Distraction-free design provides comprehensive 24/7 health monitoring and activity tracking—no subscription required

OLATHE, Kan., July 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Garmin (NYSE: GRMN) today announced CIRQA™ Smart Band, its first screen-free smart band that tracks advanced fitness and wellness features—all without the need for a subscription. Designed to help users make improvements toward a healthier lifestyle without commanding all their attention, this smart band gets up to 10 days of battery life and provides around-the-clock health and fitness monitoring with data that can instantly be accessed through the Garmin Connect™ app.

“We purposefully created CIRQA Smart Band for those who are passionate about staying healthy and active. With its discreet design and trusted health and fitness tracking tools Garmin is known for, this smart band complements our lineup of popular smartwatches and wellness monitors, allowing users to transition smoothly between their Garmin devices throughout the day. Plus, with no subscription required, CIRQA Smart Band helps you stay on top of your health and fitness goals—and makes a thoughtful gift for others who want to do the same.”
—Susan Lyman, Garmin Vice President of Consumer Sales and Marketing 

Comfortable and distraction-free

Inconspicuous design helps minimize distractions while tracking important health and performance metrics.Automatically detect and record a variety of activities, even without a screen. The activities can be viewed and edited afterwards in Garmin Connect and, as users confirm or edit their activities, the smart band will adapt to more accurately classify them in the future.Fabric band provides maximum comfort for all-day wear and is available in both fun and neutral colors like Citron Gray, Mauve, French Gray, Dark Olive, Captain Blue, French Blue and Black.Can be worn around the wrist or as an arm band based on activity or sleeping preferences.

Health monitoring

When worn day and night, CIRQA Smart Band helps provide a more complete picture of overall health1. Users can track metrics like wrist-based heart rate, Body Battery™ energy monitoring, Pulse Ox2, stress, skin temperature and more and immediately see their data in Garmin Connect. Women can also track their menstrual cycle and pregnancy, get better period predictions and past ovulation estimates by tracking skin temperature while sleeping3 and sync their data with the FDA-cleared Natural Cyclesº birth control app4 (Natural Cycles subscription required).

Comfortable without compromise, CIRQA Smart Band can help users log a better night’s sleep and understand how well they’ve recovered. This smart band provides comprehensive sleep data, including a detailed breakdown of sleep stages, a sleep score, guidance on optimal sleep duration, heart rate variability, respiration and nap detection—all readily available within the Garmin Connect app.

Fitness tracking

In addition to tracking daily steps, calories burned and more, CIRQA Smart Band includes popular fitness features to help users make the most of their workouts.

Manual activity tracking: Track more than 80 different activities – including running, walking, yoga and more – or select a favorite activity to track by simply tapping the single side button.Advanced training metrics: Dial in with performance features like training readiness to know whether it’s a good day to go hard or take it easy and track progress with HRV status, VO2 max and training status to get insights into training effectiveness.Workout benefit and recovery time: Better understand how each workout affects the body and how much time is needed to recover.Connected GPS: Connect to a compatible iPhone® or Android™ smartphone’s GPS to accurately track outdoor walks, rides and runs.LiveTrack location sharing: Let friends and family follow along in real-time when using a smartphone and the Garmin Connect app.

Available now, CIRQA Smart Band has a suggested retail price of $199.99.

Engineered on the inside for life on the outside, Garmin products have revolutionized the aviation, automotive, fitness, marine and outdoor markets. Dedicated to helping people make the most of the time they spend pursuing their passions, Garmin believes every day is an opportunity to innovate and a chance to beat yesterday. Visit the Garmin Newsroom, email our media team, connect with @garmin on social, or follow our blog.

1 Activity tracking accuracy.
2 This is not a medical device and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or monitoring of any medical condition; see Garmin.com/ataccuracy. Pulse Ox not available in all countries.
3 This feature is not intended to support conception, contraception or birth control. This is not a medical device and is not intended for diagnosing or monitoring any medical condition. See Garmin.com/ataccuracy.
4 Compatible Garmin smartwatches are consumer wellness devices and are not medical devices intended to diagnose, treat, prevent or monitor medical conditions. The Natural Cycles app independently determines fertility status based on skin temperature and other data when worn on the wrist. 

About Garmin International, Inc. Garmin International, Inc. is a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd. (NYSE: GRMN). Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in Switzerland, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Garmin is a registered trademark and CIRQA, Garmin Connect, Body Battery and Garmin Active Intelligence are trademarks of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved. iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Android is a trademark of Google LLC.

Notice on Forward-Looking Statements:
This release includes forward-looking statements regarding Garmin Ltd. and its business. Such statements are based on management’s current expectations. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and actual results could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting Garmin, including, but not limited to, the risk factors listed in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 27, 2025, filed by Garmin with the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission file number 0-31983). Copies of such Form 10-K are available at https://www.garmin.com/en-US/investors/sec/. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Garmin undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

MEDIA CONTACTS: Stephanie Kelner, Natalie Miller and Adrieanna Norse / 913-397-8200 / media.relations@garmin.com

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SOURCE Garmin International, Inc.

Nine in 10 finance leaders say they are under pressure to prove AI ROI, while only 7% say their organizations prioritize governance over deployment speed

DURHAM, N.C., July 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Avalara, Inc., the agentic AI leader in global tax and compliance, today released new research revealing that while finance teams feel pressure to  deploy AI agents as quickly as possible, governance, accountability, and internal controls are struggling to keep pace. 

The report, “Agents of Change: How the Race to Deploy AI Agents is Outrunning Financial Governance,” surveyed more than 1,500 CFOs and senior finance leaders across the U.S., U.K., India, and Australia who have deployed, piloted, or actively evaluated AI agents in financial processes during the past year.

Key findings
Pressure to show value is mounting.

92%1 of respondents feel moderate or significant career pressure to demonstrate that AI agent investments are delivering ROI, with half calling that pressure significant.Half say their AI agent initiatives have delivered only limited measurable ROI to date.71%2 say the pressure to deploy agents is focused primarily on deployment speed.

Governance is falling behind the agentic AI rush.

Only 7%3 say their organization prioritizes governance over speed.30%4 have not updated internal controls within the last year to reflect AI agents taking or recommending actions.44% are only somewhat confident they could explain an AI agent’s actions to an auditor or regulator.

The findings reveal a finance function caught between executive pressure to accelerate AI agent adoption and the operational reality that those AI agents need to be managed with care, particularly in tax and compliance, where decisions must withstand regulatory scrutiny.

“Finance leaders are right to move quickly to capitalize on agentic AI opportunities, but speed without accountability creates new forms of risk, and speed without rethinking workflows limits ROI,” said Hugo Sarrazin, Chief Executive Officer at Avalara. “The organizations that realize the greatest value from AI won’t simply deploy more agents. They’ll leverage agents with trusted data, governed workflows, and clear controls that enable automation with confidence.”

Pinpointing Accountability

The research highlights questions about who is responsible for significant AI agent errors. For example, nearly one in four (23%5) say accountability for a significant AI agent error would be unclear or sit with no one, while 16% believe the executive who approved the AI investment would ultimately be held personally accountable. 

One of the challenges is a lack of available knowledge: 76%6 lack dedicated in-house expertise to understand how their AI agents work, relying on IT or vendors.

“Finance leaders are being asked to move quickly with AI, but governing agents requires a new combination of domain, AI, IT, and data governance expertise,” said Frank Cirone, VP Commercial Strategy at Snowflake, a cloud data platform company. “As AI agents gain access to financial and compliance workflows, organizations need to know what those agents can see, what they can do, and when human approval is required. That kind of control has to be built into the architecture, not added after the fact.” 

Finance Leaders Prioritize Trust Alongside Speed

The survey makes clear that finance leaders aren’t looking to slow AI adoption. They’re looking to scale it responsibly. When asked what would most increase their confidence in expanding AI agents, respondents consistently prioritized capabilities that reinforce trust and accountability:

AI agents operating within existing systems of record (27%)Outputs grounded in verified tax, compliance, and financial data (25%)Validation against known compliance requirements (25%)Vendor commitments around accuracy and accountability (24%)Audit trails documenting every AI action (23%)

The capabilities respondents identified as most valuable were “audit-ready documentation for every AI-driven action” and “monitoring regulatory changes and applying updates in real time”, each selected by 30% of respondents.

“AI agents are now moving into business processes that require trust, transparency, and governance by design,” said Jim Lundy, Founder, CEO, and Lead Analyst at Aragon Research. “As enterprises scale agentic AI, the question becomes less about whether the technology can act and more about whether organizations can understand, control, and explain those actions. In finance, where workflows are auditable and outcomes carry real business consequences, governance and explainability will become essential requirements for adoption.”

The full report, Agents of Change: How the Race to Deploy AI Agents is Outrunning Financial Governance, is available at: newsroom.avalara.com/image/Agents_of_Change.pdf.

Methodology:

The research was conducted by Censuswide, among a sample of 1,505 CFO or Senior Finance leaders (aged 30+) in companies with a revenue of $10 million+ across the U.K., U.S., Australia, and India (505, 500, 250, and 250 respondents respectively). Respondents must have deployed, piloted, or actively evaluated AI agents in their organization in the last 12 months and work in the following industries: Financial Services and Insurance / Healthcare /Manufacturing & Distribution / Professional Services (i.e., accounting firms legal, consulting) / Retail & E-commerce / Tech and SaaS. The data was collected between June 15, 2026 – June 22, 2026. Censuswide is a member of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the British Polling Council (BPC), and a signatory of the Global Data Quality Pledge. Censuswide adheres to the MRS Code of Conduct and ESOMAR principles.

About Avalara

Avalara is the agentic AI platform for global tax and compliance. For more than two decades, Avalara has built one of the most expansive libraries of tax content and integrations in the industry, processing more than 54 billion transactions annually and supporting millions of businesses worldwide. The company’s purpose-built AI agents automate end-to-end compliance with greater precision, from tax calculations and return filings to exemption certificate management and beyond. For more information, visit Avalara.com.

Combining answers “significant pressure” (50%) and “moderate pressure” (42%) Combining answers “entirely on speed” (29%) and “mostly on speed” (41%) Combining answers “mostly on governance” (6%) and “entirely on governance” (1%)Combining answers “Within the last 13 – 23 months” (17%), “within the last two years” (9%), “Over two years ago” (2%) and “We are currently in the process of updating it” (2%)Combining answers “Accountability would be unclear” (17%) and “No one individual or team” (6%) Combining answers “this is something we are actively trying to hire or develop for” (20%), “we rely on our IT or technology team for this” (20%), “we rely on the vendor who built or provides the agent” (20%) and “we have no one currently responsible for this” (16%)

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Popeyes is putting their world-famous Louisiana tenders center stage this July with exclusive performances, iconic experiences, and deals so everyone can get in on the fun in honor of their classic menu item

MIAMI, July 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Just in time for the July 27th holiday, Popeyes® is celebrating their famous, newly elevated Chicken Tenders with some southern hospitality in the Hamptons and getting everyone in on the party with a national offer leading up to one of the biggest moments of the year for tender lovers everywhere.

This summer, Popeyes teamed up with The Surf Lodge, the Hamptons beloved music venue, for a first-of-its-kind partnership to take over their viral multi-level “Chicken Tender Tower” becoming one of the most talked-about food moments of the summer.

Now, Popeyes is bringing that energy nationwide. Through Door Dash and Uber Eats, starting today through July 27th, for just $25 guests can get 11 hand-battered, crispy Chicken Tenders, one large side and four buttery biscuits.* To save even more, guests can visit us in restaurant and get this deal for $20*. This offer is designed to fuel summer gatherings and put Popeyes signature chicken at the center of every table. Order two and you can build your own Chicken Tender Tower at home. No matter where you are located, Popeyes is making their viral Chicken Tender Tower available for guests nationwide. 

This July 27th, we have even more to celebrate with our tenders. Our world class culinary team has spent time elevating our tenders so that guests get consistent, hand-breaded Louisiana flavor and generous portions each time they order Popeyes Tenders Guests can expect the signature Popeyes flavor they know and love, now with even greater consistency from order to order, delivering on the quality, satisfaction, and craveability that Popeyes is known for.

To kick off this Tender celebration filled with southern hospitality, Popeyes is taking over The Surf Lodge for an exclusive Marquee weekend from July 24 – 26. The weekend will bring together tastemakers, bold Louisiana flavor, live music, and summer energy culminating on July 25 with a special performance from an award-winning artist.

“Our Chicken Tenders have earned a loyal following for a reason. They’re packed with the bold Louisiana flavor and signature crunch that only Popeyes can deliver,” said Matt Rubin, Chief Marketing Officer at Popeyes. “Whether fans are stacking their own Chicken Tender Tower at home or joining us at The Surf Lodge in Montauk, we’re bringing craveable flavor to the center of one of summer’s biggest cultural moments.”

As Popeyes continues to show up at the intersection of food, music and culture, the brand is bringing its iconic Chicken Tenders to the center of summer’s most memorable moments, creating unforgettable experiences wherever fans gather and celebrate. 

*At participating U.S. restaurants. Price may vary.

ABOUT POPEYES® 
Founded in New Orleans in 1972, Popeyes® has over 50 years of history and culinary tradition. Popeyes® distinguishes itself with a unique New Orleans style menu featuring fried chicken, chicken tenders, fried shrimp, and other regional items. The chain’s passion for its Louisiana heritage and flavorful authentic food has allowed Popeyes® to become one of the world’s largest chicken quick service restaurants with over 4,000 restaurants in the U.S. and around the world. To learn more about the brand, please visit the Popeyes® brand website at Popeyes.com or follow us on Facebook, X, and Instagram. 

ABOUT THE SURF LODGE 
The iconic Surf Lodge hotel and restaurant located in Montauk, New York, first opened in 2008 by Jayma Cardoso, a visionary within the hospitality, wellness, and design world. The property quickly became the most exclusive destination in the Hamptons, attracting top celebrities, notables, and influential people alike. The Surf Lodge is best known for its live concert series featuring world-class musicians such as John Legend, Jimmy Buffet, Willie Nelson, Wyclef Jean, Rüfüs du Sol, and more. In 2019, The Surf Lodge expanded, opening its sister destination, The Snow Lodge, in the premier city of Aspen. 

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SOURCE Popeyes