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Fairy Devices and Daikin Industries Advance AI Use of Industrial Field Data

Go Suzuki — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Grocery and General Merchandise Retail: Converging Pressures and Distinctive Technology Priorities

Filippo Battaini — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective is the first in a four-part series on technology priorities in retail subverticals. Drawing on IDC’s 2026 Retail Technologies & Business Process Trends Survey, it shows how grocery and general merchandise convert shared pressures, cost inflation, digital-native competition, and rising customer expectations into different agendas (grocery focuses on supply chain visibility and traceability, and general merchandise on customer experience, loss prevention, and order management) and gives technology buyers segment-specific guidance for prioritizing vendor investment over the next two years.

“Grocery and general merchandise retailers are reading from the same macroeconomic script, but writing distinctive technology playbooks; vendors who treat the two segments identically will misjudge both,” says Filippo Battaini, Research Manager, IDC Retail Insights.

IDC MarketScape: U.S. Patient Engagement and Enablement Technology Solutions 2026 Vendor Assessment

Jennifer Eaton — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC study assesses the U.S. patient engagement and enablement technology market and the vendors that serve it. Patient engagement has moved from a set of add-on tools to a working part of how providers and payers manage cost, quality, and the relationship with the people they serve. Three forces are driving that shift. Patients now expect the digital convenience they get from other industries. Value-based and outcomes-based payment ties revenue to results that depend on reaching and activating patients. And new interoperability rules, together with more capable AI, are putting more usable data within reach while raising expectations for how quickly and clearly organizations communicate with patients and members. Digital access, remote monitoring, multichannel outreach, education, and AI-driven personalization are becoming standard rather than distinguishing features, and the organizations that succeed are the ones that use them to reach people through the channels they actually use.

The study evaluates vendors on the capabilities and strategies that serve both providers and payers while delivering the consumer-grade experience patients expect. It gives technology buyers a factual basis for comparing solutions, separating shipped capability from road map, and matching a vendor's orientation, whether payer rooted, provider facing, or consumer first, to their own populations and goals.

"Healthcare organizations can no longer treat patient engagement and enablement as a siloed, 'one size fits most' effort aimed at marketing and brand loyalty, and they cannot start and stop with a care encounter or an enrollment window. Engagement has to be continuous, proactive, personalized, and grounded in data that follows the person across their care. The tools and the data to do this now exist, and federal policy is pointing the same way, so the question for 2026 is not whether to build data-driven, whole-person engagement but how quickly an organization can. Patients need it, deserve it, and increasingly expect it." — Jennifer Eaton, research director, IDC Health Insights

Retail Marketplace Platforms as Learning Ecosystems: Using AI to Enable Sellers, Partners, and Digital Commerce Growth

Cristiano Quattrini — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective discusses how retail marketplace platforms are becoming broader commercial and operational ecosystems. Their value is shaped by the ability of sellers, partners, internal teams, and store associates to work effectively within a shared model of customer experience, operational quality, and commercial growth.

Learning is central to this model. It helps sellers activate faster, publish higher-quality content, maintain better availability, improve fulfillment, use retail media more effectively, and build stronger long-term relationships with the retailer. It also helps internal teams support marketplace participants with greater consistency and insight.

AI can make this learning model more responsive and scalable. It can provide trusted knowledge at the point of need, connect guidance with live workflows, identify capability gaps from performance data, and support continuous improvement across the marketplace ecosystem.

Retailers that develop their marketplace platforms as learning ecosystems can create stronger seller relationships, more reliable customer experience, more effective digital commerce operations, and a more durable foundation for marketplace growth.

“Retail marketplaces create lasting value when they actively develop the capabilities of every participant. AI can turn the marketplace into a continuous learning environment, giving sellers and partners timely guidance, operational insight, and confidence needed to improve customer experience, grow digital commerce, and build stronger long-term ecosystem relationships.” — Cristiano Quattrini, senior associate advisor, IDC Retail Insights

AI Rewrites the Optical Network Investment Playbook

Ajeet Das — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Note explores how AI is fundamentally reshaping the optical network investment landscape. AI-driven bandwidth demand is now the primary force shaping optical network investments, as operators shift from routine upgrades to structural changes focused on AI and edge datacenter interconnects. Over the next three years, the market will see a leap in network capacity, with 6T becoming the dominant tier and bypassing incremental upgrades. Vendors and service providers must align their strategies with this rapid transition to capture emerging opportunities in AI- and edge-driven optical infrastructure.

"AI isn't just driving optical network investment; it's rewriting the entire playbook, forcing operators to leap generations into capacity planning." — Ajeet Das, research director, Telcom Network Infrastructure, IDC

IDC MarketScape: Worldwide AI-Enabled Order Orchestration and Fulfillment Applications for B2B and Manufacturing 2026 Vendor Assessment

Heather Hershey — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC study evaluates vendors of worldwide AI-enabled order orchestration and fulfillment applications for B2B and manufacturing in 2026. The vendor assessment examines a market shaped by contractual complexity, multitier distribution networks, and extended production cycles, where order management sits at the critical intersection of front-end commercial activity and back-end supply chain execution. The document evaluates vendors on their ability to orchestrate complex, multiparty, contract-governed trade at scale. It also considers the role of deterministic AI and proven automation capabilities in recognition of the reliability and control that B2B buyers demand. Furthermore, tariff volatility and shifting regulatory environments across the global supply chain elevate trade compliance automation as a top-of-mind requirement. This IDC MarketScape serves as a guide for pragmatic buyers in search of platforms that deliver measurable efficiency gains once fully deployed.

"In B2B manufacturing, order management and orchestration succeeds not through the flashiest AI, but through platforms that hold up under contractual complexity and prove their value in consistency, auditability, operational efficiency, and measurable return on investment over the long haul," said Heather Hershey, research director, Worldwide Digital Commerce, IDC

Salesforce's 1Q27 Financial Results: Orchestration and Action Across the Enterprise Display the Value of Agentic AI

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Perspective highlights some of the key takeaways from and IDC's thoughts on Salesforce's 1Q27 financial results.

"Agentic AI adoption is accelerating, but success hinges on orchestration across business functions, not siloed automation," states Aly Pinder Jr, research vice president, Worldwide Aftermarket Services Strategies, IDC. "Organizations need governance frameworks and measurable ROI, not just feature adoption."

IDC Survey: Energy Transition in the Retail Industry — Findings from IDC's Energy Transition Survey, 2026

Roberta Bigliani, Filippo Battaini, Margot Juros, Ornella Urso — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Survey profiles the 108 retail respondents in IDC's 2026 Energy Transition Survey, spanning manufacturing, buildings, transportation, construction, retail, and datacenters.

It examines targets, drivers, actions, renewable sourcing, investment plans, digital applications, data readiness, buying roles, supplier requirements, barriers, benefits, and ROI expectations.

The analysis covers:

Net-zero timing and the shift from commitment to execution planning
Retail drivers, investment trajectory, energy actions, and renewable sourcing choices
Digital investment, technology deployment, and AI maturity across retail operations
Greenhouse gas data collection progress, data issues, and system of record choices
Budget holders, decision-makers, supplier tender requirements, and responsible sourcing activities
Organizational and technology barriers, achieved benefits, and ROI expectations

IDC Survey: Ahead in Adoption, Behind on Readiness — Agentic AI in Passenger Transport Early Adopter — Functional Survey, 2026

Ravikant Sharma — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Survey examines how passenger transport early adopter operators are approaching agentic AI deployment across six sourcing approaches, from internal development to outsourcing, and benchmarks their maturity against all-industry peers at every stage — production, piloting, and exploration. It explores the business benefits operators expect to gain, from operational resilience and efficiency to innovation and sustainability, alongside the performance metrics and success rate thresholds they use to evaluate return on investment. It also identifies the implementation challenges most deeply embedded in the sector, including where technology and skills gaps create the greatest risk to deployment timelines and service operations.

This presentation then turns to how passenger transport operators are organizing around agentic AI once deployment decisions are made. It examines the scope of current initiatives — whether confined to a single function or extended enterprise-wide — along with how strategy and road map planning are maturing, and how much autonomy operators are prepared to grant agents across routine and critical processes. It investigates who holds investment authority and how governance responsibility is distributed between business and IT functions, benchmarking each against global norms. Finally, it assesses which vendor types operators are prioritizing as strategic AI technology partners, and where they are seeking the most support to close remaining capability gaps.

Apple Fiscal 3Q26: June Quarter Records; Looking Ahead, Memory Costs and Supply Constraints Could Hamper Growth

Tom Mainelli — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Apple reported fiscal 3Q26 (June quarter) revenue of $109.4 billion on July 30, 2026, up 16% YoY and a June quarter record, with revenue records in every geographic segment and double-digit growth in every region. Products revenue was $78.7 billion, up 18% YoY. iPhone set a June quarter record at $54.3 billion (22% YoY), and Mac posted its best June quarter ever at $10.4 billion (29% YoY). Services also hit a June quarter record at $30.7 billion (12% YoY).