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Executive summary Amazon is rolling out a strict policy starting June 29, 2026, targeting padded handling times for self-fulfilled (FBM) SKUs. While 87% of FBM orders actually ship within a day, brands artificially inflate delivery promises to avoid late shipment … Read More

Executive summary Ulta Beauty reported a massive 11.1% year-over-year net sales increase in Q1 2026, hitting $3.16 billion. Digital channels crushed physical retail, with e-commerce delivering mid-teen growth compared to low single digits in stores. The secret weapon? “Ulta AI,” … Read More

Executive summary Amazon just packaged its internal AI shopping tech (which drove nearly $12 billion in sales) into a new AWS offering for outside retailers. Kate Spade New York is the first customer, launching an AI Gift Concierge that bypasses … Read More

TL;DR — Key Takeaways The global talent gap is massive, with 3.2 open positions for every qualified tech candidate in 2026, forcing brands to compete fiercely for technical resources. The real problem isn’t a lack of human beings, but a … Read More

Executive Summary Fact: In May 2026, more than 80% of Anthropic’s production code was authored by Claude — up from near zero when Claude Code launched in February 2025. Impact: Engineers are now merging eight times as much code per … Read More

TL;DR — Key takeaways On 11 May 2026, OpenAI launched the OpenAI Deployment Company — a $4 billion standalone unit staffing enterprises with Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) to close the pilot-to-production gap. A 2025 MIT study found 95% of enterprise … Read More

TL;DR — Key takeaways Gartner projects 40%+ of enterprise apps will embed agentic AI by 2026 — yet over 40% of those projects are expected to fail by 2027, primarily due to inadequate data infrastructure, not bad technology. The most-cited … Read More

Executive Summary Google’s Universal Cart — a single persistent shopping layer spanning Search, Gemini, YouTube, and Gmail — is rolling out to Walmart, Target, Nike, Sephora, Ulta Beauty, Wayfair, and Shopify merchants this summer 2026. For brand managers, the business … Read More

TL;DR — Key takeaways Amazon’s ad revenue crossed $56B in 2024 — but the brands winning aren’t the ones spending most. They’re spending at the right layer. ACoS measures campaign efficiency. TACoS measures whether you’re actually growing. Most brand teams … Read More

Executive Summary Fact: On June 2, OpenAI launched six role-specific plugins for Codex — bundling 62 apps and 110 skills across sales, data analytics, creative production, product design, equity investing, and investment banking. Impact: Knowledge workers already represent 20% of … Read More

TL;DR — Key takeaways Forward deployed engineers (FDEs) are senior engineers embedded inside a client’s environment to ship production AI — not slides, not reports, working code. FDE job postings jumped 729% year-over-year to 5,330 by April 2026, with salaries … Read More

Fact: Alphabet announced $80 billion in concurrent equity offerings on June 1, 2026, including a confirmed $10 billion strategic investment from Berkshire Hathaway, to fund AI data centre expansion. Impact: CEO Sundar Pichai guided to $180–190 billion in total 2026 … Read More