2026 stories

Regulation, soft plastics revival and cost-conscious shoppers are driving five packaging shifts set to reshape Australia by 2026.

CFOs shift from hiring to hardware, funnelling bigger budgets into tech, AI and sales while HR, headcount and pay growth lose momentum.

Camunda appoints Chris White as Chief Revenue Officer to drive sales and partner growth as demand for agentic AI orchestration accelerates.

AI is reshaping PR, but leaders warn the winners in 2026 will be those who keep strategic communications firmly human-led.

Smartphones now underpin criminal investigations worldwide, with 97% of cases drawing on mobile data as agencies race to keep pace.

AI data centre investment is starving Europe’s PC market of key components, driving sharp RAM and SSD price rises into 2026.

Brightcove maps 2026 AI push and major UX overhaul, promising faster innovation, richer accessibility tools and smoother video operations.

WD maps a path to 100TB-plus hard drives, unveiling faster, lower-power designs as cloud data centres scale storage for AI workloads.

Swiss startup Umanitek has unveiled Guardian Agent, a subscription tool to spot deepfakes, fake profiles and AI-driven impersonation online.

OpenAI will levy a 4% fee on Shopify merchants for sales made via ChatGPT’s integrated instant checkout from late January 2026.

Data Privacy Day warns AI and cloud adoption is racing ahead of data governance, as boards and regulators demand proof of control.

Forward Networks debuts Forward AI, a digital twin-powered agentic assistant promising safer, verifiable automation for network operations.

Actionstep launches AI-powered Trace to automate time capture for law firms, backed by its acquisition of passive tracking startup Traced.

Ireland ends its data centre freeze with strict rules tying new projects to onsite power, renewables and a shift beyond Dublin’s grid limits.

BioCatch posts record ARR above $185 million as it adds 90 banks, blocks $4 billion in fraud and expands its global trust network.

OpenSilver 3.3 lets developers embed native Blazor components directly into XAML apps, unifying web and desktop UI workflows.

ANS Academy becomes first apprenticeship provider to earn Ofsted’s new ‘strong standard’ rating across all inspection categories.

Global business travel spend hit USD $1.57 trillion in 2025, with AI-driven, intentional trips set to power faster growth into 2026.

The UK’s Cyber Security and Resilience Bill puts GRC at the core of business, demanding real-time oversight, resilience and accountability.

SCALA partners with Optilogic to formalise use of its AI-driven Cosmic Frog platform for advanced supply chain network design and risk analysis.