Chatbots stories

Klaviyo forecasts 2026 surge in AI voice shopping, automated returns and connected-device purchases reshaping how consumers buy.

Zendesk warns APAC brands that rising CX expectations demand transparent, context-rich AI that resolves issues instantly or risks churn.

UK councils ramp up AI spending to boost efficiency and services, but poor strategy and complexity risk wasting taxpayers’ money.

Australian AI Festival 2025 crowns joint startup winners Apate and Lenexa Medical as awards span tools, influencers and creative AI work.

OpenAI backs a new California ballot measure with child-safety group Common Sense Media to impose strict rules on youth use of AI chatbots.

Talkdesk unveils Commerce Orchestration and Consumer Goods Experience Cloud to coordinate AI-driven retail journeys end to end.

Pendo rolls out Agent Analytics to help companies track AI agents in real workflows, spot friction points and turn usage data into improvements.

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

Exactly.com predicts AI agents, social commerce and omnichannel retail will redefine trust, convenience and control in 2026 shopping.

Conviva expands Digital Product Insights with AI-driven pattern analytics, unifying journeys across apps, websites and conversational agents.

Yubico experts say 2026 will redefine authentication, with post-quantum security, digital ID wallets and AI-driven threats converging.

Simwood launches WhatsApp Business voice integration, linking Teams, SIP and UCaaS tools to more than three billion WhatsApp users.

Freshworks rolls out new AI tools for Freshdesk to unify channels, cut agent drudgery and boost resolution speeds for service teams.

AI is set to overhaul Australian freight, data strategy and jobs by 2026, as leaders shift from pilots to deep, context-aware deployment.

Meta has bought Singapore AI start-up Manus, aiming to embed its autonomous general-purpose agent across consumer and business products.

AI is transforming loyalty from points to real-time, personalised journeys as super apps and agentic engagement engines rapidly take hold.

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.

Commvault and Pinecone team up to deliver immutable backups and rapid recovery for mission-critical RAG and vector database workloads.

Australia’s vast public sector is turning to AI to boost efficiency, cut costs and improve services, while navigating strict ethical safeguards.

Qlik to pour USD $1.5bn into Europe, join AWS European Sovereign Cloud and debut agentic AI via its new Qlik Answers experience.