Deloitte vs IBM

Retailers can boost holiday checkout joy with relevant offers

This sponsored article by Rokt discusses how retailers can enhance the holiday checkout experience by presenting relevant partner offers and rewards invitations after purchase confirmation. It emphasizes timing, restraint, and relevance, suggesting that offers should not relate directly to purchased items but rather to customer interests. Retailers are advised to measure value beyond conversion, including customer feedback and repeat purchasing, while advertisers should focus on incremental customer acquisition. The article cites Deloitte's forecast of U.S. holiday ecommerce sales of $316.1–$318.9 billion for November 2026–January 2027.

• Deloitte forecasts U.S. holiday ecommerce sales of $316.1–$318.9 billion for November 2026–January 2027.
• Rokt published sponsored content on Retail Dive on October 5, 2026.
• Article advises retailers to present relevant partner offers and rewards invitations after purchase confirmation.

Zalando and ERGO Transform Video Production with Google AI

At the YouTube Festival 2026, Lounge by Zalando and ERGO showcased how they leverage Google AI to revolutionize video production. Lounge by Zalando halved its production time for the Black Friday 2025 campaign using Veo 3 and Imagen 3, reducing it from three months to 1.5 months. ERGO is piloting an 'Agentic Gen AI Marketing Engine' with Deloitte and Google, which automates the creation of localized YouTube video ads from simple inputs. The engine generates up to 50 assets per month, a 20-fold increase, and cuts production time from weeks to days. Both companies emphasize maintaining brand identity and human oversight. YouTube's higher ROI compared to linear TV (90%) and paid social (70%) drives budget shifts, according to studies by Ekimetrics and Nielsen.

• Lounge by Zalando reduced campaign production time from 3 months to 1.5 months using Google AI (Veo 3, Imagen 3).
• ERGO is piloting an 'Agentic Gen AI Marketing Engine' with Deloitte and Google to automate YouTube video creation.
• The ERGO engine can produce up to 50 video assets per month, a 20-fold increase from current levels.

Gentoo Media Secures EUR 100M Refinancing Package

Gentoo Media Inc., a Nasdaq Stockholm-listed affiliate marketing company for the iGaming industry, has announced a comprehensive refinancing plan to replace its EUR 91.5 million bonds maturing in December 2026. The plan includes a EUR 50 million senior secured term loan from Fundacja Zbigniewa Juroszka Fundacja Rodzinna (ZJF), a major shareholder, and a directed share issue of up to EUR 50 million, fully underwritten by backstop providers including ZJF, MJ Foundation, and Betplay Capital. The combined proceeds will also partially repay the company's revolving credit facility. The refinancing is intended to reduce debt, provide flexibility for capital returns, and is backed by a fairness opinion from Deloitte Malta. The loan bears interest at EURIBOR 3M plus 7.50%, matures in 2029, and can be prepaid without penalty. The share issue is planned for Q4 2026, subject to EGM approval.

• Gentoo Media secured a EUR 50 million senior secured loan from ZJF and underwriting commitments for a EUR 50 million share issue.
• The refinancing package totals EUR 100 million, exceeding the outstanding bonds of approximately EUR 91.5 million.
• The loan bears interest at EURIBOR 3M plus 7.50% per annum and matures on 18 December 2029.

Accenture Beats Expectations, Stock Jumps Up to 22%

Accenture reported strong fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 results, beating analyst expectations for revenue and bookings, and raised its outlook for fiscal 2027. The company's stock surged up to 22% in New York trading, the largest one-day gain since its listing. Total quarterly revenue reached $18.7 billion, a 7% increase year-over-year, exceeding the $18.04 billion consensus. New bookings totaled $22.2 billion, above the expected $20 billion. Revenue in the Communications, Media, and Technology segment grew 11% to $3.26 billion. Accenture also announced separate contracts with Google Cloud, AI firm Anthropic, and Amazon Web Services. CEO Julie Sweet highlighted broad-based growth and noted that the results challenge the narrative that IT services firms are losers in the AI boom. For fiscal 2027, Accenture expects revenue between $18.95 billion and $19.6 billion.

• Accenture's Q4 FY2026 revenue reached $18.7 billion, a 7% increase year-over-year.
• New bookings totaled $22.2 billion, exceeding analyst expectations of $20 billion.
• Accenture raised its fiscal 2027 revenue outlook to between $18.95 billion and $19.6 billion.

IBM Launches Self-Hosted Deployment for Bob AI Development

IBM announced self-hosted deployment for IBM Bob, its agentic software development platform, allowing enterprises to run AI-powered software development and modernization in on-premises, private cloud, sovereign cloud, and air-gapped environments. This addresses the need for data sovereignty, security, and governance, especially in regulated industries. The move responds to research indicating that hybrid and edge deployments will capture 44% of the AI infrastructure market by 2030. IBM Bob's self-hosted option allows organizations to bring AI to their data rather than moving sensitive code to external services. According to IBM's Institute for Business Value, 68% of executives find meeting data residency and sovereignty requirements challenging. The platform supports running licensed models on-premises and connecting to external model services via hybrid configurations.

• IBM launched self-hosted deployment for IBM Bob, its agentic software development platform.
• Self-hosted deployment supports on-premises, private cloud, sovereign cloud, and air-gapped environments.
• A Futurum Research report projects hybrid and edge deployments will capture 44% of the AI infrastructure market by 2030.

IBM Acquires Logiq Consulting to Expand Secure Digital Transformation and Cybersecurity Capabilities in the UK

IBM announced the acquisition of Logiq Consulting, a UK-based cybersecurity firm, to enhance its secure digital transformation and cybersecurity offerings in the UK.