At ZohoDay 2026, I sat down with Anand Nergunam Suryanarayanan, Vice President of Revenue Acceleration, Zoho. We discussed Zoho’s approach to different types of partnerships and its aim to accelerate revenue from partners.
Ian Murphy spoke with Ramprakash Ramamoorthy, Director of AI research at Zoho Corp, to unpack the uncomfortable truth. Privacy protections designed for traditional data systems fail spectacularly in the context of AI.
Appointment
Expereo has announced the appointment of Kevin Brown as its new Chief Operating Officer. He will take on a role focused on operational integration, efficiency, and scaling customer- and supplier-facing functions globally.
Silverfin has announced the promotion of An Maes to the role of CEO. Maes was formerly General Manager International. She plans to continue the international expansion of the cloud-first accounting platform beyond its native Belgium.
Business
Datadog has announced it will launch a UK data centre presence. Demand for local datacentres is growing as organisations and regulators continue to demand data residency, privacy and security. Datadog already has a presence in Google Cloud’s Germany region. This will be its first in the UK and its second in Europe.
ConnectPlaza has relaunched as Maicell, offering a governed living intelligence platform that delivers cloud-based integration powered by AI. Maicell is an integration software that facilitates connectivity between various applications, systems, and data sources. It achieves this through an intelligent fabric powered by AI.
Zendesk is to acquire Forethought AI. It says that this will be its largest acquisition in 20 years. It will also be the 15th acquisition since Hellman & Friedman and Permira acquired the company for $10.2bn in November 2022.
Product
Klaviyo and Shopify have deepened their product integration partnership. The expanded agreement is expected to help enterprises better unify customer data across regions and deliver consistent, localised experiences worldwide.
PayQuicker, a global payouts and financial technology company, has launched its new 1099 tax reporting solution, supported by Avalara.
Precisely and Matillion have agreed on a new OEM partnership. It will see Matillion’s cloud-native Extract-Transform-Load (ELT) capabilities embedded into the Precisely Data Integrity Suite.
Ship.com has released its latest shipping platform integration designed specifically for Walmart Marketplace sellers. The platform provides a centralised dashboard that automatically syncs Walmart orders, generates batch shipping labels, and helps sellers manage fulfilment alongside other selling channels.
Tricentis has launched its unified, agentic software quality platform supported by the new Tricentis AI Workspace.
Workiva has unveiled a new AI-enabled solution to support Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC). Workiva is an AI-powered platform for trust, transparency, and accountability.
Zen Media, an AI visibility agency, has launched GEO GPT, a new diagnostic tool that measures whether brands appear in AI-generated recommendations.
Research
Azul have announced the results of its new Forrester Total Economic Impact (TEI) study. The commissioned study found organisations using Azul Prime saw a 129% ROI and a $5.7 million NPV over three years.
Last week, Deel, a global HR and payroll platform provider, launched its annual State of Global Hiring Report. The report reveals the UK has become the number one destination for startups hiring global talent in pursuit of growth.
Among the nearly 100 startups founded between 2020 and 2025 that raised $100M+ in funding, the UK accounted for 12.2% of cross-border hires – the highest share globally. The UK is closely followed by Canada (11.9%), Germany (8.8%), Australia (5.8%), and Spain (5.2%) – all high-income markets.
Kantata has commissioned an IDC Business Value study. The research focused on enterprises that adopted Kantata’s Professional Services Automation (PSA) platform and examined the operational and financial outcomes that followed.
IDC found that businesses using Kantata gained an average annual benefit of $17 million by improving project execution, resource management, financial operations, and business development. These gains came from automating manual tasks, allowing teams to focus on strategic, revenue-generating work rather than cutting headcount.
Jitterbit has published new data via its 2026 AI Automation Benchmark Report. Jitterbit supports accelerating business transformation for enterprise systems. Surveying 1,500 IT decision-makers, Jitterbit’s research shows that financial constraints are no longer a primary barrier to AI progress.
10x
10x announced a partnership with Axxiome to integrate Axxiome Digital Branch & Teller with our cloud-native core banking platform. The integration connects Axxiome Digital Branch & Teller with a cloud-native, API-first core banking architecture, enabling financial institutions to modernise branch operations in alignment with core transformation initiatives.
The 10x Banking platform supports real-time processing, scalable product configuration, and modern integration models across digital and physical channels.
11:11 Systems
11:11 Systems was named Broadcom’s VMware Cloud Service Provider Partner of the Year 2025 for the Americas. This prestigious award recognises 11:11 Systems for its exceptional go-to-market execution, significant investment in technical excellence and commitment to helping customers achieve strong business outcomes.
Deel
Deel announced an integration with Rillet. It will enable organisations to streamline the process from paying global teams to closing their books.
Deltek
Replicon achieves FedRAMP
Deltek announced that Deltek Replicon has achieved FedRAMP Moderate Authorisation. This advances Deltek’s long-standing commitment to delivering secure, compliant cloud solutions purpose-built for government contractors and other highly regulated project-based organisations.
For organisations operating in environments defined by compliance mandates, financial accountability, and operational risk, secure infrastructure is foundational. FedRAMP Moderate authorisation for Replicon further strengthens Deltek’s ability to support customers in delivering mission-critical work.
Rejlers Sweden Selects Deltek Maconomy
Deltek revealed that Rejlers Sweden, a top-tier engineering consultancy, has deployed Deltek Maconomy ERP in the Deltek Cloud to power its modernisation effort and help Rejlers scale as it continues to grow across the Nordics.
Mikael Häägg, CFO at Rejlers Sweden, commented, “Selecting Deltek was a strategic decision to modernise our systems and strengthen our operating model. With the Maconomy ERP application, deployed in the Deltek Cloud, we can integrate acquisitions faster, improve invoicing accuracy, and empower our project managers to take full financial ownership—key steps in delivering exceptional value to our clients.”
Replicon on Q1 2026 Release
Deltek published a blog detailing the updates in the latest version of Replican Time. The release brings a thoughtful mix of usability improvements, performance optimisations, and compliance-based enhancements, all designed to reduce friction while giving organisations greater control and confidence.
Polaris
The Q1 2026 Polaris release focuses on making task-level resourcing more actionable, improving visibility into workforce availability, and reducing friction in how teams plan and allocate work, especially at scale. The update includes:
- Task-Level Resourcing, Made More Actionable
- Better Visibility into Bench and Allocation Coverage
- Clearer Role Definitions for Cleaner Allocation Decisions
- Several incremental enhancements to reduce friction
IFS Ultimo
Ultimo announced that its AI-augmented Enterprise Asset Management solution is now available in the SAP Store, the online marketplace for SAP and partner offerings. Ultimo EAM integrates with SAP S/4HANA to streamline maintenance and procurement for customers.
Vincent Ligt, Product Manager at Ultimo, shared: “The integration of SAP S4/HANA Cloud and Ultimo EAM streamlines procurement by synchronising data within the ordering process, eliminating delays and unnecessary administrative work.
“Maintenance specialists can continue working within the familiar Ultimo interface, while Finance and Procurement can work within SAP. This avoids switching between multiple systems, which makes it easier and faster for users to analyse performance and make better decisions.”
Klient
Klient welcomed TruSummit Solutions to its partner network. TruSummit is a Salesforce consulting and implementation partner helping organisations maximise their Salesforce investment through disciplined delivery, strong governance, and measurable outcomes.
Panasonic
Panasonic announced the TOUGHBOOK 56. The new model represents the biggest single step forward in compact, rugged, and ergonomic mobility from Panasonic.
Available from May 2026, the new model is the follow-up to the successful TOUGHBOOK 55 and is Panasonic’s first rugged laptop to embrace its “Engineered for Motion” philosophy, prioritising enhanced ergonomics for remote workers in the defence, field services, utilities, and automotive sectors.
Dirk Weigelt, Senior Product and Solutions Manager, Panasonic TOUGHBOOK, commented, “The TOUGHBOOK 56 has been engineered for teams that need to work quickly in any environment. It’s the product of many marginal gains multiplying to deliver a substantial leap forward in rugged mobility – it’s Panasonic’s most ergonomic and environmentally conscious laptop to-date.
“Combining market-leading performance, edge AI processing, and unrivalled connectivity, the TOUGHBOOK 56 redefines the art of the possible for future-proof, compact, and rugged laptops.”
Workday
Workday announced that Fairview Health Services has selected Workday’s full suite of AI-powered HR, finance, and supply chain solutions to replace its ageing business systems, including PeopleSoft, and to build a more modern, flexible platform for its people and patient community.
Fairview is launching a multi-year initiative to bring its core operational functions together onto a more modern platform. The shift will move Fairview’s 34,000 employees to an intuitive, integrated experience that leverages unified data, AI insights, and consistent workflows.
Sabu Kallumpurathu Bose, Vice President of Digital Transformation, Fairview Health Services, said, “Fairview is investing in improvements across HR, finance, supply chain, and other core functions to strengthen the operational foundation that supports our people and the communities we serve,”
“This initiative brings more of our key processes onto a unified, modern platform — while continuing to rely on essential health record systems like Epic — to make work simpler, improve consistency, and create a future where it’s easier for caregivers to stay focused on delivering exceptional care. As we modernise these functions, we’re grounding our approach in strong governance, security, privacy, and human decision-making.
“AI-enabled tools, used responsibly, will support long-term financial sustainability and help us better serve our workforce and, ultimately, the patients who rely on us.”
Zoho
Zoho unveiled the latest update to Zoho CRM. It introduces several features, including:
Workqueue: a centralised view into everything important that requires sales reps’ attention. Load into Workqueue and get a complete overview of everything that needs attention at a glance. Track all of your tasks, activities, calls, appointments, and assigned records that need attention—all from within Workqueue—and prioritise and plan your daily activities.
- A natural language formula builder. Zia builds the entire formula expression, which you can quickly review and then insert into your formula expression field!
- Zia also powers an AI-powered quotation builder in CPQ. By analysing historical quotes, Zia surfaces strong purchase patterns for frequently purchased combinations and provides visibility into their effectiveness when it’s time for a purchase decision.
- SmartPrompts in Zoho CRM is powered by Zia and helps sales reps optimise various parts of their daily tasks to drive more effective and meaningful interactions with leads and prospects.
- New assistants help users across customer records with insights, and the template assistant helps create new content.
Zoho has also extended support to a variety of LLMs, including:
- Gemini
- Claude
- Cohere
- DeepSeek (Supported only in CN DC)
- SiliconFlow (Supported only in CN DC)
