U.S. convenience stores, grocery stores and bottle shops are entering 2026 with a surprisingly durable outlook—but increasingly see technology and artificial intelligence as tools for controlling costs rather than chasing transformation. A new Toast survey of 340 retail operators found that 90% are experimenting with AI, while 75% plan to increase technology spending over the…
Centric Software is previewing Centric AI, a new platform designed to bring generative and agentic AI into retail product lifecycle decisions, at NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show Europe in Paris. The platform connects product data, workflows and AI agents across planning, design, sourcing, pricing and commercialization as retailers move AI from experimentation toward operational use….
Positron AI has raised $875 million in a Series C financing at a $5 billion post-money valuation, giving the AI inference chipmaker capital to develop its next-generation Asimov processor, ramp its Titan systems and expand production. The funding arrives as AI infrastructure shifts toward the increasingly expensive task of running models at scale. The economics…
Exiger has unveiled an AI-native version of its 1Exiger platform, adding an agentic AI execution layer for supply chain, procurement, trade compliance and risk management. The company says its new AI product development lifecycle is allowing it to redesign software faster while combining proprietary supply chain data with autonomous AI workflows. Exiger is betting that…
Coursera is previewing an AI-native enterprise learning platform designed to shift corporate training from course completion toward measurable workforce skills. Code-named Project Helix, the platform combines adaptive learning, skills intelligence, AI guidance and capability verification, as Coursera and Udemy build a unified product strategy following their May 2026 combination. Corporate learning platforms have traditionally measured…
