Digital Assistants stories

UK retailers brace for GBP £1.05bn in post-Christmas returns as fashion fit woes, social commerce and ageing habits strain logistics.

Britons now say thanks more often to AI chatbots and satnavs than to colleagues, as new research reveals a growing ‘digital manners’ trend.

AI “digital twins” are quietly transforming Canadian farms, turning torrents of data into practical decisions on crops, cash and resilience.

The pioneer who coined AGI forecasts 2026 as a pivotal year of steady AI gains, from memory-rich assistants to robots in human spaces.

GoComet unveils agentic AI tools in Manila to help Philippine logistics teams predict disruption, cut freight costs and boost productivity.

Manhattan rolls out embedded AI agents across its Active suite, promising real-time automation and custom agent creation for retailers.

Salesforce rolls out upgraded Slackbot, turning the chat app into an AI-powered workplace agent for Business+ and Enterprise+ users.

Apple will build its next-generation AI foundation models on Google’s Gemini cloud, promising a more personalised Siri later this year.

Yext predicts AI will overhaul online discovery by 2026, as trust in AI search grows and brands race to be chosen by algorithms.

Google Cloud unveils Gemini CX AI platform to link retail and restaurant shopping, service and ordering into one joined-up experience.

Perforce CTO Rod Cope predicts context and agentic AI will transform coding, jobs and security as ambient systems quietly permeate daily life.

UK retailers brace for a GBP £1.05bn blow from 52 million post-Christmas gift returns, as hybrid shopping and fashion fit issues drive costs.

BeyondTrust and Ping Identity unveil unified AI-driven identity security fabric to tackle Zero Trust, silos and non-human access risks.

Amazon launches Nova 2 AI suite with four new models and introduces Nova Forge for firms to create custom AI solutions tailored to diverse industries and tasks.

Over half of government CIOs expect IT budgets to rise in 2026, prioritising AI, cybersecurity and cloud tech despite fiscal constraints, says Gartner research.

Kore.ai integrates its AI agents into Microsoft 365 suite, enabling secure automation across Word, Teams, and Outlook for enterprise productivity.

Banks are moving beyond AI pilots to integrate intelligent systems across operations, boosting efficiency and personalising customer engagement sector-wide.

By 2030, AI agents could drive GBP £29bn in UK online spending as 45% of younger shoppers already trust AI to find better deals for them.

Agentic AI is set to save the NHS GBP £340 million annually by easing staff workload, cutting patient queues, and boosting operational efficiency across workflows.

Sage unveils AI-driven finance agents and cloud platform to boost automation, streamline workflows, and empower mid-sized business finance teams.