Natural diamonds are the most desired luxury jewellery product, average purchase prices have increased 25%, Gen Z is now the second largest generation buying diamonds, and non-bridal occasions account for three-quarters of overall US demand. These are some of the key findings of De Beers Group’s latest US Diamond Acquisition Study, featuring responses from 18,500 women aged 18 – 74 across the industry’s largest consumer market. Completed in 2026, the biannual study also found that Gen Z is spending almost double what Baby Boomers spend when buying natural diamonds – at $4,080 per piece vs $2,250 – and that while...
Bain & Company partners with Google Cloud to enable accelerated and secure, enterprise-scale AI transformations
Bain & Company announced a partnership with Google Cloud that offers Google’s world-class technology and Bain’s deep strategy and implementation expertise to support accelerated adoption of AI solutions. Clients will now have access to both Google Cloud’s AI and Bain’s market-leading strategic implementation capabilities, including product engineering and adoption. The partnership will provide support for customers that are adopting and implementing critical AI tools and a pathway to deliver maximum value. Bain has experience with AI use cases across data science, machine learning, product engineering and management, while Google Cloud brings experience in scaling, data analytics and enhanced business intelligence....
Corteva shapes the Future of Sustainable Agriculture
The modern agricultural landscape is defined by volatility with fluctuating input costs, unpredictable climate change and mounting pest challenges, all while meeting the global food demand. In response, technology-driven solutions are critical, serving not only to enhance crop yields but also to support resilient and sustainable food security. As a global leader in agricultural innovation, Corteva is at the forefront of this transformation, pioneering new breeding techniques (NBTs) that enable precise crop improvement while working within the plant’s natural genetic framework. “Working closely with farmers and leveraging our extensive network of technologies, we are able to improve crops and yields in ways that were...
Doceree Unveils Trigger DOOH, Bringing True Addressability to Healthcare Out-of-Home Advertising
Doceree, the world’s first AI-powered operating system for healthcare marketing, unveiled — from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France — Trigger DOOH, a breakthrough product that brings true addressability to digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising in healthcare for the first time. Trigger DOOH activates campaigns based on real-world clinical signals — including patient check-ins at hospitals, clinics, and specialty care centers — enabling life science brands to reach the right audience, in the right place, at the right clinical moment. Through the product, Doceree’s clients gain access to a national network of premium DOOH screens across the United States,...
More human touch, less paperwork: Making a difference with HR self-service
Self-service removes the timesinks that masquerade as HR. Why do people choose to work in Human Resources? Reasons include that it’s a respectable career that attracts good salaries, scope for promotion, and playing a key role in an organisation. But for many HR professionals, it’s also about working with people in meaningful ways. In countless surveys, HR professionals highlight the meaningful work in helping employees and having a hand in growing the company through smart hiring. Their roles are often strategic, providing insights to senior leaders. HR people are not paper-pushers; they help shape and support people. This purpose can...
Allianz: $125 billion in vessel and cargo value awaits passage from the Persian Gulf
Given that 90% of international trade is transported across oceans, maritime safety and stable shipping trading routes are critical. According to Allianz Commercial’s latest Safety and Shipping Review, incidents like the closure and reported mining of the Strait of Hormuz are the latest in a series of recent disruptions to have impacted shipping. They signal a transition toward a “new maritime order” defined by escalating security risks along strategic shipping corridors, the disruption of established trade routes, persistent uncertainty, higher risk premiums, and a greater strategic emphasis on resilience over pure cost efficiency. In addition to geopolitical uncertainty, traditional risks for the shipping...
MotoGP Group appoints CAA Sports as exclusive global sponsorship agency
MotoGP Group has appointed CAA Sports, a division of leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), as its exclusive global agency to accelerate the evolution of its commercial programme and unlock new partnership opportunities worldwide. Building on a well-established and high-performing sponsorship ecosystem that already partners with leading brands, MotoGP continues to deliver strong global reach, a fanbase of more than 650 million, and a premium calendar across key international markets. This collaboration with CAA Sports marks the next phase in scaling that success – expanding into new categories, enhancing global visibility, and increasing the value delivered to...
Coca-Cola announced as Official Partner of Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027
Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 has today announced Coca-Cola as an Official Partner, joining what is set to be a landmark edition for the tournament. With momentum building on and off the field, the tournament continues to attract global partners and ignite fans’ imagination worldwide. The partnership comes amid unprecedented global interest in Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027, underlining the scale of the opportunity for world-leading brands like Coca-Cola to connect with fans and be involved with one of the most anticipated global sporting events of 2027. Fans from across Australia and around the world are already showing exceptional levels of interest for this 11th edition with over 1.2m million tickets from 141 countries requested in the recent Application Phase that closed earlier this month. This latest sales phase offered rugby enthusiasts and new fans to the...
Silent Partner AI Secures Strategic Growth Investment from NYO Capital
Silent Partner AI, the company behind Contactter.ai, an all-in-one AI communication platform for automotive dealerships announced a strategic growth investment from NYO Capital, a growth equity firm focused on bootstrapped, founder-led software companies. Most dealerships run customer communication on a pile of disconnected subscriptions: one vendor for email, another for texting, a third for chat, with separate systems for reputation management, video, and voice. Each is billed separately, and because the tools can’t hand off to one another, leads slip through the gaps between them. Contactter consolidates all of it, email, SMS, web chat, reputation, video, WhatsApp, and AI voice...
New report reveals South African businesses don’t have a Software problem. They have a judgment problem
South African businesses have become highly effective at producing software quickly. What remains far less clear is why this increased engineering velocity is failing to translate into commercial growth for many companies. That is the central finding of the 2026 State of Product Development Report, released this month by Cape Town-based digital product consultancy Specno. The report outlines the 10 capabilities now defining how scaling product teams turn digital products into revenue, and names the widening performance gap between companies that ship features and those that actually compound revenue growth. The report draws on insights from a council of group...