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IBM Study: Canadian CEOs say AI is fueling new job creation and risk-taking to outcompete

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More than half of Canadian CEOs say they are hiring for positions that did not exist last year due to generative AI, but struggle to fill key technology roles.72% of Canadian CEOs reveal they will take on more risk than their competition to outcompete.62% of Canadian CEOs say the productivity gains from automation are so great they are willing to accept more risk.

MARKHAM, ON, May 29, 2024 /CNW/ — A study by the IBM (NYSE: IBM) Institute for Business Value found that AI is fueling new job creation and risk-taking among surveyed Canadian CEOs as they prioritize generative AI to maintain and enhance their competitive edge in the global market while simultaneously transforming their workforce to meet new demands.

Canada was one of 30 countries included in this annual global IBM study of 3,000 CEOs. Key themes dominating the Canadian findings include the willingness of CEOs to accept more risk in an increasingly competitive landscape driven by generative AI. In fact, 64% of Canadian CEOs believe that competitive advantage depends on having the most advanced generative AI capabilities, higher than the global average of 59%. Additionally, 62% of Canadian CEOs say the productivity gains from automation are so great they must accept more risk to stay competitive, and 72% say they will take more risk than the competition to maintain their competitive edge.

“We are at a tipping point with generative AI as Canadian business leaders are transitioning from experimentation to integration that delivers real business impact,” said Craig Eaket, Managing Partner, IBM Consulting Canada. “As with any transformational change, there are challenges but there is also widespread recognition of a tremendous opportunity with AI for increased productivity. The potential business value is extraordinary.”  

“Process automation is not about replacing an individual. It’s about enhancing the value of individuals—making human work more human,” said Javier Tamargo, CEO, 407 ETR. “AI has a role in helping us advance to provide better service to our customers.” 

The findings also show that generative AI continues to fuel significant workforce changes. While more than half of Canadian CEOs reveal they have not yet assessed the impact of generative AI on their employees, they do believe the workforce will grow by nearly 6% over the next three years. In fact, while 59% of surveyed Canadians CEOs say their teams have the skills and knowledge to incorporate generative AI, 52% reveal they are hiring for roles that did not exist last year due to generative AI. Despite this push, however, 58% of Canadian CEOs say they are already struggling to fill key technology roles, highlighting the ongoing challenge of finding qualified talent.

The IBM study also reveals that CEOs recognize good governance is essential to effective generative AI, an area for which Canadian CEOs give themselves top marks. Of all the countries surveyed, Canadian CEOs are most satisfied with their AI governance plans, with 48% saying they have good governance in place today, significantly higher than the global average of 39%. Brazil reported in at second place with 43% and the United States’ self-assessment ranked them last with 32%.

Other key study findings include:

Just 22% of Canadian CEOs see customer experience as important for enterprise transformation, lower than the global average of 30%.More Canadian CEOs (35%) categorize efficiency and cost savings as the key objective in their AI deployment than the global average of 26%.43% of Canadian CEOs are prioritizing technology modernization over the next three years (9% more than the global average), and 34% are prioritizing their ecosystem and partnerships, higher than the global average of 24%.

To view the full study, including actionable strategies to help organizations navigate the complexity of generative AI adoption, visit: https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/QJ2BYLZG
For more information about IBM Canada, visit www.ibm.com/ca-en

Study Methodology: The IBM Institute for Business Value, in cooperation with Oxford Economics, conducted interviews with 3,000 CEOs from over 30 countries and 26 industries from December 2023 through April 2024 as part of the 29th edition of the IBM C-Suite Study series. These conversations focused on business priorities, leadership, technology, talent, partnering, regulation, industry disruption and enterprise transformation.

Media Contact
Lorraine Baldwin
IBM Canada Communications
lorraine@ca.ibm.com

SOURCE IBM

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DMALL Gains Momentum in Southeast Asia with AI-Driven Retail Platform

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SINGAPORE, May 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As retailers across Southeast Asia face rising operational complexity, shifting consumer expectations and margin pressure, demand is growing for integrated, real-time retail operating systems.

Dmall Inc. (02586.HK) is supporting this shift with a unified retail operating platform that connects core retail functions, improves execution efficiency and enhances visibility across stores, supply chains and customer touchpoints.

As one of China’s largest retail digital solutions providers by revenue and gross merchandise volume, Dmall serves nearly 600 retail clients across 11 countries and regions. Its platform has been shaped by large-scale deployments in complex retail environments, including long-standing work with Wumart Group, Metro, Lawson, 7-Eleven South China and SM Group in Southeast Asia.

Dmall’s recent collaboration with Cold Storage Singapore marks a milestone in supporting retail digital transformation across Southeast Asia. Completed within seven months, the project covered 87 stores across supermarket, hypermarket and express formats, consolidating multiple systems into a single platform across supply chain, merchandising and store operations.

“The transition was completed with minimal disruption to our operations,” said Mr. Lim Boon Chiong, Managing Director of Cold Storage Singapore. “We are seeing early improvements in product availability and replenishment, supported by better visibility across our supply chain and store network.”

The platform has also contributed to more consistent store execution and a more reliable customer experience. The first phase provides a foundation for the next stage of development, including AI-driven capabilities to further support product availability, freshness management and operational efficiency.

Dmall and Cold Storage Singapore plan to extend their cooperation to the fuel and convenience store format in June 2026, reflecting a deepening partnership and a shared commitment to creating greater operational value across retail formats.

“Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most dynamic retail markets, but also one of the most operationally complex,” said Mr. Zhongwei Ren, Partner and Chief Strategy Officer of Dmall. “By combining operational integration with AI-driven capabilities, Dmall aims to help retailers build more adaptive, scalable and efficient operations.”

About Dmall 

Founded in 2015, Dmall (02586.HK) is committed to advancing retail through technology. As one of Asia’s leading providers of digital retail solutions, Dmall delivers integrated, AI-driven innovations that help retailers improve efficiency, optimize decisions and create greater value.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/dmall-gains-momentum-in-southeast-asia-with-ai-driven-retail-platform-302761046.html

SOURCE Dmall Inc.

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Germany’s PDF/UA Mandate Raises the Bar for HTML to PDF C# Workflows

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Enterprise .NET teams generating PDFs at scale face new compliance pressure. Most aren’t ready.

CHICAGO, May 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The German government’s Deutschland Stack has standardized on PDF/UA as the required format for final-form digital documents. For .NET teams building HTML to PDF C# workflows, the mandate forces a question many have deferred: does the library you depend on actually produce compliant output, or just output that looks right?

Iron Software’s IronPDF, a commercial .NET library used in regulated industries across logistics, healthcare, and finance, generates PDF/UA-1 compliant documents directly from HTML in C#. That’s the same conformance level the Deutschland Stack now requires.

“Accessibility compliance has shifted from important to mandatory,” said Cameron Rimington, CEO of Iron Software. “Government rules like this set a floor that enterprise teams are expected to meet, not aspire to. The question is whether their tooling can clear that bar without bolt-on remediation.”

From recommendation to requirement

PDF/UA (ISO 14289) defines what makes a PDF universally accessible: correct tag structure, logical reading order, and metadata that lets assistive technologies parse the document reliably. The standard has existed since 2012, but adoption has been patchy.

Germany’s decision to embed PDF/UA into its national digital stack moves it from best practice to enforceable baseline. Combined with the European Accessibility Act, which extends similar requirements to digital products serving EU markets, the compliance window for document-heavy .NET applications is closing fast.

Most HTML to PDF C# workflows aren’t compliant yet

Despite the regulatory pressure, PDF/UA compliance is still the exception across enterprise .NET. Many teams generating PDFs at volume, particularly those running HTML to PDF C# pipelines, are using libraries that produce visually correct files but miss the structural and metadata requirements accessibility standards actually demand.

As mandates harden, that gap is harder to defer.

“Germany just standardized on PDF/UA. In our experience, most development teams aren’t compliant yet, and they know it,” said Rimington. “That gap is why they’re coming to us.”

What this means for .NET developers

Teams generating PDFs in .NET, for government portals, financial statements, healthcare records, or legal filings, are increasingly being asked to prove their output meets accessibility standards, not just that it renders.

IronPDF gives developers a direct path from HTML to PDF in C# with two methods that cover the common cases:

RenderHtmlAsPdfUa generates PDF/UA-1 compliant documents directly from HTMLSaveAsPdfUa converts existing PDFs to PDF/UA-1

When source HTML is semantic and well-structured, compliant output can be produced in a single call with no remediation step required. For less structured input, additional tagging may be needed to reach full compliance.

The library also supports PDF/A (conformance levels 1 through 3, both b and a) and PDF versions 1.2 through 1.7, covering archival and compliance requirements common in public sector and enterprise deployments.

In production: serving Germany’s regulated industries

The compliance pressure IronPDF is built for is already shaping decisions on the ground. ThreeB IT, a software engineering firm based in Ibbenbüren, has standardized on IronPDF for document generation across logistics and healthcare platforms, including systems serving Kuehne + Nagel and nationwide COVID-19 testing infrastructure.

Operating under strict GDPR and healthcare data rules made the library choice a compliance decision as much as a technical one.

“Because Iron Software doesn’t store any data, GDPR compliance is simple. That’s critical for every project we build,” said Thimo Buchheister, CEO of ThreeB IT.

Deployment speed mattered just as much.

“IronPDF made it possible to build a nationwide COVID testing system in two weeks. The key part was ready within hours,” said Buchheister.

The firm now treats Iron Software libraries as a default in its stack.

“We’ll integrate at least one Iron Software product in every future project. It’s become part of our standard stack,” Buchheister added.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/germanys-pdfua-mandate-raises-the-bar-for-html-to-pdf-c-workflows-302761055.html

SOURCE Iron Software

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Cregis Showcases at Money20/20 Asia 2026, Exploring a New Paradigm for Financial Infrastructure Powered by Stablecoins and On-Chain Payments

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HONG KONG, DUBAI, UAE and SINGAPORE, May 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — From April 21 to 23, 2026, at Money20/20 Asia 2026—one of the most influential fintech events in the Asia-Pacific region—Cregis participated as an exhibitor at Booth 6001. The conference brought together industry leaders to discuss key themes such as payment innovation, cross-border settlement, digital assets, and regulatory developments. During the event, Cregis presented its comprehensive digital asset infrastructure solutions tailored for enterprises and financial institutions, while engaging in in-depth conversations with participants from banks, payment providers, fintech companies, and Web3 organizations.

Advancing Payment Infrastructure

Throughout the event, the Cregis team highlighted its end-to-end capabilities in on-chain payments and digital asset management, with a focus on enterprise payment and treasury needs. As stablecoins and blockchain technologies increasingly move into real-world applications, enterprise priorities are shifting from simply supporting crypto assets to enabling efficient, secure, and controllable fund flows.

Cregis offers a unified infrastructure that supports multi-chain and multi-asset management, adaptable to a wide range of use cases including cross-border trade settlement, merchant payments, and corporate treasury operations. By ensuring both security and compliance, the platform enables more efficient global fund movement and greater transparency in settlement processes.

Richard, Co-Founder of Cregis, commented during the event: “Today, the key challenge for enterprises is no longer whether to enter the digital asset space, but how to build a fund management system that balances efficiency, security, and compliance. Through our infrastructure, we aim to help businesses operate more effectively in an increasingly complex global payments landscape.”

A New Cross-Border Payment Paradigm Driven by Stablecoins

Stablecoins and on-chain payments emerged as central topics at this year’s conference. As more financial institutions and payment providers explore the use of digital assets in cross-border settlement, stablecoins are becoming a critical bridge between traditional finance and the crypto economy.

During the event, Cregis engaged with various industry partners to discuss practical applications of stablecoins in cross-border trade, enterprise settlement, and treasury management. Compared to traditional cross-border payment rails, stablecoin-based settlement offers clear advantages in efficiency, cost, and transparency. At the same time, it raises higher requirements for underlying infrastructure, particularly in areas such as secure custody, fund monitoring, and regulatory compliance.

Engaging Industry Leaders: Exploring the Future Evolution of Finance in Asia

Beyond its presence on the exhibition floor, Cregis co-hosted a side event titled The Reserved Table: Redefining Asia’s Future of Settlements alongside WIDTH, StraitsX, and PlatON. The event brought together key players across payments, stablecoins, and cross-border settlement to explore the future trajectory of financial infrastructure in Asia.

At the event, Tannie, Head of Southeast Asia at Cregis, joined a panel discussion themed “A New Standard of Value: Stablecoins, Settlement & the New Money Stack”, where he shared insights from frontline enterprise use cases.

Tannie noted that the market still tends to view stablecoins primarily as a “product”, such as a yield-generating tool or trading instrument. However, in real-world business scenarios, stablecoins are increasingly evolving into foundational infrastructure. For exchanges, payment providers, and cross-border enterprises, the focus is no longer on yield, but on critical operational questions: how to enable real-time global settlement, how to manage liquidity across regions, and how to reduce reliance on traditional banking systems.

Looking ahead, Tannie emphasized that the deeper significance of stablecoins lies in their ability to fundamentally reshape how enterprises manage capital. Within an infrastructure-driven stablecoin framework, businesses can achieve:

Policy-based approval and signing mechanisms for fund movementsReal-time on-chain reconciliation and automated settlementA unified liquidity view across multiple chains and wallets24/7 uninterrupted treasury operations

This shift signals that stablecoins are not merely replacing traditional payment rails—they are driving enterprises to transition from conventional financial workflows toward a more programmable, automated “next-generation operating system for capital.”

From Payment Capabilities to Global Financial Connectivity

As stablecoins, on-chain payments, and enterprise-grade asset management systems continue to mature, a more efficient, transparent, and globally connected financial network is taking shape.

Richard noted: “In the coming years, as the convergence between traditional finance and Web3 accelerates, demand for robust digital asset infrastructure will continue to grow. Cregis aims to be a key enabler in this transition, providing enterprises with secure, scalable, and reliable foundational capabilities.”

Looking ahead, Cregis will continue to enhance its product offerings across custody, payments, and asset management. By focusing on real-world business needs, the company is committed to building a more comprehensive digital asset infrastructure, empowering global enterprises to improve efficiency, manage risks, and achieve sustainable growth in the next generation of financial systems.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/cregis-showcases-at-money2020-asia-2026-exploring-a-new-paradigm-for-financial-infrastructure-powered-by-stablecoins-and-on-chain-payments-302761060.html

SOURCE Cregis

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