2026 stories
The shortlist spans software, biotech and retail, highlighting the breadth of New Zealand firms vying for EY's 2026 entrepreneur prize.
A narrower pricing gap and rising listed tech shares suggest European private exits could recover later in 2026, ScaleX Invest said.
Account takeover and card-testing attacks surged as AI lowered the cost and speed of scams, raising pressure on online retailers.
Advertisers are getting more clicks for less, as paid media outlays climbed 17.5% in the first half of 2026 despite a 10.8% drop in click costs.
Power shortages are steering new builds towards emerging markets as Asia Pacific's data centre pipeline climbs to a record 26.5GW.
Attacks are increasingly concentrating on a handful of familiar brands, with Microsoft alone accounting for 23% of phishing attempts in Q2 2026.
Household budgets are set to be reshaped as AI agents steer purchases worth USD $3.35tn by 2030, WARC and PHD say.
Demand for production-ready AI agents is pushing Google to reframe Cloud Run as a platform for long-running, data-driven workloads.
Enterprise buyers will get a new way to assess AI service partners after NiCE introduced a specialism based on certified staff and proven results.
Recognition follows a market shift towards integrated customer communications platforms as 8x8 scores above average on business success and sentiment.
Supplier breaches are amplifying disruption, with ransomware incidents in Europe rising 55.1% year on year in the first four months of 2026.
Higher profitability has helped push enterprise values up by about 15% for the average IT solution provider, according to a new report.
Most executives lack visibility over AI suppliers and infrastructure, leaving core operations exposed to outages, compliance risks and vendor lock-in.
Execution and escalation breakdowns now outnumber hallucinations in enterprise AI failures, according to more than 10,000 observed incidents.
A surge in small-business borrowing has prompted Iwoca to expand lending capacity, after UK SME lending rose 60% in 2025.
Brands are still relying on people for nearly half of social interactions, highlighting the limits of automation in customer-facing moderation and replies.
Asia's fund investors shifted towards shares in the first half of 2026, with bond funds sliding to net outflows of USD $3.1 billion.
Despite a global funding slowdown, the UK kept its No 2 FinTech spot as investors backed 181 deals worth USD $1.8 billion in H1 2026.
Household finances are under growing strain as repayment rates fall and missed payments rise, with balances matching a record high.
The tie-up will lift Deluxe's payments and data share of revenue to 57% of 2026 sales and make it one of the 10 biggest non-bank acquirers.