Affairs

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09.04.26

iProov, which provides science-based biometric identity verification solutions, examines in its 2026 Threat Intelligence Report how generative AI is enabling threat actors to evolve their tactics and launch attacks faster and at greater scale, targeting organisations that rely on digital identity verification to secure access to systems and high-value transactions. Amongst other findings, the report indicates that injection attacks targeting iOS devices surged by 1,151 per cent in the second half of 2025, contributing to a 741 per cent annual increase.

Unity and Meta have sealed an extended multi‑year platform support and enterprise agreement that deepens the companies’ long‑standing collaboration in virtual reality. Under the extended partnership, Unity will continue to provide support for Meta’s VR platform. Alex Blum, COO, Unity, commented, “Meta is the world’s leading VR platform, and we’re proud that Unity powers the majority of its top‑selling VR games. Great content is what makes VR successful. By pairing Meta’s hardware and OS leadership with Unity’s role as the assembly point for interactive content creation, we’re making VR accessible to more developers so they can develop, deploy, and grow their games and business applications on Meta’s VR devices.”

TNS’ Financial Markets Business and Radianz have combined to form Waypoint Trading Solutions. The new organisation is focused on delivering high-performance infrastructure for financial markets globally. Waypoint’s capabilities are organised across three solution areas - Radianz, Xpress, and Sentinel. Radianz provides global trading connectivity through a financial extranet. Xpress delivers a managed low latency platform for high-performance access to exchanges. Sentinel provides market data solutions that support complex market data operations at scale.

08.04.26

Openreach has deployed proactive AI agents from NiCE Cognigy to redesign customer engagement across 15 million customer journeys during one of the U.K.’s largest digital infrastructure transformation programmes. By shifting from reactive management to AI-driven proactive engagement, Openreach aims to deliver a more seamless broadband upgrade experience at national scale - increasing appointment success, reducing inbound contact volumes, and generating operational and commercial value not only for Openreach but also for clients such as Vodafone and Sky.

Redwire Corporation, which operates globally in aerospace and defence technology solutions, has opened an office in the United Kingdom to directly support current and future programmes under the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD). Redwire’s expanded UK presence includes dedicated staff across engineering, programme management, logistics and sustainment functions. The company is positioning itself to provide greater real-time support, rapid integration services and localised lifecycle management for MOD initiatives - strengthening alignment with the UK’s evolving defence priorities and accelerating delivery of cutting-edge capabilities.

Global programmatic media company MiQ is acquiring Rocket Lab, a mobile app growth hub. This move builds MiQ’s mobile in-app capabilities and strengthens MiQ’s expansion into growth markets. The acquisition combines Rocket Lab’s deep in-app expertise with MiQ’s omnichannel offering to deliver an end-to-end solution for clients across all media channels. MiQ has chosen Rocket Lab to accelerate in-app performance as a core product capability. This strengthens MiQ’s omnichannel proposition and enhances Sigma - its AI-powered operating system - by integrating critical mobile and regional data into its 700 trillion signals ecosystem. With Rocket Lab’s capabilities, MiQ enables more precise, performance-driven strategies for brands operating in an increasingly mobile-first world.

07.04.26

Tigo Energy, Inc., which provides intelligent solar and energy software solutions, has introduced a next-generation energy storage system and the latest addition to the Tigo GO optimised product line in Europe. The Tigo GO Battery joins the GO EV Charger and GO Junction for heat pump integration. The system delivers expandable energy storage capacity of up to 47.9kWh, faster installation via lightweight plug-and-play modules, and cold-weather operation down to -30°C. The new GO Battery arrives as several European countries set new all-time single-day records for solar energy production, and global solar installations grew by 11% between 2024 and 2025. The Tigo GO Battery serves European market demand with an optimised modular architecture built on 3.68kWh battery units that installers can configure from 7.3kWh for compact installations to up to 47.9kWh for larger households with higher energy consumption. Each battery module weighs 34kg, helping enable faster deployment while maintaining the compact footprint installers need for space-constrained installations. The modular design helps enable future capacity expansion as household energy needs evolve, giving residents the option to add battery modules without extensive rework or replacing existing infrastructure.

The Motor Accidents Insurance Board (MAIB) of Tasmania has selected the FINEOS Platform to replace its legacy Motor Accidents Claims System (MACS) with a contemporary, secure and client-centric claims management solution. FINEOS Corporation provides core systems for life, accident and health insurers globally. The MAIB provides compulsory third-party personal injury insurance to Tasmanian motorists in accordance with the country's Motor Accidents (Liabilities and Compensation) Act 1973.

06.04.26

Research published by Cognizant indicates that companies pursuing AI adoption overwhelmingly prefer IT services firms - such as "AI Builder" firms, a new services model defined by designing and building custom, full stack AI solutions - to deliver real enterprise value from AI. The research, titled 'How ai is reshaping business & empowering workforces', is based on a quantitative study of 600 AI decision makers and qualitative interviews with 38 senior executives, finds that organisations rank custom solutions and flexible engagement models as the most important factor when selecting an AI partner, ahead of pricing and time to value. Pricing and proven AI case studies remain important, but rank below capabilities that enable AI to be embedded directly into business operations and value chains. Ravi Kumar S, CEO of Cognizant, commented, "AI success is not about deploying isolated models - it's about engineering intelligence into the enterprise with purpose-built solutions. The most trusted path to an AI future is working with an AI Builder - one that brings deep industry context, systems engineering expertise, and operational accountability."

As AI workloads become more accessible across the enterprise, so does the threat of new security risks – both in the cloud, and on the device. This requires businesses to adopt stronger protection capabilities, built directly into their fleet of PCs, to help ensure that valuable information remains secure. To address this need, Intel and CrowdStrike have extended a multi-year collaboration to optimize the CrowdStrike Falcon platform for Intel-powered AI PCs. Leveraging Intel’s on-device AI acceleration across the CPU, GPU and NPU - enhanced by silicon-level telemetry through Intel Threat Detection Technology and Intel vPro’s hardware-assisted recovery - the Falcon platform enables consistent, high-performance security at enterprise scale. This enables real-time protection that helps stop breaches and prevent generative AI data leaks without slowing PC performance, giving businesses more confidence to use AI tools to drive innovation and efficiency while improving overall cost. Jen Larson, general manager, commercial client segments, client computing group, Intel, noted, "By combining Intel’s AI PC architectures with the CrowdStrike Falcon platform, we’re enabling real-time security and data protection on the device without compromising performance or user experience, expanding our joint roadmap and co-engineering pipeline to further accelerate delivery of AI-based security at the edge."

05.04.26

Starbucks Coffee Company has finalised its joint venture with Boyu Capital, marking a significant milestone in the company’s long-term strategy to unlock sustainable, disciplined growth in China. The transaction finalises the intent Starbucks shared in November 2025 and reflects the company’s continued confidence in China as a critical growth market. The joint venture is designed to enhance Starbucks ability to expand its footprint, deepen local relevance, and elevate the customer experience while maintaining the integrity of its brand and values. Under the terms of the agreement, funds managed by Boyu Capital now hold a 60 per cent stake in Starbucks China retail operations, while Starbucks retains a 40 per cent ownership interest and continues to own and license the brand and intellectual property to the joint venture. The joint venture oversees approximately 8,000 company-operated coffeehouses today, which will transition to a licensed operating model, with a shared long-term aspiration to grow to as many as 20,000 locations over time. Brian Niccol, chairman and chief executive officer, Starbucks Coffee Company, commented, “China remains one of the most exciting long-term opportunities for Starbucks, and finalising this partnership with Boyu accelerates our ability to grow with intention and discipline. By combining Starbucks trusted global brand with Boyu’s deep local expertise, we are positioning the business to serve more customers, enter more cities, and strengthen our leadership in a dynamic and evolving market.”

04.04.26

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) and France-based Orano have reached an understanding on cooperation over nuclear fuels.  Under the agreement, KHNP and Orano will establish a broad cooperation framework covering the full nuclear fuel lifecycle, from securing uranium raw materials to processing stages such as conversion and enrichment. In particular, the two companies plan to strengthen their mid- to long-term fuel supply foundation through collaboration linked to new production facilities, and to build a stable nuclear fuel supply system resilient to external environmental changes.

Spacelabs Healthcare has signed an agreement with DEPTH Health, Inc., that will allow DEPTH Health to provide hospitals and health systems the Rothman Index through its DEPTH’s Real-Time Advisor for Clinical Expert Routing (RACER) offering. Spacelabs Healthcare’s Rothman Index is an advanced application that is designed to help healthcare providers identify subtle changes in a patient’s condition in the hospital, allowing doctors and nurses to intervene before patients show signs of declining. “As we were evaluating best-in-class systems that could complement the DEPTH RACER platform, the Rothman Index really stood out,” said Alan Portela, co-founder and CEO of DEPTH Health. “The system’s ability to detect subtle changes in a patient’s condition can help healthcare providers make faster, more informed decisions about a patient’s status and the level of care they need. These actionable insights assist caregivers in quickly deciding when a patient needs more intensive care or is ready for the step-down unit, which ultimately helps hospitals improve patient traffic flow and optimise every bed.”

Highflame, an AI Security company focused on securing AI agents and their interactions, has formed a partnership with Tailscale to bring real-time security evaluation to AI activity at the network layer. By integrating Aperture by Tailscale with Highflame’s platform, organisations gain visibility into LLM interactions and the ability to assess risk across prompts, tool usage, and model outputs. This works without requiring changes to agents or developer workflows.

03.04.26

OLX Group, a fast-growing platform for vertical transactions, has launched AutoGPT - a conversational AI assistant that transforms how people search for and buy cars. Built in partnership with OpenAI and powered by agentic AI innovation, AutoGPT allows consumers to describe what they need in natural language and receive personalised recommendations. AutoGPT is now live for OTOMOTO (Poland) on ChatGPT, with rollouts scheduled for LaCentrale (France), Autovit.ro (Romania), and Standvirtual (Portugal).

AI and data transformation company Solita has launched Solita RoadCrew Agentic Orchestrator, a multi-agent tool designed for autonomous, enterprise-grade software development. It marks a significant step forward in how software is designed, built and operated in complex organisational environments. Solita RoadCrewAO enables a more intelligent, faster and adaptive approach to software development by orchestrating specialised AI agents that collaborate across the development lifecycle. These agents learn from organisational context and adapt over time while operating under human supervision.

Options Technology, a provider of mission-critical infrastructure and connectivity solutions for global financial markets, has strengthened its presence in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region by adding direct connectivity to the Japan Alternative Market (JAX), a proprietary trading system (PTS). The integration marked a strategic expansion of Options’ market access offerings across Japan and APAC. JAX’s entry into Japan’s financial ecosystem introduces greater diversity in liquidity sourcing and enhances price discovery for both trading participants and the broader buy-side community. As a founding partner, Options Technology supported JAX from its market launch and has played a key role in enabling seamless, low-latency access to its trading and market data feeds.

02.04.26

Project management professionals are rapidly embedding artificial intelligence (AI) into their day-to-day work, transforming how projects are planned, delivered and managed, according to new research from the Association for Project Management (APM), conducted in partnership with Censuswide. The survey of 1,000 project professionals in the UK highlights widespread adoption of AI tools across sectors including financial services, technology, construction, engineering and transport and logistics - with applications ranging from administrative automation to advanced decision support and risk forecasting.

Fintech firm Acrisure has completed the acquisition of Vave, a technology-driven property MGA, from Canopius Group. Vave is now part of Acrisure Underwriting, a platform of 12 MGAs operating in the U.S. insurance markets. Vave continues to operate under its brand name through the leadership of its founding management team, led by Marek Shafer. Canopius Group continues to be one of Vave’s capacity providers under a multi-year agreement.

African financial platform Moniepoint Inc. has completed its acquisition of Sumac Microfinance Bank Limited. The transaction, approved by the Central Bank of Kenya and Competition Authority of Kenya, marks Moniepoint’s first major acquisition on the continent and its formal entry into the East African market. Moniepoint now holds a 78% majority stake in Sumac. The move allows Moniepoint to deploy its suite of banking, payments, credit and business management tools to Kenya's 7.4 million MSMEs - a sector contributing 40% of the nation’s GDP.

01.04.26

Options Technology, which provides institutional-grade infrastructure, market data and managed services for global financial services, has completed its acquisition of Crossvale, a specialist in application and platform modernisation. The completed acquisition strengthens Options’ ability to help financial services firms modernise legacy environments, reduce technology debt, and accelerate adoption of private cloud and AI, within a secure, compliant operating model purpose-built for regulated markets. The acquisition builds on an already successful partnership between the two firms, with several joint deployments underway.

Seagray has acquired Worldwide Currencies, marking the first step in a deliberate strategy to build a diversified and integrated financial services group. Established over 20 years ago, Worldwide Currencies has built a highly respected foreign exchange business defined by long-standing client relationships, disciplined execution and a strong service culture. The firm will now serve as the initial platform for Seagray’s broader expansion across complementary financial services sectors.

Hitachi Digital Services has confirmed that it is strengthening its operational technology (OT) and informational technology (IT) integration via the use of a comprehensive manufacturing operations management (MOM) platform. The technological advancement enables Hitachi to accelerate the transformation of discrete manufacturing sites into resilient, sustainable smart factories. Further, the MOM platform is slated to expand Hitachi’s HMAX Industry solutions portfolio, serving as a strong foundation for industrial AI-driven modernisation.