Research Report

Rosemont, Ill. – September 28, 2026 -- More than 75 million people in the United States live in a county without a vascular surgeon, according to new county-level data released by the American College of Surgeons (ACS), exposing a care gap as the population most vulnerable to vascular disease grows sharply toward 2030, when all baby boomers will be at least 65.

New mapping tool counts just 4,685 vascular surgeons across 3,144 U.S. counties

The ACS Surgical Workforce Mapping Tool, built with the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), found an average of 1.4 vascular surgeons per 100,000 people nationwide. While 290 hospital referral regions contain at least one vascular surgeon, 2,320 counties within those same regions have none, showing that regional averages mask local access failures.

Washington – September 28, 2026 -- More than 15 million Americans live in one of 1,180 US counties with no general surgeon, according to a national analysis unveiled at the ACS Clinical Congress 2026 and published simultaneously in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Study maps 12 surgical specialties across all 3,144 US counties for the first time

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill identified 201,394 surgeons practicing nationwide as of April 2025, equal to 59.2 surgeons per 100,000 people. Of the country's 3,144 counties, 951 (30%) had no identified surgeon in any of the 12 specialties, affecting 9.6 million people, while 1,180 counties (38%) had no general surgeon, affecting 15.1 million.

Jacksonville, Fla. – September 28, 2026 -- The U.S. independent workforce reached a record 74.9 million people in 2026, driven by a 114% surge in full-time independent professionals since 2020, according to the 16th annual State of Independence study released by MBO Partners by Beeline.

Full-time independents now account for 22% of all full-time U.S. workers

That share is nearly double the level recorded in 2019, marking a structural shift from supplemental gig work toward independence as a primary career path. Among independent professionals surveyed, 78% plan to remain independent or scale a larger business, with nearly six in 10 intending to continue working independently and one in five aiming to grow their operations.

Cary, N.C. – September 26, 2026 -- Small financial institutions rank ahead of similarly sized insurers, government bodies, health care providers and life sciences firms on AI adoption, with 64% of small banks and credit unions using AI in IT operations, according to a new SAS and IDC study.

The report, "AI for SMBs: Closing the Readiness-Reality Gap," surveyed 1,600 small and midsized business leaders across 28 countries in five regions. SMBs were defined as organizations with 100 to 999 employees in the U.S. and 100 to 499 employees elsewhere.

AI adoption in small banks concentrates heavily in IT functions

Among small financial institutions, 64% report AI use in IT, compared with 47% in finance and risk, 44% in marketing, 42% in customer service and 39% in product development.

New York – September 25, 2026 -- Sixty-nine percent of enterprise technology decision-makers now weigh energy more heavily in AI and data infrastructure decisions than a year ago, according to new research from EnterpriseDB (EDB) presented at the United Nations Global Compact Leaders Summit this week. The survey of 300 respondents, conducted in September 2026, found reliability of supply cited by 49% of respondents as a leading energy factor, with cost and energy efficiency each cited by 48%.

New York – September 25, 2026 -- U.S. oil producers are replacing only 95 barrels of proved developed reserves for every 100 barrels extracted, according to a new white paper from alternative asset manager Kimmeridge, even as natural gas reserve replacement remains above 120%.

Capital efficiency erodes despite operational gains

The industry's three-year value-weighted recycle ratio dropped to 167% in 2025 from 184% in 2019, Kimmeridge found, despite higher revenue per barrel of oil equivalent and continued improvements in corporate costs and drilling efficiency. The report, titled "Shale's Golden Years, Part II: The Cost of Aging," follows the firm's 2024 publication that argued consolidation could offset an aging shale resource base.

New York – September 25, 2026 -- Direct AI-model usage accounts for just 9.4% of an AI agent's recurring monthly operating cost, according to an illustrative model cited in a new report from The Conference Board, underscoring how governance, monitoring, and human supervision drive the bulk of expenses in agentic AI deployments.

Executives rank AI as the top investment priority for 2026

In The Conference Board's C-Suite Outlook 2026, 43.6% of executives identified AI and technology as their leading investment priority, ahead of any other category. The new report argues that capturing value from that spending requires more than purchasing tools or running pilots.

Las Vegas – September 25, 2026 -- Hands-on participation at live brand events correlates with an 85% increase in purchase intent among deeply engaged attendees, according to new research from experiential agency Spiro released today.

Spiro's second EMIR report isolates which design choices drive trust and sales action

The findings come from EMIR: The Deeper Dive, the second wave of Spiro's Experiential Marketing Impact Report (EMIR), based on a survey of 2,000 additional B2B and B2C live-event attendees. The first EMIR report, published in 2025, established a business case linking live experiences to trust, advocacy and purchase intent; this follow-up isolates which specific design decisions produce those results.

New York – September 25, 2026 -- Eighty-one percent of senior living executives say resident acuity has increased over the past two years, according to a new report from Sage, an integrated Care Intelligence Platform for senior living and skilled nursing. The findings, unveiled at Sage's caregiving summit Sage Shift, draw on a survey of 510 senior living executives, community leaders and caregivers conducted between July 9 and September 25, 2026, alongside operational data from communities running Sage's platform.

San Francisco – September 24, 2026 -- None of the 15 major institutions interviewed by Bitwise Asset Management reduced their crypto allocations during a roughly 50% market drawdown between Q4 2025 and Q2 2026, with several increasing positions instead, according to the firm's new Institutional Crypto Adoption report.

Bitwise, a crypto asset manager overseeing $9 billion in client assets, conducted in-depth interviews with senior investment professionals at endowments, foundations, public pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, multi-family offices, investment consultants, and public companies to determine what institutions hold, why, and what would trigger a sale.