Digital Transformation

Hollywood, Fla. – October 05, 2026 -- Red Roof outlined a multi-brand growth strategy at its Ignite conference this week, centered on a redesigned Red Roof PLUS+ experience, a next-generation RediRewards loyalty program and an AI-native digital platform, President Zack Gharib told more than 1,000 attendees.

Red Roof PLUS+ gains hot breakfast, interior corridors and upgraded guest rooms

Planned enhancements for the midscale PLUS+ tier include hot breakfast in upgraded breakfast areas, enhanced bathroom lighting and terry, interior-corridor design, lobby marketplaces, and optional fitness facilities and pools depending on location. The changes aim to give the segment a more consistent, recognizable identity and strengthen property performance for owners.

Palmyra, Wis. – – October 05, 2026 -- Wholistic Matters, powered by Standard Process, has launched an expanded continuing education catalog pricing courses between $29 and $79, undercutting an industry standard of $30 to $50 per credit hour.

Pricing structure targets rising CE costs for practitioners

The self-paced, on-demand courses are tiered at $29 for 1-credit offerings, $59 for 3-credit courses, $69 for 4-credit courses, and $79 for 5-credit courses. The courses carry accreditation across multiple practitioner boards, including ND, DC, LAc, CNS, ACBN, BCHN, NTP, and California RN.

Philadelphia – October 05, 2026 -- SmartMark Communications has received the platinum Pinnacle Award for Excellence in the Best Consumer IoT Product category following the successful deployment of its customer-centric load flexibility solution at a Tier one Investor-Owned utility.

Award marks first recognition for a customer-focused IoT solution in load flexibility

The company said this is the first time a customer-centric IoT platform has won industry recognition specifically for shaping the future of load flexibility in the energy sector. The patented solution, built on SmartMark's Customer2GridTM strategy, is designed to establish a balanced, two-way relationship between utilities and their customers within grid-flexible programs.

Palo Alto, Calif. – October 05, 2026 -- Clockwork.io has raised $31 million in new funding and secured production deployments at LinkedIn and Together AI, bringing its total funding to $73 million as enterprises seek to curb GPU downtime during large-scale AI training.

LinkedIn prevents tens of thousands of GPU-hours of downtime monthly

LinkedIn has deployed Clockwork.io's LinkPass network fault-tolerance software across its AI infrastructure fleet. Raghu Hiremagalur, SVP, CTO Infrastructure at LinkedIn, said a single InfiniBand NIC flap previously could remove an eight-GPU server from service, while a switch port flap could double the impact to 16 GPUs. LinkPass now automatically reroutes traffic onto healthy paths, letting jobs continue uninterrupted while faults are repaired.

Teaneck, N.J. – October 05, 2026 -- Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) has launched Cognizant Activate, a new business unit targeting enterprises generating $1 billion to $5 billion in annual revenue with a dedicated AI transformation model.

Cognizant builds a right-sized operating model for fast-growing mid-market firms

The business unit pairs Cognizant's AI Builder capability, already deployed with the world's largest companies, with an operating model designed for the speed and decision-making pace of emerging enterprises building toward Global 2000 scale. Cognizant Activate will deliver platform-aligned, pre-configured solution kits covering data and AI, cybersecurity, enterprise applications, cloud modernization and managed services.

Plainsboro Township, N.J. – October 05, 2026 -- Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority (GDRTA) has selected ConnXAI to deploy its Unified Customer Communications Platform, powered by ConnXAI MaestroTM, to merge fixed-route, paratransit and customer-service data into a single operational layer.

GDRTA aims to replace fragmented transit systems with one operational truth

Transit data at GDRTA currently sits across separate systems covering fixed-route schedules, paratransit, vehicle locations, incident tracking and customer service. ConnXAI MaestroTM will connect these existing platforms rather than replace them, creating a shared operational context designed to improve the accuracy and timing of rider communications.

"The goal is to establish one operational truth and turn that truth into the right customer message, delivered through the right channels at the right time," said Shawn Prince, IT Director at GDRTA.

New York – October 05, 2026 -- MediaRadar launched Total Event Investment, a proprietary framework that tracks brand spending across advertising, sponsorship and creative campaigns tied to major sporting events, the company announced.

MediaRadar's World Cup research found 6,737 brands spent $1.42 billion

The framework grew out of MediaRadar's analysis of the 2026 Men's World Cup, where 6,737 brands invested a combined $1.42 billion across advertising, official sponsorships, athlete and national team partnerships, and creative campaigns. That research pushed MediaRadar to expand from broadcast and streaming ad tracking into sponsorship analytics.

Boston – October 05, 2026 -- Pryzm, the CRM built for government contracting, has rebranded as Belisar following 6X annual recurring revenue growth and adoption by a third of the more than 60 defense tech unicorns currently operating.

Defense budget request hits $1.5 trillion as venture capital floods the sector

The White House has requested $1.5 trillion for national defense in FY27, the largest defense budget request in U.S. history. Venture investment in defense tech reached $49.1 billion in 2025, nearly double the prior year, yet contractors still face slow, opaque paths from idea to deployed contract.

Houston – October 05, 2026 -- GETCHOICE!, the enterprise utility intelligence platform, reported 220% growth in total spend under management over the past two years, alongside a 50% run-rate revenue pace and 130% year-over-year net revenue retention. Spend managed on the platform grew more than 20% in the most recent quarter alone.

U.S. power and utilities M&A surged 173% year over year to $216 billion

PwC data cited by the company show announced U.S. power and utilities M&A totaled $216 billion in the six months ended May 2026, up 173% versus the prior-year period. GETCHOICE! frames its own expansion as a direct response to this broader shift, in which electricity, natural gas, steam, water, wastewater, waste and recycling, telecom and internet spend are increasingly treated as a single mission-critical category.

Chicago – October 05, 2026 -- Expand Energy (NASDAQ: EXE), North America's largest independent natural gas producer, has selected global technology consultancy Thoughtworks to design and build an enterprise-wide AI capability, with a production-ready solution targeted for deployment by the end of 2026.

Expand Energy moves beyond isolated AI pilots toward enterprise-scale deployment

The multi-phase engagement spans AI strategy, use case prioritization, machine learning platform implementation and production delivery across Expand Energy's exploration, production and energy marketing operations. Josh Viets, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Expand Energy, said the company selected Thoughtworks for its ability to connect strategy, technology and delivery within a single engagement.