Studio ensures regulatory compliance and efficient lead distribution through:

• Automated TCPA Compliance – Validates every lead to maintain adherence to compliance laws.
• Ping/Post Lead Marketplace – Enables real-time bidding and seamless lead distribution.
• Smart Lead Routing & Filtering – Matches leads with buyers based on criteria like ZIP code, credit score, and industry.

Executive Perspective

Alysa Fajkowski, Co-Founder of DynamicTracking, highlights the importance of integrating compliance, marketing, and sales data:

“Many organizations struggle to unify compliance, marketing, and sales data in a single framework. With AI Reporting Studio, we aim to help businesses gain real-time insights, enabling better decision-making and improved outcomes across teams.”

AI Reporting Studio by DynamicTracking revolutionizes lead generation by combining AI-driven analytics, compliance verification, and real-time reporting. Businesses can now streamline lead management, ensure regulatory compliance, and enhance sales performance, all within a single platform.

Coveo, a market leader in AI-Relevance, has announced the general availability of its Passage Retrieval API. This new solution enhances generative AI applications by providing accurate and secure information retrieval. With enterprises facing challenges in managing fragmented data for AI-driven solutions, Coveo’s Passage Retrieval API offers a robust method to ensure relevance, efficiency, and security.

Key Features of Coveo’s Passage Retrieval API

• Enhanced AI Accuracy
  • Provides precise and trustworthy information to large language models (LLMs) and AI applications.
  • Reduces hallucinations and ensures enterprise security compliance.
• Seamless Integration with AI Platforms
  • Compatible with Salesforce Agentforce, Microsoft Copilot, Amazon Bedrock Agents, and SAP Joule.
  • Streamlines deployment and minimizes operational costs.
• Unified Index for Enterprise Data
  • Uses advanced ranking techniques (lexical, vector-based, and behavioral).
  • Connects to CRMs, ERPs, ITSMs, and CMSs via prebuilt connectors.
  • Reduces maintenance costs and supports multiple AI applications.

Early Access Success Stories

• A Fortune 500 software company improved passage retrieval accuracy by 22% in two weeks.
• The same company reported a 73% boost in generated answer accuracy for its internal GenAI chatbot.
• Perficient, a key System Integration partner, noted enhanced AI efficiency across sales queries and global search experiences.

Top Use Cases for Coveo’s Passage Retrieval API

• Custom Generative AI Experiences
  • Ensures generative AI applications access the most relevant enterprise content.
• Chatbots and Virtual Agents
  • Enhances AI-driven conversations with personalized and context-rich responses.
• Internal Knowledge Management
  • Empowers employees with accurate and efficient access to enterprise knowledge.
• Customer Support & Case Deflection
  • Delivers precise self-service answers, reducing escalations and support costs.

Coveo’s Passage Retrieval API revolutionizes generative AI applications by improving data retrieval accuracy, efficiency, and scalability. With its seamless integration, enterprises can optimize AI-driven workflows and accelerate time-to-value while maintaining security and compliance.

Triton Digital, a global leader in digital audio, podcast, and broadcast radio technology, has partnered with Optable, a data collaboration platform, to revolutionize identity management in audio advertising. This integration enables audio publishers to securely manage user identity, enhance addressability, and optimize programmatic ad revenue.

Challenges in Audio Identity Management

• Audio advertising has historically lacked effective user identity integration.
• Complex deployment processes make it difficult for publishers to leverage first-party data.
• Privacy concerns and compliance requirements limit scalable identity activation.

How Triton Digital & Optable Solve These Challenges

• Seamless Identity Integration: Enables publishers to connect their first-party data to leading identity systems.
• Enhanced Addressability: Increases ad relevance by securely activating identity solutions like UID 2.0.
• Privacy-Safe Deployment: Ensures compliance with modern data privacy standards.

Benefits of the Partnership

• Improved Ad Performance: iHeartMedia, a leading U.S. audio company, achieved a 2.4x higher ad fill rate and a 26% increase in daily ad spending.
• Scalable Monetization: Supports leading ID frameworks such as UID 2.0, Epsilon PubLink, and Yahoo Connect.
• Increased Advertiser Trust: Ensures better targeting and personalization while maintaining listener privacy.

Future Outlook

Triton Digital and Optable’s partnership represents a major shift in the audio advertising landscape. By improving identity activation and programmatic revenue growth, this collaboration paves the way for more advanced solutions in audio advertising.

User identity activation is transforming digital audio advertising. As the industry evolves, Triton Digital’s enhanced identity framework will empower publishers and advertisers to deliver better, data-driven listener experiences while maximizing revenue.

Terakeet, a leading online brand management partner for Fortune 500 brands, has been granted a U.S. patent for its proprietary Total Addressable Market (TAM) analysis tool. This milestone reinforces Terakeet’s leadership in performance marketing, ensuring businesses can leverage AI-driven audience identification for better strategic decisions.

Innovative Features of Terakeet’s TAM Analysis Tool

• User Intent Analysis: Goes beyond traditional keyword matching by analyzing Google’s algorithm, SERP data, and user behavior to reveal deeper search intent.
• AI-Powered Insights: Utilizes machine learning and generative AI to generate and refine reference text for keyword qualification.
• Semantic Scoring: Uses semantic similarity scores to rank and select the most relevant keywords for content optimization.
• Business Impact: Helps brands create highly targeted, results-driven marketing strategies based on real search behavior.

Industry Recognition & Future Outlook

• Terakeet was recognized by Digiday and named a Best Place to Work by BuiltIn in 2025.
• Co-founder and CTO Patrick Danial joined Tech:NYC’s AI Committee, highlighting the company’s role in advancing AI-driven marketing solutions.

With this patent, Terakeet continues to redefine performance marketing by leveraging advanced AI and data analytics. This technology will further empower businesses to optimize content strategies, enhance audience engagement, and drive measurable business growth.