Connect with us

Technology

PwC Canada named an IDC CIO Awards Canada 2026 winner

Published

on

PwC Canada’s AI Factory and firm-wide AI program earn national recognition for moving enterprise AI from experimentation to scalable, governed production

PwC Canada has been named a 2026 IDC CIO Awards Canada winner, recognizing the firm’s AI Factory and enterprise AI program for their impact on business value and innovation.The award celebrates PwC Canada’s shift from isolated AI experimentation to a repeatable, enterprise-wide delivery capability.The recognition acknowledges the contributions and leadership of Irene Zaguskin, Chief Information Officer of PwC Canada and Co-CIO of PwC Americas, who stood up the firm’s AI Factory and leads technology transformation and operations.

TORONTO, Aug. 31, 2026 /CNW/ — PwC Canada today announced that it has been named a winner of the 2026 IDC CIO Awards Canada, recognizing outstanding IT innovation and measurable business value delivery. The award honours PwC Canada’s AI Factory and firm-wide AI program, which have helped move enterprise AI from isolated pilots to a scalable, governed and repeatable capability across the organization.

“Over the past year, we’ve evolved our AI journey to build an enterprise capability that helps us reinvent how we work, serve clients and create value,” said Irene Zaguskin, Chief Information Officer, PwC Canada. “Our AI Factory, powered by talent specialized in AI, has enabled teams across the firm to move beyond experimentation and deliver AI solutions at scale, supported by strong governance, trusted data and cross-functional collaboration. This recognition reflects the commitment, innovation and hard work of so many people across PwC Canada.”

The AI Factory, led by Robert Bzdziuch, AI Factory and Products & Experiences Leader, PwC Canada, is the firm’s internal team of specialized AI talent, including developers, architects, designers, product managers and project managers. Solutions from the AI Factory have enhanced how PwC Canada delivers services to clients, and the experience gained through its development strengthens the firm’s broader AI capabilities and client conversations. PwC Canada’s experience applying enterprise AI transformation within its own organization has given its teams practical, first-hand experience navigating the technology, data, governance and adoption challenges that clients face when moving AI from experimentation into enterprise-wide production.

“Congratulations to our AI Factory and all the incredible teams who support our firm’s AI program and thank you to our partners who helped make this possible,” added Zaguskin. “What makes this achievement especially meaningful is that it isn’t about a single solution. It’s about creating a sustainable foundation for innovation, one that lets us transform today so we can build tomorrow, and continues to generate impact across our firm and for our clients.”

“We’re thrilled to announce the winners of the IDC CIO Awards Canada 2026. This prestigious award celebrates exceptional Canadian organizations that are leveraging technology to drive digital transformation and deliver measurable business value within their organization,” said Allice Shandler, Senior Director, Events – Americas at IDC and CIO Awards Canada Program Chair.

“This year’s winning projects are not only innovative but also inspiring examples of what’s possible when visionary leadership is paired with a highly skilled, future-focused workforce. We are honoured to recognize these achievements and the remarkable individuals behind them at our awards ceremony, which will take place following IDC’s CIO Summit Canada event on November 19, 2026, at Delta Hotels Toronto,” Shandler added.

Now in its fifth year, the IDC CIO Awards Canada program recognizes Canadian organizations and their teams for leveraging technology to drive business success, demonstrating IT innovation and delivering measurable business value. PwC Canada’s recognition underscores the firm’s commitment to embedding responsible AI governance from the outset and measuring success by business value delivered, rather than by the number of pilots or proofs of concept.

About PwC Canada

At PwC Canada, we help clients build trust and reinvent so they can turn complexity into competitive advantage. We’re a tech-forward, people-empowered network with more than 6,500 partners and staff in offices across the country. Across audit and assurance, tax and legal, deals and consulting, we help build, accelerate and sustain momentum.

PwC refers to the Canadian member firm, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details. Find out more by visiting us at: http://www.pwc.com/ca 

© 2026 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an Ontario limited liability partnership. All rights reserved.

About the IDC CIO Awards Canada

The IDC CIO Awards for Canada celebrate Canadian organizations and the teams within them that are using IT in innovative ways to deliver business value, whether by creating competitive advantages, optimizing business processes, enabling growth, or improving relationships with customers. The award is an acknowledged mark of enterprise excellence and a source of pride for all winning organizations.

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the technology intelligence layer of the AI economy. A global leader in research and data for more than 60 years, IDC’s expert analysts, proprietary data sets, and rigorous methodologies are trusted by business and IT leaders to guide critical business strategies and IT investments. Today, that intelligence is built into the tools and workflows where work gets done with IDC Quanta, making work sharper, teams faster, and businesses harder to beat. Visit https://www.idc.com/, subscribe to the IDC blog, or follow IDC on X and LinkedIn for the latest industry insights.

SOURCE PwC Management Services LP

Continue Reading

Technology

Altimetrik Accelerates Enterprise AI Transformation with Google Cloud’s Gemini for Healthcare

Published

on

By

BENGALURU, India, Nov. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Altimetrik, an AI engineering company, has launched new industry-specific AI capabilities built on Google Cloud’s Gemini for healthcare to automate complex enterprise workflows. As an integration partner, Altimetrik will help healthcare organizations put agentic AI to work on their most complex operational challenges.

Together, Google Cloud and Altimetrik will put these capabilities to work by integrating AI with existing enterprise data, systems, and workflows for healthcare organizations. Combining Google Cloud’s advanced AI capabilities with Altimetrik’s healthcare domain expertise and enterprise engineering, the collaboration aims to streamline administrative processes, improve access to clinical and operational information, and support more effective care coordination.

Altimetrik will build and deploy these solutions using its ALTi AIOS™ framework, complementing Google Cloud’s technology with workflow orchestration, and governance. The framework incorporates agent permissions, auditability, and human oversight into solution design, enabling healthcare organizations to adopt agentic AI responsibly.

“Pilots are easy. Scaling is the hard part, especially when AI must operate within decades of established systems, data, and processes,” said Raj Sundaresan, CEO of Altimetrik. “In healthcare, AI must earn the trust of the people delivering care. Since joining Google Cloud’s AI-native partner cohort earlier this year, our forward-deployed engineers have been helping organizations move agentic AI from pilot to production through ALTi AIOS™, ensuring every agent is permissioned, auditable, and accountable. Gemini for healthcare provides a powerful foundation for the industry, and we are proud to build on that foundation as a launch partner, while keeping care teams firmly in control.”

“Healthcare organizations need solutions that bridge cutting-edge AI with day-to-day operational realities,” said Satish Thomas, Vice President, Google Cloud. “Our collaboration with Altimetrik brings Gemini directly into mission-critical workflows, helping healthcare leaders to streamline administrative processes, improve coordination, and make data more actionable.”

Altimetrik first partnered with Google Cloud earlier this year when it became a part of the company’s cohort of AI-native partners to scale agentic AI across the global enterprise.

Learn more about how Altimetrik is building governed, agentic solutions that help healthcare teams make more confident decisions.

About Altimetrik

Altimetrik is an AI engineering company helping some of the most revered and iconic enterprises modernize systems, data, and processes at the heart of their business, so they can move faster, operate more efficiently, and innovate continuously. Through ALTi AIOS™, its AI-native operating system, Altimetrik combines the latest AI capabilities with deep engineering expertise to help clients solve complex challenges, accelerate modernization, and deliver measurable outcomes at scale.

Altimetrik’s clients get access to the latest AI innovations while maintaining flexibility to choose the right technologies for their business, through trusted relationships with OpenAI, Google Gemini, Anthropic, Databricks, and major hyperscalers.

A member of the World Economic Forum’s Centre for AI Excellence, the Forum’s global hub for shaping responsible AI, Altimetrik is also recognized in the 2025 Constellation Research ShortList™ for Global AI Services and named a Major Contender in multiple Everest Group PEAK Matrix® assessments, including Software Product Engineering Services (2026), Enterprise Quality Engineering Services (2025), and Digital Engineering Services for BFSI and Life Sciences. Learn more at altimetrik.com.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/in/news-releases/altimetrik-accelerates-enterprise-ai-transformation-with-google-clouds-gemini-for-healthcare-302935320.html

Continue Reading

Technology

20th Global Entrepreneurship Week China 2026 Kicks off in Shanghai

Published

on

By

SHANGHAI, Nov. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On November 10, 20th Global Entrepreneurship Week China 2026 (hereinafter referred to as “Entrepreneurship Week”) kicked off in Shanghai.

Running from November 10 to 14, 2026 for five days, this edition features more than 50 entrepreneurship events, bringing together over 100 distinguished global guests, representatives from nearly 500 cutting-edge tech enterprises and professional investment institutions, and more than 1,500 entrepreneurs.

By focusing on “Learning”, “Showcase”, “Matchmaking” and “Empowerment”, Global Entrepreneurship Week China builds an all-round entrepreneurship support ecosystem and creates an international platform for in-depth exchanges among entrepreneurs.

This year’s event further elevates its international profile. Jonathan Ortmans, Founder and President, Global Entrepreneurship Network, led a delegation of more than 20 international guests, including outstanding entrepreneur representatives and seasoned entrepreneurship mentors from the Republic of Korea, the United States, Chile, Germany, Egypt, New Zealand and other countries, to Global Entrepreneurship Week China, enabling Chinese and foreign entrepreneurs to share valuable experience from diverse entrepreneurial ecosystems with zero distance.

Taking the 20th anniversary as an opportunity, this year’s Entrepreneurship Week further highlights its role in disseminating innovative ideas. It features five themed days tailored to Shanghai’s industrial tracks, catering to the growth needs of entrepreneurs across the full lifecycle. Future Intelligence Day focuses on cutting-edge areas including intelligent computing, general AI, quantum technology and humanoid robots; Future Manufacturing & Materials Day focuses on sectors such as humanoid robots, precision intelligent equipment and flexible manufacturing; Future Energy Day focuses on controllable nuclear fusion, advanced nuclear energy, long-duration energy storage, hydrogen energy, solid-state batteries and other fields; Future Health Day covers tracks of brain-computer interface, cell and gene therapy, biomanufacturing and regenerative medicine; Angel Fund & Future Space Day centers on campus entrepreneurship, early-stage startup pitching, entrepreneurship research, commercial aerospace, low-altitude economy, future mobility and other themes.

More than 50 entrepreneurship activities including startup project pitching, achievement exhibitions, sci-tech innovation community exchanges, and cultural and sports interactions will be held successively on Fuxing Island. These activities build a platform for global entrepreneurs to connect technologies, capital and industrial resources, and the event will run through November 14.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/20th-global-entrepreneurship-week-china-2026-kicks-off-in-shanghai-302936055.html

SOURCE Global Entrepreneurship Week China

Continue Reading

Technology

Dragonpass Acquires iCoupon the Leading Global Voucher Redemption Network to Build International Loyalty-as-a-Service Platform

Published

on

By

Strategic Acquisition Combines Dragonpass’ Loyalty Infrastructure, Powering 35 of the World’s 50 Largest Banks, With iCoupon’s Vouchering Technology Supporting Over One Billion Passengers

SINGAPORE, Nov. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Dragonpass, the global travel and lifestyle benefits platform serving more than 45 million members worldwide, has announced the acquisition of iCoupon, the intelligent digital vouchering technology business whose network spans over 400 airports worldwide. The transaction represents a strategic expansion of Dragonpass’ technology and distribution capabilities, combining established financial services relationships with extensive airline and retail integrations to accelerate its development of a global loyalty-as-a-service platform.

The acquisition follows almost a decade of commercial collaboration between the two businesses, initially focused on delivering digital dining benefits across airports. While Dragonpass has developed its global presence through partnerships with financial institutions, including some of the world’s largest banks and payment networks, iCoupon has built complementary infrastructure connecting 200 airlines, over 400 airports and 4,000 retail units across 56 countries. The combination creates immediate opportunities to expand dining and retail offerings, alongside access to previously untapped solutions and customer segments across both networks.

In the near term, Dragonpass will focus on extending its dining and retail propositions through iCoupon’s established network, while introducing additional Dragonpass services to iCoupon’s airline and airport partners. Longer term, the business will explore how transferable integrations can support a wider lifestyle offering beyond aviation, creating opportunities to deliver relevant benefits across more frequent customer interactions. iCoupon’s existing team will remain in place, with its open-network model continuing to operate, ensuring continuity for existing partners while supporting new opportunities across the combined business.

Dragonpass acquires iCoupon following nearly a decade of collaboration, expanding its financial services, aviation and retail capabilities.iCoupon’s network spans over 200 airlines, 400+ airports and over 4,000 retail units across 56 countries, with support already available to over one billion passengers.iCoupon issued over £100 million in digital vouchers in 2025, demonstrating the scale of its existing distribution and redemption infrastructure.Dragonpass research finds 50% of Britons consider loyalty schemes outdated, while 76% value affordable everyday treats.The deal strengthens dining and retail offerings in the near term, supporting Dragonpass’ wider ambition to build a global loyalty-as-a-service platform

Jane Zhu, CEO & Co-founder at Dragonpass, shares:

“The acquisition of iCoupon represents a significant step in our strategy to build a global loyalty-as-a-service platform. Having worked together for almost a decade, we recognise the strength of its technology and network, and the immediate opportunity to expand our dining and retail offering while exploring applications across new lifestyle markets.

“The future of loyalty lies in connecting customer intelligence with relevant benefits at scale. By bringing together complementary distribution networks and investing in more intelligent engagement technology, we’re building the infrastructure to help our partners deliver greater value to customers, precisely when they need it.”

iCoupon’s technology enables airlines and other partners to distribute vouchers, discounts and customer entitlements through existing identifiers, including boarding passes, barcodes and QR codes. Integrated directly into participating retailers’ point-of-sale systems, its platform supports real-time redemption, transaction tracking and automated reconciliation. Having issued over £100 million in digital vouchers during 2025, including 12 million food and beverage entitlements, iCoupon has expanded into 13 technology modules spanning passenger care, retail and other travel services, providing Dragonpass with additional capabilities and new commercial opportunities.

Richard Bye, CEO and Co-founder at iCoupon, shares:

“For too long, loyalty has been constrained by fragmented ecosystems, disconnected rewards and experiences that often fail to reflect what customers genuinely value. This acquisition is about helping accelerate a shift away from traditional points-based programmes towards real-time, contextual engagement that delivers meaningful benefits exactly when and where they matter most. By combining Dragonpass’ global distribution and customer intelligence capabilities with iCoupon’s powerful airline connected redemption infrastructure, we are creating the foundations for a new generation of loyalty; one that is intelligent, frictionless and seamlessly embedded into the everyday lives of consumers around the world.”

Dragonpass’ nationally representative Comfort Index finds 50% of Brits consider loyalty schemes outdated, revealing the mounting pressure on traditional loyal models to demonstrate value while 48% of Brits are more likely to switch long-term providers due to rising costs, poor support or irrelevant rewards. Meanwhile, 69% say brands that reduce everyday friction are more likely to earn their loyalty. Demand for practical benefits is also growing, with 76% valuing affordable everyday treats, despite 56% worrying about the cost of dining, drinks and experiences.

This expansion forms part of Dragonpass’ broader investment in data orchestration and customer engagement technology. By connecting a wider global benefits supply chain with more intelligent distribution and personalisation capabilities, the company aims to address a longstanding challenge for enterprise loyalty programmes: sourcing relevant benefits across markets and delivering them through a seamless customer experience. Its longer-term strategy is to enable financial institutions, airlines and other partners to move beyond static rewards catalogues, offering benefits aligned with individual customer needs, while strengthening engagement and commercial value across its network.

About Dragonpass

Established in 2005, Dragonpass is a leading global travel and lifestyle platform, providing premium benefits and experiences to more than 45 million members worldwide. Its growing ecosystem spans travel, health and wellness, lifestyle and entertainment, with a global network covering more than 140 countries and regions and partnerships with more than 800 enterprises.

About iCoupon

iCoupon is a market-leading intelligent vouchering company with a global presence, specialising in the provision of digital vouchering services within the aviation industry and beyond. Collaborating with an extensive network of more than 200 airlines, spanning over 400 airports and in excess of 4,000 retail establishments, the company’s aim is to share value and place it where it counts. iCoupon leverages its unique technology to facilitate the seamless distribution of intelligent vouchers by airlines, airports, ground handlers and retailers directly to passenger boarding passes, enhancing the value-sharing experience.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/dragonpass-acquires-icoupon-the-leading-global-voucher-redemption-network-to-build-international-loyalty-as-a-service-platform-302936106.html

SOURCE Dragonpass

Continue Reading

Trending