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  1. Technology & Innovation

Does Google Have a Claude Code Counterpunch?

The rise of coding agents has reshaped the AI race. Since late last year, AI products that control your computer and act on your behalf have become the frontier, leaving benchmark-breaking model releases as something of an afterthought. Of the leading players, Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex have become company-defining products. But Google, despite […]
6 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

AI driven search specialist Searchable secures £10.3 million in funding from Headline at £62.9 million valuation

Searchable has raised £10.3 million ($14 million) at a £62.9 million ($85 million) valuation in a funding round led by venture capital firm Headline (backers of Semrush, Bumble, Farfetch, and Sonos). Following the company’s launch in January, Searchable says it achieved £1.4 million ($2 million) in annual recurring revenue in under 4.5 months and has […]
3 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Who’s Winning Compliance AI in 2026: Vanta or Drata?

By Jenny Liu, Director of Product @Yipitdata The compliance AI market is splitting by segment. Signals data tracking real software spend across 1,300+ companies shows Vanta maintaining a commanding mid-market lead while Drata gains momentum in enterprise adoption and monetization. Key Takeaways From Compliance AI Data (through February 2026): Vanta dominates mid-market adoption and spend, […]
8 min read
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  1. Trends & External Forces

Making Book On Differentiated Retail

The Wall Street Journal has a story about Barnes & Noble tied to the fact that CEO James Daunt, who began running the perpetually troubled retail chain in  2019, has gotten it to the point where its hedge fund owners are preparing for an IPO. And there are lessons for every retailer – especially mainstream […]
3 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

Marc Lore’s startup Wonder preps blockbuster 2026 IPO: last week’s most read RTIH retail technology articles

Check out our most clicked articles from last week, including Boot Barn, Aptos, Amazon Just Walk Out technology, Morrisons, Vusion, JD Sports Fashion, Kevel, Dollar General, The Trade Desk, and the first ever RTIH Retail Technology Hot 100 List.  Have your say and vote today! First ever RTIH Retail Technology Hot 100 List goes live, […]
6 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

Are AI’s Consumer Applications Hitting a Wall?

Source: Apptopia This week, the market erupted after OpenAI’s disappointing revenue numbers came to light in the Wall Street Journal. The company is barreling toward an (inevitable) $1 trillion+ IPO, and any hiccup in its story drives a mini-panic. After the chaos settled down though, the bigger, underlying story baked into the numbers got almost […]
4 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Is Granola the new leader in AI notetaking?

By Jenny Liu, Director of Product @Yipitdata New Signals data shows Granola rapidly gaining ground in AI notetaking, with accelerating mid-market adoption, near-zero churn, and 3x spend growth over the last six months. Granola is pulling ahead in the AI notetaking market. YipitData’s Signals data — drawn from real software transactions across 900+ mid-market companies […]
6 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

OpenAI President Greg Brockman on GPT-5.5 “Spud,” AI Model Moats, and a ‘Compute Powered Economy’

OpenAI released its long-awaited GPT-5.5, or “Spud,” model on Thursday. The model is “a beginning point,” OpenAI President Greg Brockman told me shortly after release, setting up a series built to take action on your behalf and accomplish your goals. GPT-5.5, Brockman said, is adept at coding and computer control, able to act without arduous […]
14 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

12 early breakout AI and software companies right now 

By Jenny Liu, Director of Product @Yipitdata New Signals data across ~250,000 software and AI vendors highlights a small group of early-stage companies converting rapid adoption into real spend.  A small group of early-stage AI and software companies are breaking out in early 2026, showing rapid customer adoption paired with real spend growth across YipitData’s […]
6 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

ElevenLabs is dominating voice AI — can anyone catch up?

By Jenny Liu, Director of Product @Yipitdata New Signals data on voice AI platforms shows ElevenLabs is defining the category, driving nearly all entry, usage, and spend across 900+ mid-market companies. This week our analysis showed that ElevenLabs has essentially turned voice AI into a one-vendor category. Across 900 companies in our mid-market panel, ElevenLabs […]
5 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

n8n or Zapier: Who’s winning workflow automation right now?

By Dan Pellegrinelli, VP of Research @Yipitdata New Signals data on workflow automation from 1,300+ mid-market and enterprise companies shows that n8n is continuing its breakout growth in 2026 and gaining traction within Zapier’s base — but higher-spend mid-market expansion and enterprise adoption remain limited. n8n has grown its mid-market customer base more than 10x […]
5 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Descript vs Veed vs Kapwing: Who’s Winning AI Video in 2026?

By Jenny Liu, Director of Product @Yipitdata New YipitData analysis of 1,300+ mid-market and enterprise companies shows Descript widening its lead in AI video editing, driven by accelerating customer growth and a step-change in monetization. Descript is emerging as the clear leader in AI video editing — and the gap is widening. That’s the pattern […]
6 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Who’s Winning in AI Video? Synthesia vs HeyGen vs Runway (2026 Data)

By Jenny Liu, Director of Product @Yipitdata New YipitData analysis of 900+ mid-market companies shows HeyGen surging in adoption, Synthesia leading in spend, and Runway dominating AI video generation. See the latest trends. Who’s gaining traction, how is monetization evolving, and where are competitive dynamics starting to take shape in the AI video market? In […]
7 min read
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  1. Stores & Formats

Worth Reading:  Barnes & Noble’s Bricks-and-Mortar Revival

The Atlantic  has a terrific story about Barnes & Noble’s revival: “Barnes & Noble was once the avatar for sinister big-box stores on the march against independent businesses … Then Barnes & Noble got its comeuppance. In the years after the 2008 financial crisis, it closed more than 150 stores. To some extent, the bookstore […]
2 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

Andrew Ross Sorkin on the Risk if AI Succeeds, Private Credit, Prediction Markets, and the SpaceX IPO

When Andrew Ross Sorkin released his book on the 1929 stock market crash last year, the prevailing worry was that the debt-reliant AI buildout might end in disaster. Now, six months later, the market is freaking out about AI’s potential to succeed. Every Anthropic blog post seems to cause a mini-meltdown in software stocks and […]
14 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

“There is no room for small dreams”

For the past five years I have been the host of a podcast called What Next? speaking to leaders, pioneers, authors, artists, scientists and many others on what is coming next in their fields and what we should prepare for. We have recorded over 168 episodes, and it is ranked among the top one hundred […]
4 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

Grok Is Gaining on ChatGPT and Gemini. How It Got There Isn’t Pretty.

Elon Musk’s AI bot Grok is ascending, jumping from 1.6% to 15.2% in market share among daily U.S. users of chatbot apps from January 2025 to January 2026, according to mobile insights firm Apptopia. The rise marks a furious entry into the chatbot app market for xAI, Musk’s AI company, which joined the race from […]
4 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

The AI Super Brawl, NVIDIA’s OpenAI Gut Check, The World Eats Software

Welcome back to our Big Technology Agenda Setter newsletter, in your inboxes most Mondays from myself and journalist . This week we look at the Super Bowl ad fight, Nvidia’s forthcoming decision on OpenAI, and the market’s continued software conundrum. The Super Bowl advertising fight between OpenAI and Anthropic might’ve been more interesting than the […]
3 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

Out of home delivery and automated parcel locker specialist InPost prepped for takeover

A consortium fronted by Advent and FedEx is set to buy InPost for 15.60 euros per share, valuing the European parcel locker company at 7.8 billion euros ($9.2 billion). The transaction to expected to close in the second half of this year. Advent and FedEx will each own a 37% stake in the parcel locker […]
3 min read
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  1. Data & Insights

Bob’s Discount Furniture Goes Public with $2.22 Billion Market Cap

Bob’s Discount Furniture began trading on the NYSE on Feb. 5 with an IPO of 19.45 million shares priced at $17 per share. The retailer’s initial market capitalization of approximately $2.22 billion is based on 130.4 million shares outstanding after the IPO, according to the Wall Street Journal. The share price “barely budged,” however, according […]
2 min read
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  1. Media & Marketing

In-store retail media platform specialist Grocery TV announces leadership team additions

Grocery TV, an in-store retail media platform, has announced three leadership hires: Neil Murphy as SVP of Retail Partnerships, Steve Sapp as SVP of Media Partnerships, and Chris Lee as Chief Technology Officer. “We’ve built the foundation that makes in-store retail media work at scale, and now, we’re ready to accelerate,” says Marlow Nickell, Founder […]
3 min read
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  1. Technology & Innovation

OpenAI’s Latest Mega-Fundraise, Big Tech Earnings Week, Amazon Layoffs?

Sam Altman is fundraising again and the next round could be historic. The OpenAI CEO is reportedly in early talks with Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds about raising $50 billion, a round that could give his company a valuation between $750 billion and $850 billion and eclipse its own record-setting $40 billion SoftBank investment fulfilled […]
5 min read
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Editor’s Choice

  1. Trends & External Forces
  2. Shopper & Customer
  3. Technology & Innovation
  4. Trends & External Forces
  5. Associates & Employees
  6. Merchandising
  7. Stores & Formats

Walmart to Expand Digital Shelf Labels Chainwide

Walmart will deploy digital shelf labels (DSLs) chainwide this year, doubling the approximately 2,300 U.S. locations currently using the technology (Walmart U.S. operates more than 4,600 stores). With more than 120,000 items in a typical Walmart store, managing price changes manually requires significant associate hours. Additionally, these DSLs are equipped with LED lights that make […]
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