Technology
New Oriental Announces Results for the First Fiscal Quarter Ended August 31, 2024
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2 years agoon
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BEIJING, Oct. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (the “Company” or “New Oriental”) (NYSE: EDU/ 9901.SEHK), a provider of private educational services in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first fiscal quarter ended August 31, 2024, which is the first quarter of New Oriental’s fiscal year 2025.
Financial Highlights for the First Fiscal Quarter Ended August 31, 2024
Total net revenues increased by 30.5% year over year to US$1,435.4 million for the first fiscal quarter of 2025. Total net revenues, excluding revenues generated from East Buy private label products and livestreaming business, increased by 33.5% year over year to US$1,278.2 million for the first fiscal quarter of 2025.Operating income increased by 42.9% year over year to US$293.2 million for the first fiscal quarter of 2025. Operating income, excluding operating loss generated from East Buy private label products and livestreaming business, increased by 58.4% year over year to US$303.1 million for the first fiscal quarter of 2025.Net income attributable to New Oriental increased by 48.4% year over year to US$245.4 million for the first fiscal quarter of 2025.
Key Financial Results
(in thousands US$, except per ADS(1) data)
1Q FY2025
1Q FY2024
% of
change
Net revenues
1,435,416
1,100,021
30.5 %
Operating income
293,150
205,124
42.9 %
Non-GAAP operating income (2)(3)
300,003
244,755
22.6 %
Net income attributable to New Oriental
245,430
165,386
48.4 %
Non-GAAP net income attributable to New Oriental (2)(3)
264,732
189,318
39.8 %
Net income per ADS attributable to New Oriental – basic
1.49
1.00
48.6 %
Net income per ADS attributable to New Oriental – diluted
1.48
0.99
49.6 %
Non-GAAP net income per ADS attributable to New Oriental – basic (2)(3)(4)
1.61
1.15
40.0 %
Non-GAAP net income per ADS attributable to New Oriental – diluted (2)(3)(4)
1.60
1.13
41.3 %
(1) Each ADS represents ten common shares. The Hong Kong-listed shares are fully fungible with the ADSs listed on NYSE.
(2) GAAP represents Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States of America.
(3) New Oriental provides net income attributable to New Oriental, operating income and net income per ADS attributable to New
Oriental on a non-GAAP basis that excludes share-based compensation expenses and gain (loss) from fair value change of
investments to provide supplemental information regarding its operating performance. For more information on these non-
GAAP financial measures, please see the section captioned “About Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and the tables captioned
“Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures to the Most Comparable GAAP Measures” set forth at the end of this release.
(4) The Non-GAAP net income per ADS attributable to New Oriental is computed using Non-GAAP net income attributable to
New Oriental and the same number of shares and ADSs used in GAAP basic and diluted EPS calculation.
Operating Highlights for the First Fiscal Quarter Ended August 31, 2024
The total number of schools and learning centers was 1,089 as of August 31, 2024, an increase of 64 and 296 compared to 1,025 as of May 31, 2024 and 793 as of August 31, 2023, respectively. The total number of schools was 80 as of August 31, 2024.
Michael Yu, New Oriental’s Executive Chairman, commented, “We are delighted to start our fiscal year 2025 with a healthy top line growth of 30.5%. Total net revenues, excluding revenues generated from East Buy private label products and livestreaming business, increased by 33.5% year over year. Our overseas test preparation and overseas study consulting business increased by approximately 18.8% and 20.7% year over year, respectively. In addition, the domestic test preparation business targeting adults and university students recorded a growth of approximately 30.4% year over year. Furthermore, our new educational business initiatives have all sustained strong momentum in this fiscal quarter, with a revenue growth of 49.8% year over year. Among these initiatives, our non-academic tutoring courses were offered in around 60 cities, attracting approximately 484,000 student enrollments in this fiscal quarter. Simultaneously, our intelligent learning system and devices were adopted in around 60 cities, with approximately 323,000 active paid users in this fiscal quarter. Backed by our strong educational resources, we will make consistent efforts in executing our long-term vision to strike a balance between healthy and sustainable growth, while improving profitability that is supported by our enhanced service quality and operating efficiency.”
Chenggang Zhou, New Oriental’s Chief Executive Officer, added, “During this fiscal quarter, we monitored our capacity expansion closely in alignment with the revenue growth and operating efficiency. As of the end of this fiscal quarter, the total number of schools and learning centers increased to 1,089. We made ongoing efforts in revamping our online-merge-offline teaching system and applying new technologies to enhance user experience of our educational offerings. Meanwhile, driven by our focus of “high-cost performance” and multi-channel strategy, we are pleased to see East Buy’s expanded private label offerings with 488 SKUs established across diverse categories in just two years. Our ventures across online platforms, livestreaming, and a strategic expansion into offline channels through partnerships with schools under New Oriental brand and other parties, share a common vision to reach a wider consumer base in pursuit of sustainable growth. In addition, It is encouraging to see our newly integrated tourism-related business achieving tremendous growth this fiscal quarter. We initiated high-quality overseas study tours as well as domestic research camps for K-12 and university students. We also operated a number of top-notch tourism offerings for all age groups, including the middle-aged and elderly individuals, across 30 featured provinces in China and internationally. We believe this new business line will start to contribute meaningful revenues from this fiscal year. “
Stephen Zhihui Yang, New Oriental’s Executive President and Chief Financial Officer, commented, “For a better reflection of New Oriental’s core educational businesses, the following operating margin numbers in this fiscal quarter excludes the financial results of East Buy’s private label products and livestreaming business. As aligned with our expectations in the previous quarter, we managed to deliver year over year improvement of operating margin for our core educational business this fiscal quarter. Our GAAP operating margin, excluding operating margin generated from East Buy private label products and livestreaming business for the quarter, was 23.7%, representing an improvement of 370 basis points year over year. Our Non-GAAP operating margin, excluding operating margin generated from East Buy private label products and livestreaming business for the quarter, was 24.4%, representing an improvement of 220 basis points year over year. We recorded a positive operating cash flow of US$183.2 million this quarter and by the end of this fiscal quarter, our cash and cash equivalents, term deposits and short-term investments totaled approximately US$4.9 billion. For the rest of this fiscal year, we strive for further elevating utilization and improving operational efficiency. We have great confidence in creating sustainable value for our customers and shareholders in the long term.”
Share Repurchase
The Company’s board of directors approved a Share Repurchase Program in July 2022, under which the Company is authorized to repurchase up to US$400 million of the Company’s ADSs or common shares through the next twelve months. The Company’s board of directors further approved to extend the effective time of the Share Repurchase Program to May 31, 2025 and increasing the aggregate value of shares that the Company is authorized to repurchase from US$400 million to US$700 million. As of October 22, 2024, the Company repurchased an aggregate of approximately 9.8 million ADSs for approximately US$457.9 million from the open market.
Financial Results for the First Fiscal Quarter Ended August 31, 2024
Net Revenues
For the first fiscal quarter of 2025, New Oriental reported net revenues of US$1,435.4 million, representing a 30.5% increase year over year. Net revenues, excluding revenues generated from East Buy private label products and livestreaming business, were US$1,278.2 million, representing a 33.5% increase year over year. The growth was mainly driven by the increase in net revenues from our educational new business initiatives.
Operating Costs and Expenses
Operating costs and expenses for the quarter were US$1,142.3 million, representing a 27.6% increase year over year. Non-GAAP operating costs and expenses for the quarter, which exclude share-based compensation expenses, were US$1,135.4 million, representing a 32.8% increase year over year. The increase was primarily due to the cost and expenses related to the accelerated capacity expansion for educational businesses and newly integrated tourism-related business.
Cost of revenues increased by 32.3% year over year to US$583.5 million.Selling and marketing expenses increased by 42.3% year over year to US$193.7 million.General and administrative expenses for the quarter increased by 15.0% year over year to US$365.1 million. Non-GAAP general and administrative expenses, which exclude share-based compensation expenses, were US$354.5 million, representing a 22.1% increase year over year.
Total share-based compensation expenses, which were allocated to related operating costs and expenses, decreased by 82.7% to US$6.9 million in the first fiscal quarter of 2025.
Operating Income and Operating Margin
Operating income was US$293.2 million, representing a 42.9% increase year over year. Non-GAAP income from operations for the quarter was US$300.0 million, representing a 22.6% increase year over year.
Operating margin for the quarter was 20.4%, compared to 18.6% in the same period of the prior fiscal year. Non-GAAP operating margin, which excludes share-based compensation expenses, for the quarter was 20.9%, compared to 22.3% in the same period of the prior fiscal year.
Net Income and Net Income per ADS
Net income attributable to New Oriental for the quarter was US$245.4 million, representing a 48.4% increase year over year. Basic and diluted net income per ADS attributable to New Oriental were US$1.49 and US$1.48, respectively.
Non-GAAP Net Income and Non-GAAP Net Income per ADS
Non-GAAP net income attributable to New Oriental for the quarter was US$264.7 million, representing a 39.8% increase year over year. Non-GAAP basic and diluted net income per ADS attributable to New Oriental were US$1.61 and US$1.60, respectively.
Cash Flow
Net operating cash inflow for the first fiscal quarter of 2025 was approximately US$183.2 million and capital expenditures for the quarter were US$80.2 million.
Balance Sheet
As of August 31, 2024, New Oriental had cash and cash equivalents of US$1,147.0 million. In addition, the Company had US$1,513.8 million in term deposits and US$2,248.6 million in short-term investment.
New Oriental’s deferred revenue, which represents cash collected upfront from customers and related revenue that will be recognized as the services or goods are delivered, at the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 was US$1,733.1 million, an increase of 23.7% as compared to US$1,401.4 million at the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2024.
Outlook for the Second Quarter of the Fiscal Year 2025
New Oriental expects total net revenues, excluding revenues generated from East Buy private label products and livestreaming business, in the second quarter of the fiscal year 2025 (September 1, 2024 to November 30, 2024) to be in the range of US$851.4 million to US$871.8 million, representing year over year increase in the range of 25% to 28%.
This forecast reflects New Oriental’s current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.
Conference Call Information
New Oriental’s management will host an earnings conference call at 8 AM on October 23, 2024, U.S. Eastern Time (8 PM on October 23, 2024, Beijing/Hong Kong Time).
Please register in advance of the conference, using the link provided below. Upon registering, you will be provided with participant dial-in numbers, and unique personal PIN.
Conference call registration link: https://register.vevent.com/register/BI126999a0b5fd42c3987cd3a67645c9ba. It will automatically direct you to the registration page of “New Oriental FY2025 Q1 Earnings Conference Call” where you may fill in your details for RSVP.
In the 10 minutes prior to the call start time, you may use the conference access information (including dial in number(s) and personal PIN) provided in the confirmation email received at the point of registering.
Joining the conference call via a live webcast:
Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available at http://investor.neworiental.org.
Listening to the conference call replay:
A replay of the conference call may be accessed via the webcast on-demand by registering at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/hmu6g3sb first. The replay will be available until October 23, 2025.
About New Oriental
New Oriental is a provider of private educational services in China offering a wide range of educational programs, services and products to a varied student population throughout China. New Oriental’s program, service and product offerings mainly consist of educational services and test preparation courses, private label products and livestreaming e-commerce, overseas study consulting services, and educational materials and distribution. New Oriental is listed on NYSE (NYSE: EDU) and SEHK (9901.SEHK), respectively. New Oriental’s ADSs, each of which represents ten common shares, are listed and traded on the NYSE. The Hong Kong-listed shares are fully fungible with the ADSs listed on NYSE.
For more information about New Oriental, please visit http://www.neworiental.org/english/.
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates” and similar statements. Among other things, the outlook for the second quarter of fiscal year 2025, quotations from management in this announcement, as well as New Oriental’s strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. New Oriental may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual reports to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about New Oriental’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: our ability to effectively and efficiently manage changes of our existing business and new business; our ability to execute our business strategies; uncertainties in relation to the interpretation and implementation of or proposed changes to, the PRC laws, regulations and policies regarding the private education industry; our ability to attract students without a significant increase in course fees; our ability to maintain and enhance our “New Oriental” brand; our ability to maintain consistent teaching quality throughout our school network, or service quality throughout our brand; our ability to achieve the benefits we expect from recent and future acquisitions; the outcome of ongoing, or any future, litigation or arbitration, including those relating to copyright and other intellectual property rights; competition in the private education sector and livestreaming e-commerce business in China; the continuing efforts of our senior management team and other key personnel, health epidemics and other outbreaks in China; and general economic conditions in China. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in our annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. New Oriental does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and New Oriental undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.
About Non-GAAP Financial Measures
To supplement New Oriental’s consolidated financial results presented in accordance with GAAP, New Oriental uses the following measures defined as non-GAAP financial measures by the SEC: net income excluding share-based compensation expenses and gain (loss) from fair value change of investments, operating income excluding share-based compensation expenses, operating cost and expenses excluding share-based compensation expenses, general and administrative expenses excluding share-based compensation expenses, operating margin excluding share-based compensation expenses, and basic and diluted net income per ADS and per share excluding share-based compensation expenses and gain (loss) from fair value change of investments. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the tables captioned “Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures” set forth at the end of this release.
New Oriental believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding its performance and liquidity by excluding share-based compensation expenses and gain (loss) from fair value change of investments that may not be indicative of its operating performance from a cash perspective. New Oriental believes that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing its performance and when planning and forecasting future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management’s internal comparisons to New Oriental’s historical performance and liquidity. New Oriental believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors in allowing for greater transparency with respect to supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision making. A limitation of using these non-GAAP measures is that they exclude share-based compensation charge and gain (loss) from fair value change of investments that has been and will continue to be for the foreseeable future a significant recurring expense in our business. Management compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from each non-GAAP measure. The accompanying tables have more details on the reconciliations between GAAP financial measures that are most directly comparable to non-GAAP financial measures.
Contacts
For investor and media inquiries, please contact:
Ms. Rita Fong Ms. Sisi Zhao
FTI Consulting New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc.
Tel: +852 3768 4548 Tel: +86-10-6260-5568
Email: rita.fong@fticonsulting.com Email: zhaosisi@xdf.cn
NEW ORIENTAL EDUCATION & TECHNOLOGY GROUP INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands)
As of August 31
As of May 31
2024
2024
(Unaudited)
(Audited)
USD
USD
ASSETS:
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents
1,146,959
1,389,359
Restricted cash, current
180,671
177,411
Term deposits, current
1,411,444
1,320,167
Short-term investments
2,248,568
2,065,579
Accounts receivable, net
34,461
29,689
Inventory, net
95,354
92,806
Prepaid expenses and other current assets, net
369,193
309,464
Amounts due from related parties, current
4,643
4,403
Total current assets
5,491,293
5,388,878
Restricted cash, non-current
23,521
22,334
Term deposits, non-current
102,327
169,203
Property and equipment, net
704,270
507,981
Land use rights, net
4,488
4,450
Amounts due from related parties, non-current
13,880
7,273
Long-term deposits
40,280
38,161
Intangible assets, net
17,596
18,672
Goodwill, net
105,757
103,958
Long-term investments, net
365,453
355,812
Deferred tax assets, net
71,626
72,727
Right-of-use assets
701,090
653,905
Other non-current assets
67,537
188,319
Total assets
7,709,118
7,531,673
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable
101,989
105,681
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
702,086
774,805
Income taxes payable
205,450
139,822
Amounts due to related parties
452
551
Deferred revenue
1,733,126
1,780,063
Operating lease liability, current
222,441
199,933
Total current liabilities
2,965,544
3,000,855
Deferred tax liabilities
16,605
19,407
Unsecured senior notes
14,403
14,403
Operating lease liabilities, non-current
473,627
447,994
Total long-term liabilities
504,635
481,804
Total liabilities
3,470,179
3,482,659
Equity
New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. shareholders’ equity
3,968,629
3,775,934
Non-controlling interests
270,310
273,080
Total equity
4,238,939
4,049,014
Total liabilities and equity
7,709,118
7,531,673
NEW ORIENTAL EDUCATION & TECHNOLOGY GROUP INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(In thousands except for per share and per ADS amounts)
For the Three Months Ended August 31
2024
2023
(Unaudited)
(Unaudited)
USD
USD
Net revenues
1,435,416
1,100,021
Operating cost and expenses (note 1)
Cost of revenues
583,521
441,218
Selling and marketing
193,692
136,121
General and administrative
365,053
317,558
Total operating cost and expenses
1,142,266
894,897
Operating income
293,150
205,124
(Loss)/Gain from fair value change of investments
(11,913)
7,248
Other income, net
39,087
34,728
Provision for income taxes
(77,551)
(62,530)
Gain/(Loss) from equity method investments
210
(8,496)
Net income
242,983
176,074
Add: Net loss/ (income) attributable to non-controlling interests
2,447
(10,688)
Net income attributable to New Oriental Education &
Technology Group Inc.’s shareholders
245,430
165,386
Net income per share attributable to New Oriental-Basic
(note 2)
0.15
0.10
Net income per share attributable to New Oriental-Diluted
(note 2)
0.15
0.10
Net income per ADS attributable to New Oriental-Basic
(note 2)
1.49
1.00
Net income per ADS attributable to New Oriental-Diluted
(note 2)
1.48
0.99
NEW ORIENTAL EDUCATION & TECHNOLOGY GROUP INC.
RECONCILIATIONS OF NON-GAAP MEASURES TO THE MOST COMPARABLE GAAP MEASURES
(In thousands except for per share and per ADS amounts)
For the Three Months Ended August 31
2024
2023
(Unaudited)
(Unaudited)
USD
USD
General and administrative expenses
365,053
317,558
Less: Share-based compensation expenses in
general and administrative expenses
10,598
27,232
Non-GAAP general and administrative expenses
354,455
290,326
Total operating cost and expenses
1,142,266
894,897
Less: Share-based compensation expenses
6,853
39,631
Non-GAAP operating cost and expenses
1,135,413
855,266
Operating income
293,150
205,124
Add: Share-based compensation expenses
6,853
39,631
Non-GAAP operating income
300,003
244,755
Operating margin
20.4 %
18.6 %
Non-GAAP operating margin
20.9 %
22.3 %
Net income attributable to New Oriental
245,430
165,386
Add: Share-based compensation expenses
7,389
31,180
Less: (Loss)/Gain from fair value change of
investments
(11,913)
7,248
Non-GAAP net income attributable to New Oriental
264,732
189,318
Net income per ADS attributable to New Oriental-
Basic (note 2)
1.49
1.00
Net income per ADS attributable to New Oriental-
Diluted (note 2)
1.48
0.99
Non-GAAP net income per ADS attributable to New
Oriental – Basic (note 2)
1.61
1.15
Non-GAAP net income per ADS attributable to New
Oriental – Diluted (note 2)
1.60
1.13
Weighted average shares used in calculating basic
net income per ADS (note 2)
1,648,666,786
1,651,203,885
Weighted average shares used in calculating
diluted net income per ADS (note 2)
1,659,034,134
1,665,318,691
Non-GAAP net income per share – basic
0.16
0.11
Non-GAAP net income per share – diluted
0.16
0.11
Notes:
Note 1: Share-based compensation expenses (in thousands) are included in the operating cost and expenses as
follows:
For the Three Months Ended August 31
2024
2023
(Unaudited)
(Unaudited)
USD
USD
Cost of revenues
(3,146)
4,972
Selling and marketing
(599)
7,427
General and administrative
10,598
27,232
Total
6,853
39,631
Note 2: Each ADS represents ten common shares.
NEW ORIENTAL EDUCATION & TECHNOLOGY GROUP INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(In thousands)
For the Three Months Ended August 31
2024
2023
(Unaudited)
(Unaudited)
USD
USD
Net cash provided by operating activities
183,210
335,786
Net cash used in investing activities
(295,156)
(208,166)
Net cash used in financing activities
(153,494)
(12,991)
Effect of exchange rate changes
27,487
(29,335)
Net change in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash
(237,953)
85,294
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning
of period
1,589,104
1,805,427
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of
period
1,351,151
1,890,721
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-oriental-announces-results-for-the-first-fiscal-quarter-ended-august-31-2024-302284327.html
SOURCE New Oriental Education and Technology Group Inc.
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The approach is already producing results. In one early deployment, AI-led customer conversations were associated with more than $350,000 in sales during a period in which the brand generated approximately $1 million in total revenue. GR0 AI deployments include attribution and incrementality reporting so brands can measure both assisted and directly generated revenue.
GR0 AI deploys inside a brand’s existing commerce, CRM, email, SMS, phone and customer-data infrastructure. Its systems:
Identify and prioritize high-intent customers and prospects Personalize outreach and follow-up based on customer behavior and company data Conduct two-way conversations across messaging channels, recovering revenue from abandoned carts, dormant customers and unconverted leads Escalate complex or high-value opportunities to human sales and support teams Measure the revenue associated with AI-driven interactions
“Most brands do not have a demand problem. They already have thousands of customers and prospects sitting inside their systems,” said Ben Ganz, founder of Ultimate Deployment. “We build the company brain, unify the data and deploy AI employees that act on that intelligence. The opportunity falls into two buckets: recover the demand a brand has already earned, and make sure no new opportunity slips through the cracks. GR0 gives us the distribution, market access and operating experience to bring this to hundreds of brands.”
Ganz has spent his career at the intersection of entertainment and technology. He began as a producer on American Idol before moving into digital leadership at Fox, then founded VEGO Pictures, a digital production and technology company that worked with major entertainment and consumer brands and served as in-house production partner to Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud Network. He also co-founded a virtual events company that produced digital graduation experiences for hundreds of thousands of students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
From there, Ganz and his team moved to the frontier of consumer AI, creating what FOX News called Hollywood’s first AI interactive voice experience. They powered AI personalities for creators with a combined audience of 100 million followers and engineered the world’s first AI assembly line for replicating personalities at scale, work the Hollywood Reporter recognized as the “Real-life Her.” Ultimate Deployment then turned that conversational AI expertise toward the enterprise, building systems that connect company knowledge, customer data, and operational software with AI agents capable of performing real, meaningful business work.
“Ben and his team have built something with the potential to become a major new revenue channel for ecommerce companies,” Zacharias said. “We have seen very few offerings create this level of excitement among sophisticated performance marketers.”
Every GR0 AI engagement begins with an intensive discovery and implementation process: the team interviews key employees, maps the company’s systems and builds a centralized intelligence layer around the business. Lead scoring and prioritization are connected to the brand’s CRM before customer-facing AI agents go live.
“The technical opportunity is clear, and our job is to make it just as clear commercially,” said Kevin Miller, founder and CEO of GR0. “A brand that works with GR0 AI will know exactly what is being installed, how quickly it goes live and what revenue it is producing.”
The acquisition is expected to close this quarter, subject to completion of definitive agreements. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Brands interested in early GR0 AI deployments can learn more at www.gr0.com.
About GR0
GR0 is a full-service digital marketing agency that helps DTC and ecommerce brands accelerate growth through data-driven performance marketing, creative strategy and emerging technology. Co-founded by Kevin Miller and Jon Zacharias, GR0 provides services across SEO, Generative Engine Optimization, paid media, email, SMS, creative, affiliate and marketplace growth, and was among the first agencies to build a dedicated GEO practice, which is recognized by VentureBeat as one of America’s premier Generative Engine Optimization agencies. GR0 is headquartered in Los Angeles. Learn more at GR0.com.
About Ultimate Deployment
Ultimate Deployment builds AI employees for growing companies. Founded by Ben Ganz, the company captures how a business operates, organizes its institutional knowledge, connects its systems and deploys AI agents that perform real operational work across sales, customer experience, marketing, finance and internal teams.
Before its enterprise focus, Ultimate Deployment’s team built consumer AI at entertainment scale, creating Hollywood’s first interactive voice experience, powering AI personalities for creators with a combined audience of 100 million followers and engineering the world’s first AI assembly line for replicating personalities’ work featured by Fox News and recognized by The Hollywood Reporter as the real-life Her.
About Ultimate AI
Ultimate AI, founded by Ben Ganz, is a holding company building AI across consumer and enterprise. It launched during the first wave of consumer generative AI as an early AI super app, bringing more than 100 AI tools and assistants into a single consumer platform that peaked within the top 10 of its Apple App Store category, according to company data. The company then expanded into creator AI, developing technology that lets public figures build interactive AI experiences around their personality, voice, knowledge and content. In 2024, Ultimate AI created Pookie Tools (widely known as the Hawk Tuah AI app), whose launch generated more than 400 million organic social media views and more than 10,000 downloads in its first seven days with no paid marketing, according to company data. It went on to develop real-time voice and personality products, including an experience Fox News described as Hollywood’s first real-time AI experience.
Ultimate Deployment, the enterprise arm that GR0 is acquiring, formed in March 2026 following the release of frontier agentic models from Anthropic and OpenAI, and applies that technology inside operating companies. It builds AI employees that capture how a business operates, unify its data and systems, and perform real operational work across sales, customer experience, marketing, finance and internal teams.
Company: GR0
Media Contact Name: GR0 Agency
Media Contact Email: press@gr0.com
Phone: +1 (310) 439-1887
Address: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Website: https://gr0.com/
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gr0-to-acquire-ultimate-ais-deployment-division-and-launch-gr0-ai-turning-brands-existing-customer-data-into-revenue-302833764.html
SOURCE GR0.com LLC
Technology
Tech Mahindra and Cisco Partner to Bring AI-Driven Security Service Edge to Global Enterprises
Published
13 minutes agoon
July 24, 2026By
PUNE, India, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Tech Mahindra (NSE: TECHM), a leading global provider of technology consulting and digital solutions to enterprises across industries, announced a partnership with Cisco to deliver an AI-driven Security Service Edge (SSE) offering for global enterprises. The joint offering will help enterprises reduce security complexity, improve visibility and control, deliver seamless user access, and strengthen resilience as they scale cloud, hybrid work, and AI adoption.
The partnership combines Tech Mahindra’s global managed services, integration, and delivery expertise with Cisco’s industry-leading Security Service Edge (SSE) platform (Cisco Secure Access) to provide unified, cloud-native security and seamless zero-trust access across users, devices, networks, and locations. For Tech Mahindra, the partnership strengthens its cybersecurity portfolio with differentiated, high-value managed security services, expands its addressable market, and accelerates pipeline growth in cloud security.
Saket Singh, SVP & Business Head – Digital Core Services (Cloud, Infrastructure, Network and Cyber Security Services), Tech Mahindra, said, “As enterprises increasingly operate in hybrid and distributed environments, security must evolve from siloed controls to unified, cloud-native platforms. Fragmented tools, inconsistent user experiences, and rising threats are creating visibility and control gaps as applications are accessed from anywhere. Through our partnership with Cisco, we are combining advanced SSE capabilities with Tech Mahindra’s managed services expertise to simplify operations, strengthen zero-trust enforcement, and deliver consistent, AI-powered protection at scale.”
By integrating a secure web gateway, cloud access security broker (CASB), zero trust network access (ZTNA), firewall-as-a-service, data loss prevention (DLP), and much more into a single platform, the offering simplifies security operations and delivers AI-powered protection. Enterprises benefit from end-to-end visibility, faster deployment, and a streamlined path to modernizing their security architecture while accelerating secure cloud adoption and cyber resilience. Additionally, as enterprises inevitably step into the agentic era, this solution provides robust and rapidly expanding protections for the use of generative AI and AI agents.
Raj Chopra, SVP & Chief Product Officer, Cisco Security Business Group, said, “Enterprises don’t need another tool to stitch into an already complex security stack. They need a simpler way to secure how work actually happens across users, devices, applications, clouds, and increasingly AI agents. Cisco Secure Access brings zero trust, identity context, and AI-powered protection into one cloud-delivered platform, helping teams enforce policy consistently while giving users seamless access from anywhere. Together with Tech Mahindra’s global managed services and integration expertise, we can help organizations modernize security operations, accelerate secure cloud and AI adoption, and move with confidence in the agentic era.”
The integrated SSE solution reinforces Tech Mahindra and Cisco’s leadership in unified cloud-security, helping enterprises simplify secure access, strengthen resilience and accelerate digital transformation in an increasingly distributed and AI-driven world.
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tech-mahindra-and-cisco-partner-to-bring-ai-driven-security-service-edge-to-global-enterprises-302834077.html
SOURCE Tech Mahindra
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Tech Mahindra and Cisco Partner to Bring AI-Driven Security Service Edge to Global Enterprises
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