HubSpot is the first CRM to launch a deep research connector with ChatGPT. HubSpot customers who have admin controls can enable the connector for their organization by going to ChatGPT and turning on the HubSpot deep research connector function, selecting HubSpot as a data source, and authenticating their account. From there, any user in the organization can toggle it on, sign in, and start asking questions. In addition to being easy to use, the HubSpot deep research connector is also easy to trust. We built it to ensure users only see the CRM data they’re allowed to access in HubSpot. For example, individual sales reps will only see pipeline data for deals they own or manage. With the HubSpot deep research connector, customer data is not used for AI training in ChatGPT. Within ChatGPT, for example: Marketers can ask “find my highest-converting cohorts from recent contacts and create a tailored nurture sequence to boost engagement,” then use the insights to launch an automated workflow in HubSpot. Sales teams can find new opportunities by asking, “segment my target companies by annual revenue, industry, and technology stack. Based on that, identify the top opportunities for enterprise expansion,” then bring them back to HubSpot for prospecting. Customer success teams can say, “identify inactive companies with growth potential and generate targeted plays to re-engage and revive pipeline,” then take those actions in HubSpot to drive retention. Support teams can say, “analyze seasonal patterns in ticket volume by category to forecast support team staffing needs for the upcoming quarter,” and activate Breeze Customer Agent in HubSpot to handle spikes in support tickets.
Walmart’s Sparky helps customers search to find items, synthesize reviews, offers insights, instant and comprehensive answers to product-related questions
Walmart is expanding its AI offerings by introducing a new shopping assistant. Customers can now access the Gen AI-powered “Sparky” on the Walmart app. “Sparky helps customers search to find items, synthesize reviews, and offers insights to prepare for any occasion — from looking up current sporting events and finding the right jersey to planning celebrations and picking out the perfect toy,” Walmart said. In addition to making recommendations, Sparky also provides instant and comprehensive answers to product-related questions, helping customers quickly understand specific features, compare items and make informed choices. Soon, Sparky will do even more — giving customers the power to customize their experience, from automatically reordering household essentials to booking services that simplify even the most complex shopping tasks. Walmart said the assistant will be multi-modal (able to understand text, images, audio and video), “seamlessly weaving into customers’ lives to unlock instant access to the products and services they need, whenever and however they shop.”
Walmart optimizes social customer engagement with HGS AI and automation technology for filtering and tagging social media mentions, analytics and to reply to and engage with more customers online
Walmart Inc. is effectively managing millions of mentions per year across disparate social media networks. Part of the volume is generated by local Walmart store pages on Facebook, where the retailer wants the customer experience to match that of their neighborhood store. Walmart turned to AI-based business process improvement platform provider HGS to help improve its end-to-end social customer care, brand-building, and customer engagement. HGS provided Walmart with AI and automation technology for filtering and tagging social media mentions, analytics, a crisis management solution coordinated with a public relations firm, and a customizable social media management platform to reply to and engage with more customers online. In addition, Walmart was able to leverage a team of HGS social brand ambassadors, and a social media playbook. As a result, Walmart saved more than $12 million by filtering non-actionable mentions via enhanced automation and AI. The retailer also obtained more than 1.2 million customer insights, removed more than 220,000 spam mentions (such as hate speech and bullying), engaged 180,000 customers with personalized responses across four social media platforms, and generated 200,000 e-commerce site visits from reactive comments.
Walmart optimizes social customer engagement with HGS AI and automation technology for filtering and tagging social media mentions, analytics and to reply to and engage with more customers online
Walmart Inc. is effectively managing millions of mentions per year across disparate social media networks. Part of the volume is generated by local Walmart store pages on Facebook, where the retailer wants the customer experience to match that of their neighborhood store. Walmart turned to AI-based business process improvement platform provider HGS to help improve its end-to-end social customer care, brand-building, and customer engagement. HGS provided Walmart with AI and automation technology for filtering and tagging social media mentions, analytics, a crisis management solution coordinated with a public relations firm, and a customizable social media management platform to reply to and engage with more customers online. In addition, Walmart was able to leverage a team of HGS social brand ambassadors, and a social media playbook. As a result, Walmart saved more than $12 million by filtering non-actionable mentions via enhanced automation and AI. The retailer also obtained more than 1.2 million customer insights, removed more than 220,000 spam mentions (such as hate speech and bullying), engaged 180,000 customers with personalized responses across four social media platforms, and generated 200,000 e-commerce site visits from reactive comments.
Afterpay claims its customers are being asked to close BNPL accounts by banks to qualify for a mortgage and later offered a credit card upon qualification in a bid to protect decline in interest-yielding credit card debt
Some customers of Australia’s Afterpay have been asked to close buy-now-pay-later accounts to qualify for a mortgage and offered a credit card upon qualification, the BNPL provider said, underscoring fierce competition in the consumer finance sub-sectors. Afterpay claimed banks were capitalising on a perception of BNPL users as riskier than traditional borrowers to protect a declining lending category. Australian interest-accruing credit card debt is down 30% in half a decade as borrowers seek cheaper options. The company added that its survey found BNPL users had credit scores and on-time repayment records broadly in line with credit card users. The BNPL model has avoided regulation under Australian consumer credit laws so far as it doesn’t involve interest. However, “if it looks and acts like credit, then it should be regulated as such,” the Australian government had said last year. New legislation requiring BNPL firms to run credit checks on borrowers kicks in on Tuesday, which, Afterpay’s Head of Public Policy Michael Saadat hopes, would improve transparency around user creditworthiness. The main reason Afterpay customers close their accounts is because their lender or broker told them to, and “this should not be something that is driven by misperception of the regulatory requirements,” Saadat told.
Ratio is the only platform that combines embedded BNPL with a fully integrated Quote-to-Cash system for B2B subscription businesses
Ratio announced the launch of its Custom Payment Terms feature, which enables sellers to tailor financing options to match each buyer’s cash flow needs—without sacrificing upfront revenue. This release comes as Ratio reports over 800% growth in the past 12 months and adds Taxwell (also known as Drake Software) as a marquee customer. Ratio is the only platform that combines embedded Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) with a fully integrated Quote-to-Cash system for B2B subscription businesses. Ratio enables Taxwell to configure fully customized payment terms that align with the needs of its customer base—primarily SMBs—while maintaining full control over billing, renewals, and revenue collection. By integrating Ratio into its sales and finance workflows, Taxwell can manage deals end-to-end with greater speed and accuracy, reduce operational friction, and improve both buyer experience and cash flow. Ratio’s new Custom Payment Terms solution includes: Fully configurable schedules – Offer monthly, quarterly, deferred, or custom terms; Upfront cash flow – Sellers receive full contract value immediately; Modular Quote-to-Cash process – Unified quote-to-checkout-to-subscription experience inside CRM and billing workflows, configurable as a complete end-to-end flow or as a modular layer within your existing stack.
Starbucks is rolling out OpenAI-powered gen AI assistant to help baristas with quick and accurate answers to questions such as making an iced shaken espresso or troubleshooting equipment errors
Starbucks is set to roll out a generative artificial intelligence assistant, “Green Dot Assist,” to 35 locations in the US and Canada as part of its strategy to simplify baristas’ jobs and speed up service in its cafes. The technology, developed with Microsoft Azure’s OpenAI platform, will be used by baristas to answer questions such as making an iced shaken espresso or troubleshooting equipment errors. The company’s CEO, Brian Niccol, has emphasized the importance of quick, accurate answers to barista questions to help revive its sluggish US sales. Starbucks is expanding its relationship with Microsoft after the tech giant’s CEO, Satya Nadella, stepped down from the board of directors. The company’s partnership with Microsoft includes a grounding engine to ensure the accuracy of the information provided. Other restaurant companies have also been exploring AI to simplify their workers’ jobs and improve operations, such as Yum Brands partnering with Nvidia for AI order-taking and restaurant performance assessments.
Walgreens to access LiveRamp’s data “clean room,” to conduct granular campaign measurement across offsite publishers and walled gardens (closed networks such as Google)
Walgreens is providing participants in its retail media network with faster, more transparent access to first-party data and analytics through a partnership with data collaboration platform LiveRamp. Walgreens seeks to enhance measurement of first-party data (information it directly collects from customers) across all advertising channels, including programmatic, connected TV, social, search, and buy- and sell-side platforms. In addition, using the LiveRamp data “clean room,” Walgreens can enable advertisers to conduct granular campaign measurement across offsite publishers and walled gardens (closed networks such as Google). Walgreens intends to improve WAG’s personalization capabilities, provide advertisers access to data at scale, and deliver real-time campaign performance insights. Expected benefits include: Expanded collaboration based on Walgreens’ national customer base; Self-service access to syndicated and custom audience creation for more personalized targeting across the customer journey, using Walgreens’ data combined with brands’ desired media channels; Activation at greater speed and scale across programmatic, walled garden, connected TV, social, search, and buy- and sell-side platforms; Consolidated measurement to optimize the performance of managed and self-service campaigns with more accurate and granular insights; Enhanced interoperability, flexibility, and data governance to minimize the movement of data while collaborating with partners.
DoubleVerify unveils new partnership to authenticate Lyft ads for viewability, fraud verification, in-geo alignment and attention measurement
DoubleVerify announced a partnership with Lyft. The partnership will leverage DV’s media verification capabilities across Lyft’s advertising platform, giving brands greater transparency and confidence in their campaigns. Through the Open Measurement SDK, DV provides brands full transparency into the quality of ad campaigns across Lyft ads in North America. With this release, advertisers will benefit from DV’s key post-bid measurement capabilities, including: Viewability Authentication: DV provides comprehensive viewability measurement, offering clarity into whether an ad has the opportunity to be seen and shedding light on its impact. Fraud Verification: For advertising to perform, it must be seen by a real human being. DV identifies and helps to protect advertisers against fraud and invalid traffic (“IVT”) – from hijacked devices to bot manipulation. In-Geo Alignment: Ensure that your ads appear in the intended geographic location. Attention Measurement: DV Authentic Attention® provides near real-time data — from the impact of an ad’s presentation to key dimensions of consumer engagement –– empowering brands to evaluate the effectiveness of their advertising. Brands can access measurement data and insights through DV Pinnacle®, DoubleVerify’s unified service and analytics reporting platform, to monitor the quality of their Lyft ads campaigns.
Talkdesk introduces a new ”operating system for customer experience”—built on multi-agent AI orchestration and Data Cloud, that unifies structured and unstructured data across every customer interaction, channel, and system of record
Talkdesk upended the customer experience (CX) market with the launch of Customer Experience Automation (CXA)—a new software category and platform purpose-built to automate the full complexity of modern customer journeys. The Talkdesk CXA platform introduces a new operating system for customer experience—built on multi-agent AI orchestration and fueled by the Talkdesk Data Cloud, which unifies structured and unstructured data across every customer interaction, channel, and system of record. By turning transcripts, call recordings, messages, and case notes (combined with customer data points from multiple CRMs and specialized systems) into actionable knowledge, the Data Cloud gives AI agents the context they need to solve real business problems intelligently, autonomously, and at scale. Talkdesk CXA deploys a network of specialized AI agents—each with a clear role, shared context, and the ability to collaborate in real time. This makes it possible to automate complex, cross-functional processes that span the front and back offices with precision, speed, and adaptability. Talkdesk CXA is also built for speed. With preconfigured use cases, low- and no-code tooling, and both industry-specialized and general-purpose AI agents, organizations can go live fast and start seeing value quickly. A unique differentiator of the platform is the AI Gateway that enables Talkdesk CXA to sit on top of any third-party contact center, whether on-premises or cloud-based. This allows businesses to seamlessly integrate Talkdesk AI-driven solutions.