Business Wire

Dubai has launched the Create AI Agents Championship, a global competition inviting innovators to develop practical and scalable AI-agent solutions that address real-world challenges, with a total prize pool exceeding AED 2.5 million. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261008883373/en/ Dubai has launched the Create AI Agents Championship as part of its efforts to accelerate the adoption and development of Agentic AI (Photo: AETOSWire) The launch of the championship was announced by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai, who encouraged innovators from around the world to participate. Led by Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, the championship aims to accelerate the adoption of Agentic AI and support the development of innovative AI-agent solutions with strong potential for

Seiden Law LLP, chief global counsel to Cambodian businessman Yim Leak, announced today that Jared Genser, international counsel to Mr. Yim and his wife, has asked two UN Special Rapporteurs to send an urgent appeal to the Thai government. The request is made on behalf of the couple and their seven-year-old son. It says Thailand violated its international human rights commitments by announcing the family’s guilt before any court had tried them, and by freezing their assets, including their minor son’s savings, without a hearing. Six Official Statements in Nine Months. No Charge Filed in Any Court. Between December 2025 and September 2026, Thai officials described Mr. Yim as the center of a criminal network on six occasions: at two press conferences chaired by the head of the Thai government, in the House of Representatives, and in three government press releases. The head of the Thai government said the network had been “found to have committed” offenses. Asked about the suspects’ lawy

Meanwhile, the first life insurer licensed to operate entirely in Bitcoin, today announced $37.5 million in new funding from its existing investors. Bain Capital Crypto led the round, alongside Haun Ventures, Framework Ventures, Pantera Capital, Apollo, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, and Morgan Creek Digital. Meanwhile, whose backers also include Sam Altman, has now raised more than $180 million. The round follows a surge in international demand for Meanwhile’s Bitcoin life insurance policies, particularly in Asia, Europe and the Middle East amid broader macro instability. In early 2026, Meanwhile launched BTC Life 1-Pay, a single-premium whole life policy built for high-net-worth clients outside the United States. It is the company's second product line after BTC 10-Pay, which is purposely designed for US taxpayers. As the company eyes further international growth, Meanwhile has signed 15 brokers serving wealthy families since launch, including in the insurance hubs of Singapore

Andersen Consulting expands its human capital capabilities through a Collaboration Agreement with TalentSmartEQ, a San Diego-based firm focused on creating practical, engaging and actionable learning experiences rooted in emotional intelligence (EQ) and leadership development. For more than two decades, TalentSmartEQ has worked with organizations around the world to develop leadership skills through emotional intelligence, helping strengthen employee engagement, teamwork, and overall performance. The firm combines research-based methodology with practical learning experiences, assessments, coaching, and customized programs that are designed to translate EQ development into sustained changes in workplace behavior. As an industry leader, TalentSmartEQ works with organizations spanning Fortune 500 companies to government agencies and privately held businesses. “Organizations are asking more of their leaders and employees as the workplace continues to evolve,” said Howard Farfel, CEO of Ta

Toluna, a global leader in consumer insights and market research technology, today announces a planned leadership transition. After 25 years leading the company he founded, Frédéric Charles Petit, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, intends to transition from his role as CEO following the appointment of his successor as part of a carefully planned succession process designed to ensure continuity for clients, employees and partners. Following the transition, Mr. Petit will continue to serve on Toluna's Board of Directors, will remain a significant shareholder of the company, and will take on an ongoing strategic advisory role for areas central to Toluna's next phase of growth. The Board, in close consultation with Mr. Petit, has initiated a structured succession process. A comprehensive transition plan is in place, including a defined handover with Mr. Petit, to ensure continuity for the company’s clients, employees, and partners. The Board expects to confirm the appointment of the com

CSC, an enterprise-class domain registrar and world leader in detecting and mitigating brand, fraud, domain, and Domain Name System (DNS) threat vectors, today announced that its 3D Domain Security and Global Enforcement solution won for Threat Intelligence Innovation in the 10th annual CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards. The awards recognize the most innovative companies, products, and technologies driving progress in the global information security industry. CSC’s 3D Domain Security and Global Enforcement solution for the enterprise domain ecosystem combines advanced AI machine learning technology, proprietary domain threat intelligence, expert analysis, and integrated global enforcement. With this technology, organizations can detect, understand, and act on external cyber threats targeting their brand online across social media, search engines, email, and e-commerce websites. By uncovering high-risk domains and providing a multidimensional view of threat vectors outside the firewall

Stonebranch, a leading provider of service orchestration and automation solutions, today announced the Hybrid Orchestration Control Plane, a new solution powered by Stonebranch Universal Automation Center™ (UAC) version 8.1. It lets enterprises run traditional automation, AI tasks, autonomous agents, and human decisions as one end-to-end workflow, with consistent permissions, approvals, service levels, audit trails, and recovery controls. Agents are spreading across the enterprise, but they act without the operational context around each decision: prior approvals, downstream dependencies, and recovery. Alone, they become another disconnected execution environment, with separate controls, fragmented visibility, and custom plumbing. The Hybrid Orchestration Control Plane connects them to existing automation in one governed process: agents reason and request, while governed workflows control execution. "Every enterprise will use AI agents. The question is whether those agents can be trust

INNIO N.V. (Nasdaq: INIO) today announced a substantial extension of its long-standing strategic partnership with Aggreko, a global leader in engineered energy and temperature solutions. The extended agreement, now running through 2031, secures substantial long-term engine capacity for Aggreko while providing INNIO with additional order visibility for medium-power range engines. “Global power demand is rising rapidly, while grid constraints are growing. Together with Aggreko, we are delivering reliable, efficient, and sustainable power solutions that help bridge these gaps and keep customers moving,” said Dr. Olaf Berlien, President and CEO of INNIO. “This agreement secures proven technology and capacity to deliver reliable power wherever and whenever our customers need it,” said Sunny Thakrar, Commercial Director of Aggreko. Under the agreement, INNIO has agreed to provide a minimum of 450 MW of engine capacity in the medium-power range (Jenbacher Type 4) in 2027 and access to agreed

Bacardi Limited has climbed to #32 on the Forbes list of the World’s Top Companies for Women 2026, rising from #60 the previous year and earning a place on the prestigious global ranking for the fifth consecutive year. The family-owned company is the highest-ranked spirits company on this year’s list and ranks #2 in the “Food, Soft Beverages, Alcohol & Tobacco” category. The recognition reflects a continued commitment to creating opportunities, championing career development and cultivating a workplace where people feel valued, empowered and able to do their best work. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261008127263/en/ Bacardi celebrates being the highest-ranked spirits company in the Forbes World's Top Companies for Women 2026. “The most meaningful measure of our progress is seeing talented women choose to join Bacardi, build their careers here and advance into leadership roles,” says Nicole Zukowski, Chief Sup

Global energy technology company SLB (NYSE: SLB) today announced a 15-year agreement with TotalEnergies to use the DrillPlan™ coherent well planning and engineering solutions. The agreement will support TotalEnergies’ transition to a digital planning environment, connecting subsurface insights with well planning and engineering. Enabled by SLB’s DrillPlan solutions and the expertise of both companies, the agreement marks a significant step in the companies’ digital collaboration and reflects a broader shift across the industry as operators move toward scalable, interoperable digital platforms to improve engineering and well construction execution. The DrillPlan solutions will enable TotalEnergies to streamline well design and engineering activities by integrating offset well data, trajectory designs, casing and completion inputs, and planning assumptions used throughout the well construction process, enabling cross-functional teams to work from a common foundation of data, plans and as

ARIS, the global leader in Process Context for Enterprise AI, today announced three new senior appointments as it builds momentum toward 2027 and accelerates its strategy to help organizations put AI to work at scale. Maxime Hambersin joins as Chief Product Officer, Dr. Benjamin Krusche as Global Head of Strategy & Transformation, and Mark Jacobs as President and Go-to-Market Lead, Americas. The appointments further strengthen the leadership team built around CEO Guillaume Bacuvier and support the company's next phase of global growth. They come as ARIS advances its positioning around Process Context – giving AI agents the business understanding they need to operate effectively – while accelerating a product roadmap designed to help enterprises identify, deploy and scale AI against measurable business outcomes. As Chief Product Officer, Maxime Hambersin will lead ARIS's global product strategy and roadmap, with responsibility for shaping the next generation of the ARIS platform and tra

The LYCRA Company, a global leader in fiber and technology solutions for the apparel and personal care industries, will showcase Renewable LYCRA® fiber and its work to advance textile-to-textile recycling at Textile Exchange Conference 2026. The conference takes place October 12–16, at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, Canada. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261008178765/en/ At the Textile Exchange Conference 2026, The LYCRA Company will showcase Renewable LYCRA® fiber and its progress in advancing textile-to-textile recycling. This year's theme, "The Implementation Era," focuses on scaling what works across businesses, supply systems, and landscapes. At the conference, The LYCRA Company will highlight its work with partners across the value chain, helping to shape the future for textiles through renewable fiber solutions, circular innovation, and strategic industry partnerships. “Bringing more rec

Adtran today launched Mosaic One Agents, a suite of AI agents designed to help organizations scale expertise across network management, customer care and business operations. Built on Mosaic One Fabric, it gives role-based agent teams access to data from Adtran and third-party networks, enabling them to investigate issues, coordinate work across teams and drive issues through to resolution. By handling time-consuming investigation, coordination and process tasks, Mosaic One Agents helps people resolve issues faster, extend their expertise across more workflows and retain control of critical network and business actions. “When something goes wrong, experienced people become a scarce resource. Every organization needs enough of them to understand what’s happening, coordinate the response, keep customers informed and get every issue resolved. During a major outage, there are never enough experts to do it all. Mosaic One Agents changes that,” said Philip Bednarz, GM of software platform at

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) today announced the appointment of Gaétane Baudry as Senior Vice President/Global General Manager, Bobbi Brown, effective October 8, 2026. Based in New York, she will report to Lisa Sequino, Global President, Makeup Brands. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261008525584/en/ Gaétane Baudry In this role, Gaétane will lead Bobbi Brown’s global strategy and continued evolution, strengthening the brand’s distinctive equity, advancing innovation and creativity, and deepening consumer engagement around the world. “Gaétane is an inspiring and highly collaborative leader who brings experience, energy and a strong focus on execution,” said Lisa Sequino, Global President, Makeup Brands. “Her global brand-building record, strong commercial leadership and passion for creating meaningful consumer experiences will be invaluable as Bobbi Brown builds on its unique brand equity focused

Agenus Inc. (Nasdaq: AGEN), a leader in immuno-oncology innovation, today announced that the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia has granted marketing authorizations for Botvymo® (botensilimab, BOT) and Evamplix® (balstilimab, BAL), each approved for use in combination with the other for the treatment of adult patients with microsatellite stable (MSS) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) without active liver metastases who have previously received available standard therapies. These are the first marketing authorizations for either medicine anywhere in the world. The approvals are expected to benefit patients in Armenia as well as patients who travel to Armenia for treatment under the care of Armenian oncologists. Botensilimab is a multifunctional, Fc-enhanced anti-CTLA-4 antibody designed to activate innate and adaptive antitumor immune responses, including in tumors that have historically responded poorly to conventional immunotherapy. Balstilimab is an anti-PD-1 antibody de

NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS, Inc. (formerly NTT Communications Corporation) and Classiq Technologies G.K., the Japanese subsidiary of Classiq Technologies Ltd., today announced a memorandum of understanding establishing a strategic business partnership aimed at accelerating enterprise adoption of quantum computing1 in Japan. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261007985427/en/ NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS and Classiq logos Under the partnership, NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS will propose and sell the Classiq quantum software development platform and work with Classiq to help enterprises identify, develop and validate quantum computing use cases. Classiq will provide the platform, along with expertise and technical support related to quantum algorithms and quantum software technologies. The two companies will combine Classiq’s quantum software technology with NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS’s experience bringing advanced technologies into real-world ent

Movado Group, Inc. (NYSE: MOV) today announced that it has entered into a binding agreement to sell a 95% interest in its EBEL brand for $66.5 million to a strategic buyer group led by Montres Journe SA (“Montres Journe”), a Geneva-based luxury watch manufacturer, with the participation of Chanel (“Chanel”), the luxury house, and Pierre Jacques, a renowned figure in the Swiss watch industry, who will serve as Chief Executive Officer of EBEL. The transaction is subject to customary adjustments and closing conditions with Movado Group retaining a 5% interest in the business. Founded in Switzerland in 1911, EBEL is a premium luxury watch brand known for its distinctive design, craftsmanship and rich heritage. This strategic sale allows Movado Group to sharpen its focus on its core accessible luxury and fashion watch and jewelry portfolio, while providing EBEL with a new ownership platform specifically positioned to support the brand’s long-term development. With the expertise and capital

NielsenIQ (NYSE: NIQ) today announced that its wholly-owned Australian subsidiary, Nielsen Connect Australia Pty Ltd (NIQ Australia), has exceeded the 90% shareholder acceptance threshold under its off-market takeover bid for The U Group & Co Limited (The U Group), an Australian-based company specializing in consumer participation, receipt intelligence, and AI-powered data processing capabilities. Achieving the acceptance threshold represents a significant milestone in the transaction process and enables NIQ Australia to proceed with the compulsory acquisition of the remaining shares in The U Group in accordance with applicable Australian law. Building on a successful five-year partnership, the transaction strengthens NIQ's trusted intelligence foundation and advances its strategy to deliver the industry's most complete understanding of consumer buying behavior. By bringing together NIQ's measurement, analytics, and consumer intelligence capabilities with The U Group's consumer partici

Network X 2026 unites the telecommunications industry’s most influential executives and technology leaders at VIECON Vienna from 13-15 October, with a high-powered Headliners programme focused on the forces reshaping the future of connectivity. Across three days, CEOs, CTOs, technology chiefs, regulators and industry experts from leading operators and technology organisations will examine how artificial intelligence, network sovereignty, broadband networks, 6G, cloud, infrastructure investment and new business models are changing the role of the telecom operator. The programme features senior executives from A1 Group, Swisscom, Drei Austria, A1 Austria, Orange, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone Group, Kyivstar, 4iG Telecommunications Holding, Yettel Bulgaria, Play Poland, Orange Slovensko, NGMN Alliance and other major players across the global connectivity ecosystem. Industry Leaders Take the Stage Network X 2026 will feature a series of keynote presentations, fireside conversations and high

iQmetrix, the global provider of Intelligent Commerce Operating Systems for telecom, today announced the appointment of Beniamin Longodor as Vice President of Global Growth. Beniamin joins from NTS Retail where he has long been the Head of Global Sales. In this newly created role, Beniamin will lead iQmetrix’s efforts to further grow its footprint with telcos, retailers, and partners outside of its core North American market. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261008507325/en/ Beniamin Longodor, Vice President of Global Growth at iQmetrix Beniamin brings over 18 years of experience in telecom commerce software, business development, and partner management. His appointment comes as telecom operators and retailers worldwide look to replace fragmented legacy systems with a single, intelligent commerce layer across their stores, channels, and markets. iQmetrix solutions already power more than $17BN in annual sales a