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Connect Prepares for New Era of Leadership and Growth

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Rick Valencia, Seasoned Entrepreneur and Connect Board Vice Chair, Steps into Interim-CEO position

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Connect, the premier non-profit organization in the San Diego innovation ecosystem established 40 years ago to cultivate life science and tech innovation communities, today announced Mike Krenn, Chief Executive Officer, and Christie Marcella, Chief Operating Officer, have accepted leadership roles at other San Diego organizations and will be leaving Connect, while remaining as independent members of its Board of Directors.

“Mike and Christie have taken Connect to new heights over their tenure and are leaving the organization in our strongest ever financial and team position and incredibly well positioned to further advance the San Diego innovation ecosystem,” said James Mackay, Connect Board Chair, recently appointed for a second two-year term. “Under their leadership, Connect has been a driving force in San Diego, dramatically changing the trajectory of investment in the region. The organizations’ strategic programs have worked to create a $5 billion dollar ecosystem and there is certainly room to continue to grow with the excellent Connect team that we have in place.”

Connect also announced the appointment of its next three successor Vice Chairs, all of whom are innovation company founders and entrepreneurs. Following Mackay as Chair for the 2027-2028 term is Ashley Van Zeeland; followed by Denise Bevers for the 2029-2030 term; and Rick Valencia for 2031-2032. “Having eight years of such outstanding leaders already elected to chair Connect, is unheard of in the non-profit sector,” added Mackay. “I believe this speaks to the organization’s mission, strong foundation and the unwavering commitment of our board.”

A search is underway for a permanent successor for Krenn. In the interim, Connect has named Rick Valencia as Interim CEO. Valencia has a long career as CEO with technology and life science companies, and along with Mackay, has been a board member of Connect for over 15 years.  Valencia will be working with the Connect team to continue the exciting innovation programming and events over the coming months.

“We will miss working with Mike and Christie but look forward to continuing to work closely with them in their new roles, further deepening Connect’s community networks,” said Valencia. “We are fortunate to have a strong, high-quality, dedicated Connect team and Board of Directors with unparalleled reach across all sectors of San Diego. We are all genuinely committed to our mission and to building a better San Diego.” 

Krenn added: “In my new role, which is expected to be announced soon, I will be leading investments in innovative San Diego technology and life sciences companies. It is very additive to the mission of Connect and I look forward to remaining actively involved with the organization and supporting its mission.”

Marcella is joining the City of San Diego as Deputy Director, Community & Business Engagement in the Economic Development Department, underscoring the innovation economy’s importance to the city’s growth as an innovation hub and in bringing innovation access to all corners of the city. 

Continuing a History of Innovation

Founded in 1985 by a group of San Diego tech and life science entrepreneurs the Connect organization has been driving San Diego’s innovation economic growth for 40 years. The breadth of Connect’s programs and the quality of a highly curated community is the reason behind its incredible impact on the region. Premier Connect programs include:

The organization’s Cool Companies program has been central to the region’s progression. The program annually attracts hundreds of venture capitalists to the region, showing off our best startups to the investment community. Since 2015, the Connect Cool Companies have raised over $900 million in just Series A institutional capital.In 2022, the organization led the launch of Innovation Day. The event has become the largest gathering of CEOs and Investors in the region and celebrates the region’s top tech, life science, defense, and consumer companies.In 2022, Connect also launched its innovative XEO program – a leadership program designed for mid-level diverse employees from the innovation sector. It’s been dubbed as one of the most influential and impactful leadership programs in the country. With over 100 alumni, the program continues to grow the next generation of San Diego leaders.

“It’s been a great responsibility to lead Connect and I couldn’t be prouder of what the team and the organization have accomplished,” added Krenn. “I am excited to welcome the next CEO and to continue to partner with this great organization and team. The foundation is strong, the team is excellent and the opportunity for San Diego’s future is limited only by our collective vision.”

Press Contacts:
Mike Krenn
Connect CEO
1-858-449-0345
mkrenn@connect.org

James Mackay
Connect Chair of Board of Directors
1-267-481-2234
jamesmackay@kateranconsulting.com

 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/connect-prepares-for-new-era-of-leadership-and-growth-302373429.html

SOURCE Connect

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Huawei Cloud Launches Agentic Infrastructure and CodeArts Agent OBT in Thailand, Accelerating Enterprise AI Innovation

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BANGKOK, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Huawei Cloud hosted Huawei Cloud Summit Thailand 2026, bringing together leaders from government, business, industry partners, and the technology community to exchange views on how cloud and AI can support Thailand’s digital economy. During the event, Huawei Cloud announced “Huawei Cloud Agentic Infrastructure: Now Available for Thailand” and officially launched Huawei Cloud CodeArts Agent Open Beta Testing (OBT) in the country.

Mr. Sunny Shang, President of Huawei Cloud APAC, outlined the company’s commitment to working with customers and partners to build an AI-driven digital future for Thailand. Regarding the government’s direction, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society emphasized the acceleration of digital transformation through national AI policies, public-sector adoption, and stronger public-private collaboration.

The public-sector highlighted how AI can improve government operations and make public services faster and more convenient. NECTEC also presented a Government AI case study covering the development of AI infrastructure and platforms, as well as AI chatbots and intelligent assistants designed to support government officials and improve services for citizens.

Building the Foundation for the Agentic AI Era

Mr. Surasak Wanichwatphibun, CTO of Huawei Cloud Thailand said Huawei Cloud will continue to strengthen its technological capabilities and build a robust computing infrastructure to drive AI innovation across enterprises.

At the center of the announcement is Agentic Infra, a new infrastructure designed specifically for developing and deploying AI agents. It supports efficient token generation, unified scheduling of general-purpose and AI computing resources, continuous learning, and secure and autonomous agent operations.

Mr. Surasak introduced four new features under Agentic Infra:

UnifiedBus-based AI Cluster Service (AICS), which supports highly efficient token generationAgentic Memory Storage Service (AMS), which delivers PB-scale memory storage to address a key bottleneck in agent memory, enabling long-horizon tasks and facilitating continuous learning.AgentSphere, which offers a secure and autonomous runtime environment for AI agentsCCE VolcanoNext, which enables unified scheduling of general-purpose and AI computing resources

CodeArts Agent OBT Launches in Thailand

Another major highlight was the launch of Huawei Cloud CodeArts Agent OBT in Thailand, giving local developers and enterprises an opportunity to experience Huawei Cloud’s coding agent and provide feedback before its wider release.

CodeArts Agent combines IDE functionality, autonomous development capabilities, and coding models. It supports project-level code generation, code completion, R&D knowledge Q&A, and unit test case generation.

The platform also applies Specification-Driven Development (SDD) to help development teams maintain code quality from the requirements stage through to final delivery.

It is worth mentioning that this release also introduces the Agent Team mode, which can automatically form a development team, enabling multiple agents to collaborate concurrently and execute tasks simultaneously.

By reducing repetitive tasks, CodeArts Agent can help developers work more efficiently and allow organizations to bring digital products and services to market faster.

The OBT launch forms part of Huawei Cloud’s efforts to support Thailand’s developer community and make AI-assisted software development more accessible to organizations of different sizes.

Strengthening Security for Enterprise AI

Mr. Surasak also emphasized security, stability, and quality as key priorities for enterprise AI adoption. As cyberattacks become increasingly automated and AI-driven, Huawei Cloud has upgraded its security services in two areas: protecting AI systems and using AI to strengthen cyber defense.

Its model lifecycle security solution covers AI infrastructure, training data, model inference, and agent applications.

For enterprises concerned about data sovereignty and privacy, Huawei Cloud provides dedicated security zones that allow customers to independently manage their encryption keys while preventing platform administrators from accessing customer data. Software-hardware integration and hardware acceleration are also used to maintain encryption performance without compromising service efficiency. Huawei Cloud has also introduced Data Capsule technology, which ensures that data can only be used within authorized environments and automatically becomes invalid if moved outside a designated security zone.

Showcasing AI Use Cases Across Industries

Huawei Cloud Summit Thailand 2026 also featured AI and cloud use cases from organizations in Thailand. These included the development of AI platforms and intelligent assistants for the public sector, the use of AI coding and large language models in banking, and AI-powered learning and skills development platforms for the HR sector.

Huawei Cloud and its partners also shared how ecosystem collaboration can help solve industry challenges and accelerate AI adoption among enterprises.

About Huawei Cloud Thailand

Huawei Cloud Thailand is a leading cloud service provider committed to accelerating Thailand’s digital transformation under the mission of “In Thailand, For Thailand.” According to the latest report from Gartner, Huawei Cloud is ranked No.3 by revenue in Thailand’s Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) market, solidifying its position as one of the most trusted and fastest-growing international cloud providers in the country.

As the first international public cloud vendor to establish local data centers in Thailand, Huawei Cloud now operates three Availability Zones, ensuring high reliability and low-latency connectivity for local users. Leveraging Huawei’s 30-plus years of expertise in ICT infrastructure, it integrates cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud-Native 2.0, and Big Data technologies to empower over 40 government agencies and thousands of enterprises across the Kingdom. By building a robust digital ecosystem and fostering local talent, Huawei Cloud aims to drive Thailand’s “Digital Economy” forward, bringing cloud and intelligence to every corner of the country for a fully connected, intelligent future.

For more information, please visit Huawei Cloud Thailand online at

https://www.huaweicloud.com/intl/th-th/ or follow us on:

https://www.facebook.com/HuaweiCloudTH

https://www.youtube.com/@HuaweiCloudAPAC

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/huawei-cloud-launches-agentic-infrastructure-and-codearts-agent-obt-in-thailand-accelerating-enterprise-ai-innovation-302833957.html

SOURCE Huawei Cloud Thailand

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Huawei Cloud Launches Agentic Infrastructure and CodeArts Agent OBT in Thailand, Accelerating Enterprise AI Innovation

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BANGKOK, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Huawei Cloud hosted Huawei Cloud Summit Thailand 2026, bringing together leaders from government, business, industry partners, and the technology community to exchange views on how cloud and AI can support Thailand’s digital economy. During the event, Huawei Cloud announced “Huawei Cloud Agentic Infrastructure: Now Available for Thailand” and officially launched Huawei Cloud CodeArts Agent Open Beta Testing (OBT) in the country.

Mr. Sunny Shang, President of Huawei Cloud APAC, outlined the company’s commitment to working with customers and partners to build an AI-driven digital future for Thailand. Regarding the government’s direction, the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society emphasized the acceleration of digital transformation through national AI policies, public-sector adoption, and stronger public-private collaboration.

The public-sector highlighted how AI can improve government operations and make public services faster and more convenient. NECTEC also presented a Government AI case study covering the development of AI infrastructure and platforms, as well as AI chatbots and intelligent assistants designed to support government officials and improve services for citizens.

Building the Foundation for the Agentic AI Era

Mr. Surasak Wanichwatphibun, CTO of Huawei Cloud Thailand said Huawei Cloud will continue to strengthen its technological capabilities and build a robust computing infrastructure to drive AI innovation across enterprises.

At the center of the announcement is Agentic Infra, a new infrastructure designed specifically for developing and deploying AI agents. It supports efficient token generation, unified scheduling of general-purpose and AI computing resources, continuous learning, and secure and autonomous agent operations.

Mr. Surasak introduced four new features under Agentic Infra:

UnifiedBus-based AI Cluster Service (AICS), which supports highly efficient token generationAgentic Memory Storage Service (AMS), which delivers PB-scale memory storage to address a key bottleneck in agent memory, enabling long-horizon tasks and facilitating continuous learning.AgentSphere, which offers a secure and autonomous runtime environment for AI agentsCCE VolcanoNext, which enables unified scheduling of general-purpose and AI computing resources

CodeArts Agent OBT Launches in Thailand

Another major highlight was the launch of Huawei Cloud CodeArts Agent OBT in Thailand, giving local developers and enterprises an opportunity to experience Huawei Cloud’s coding agent and provide feedback before its wider release.

CodeArts Agent combines IDE functionality, autonomous development capabilities, and coding models. It supports project-level code generation, code completion, R&D knowledge Q&A, and unit test case generation.

The platform also applies Specification-Driven Development (SDD) to help development teams maintain code quality from the requirements stage through to final delivery.

It is worth mentioning that this release also introduces the Agent Team mode, which can automatically form a development team, enabling multiple agents to collaborate concurrently and execute tasks simultaneously.

By reducing repetitive tasks, CodeArts Agent can help developers work more efficiently and allow organizations to bring digital products and services to market faster.

The OBT launch forms part of Huawei Cloud’s efforts to support Thailand’s developer community and make AI-assisted software development more accessible to organizations of different sizes.

Strengthening Security for Enterprise AI

Mr. Surasak also emphasized security, stability, and quality as key priorities for enterprise AI adoption. As cyberattacks become increasingly automated and AI-driven, Huawei Cloud has upgraded its security services in two areas: protecting AI systems and using AI to strengthen cyber defense.

Its model lifecycle security solution covers AI infrastructure, training data, model inference, and agent applications.

For enterprises concerned about data sovereignty and privacy, Huawei Cloud provides dedicated security zones that allow customers to independently manage their encryption keys while preventing platform administrators from accessing customer data. Software-hardware integration and hardware acceleration are also used to maintain encryption performance without compromising service efficiency. Huawei Cloud has also introduced Data Capsule technology, which ensures that data can only be used within authorized environments and automatically becomes invalid if moved outside a designated security zone.

Showcasing AI Use Cases Across Industries

Huawei Cloud Summit Thailand 2026 also featured AI and cloud use cases from organizations in Thailand. These included the development of AI platforms and intelligent assistants for the public sector, the use of AI coding and large language models in banking, and AI-powered learning and skills development platforms for the HR sector.

Huawei Cloud and its partners also shared how ecosystem collaboration can help solve industry challenges and accelerate AI adoption among enterprises.

About Huawei Cloud Thailand

Huawei Cloud Thailand is a leading cloud service provider committed to accelerating Thailand’s digital transformation under the mission of “In Thailand, For Thailand.” According to the latest report from Gartner, Huawei Cloud is ranked No.3 by revenue in Thailand’s Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) market, solidifying its position as one of the most trusted and fastest-growing international cloud providers in the country.

As the first international public cloud vendor to establish local data centers in Thailand, Huawei Cloud now operates three Availability Zones, ensuring high reliability and low-latency connectivity for local users. Leveraging Huawei’s 30-plus years of expertise in ICT infrastructure, it integrates cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud-Native 2.0, and Big Data technologies to empower over 40 government agencies and thousands of enterprises across the Kingdom. By building a robust digital ecosystem and fostering local talent, Huawei Cloud aims to drive Thailand’s “Digital Economy” forward, bringing cloud and intelligence to every corner of the country for a fully connected, intelligent future.

For more information, please visit Huawei Cloud Thailand online at

https://www.huaweicloud.com/intl/th-th/ or follow us on:

https://www.facebook.com/HuaweiCloudTH

https://www.youtube.com/@HuaweiCloudAPAC

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/huawei-cloud-launches-agentic-infrastructure-and-codearts-agent-obt-in-thailand-accelerating-enterprise-ai-innovation-302833957.html

SOURCE Huawei Cloud Thailand

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Loomis Interim Report January – June 2026

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STOCKHOLM, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ —

Continued strong growth and record operating margin (EBITA %)

President and CEO Aritz Larrea comments:

“We delivered another very strong quarter reflecting the continued execution of our strategy and the strength of our diversified model. Revenue reached SEK 7.9 billion with a currency-adjusted growth of 9.1 percent. Both segment USA and segment Europe and Latin America contributed to the performance driven by continued strength in our International and Automated Solutions business lines. Operating income (EBITA) exceeded 1 billion SEK and we increased our EBITA margin by more than 1 percentage point year–over–year to 14.0 percent.

Our financial position remains strong. Supported by robust cash flow generation and a solid balance sheet, we continue to invest in long-term growth opportunities, pursue value-creating acquisitions, and maintain our commitment to delivering attractive returns to shareholders.”

Quarter 2, April – June 2026

Revenue for the quarter was SEK 7,891 million (7,407). The currency-adjusted growth was 9.1 percent (4.8), of which organic growth was 6.7 percent (3.8) and acquisitions contributed 2.5 percent (1.0). Including the exchange rate effect, the total growth was 6.5 percent (-3.0).Operating income (EBITA) 1) for the quarter was SEK 1,102 million (944) and the operating margin (EBITA) increased to 14.0 percent (12.7).Operating income (EBIT) before items affecting comparability for the quarter was SEK 1,062 million (882) and operating margin (EBIT) before items affecting comparability was 13.5 percent (11.9).Income before taxes for the quarter was SEK 869 million (664) and profit for the period was SEK 608 million (478).Basic earnings per share for the quarter were SEK 9.09 (7.01) and diluted earnings per share were SEK 9.06 (6.99).Cash flow from operating activities 2) was SEK 683 million (550) in the quarter. The cash flow from operating activities for the rolling twelve months was 95 percent (105) of operating income (EBITA).Net debt in relation to EBITDA was 1.60 times (1.75) in the quarter.Loomis expanded its presence in Latin America through the acquisition of Transportadora del Interior in Argentina and the announced acquisition of Hermes Transportes Blindados in Peru.

1)  Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Amortization of acquisition-related intangible fixed assets, Acquisition-related costs and revenue and items affecting comparability.
2)  Cash flow from operating activities is exclusive of impact from IFRS 16.

Report presentation today at 10.30 a.m. (CEST)

The report will be presented in a webcast conference today at 10.30 am (CEST) by President and CEO Aritz Larrea and CFO Johan Wilsby.

To follow the webcast, please follow this link.

The presentation materials and a recorded version of the conference will be available on https://www.loomis.com/en/investors/reports-and-presentations/ following the presentation.

For more information, please contact:

Jenny Boström
Head of Sustainability and IR
ir@loomis.com
+46 79 006 45 92

Fredrik Hammarbäck
Media and External Communications Manager
media@loomis.com
+46 76 311 56 29

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/loomis-ab/r/loomis-interim-report-january—june-2026,c4377246

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/51/4377246/4201809.pdf

Loomis Interim Report January – June 2026

https://mb.cision.com/Public/51/4377246/940bbe0a24c483c8.pdf

Loomis Interim Report January – June 2026 – press release

 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/loomis-interim-report-january–june-2026-302833961.html

SOURCE Loomis AB

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