Brandlight, the first-of-its-kind AI Insights and Influence System, has emerged from stealth with $5.75 million in funding to help brands measure and shape their visibility in AI-generated search results. Brandlight provides businesses with the intelligence and tools they need to thrive in a digital landscape reshaped by AI-driven search. Brandlight’s system enables businesses to track, optimize, refine, and improve their AI-driven presence, ensuring they remain competitive in this new frontier. Brandlight’s system goes beyond traditional SEO. It is a strategic AI influence platform that enables brands to proactively shape AI-generated answers, ensuring their messaging accurately reflects and aligns with business objectives. The platform transforms AI search from a passive experience into a high-impact marketing channel, offering predictive insights that help businesses maintain a competitive edge. Imri Marcus, CEO of Brandlight says “Our system creates a baseline of how AI perceives a specific entity, giving you visibility into the AI black box, and actively improves on it.” In other words, it goes beyond surfacing AI-driven search results; it measures and optimizes how brands are interpreted across reputation management, partnerships, content strategy, SEO, and more. Underpinning this capability is a team of repeat entrepreneurs, marketing leaders, and top AI experts from the Israeli IDF’s elite tech units. Brandlight’s technology identifies the strategic data sources AI engines rely on, uncovering opportunities for optimization. It then refines this data for optimal AI processing, empowering brands to cut through the noise, gain visibility, and consistently deliver impactful outcomes.
Delta’s ecosystem approach to loyalty engine integrates partner-driven experiences that deliver emotional resonance
Delta is moving beyond the traditional “earn and burn” model to architect a lifestyle ecosystem. One that delivers emotional resonance, not just rewards. And they’re doing it through powerful partnerships, personal technology, and a loyalty experience designed to meet people where they live—not just where they fly. Delta’s partnerships with Starbucks and Uber are examples of what Josh Kaehler, Managing Director of Loyalty Partnerships at Delta, calls “frequency amplifiers.” “People engage with Uber and Starbucks more often than they fly,” he said. “Those brands already have deep emotional connections with customers. If we can piggyback on that frequency and that brand love, it’s a halo for Delta.” Camille Irving, GM of U.S. & Canada Mobility at Uber, described the partnership similarly: “No one brand owns the entire travel journey. Our work with Delta is about creating a ‘double delight’—seamless experiences, with rewards that resonate.” While aspirational moments—like flying Delta One to Europe—are core to the loyalty engine, Delta is increasingly focused on broadening its appeal to travelers who may only fly a few times a year. Delta’s SkyMiles Experiences platform, recently relaunched, offers everything from once-in-a-lifetime events to more attainable everyday cultural perks and live events. That’s why Delta has integrated partner-driven experiences, like a private tasting at Starbucks’ original Pike Place store and has hinted at more curated events to come through collaborations with brands like Uber and the PGA Tour. Delta’s tech roadmap includes the Concierge feature previewed at CES, aimed at giving travelers customized itinerary guidance, travel updates, and curated offers. Delta’s ecosystem strategy isn’t about transactional perks. It’s about touchpoints that make people feel seen, known, and valued. And in a category where airlines compete on price and routes, Delta’s secret weapon may just be something harder to quantify—but far more powerful: emotional equity.
Walgreens adapts in-store kiosks for safe disposal of unwanted, unused or expired medications
Walgreens is making its stores part of a major national initiative to help fight prescription drug abuse. On Saturday, April 26, 2025, Walgreens is participating in National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. This annual event is dedicated to the safe disposal of unwanted, unused or expired medications. During the event, participating consumers can dispose of medications they no longer need at any of more than 1,500 in-store kiosks Walgreens offers in its stores across 46 states and Washington, D.C. These kiosks are intended to help ensure medications are not accidentally or intentionally misused. Walgreens provides the kiosks at no cost, year-round, during regular pharmacy hours. Customers can find kiosk locations on Walgreens.com via the store locator tool by using the search filter for “medication disposal kiosk” under the pharmacy section. Walgreens pharmacies that do not have safe medication disposal kiosks offer other drug disposal options free of charge that are also available year-round upon request at the pharmacy counter.
Walmart to open ‘Beauty Bars’ in select stores to explore new products, talk to beauty experts and test samples; spotlights trend-forward brands online with elevated shopping experiences and editorial storytelling
In a pilot program, Walmart is introducing “Beauty Bars” in 40 stores. At the Beauty Bars, customers can explore new products, talk to beauty experts and test samples. Walmart said it is also spotlighting trend-forward brands online with elevated shopping experiences and editorial storytelling. The company noted it has added more than 40 premium brands in the past year, expanded assortment in its core business, and launched new pathways for emerging brands through programs such as its beauty accelerator program. In addition, Walmart is hosting its annual spring omnichannel extravaganza known as “The Beauty Event” through Saturday, May 31. As part of the promotion, Walmart is offering more than 1,800 rollbacks and in the past year, savings on a range of beauty products at varied price points. In addition, for the third straight year, Walmart will soon host Walmart+ Week, a sale exclusively for members of its Walmart+ paid subscription service. This year’s Walmart+ Week also provides a number of exclusive rewards and offers that build upon existing Walmart+ benefits from Walmart and several partner brands.
Etsy promotes ‘shopping domestically’ amid tariff concerns, offering curated shopping pages and local seller spotlights; sellers gain handbook on how tariffs are collected and the definition of the de minimis exception
Etsy is making it easier for buyers to find and purchase items from domestic sellers as a way to blunt potential tariff-related price increases on imports. These include features for customers such as curated shopping pages and local seller spotlights. For sellers, Etsy is providing an online tariff handbook that provides information such as how tariffs are collected and the definition of the de minimis exception. According to Etsy data, 89% of its sellers work from home by themselves without complex overseas production lines and fulfillment requirements, and most source supplies domestically, which can help them remain “agile and resilient” even when there are shifts to global supply chains. Etsy said it is also “elevating seller voices” to advocate for public policies that reflect the “unique needs” of small businesses and protect their ability engage in global commerce. Etsy has been attempting to improve its search experience for customers and sellers. The e-tailer recently began letting customers browse by curated collections on its app, based on trends, aesthetics and occasions. The retailer, which also provides set of creativity standards for products sold on its site, optimizes its search results to showcase a broader range of items from more sellers. Etsy has also launched a search visibility page that provides specific actionable tips, including insights on listing image quality and quantity, return policies, message response times, and shipping prices, for certain seller listings.
Monte Carlo’s AI agents for observability investigate, verify, and explain the root cause of specific data quality issues while also providing the recommended next steps for resolving
Monte Carlo, the data + AI observability platform, announced the launch of observability agents, a suite of AI agents built to accelerate monitoring and troubleshooting workflows to improve data + AI reliability. Monte Carlo’s Monitoring Agent recommends data quality monitoring rules and thresholds, which can then be deployed with the push of a button. The Troubleshooting Agent investigates, verifies, and explains the root cause of specific data quality issues while also providing the recommended next steps for resolving them. Both agents are the first of their kind in that they are not just making simplistic recommendations based on data profiles, but leveraging a sophisticated network of LLMs, native integrations and subagents to gain full visibility into the data estate across data, systems, transformation code, and model outputs. Monte Carlo’s Monitoring Agent, now generally available, identifies sophisticated patterns and relationships across a dataset that would otherwise be missed by more traditional profiling methods. Monte Carlo’s Troubleshooting Agent, with a general release scheduled for Q2 2025, investigates, verifies, and explains the root cause of specific data + AI quality issues. The agent tests hundreds of different hypotheses across all relevant tables within a dataset to understand if the root cause of a specific issue is a result of receiving bad data from the source, an ETL system failure, a transformation code mistake, or incorrect model output. The observability agents automate powerful monitoring and resolution tasks, but never directly manipulate, change, or act upon your critical data and key systems (read-only). This ensures they don’t create more reliability issues than they help resolve.