NEW YORK, June 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As aerospace and defense (A&D) organizations face unprecedented demand to increase output, digital thread initiatives are emerging as a critical enabler of end‑to‑end visibility and faster decision‑making. New joint research released today by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) finds that while digital thread efforts are delivering measurable benefits, most organizations remain unable to scale it across the enterprise. A framework for integrating data across systems and lifecycle stages of a product, digital thread is the seamless flow of trusted data across design, production and operations, enabling traceability and transparency.

The study, “Digital thread delivers value, so what’s stopping scale?“, is based on a survey of 57 A&D leaders as well as in-depth executive interviews. Findings show that while adoption is widespread, enterprise‑level impact remains limited. Three‑quarters of organizations are implementing digital thread in some capacity, yet only 14 percent say it is fully applied across the enterprise. The study pinpoints the moves that make digital thread programs succeed: the right ownership model, the right funding approach and the right use cases to start with.

“Aerospace and defense’s current challenges have turned digital thread from a nice-to-have into a must-have,” said Tim White, AIA Vice President of Engineering and Technology. “It sharpens quality, strengthens traceability, cuts redundancy and utilizes the data artificial intelligence needs to unlock real optimization. To meet unprecedented demand in the supply chain, digital thread is essential for organizations looking to compete and win in the future.”

“Digital thread is no longer a technology problem. It is an execution problem,” said Raman Ram, EY Americas Aerospace, Defense & Mobility Leader. “Organizations see value in pilots, but without enterprise‑level governance, performance measurement and data standardization, that value never scales to impact delivery, capital efficiency or risk.”

Key findings in the study include:

Despite years of investment in digital thread, 56 percent of A&D organizations remain in pilot or limited implementation phases.Execution, ownership and data readiness are the biggest barriers to enterprise impact.Fewer than half (45 percent) of leaders surveyed say their organization has a clear strategic vision and sustained commitment for digital thread.Data readiness is a critical constraint to digital thread implementation, with only 29 percent of respondents saying their enterprise data is standardized, governed and accessible, limiting organizations’ ability to connect workflows across the lifecycle and apply analytics and artificial intelligence (AI). While 71 percent of leaders expect the greatest future value from digital thread will come from predictive analytics and AI-enabled insights, the research reinforces that these outcomes depend on a mature digital thread foundation.

Read the full report to understand key barriers and opportunities for digital thread in A&D here.

About the study

EY US surveyed 57 leaders from Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) member organizations and conducted eight in-depth executive interviews to understand how digital thread is being applied in practice. The respondents are primarily from US‑based companies with annual revenues exceeding $100 million and at least three years of investment in digital thread initiatives.

About Aerospace Industries Association

The Aerospace Industries Association represents the nation’s aerospace and defense sector, a key driver of U.S. security, innovation, and economic strength. Since 1919, AIA has advanced policies that support industry competitiveness, workforce development, and technological leadership. As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, AIA ensures that our industry remains one of America’s defining success stories — and a foundation for its future.

About EY

EY is building a better working world by creating new value for clients, people, society and the planet, while building trust in capital markets.

Enabled by data, AI and advanced technology, EY teams help clients shape the future with confidence and develop answers for the most pressing issues of today and tomorrow.

EY teams work across a full spectrum of services in assurance, consulting, tax, strategy and transactions. Fueled by sector insights, a globally connected multidisciplinary network and diverse ecosystem partners, EY teams can provide services in more than 150 countries and territories.

All in to shape the future with confidence.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

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SOURCE Ernst & Young LLP

2026 State of GEO in B2B Marketing report finds 78% of organizations investing in GEO see measurable ROI

GILBERT, Ariz., June 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — GNW Consulting, the strategic marketing operations agency that guides companies through implementation, integration, and optimization of marketing technology, today released its 2026 State of Generative Engine Optimization in B2B Marketing study, co-published with research partner Demand Metric and available as a free public resource. Based on 225 responses from B2B marketing and revenue leaders, the research shows GEO is quickly moving from early experimentation into a more operational discipline, with organizations beginning to report measurable business impact from AI-driven discovery strategies.

“GEO has already reached a market tipping point,” says Raja Walia, founder and CEO of GNW Consulting. “We’re in an execution phase, with companies betting on measurable performance. As the early advantage narrows, B2B leaders have an opportunity to better understand how GEO works and where it can drive impact within their organizations.”

The study found that 92% of organizations are already experimenting with or operationalizing GEO, while 78% of those investing report measurable return on investment. Organizations allocating more than 5% of marketing budget toward GEO initiatives reported even higher levels of measurable impact. The findings suggest organizations delaying GEO investment may face increasing competitive pressure as AI-driven discovery behavior continues to evolve.

Additional findings from the research include:

88% of SEO agencies now claim to offer GEO or AI search optimization services, but 37% describe those services as “loosely defined.”22% of respondents report AI-driven traffic accounts for more than 5% of total website traffic, significantly above the widely cited industry benchmark of under 1%.Community platforms and AI-optimized content are emerging as major drivers of AI discovery, with respondents ranking them slightly ahead of traditional SEO tactics.Fewer than 15% of organizations have a dedicated GEO owner, despite widespread adoption activity across marketing teams.Budget remains a challenge for many organizations, though the data suggests companies already seeing ROI may also be facing pressure to scale successful GEO initiatives more quickly.

Andrea Lechner-Becker, chief strategy officer at GNW Consulting and co-author of the report, said the findings reflect how quickly organizations are being forced to rethink search visibility strategies.

“Most emerging marketing categories take two to three years to produce defensible ROI,” said Lechner-Becker. “What’s notable here is how quickly organizations are beginning to measure impact from GEO efforts. This isn’t a theoretical category anymore. It’s a working one, and the companies treating it like an experiment are losing share to the ones treating it like a discipline.”

The full report, including methodology, additional findings, and a GEO assessment framework, is available free here.

About GNW Consulting

GNW Consulting is a strategic marketing operations agency that guides companies through implementation, integration and optimization of marketing technology, including a growing practice in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) for B2B clients. Andrea Lechner-Becker, chief strategy officer, is a frequent contributor to Fast Company on AI search and marketing strategy. Since its founding, the company has become known for going beyond implementation to integrating and optimizing MarTech stacks regardless of industry. To learn more, please visit https://gnwconsulting.com/.

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SOURCE GNW Consulting

Exostar’s Microsoft Azure-based CMMC Ready Suite now available through Microsoft
Marketplace, simplifying procurement and strengthening compliance for 80,000+
defense suppliers

HERNDON, Va., June 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As enforcement of the Department of Defense’s (DoD/DoW) Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) accelerates, Exostar today announced an expansion of its nearly two-decade relationship with Microsoft to accelerate secure, Azure-based compliance solutions for the Defense Industrial Base (DIB).

DIB firms, including prime contractors, their suppliers, and small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs) can now purchase Exostar’s purpose-built, complete CMMC solution through the Microsoft Marketplace. This streamlined purchasing model aligns with federal and prime contractor procurement practices while enabling organizations to apply existing Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitments (MACC). The result: simplified budgeting, reduced procurement friction, and faster deployment of pre-integrated Azure-native compliance architecture built for enterprise-grade security and scalability.

CMMC Maturity Level 2, which applies to at least 80,000 members of the DIB, mandates the continuous protection of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) as organizations and individuals share it, process it, and store it. This places a premium on who accesses CUI, with what devices, and where it flows. Primes and SMBs alike must limit the CUI footprint to reduce the CMMC compliance burden without impacting ease of collaboration for a distributed, remote multi-tier supply chain workforce.

Exostar’s CMMC Ready Suite does just that. Its Azure-native, zero-trust architecture includes:

Managed Access Gateway – Internal and external identity management to control who gains access to which assets with what privileges.Exostar Managed on Microsoft 365 – Within Microsoft Teams there is a secure enclave for compliant collaboration and the exchange and storage of CUI.Exostar’s Managed Secure Desktop – The latest addition to Exostar’s CMMC Ready Suite, powered by Azure Virtual Desktop. Allows for the convenience of device choice while extending the CMMC compliance boundary to the endpoint – providing a secure virtual workspace designed for CUI protection and operational resilience.

“Together, Exostar and Microsoft deliver an end-to-end, purpose-built CMMC solution on Microsoft Azure that’s easy to procure and enable,” said Derrick Reig, Exostar’s Chief Revenue Officer. “We integrate identity, secure collaboration, enclave protection, and managed services into a single, defensible compliance architecture that lowers infrastructure complexity and accelerates DIB compliance – exactly what companies need to protect and grow their DoD business as the CMMC rollout proceeds.”

“Exostar has an extensive track record developing innovative products using Microsoft technology, from the early days of on-premises, SharePoint-based collaboration to cloud-first managed services that accelerate CMMC compliance,” said Chris Barry, President, U.S. Public Sector Industries, Microsoft. “Their commitment to Microsoft Azure reinforces its position as a trusted cloud for the defense ecosystem, enabling secure collaboration across the DIB. By going to market through Microsoft Marketplace, they reduce procurement complexity and turbocharge the speed businesses need to meet their CMMC objectives.”

To learn more about the Exostar/Microsoft CMMC solution’s ease of deployment, as well as its capabilities, benefits, scalability, proven performance, and compliance, visit the Microsoft Marketplace or the Exostar web site.

About Exostar
The Exostar Platform supports communities exclusively within highly regulated industries where organizations securely collaborate, share information, and operate compliantly. Within these communities, we build trust. Over 200,000 companies and agencies in 175 countries trust Exostar to strengthen security, reduce expenditures, raise productivity, and help them achieve their digital transformation initiatives. More than half of the Defense Industrial Base, including 98 of the top 100 firms, transact business over The Exostar Platform. Over 25 of the top global biopharmaceutical companies rely on The Exostar Platform to help them speed new medicines and therapies to market. Exostar is a Gartner Cool Vendor. For more information, visit www.exostar.com, and follow Exostar on LinkedIn and X.

Media Contact:
Kim Peterson
Exostar
(801) 971-4201 (m)
Kim.Peterson@exostar.com

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SOURCE Exostar