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Maine Pointe and blueclip Announce Strategic Partnership to Advance AI-Enabled Supply Chain & Operations Performance

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Partnership combines Maine Pointe’s Total Value Optimization™ framework with the blueclip AI platform to help clients identify, prove, and implement AI value across the end-to-end supply chain and operations

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Maine Pointe, a global supply chain and operations consulting firm, today announced a strategic partnership with blueclip, the AI execution and data platform for supply chain operations. The partnership, Maine Pointe’s first major announcement since completing its management buyout, combines the firm’s Total Value Optimization™ (TVO) methodology and hands-on implementation practice with blueclip’s supply chain data and execution platform.

The combined capabilities are directed at operations-intensive industries, including manufacturing, distribution, food and perishables, cold chain, and logistics, and at private equity portfolio companies, where operational improvement bears directly on value creation.

The partnership addresses a persistent gap in enterprise AI adoption: despite significant investment, many organizations struggle to translate AI initiatives into measurable operating results, in large part because operational data remains fragmented across warehouse, transportation, ERP, and legacy systems. Together, the firms will help clients identify where AI can create value, prove that value on their own operations, and implement it using the systems they already run.

“A supply chain that monitors, corrects, and improves itself has been out of reach for most companies,” said Joseph Esteves, CEO of Maine Pointe. “Not for lack of ambition, but because fragmented data and manual improvement cycles made it impossible to sustain. AI removes that barrier. This partnership makes it operational.” Esteves added: “We speak from experience. We stood up our own knowledge layer in weeks, and in the functions where we redesigned core workflows around it, we are running 30%-50% more productive. That is not a projection. It is our own operation.”

“We built blueclip on two convictions,” said Joanna Pachnik, Founder and CEO of blueclip. “Data doesn’t become useful because an AI model touched it, and insight without execution changes nothing.” Maine Pointe brings what technology alone cannot, she said, a proven methodology, experienced operators, and accountability for results. “This partnership lets us bring governed, execution-ready AI to operations that have been waiting for someone to close the gap between insight and impact,” Pachnik added.

Under the partnership, Maine Pointe will lead client engagements from initial opportunity assessment, the firm’s TVO AI Assessment™, through proof-of-value, implementation, and team enablement, working within clients’ existing systems and process documentation. The blueclip platform serves as the operational foundation where a client’s environment calls for one: a governed data layer that unifies operational data and makes it usable by AI systems, and execution intelligence informed by more than 1,800 supply chain improvement projects. Maine Pointe will engage blueclip selectively, based on each client’s maturity and systems landscape; assessment findings and build-versus-buy recommendations remain vendor-independent, and the firms’ relationship is disclosed to clients as a matter of policy.

The partnership follows Maine Pointe’s own AI transformation, where blueclip stood up the firm’s knowledge layer in a matter of weeks, converting its methodology and two decades of engagement experience into structured context for AI systems. That work directly informed the design of the joint offering.

The combined capabilities are directed at operations-intensive industries, including manufacturing, distribution, food and perishables, cold chain, and logistics, and at private equity portfolio companies, where operational improvement bears directly on value creation.

About Maine Pointe

Maine Pointe is an independent, management-owned global supply chain and operations consulting firm trusted by chief executives and private equity firms to drive compelling economic returns for their companies. Maine Pointe delivers accelerated, sustainable improvements in EBITDA, cash, and growth across procurement, logistics, and operations through its Total Value Optimization (TVO)™ framework, powered by data and AI. The firm is on a mission to become the first AI native performance improvement firm. Maine Pointe’s engagements are results-driven, delivering an average 6:1 ROI, backed by a unique 100% guarantee of engagement fees based on annualized savings. Learn more at www.mainepointe.com.

About blueclip

blueclip builds the AI operating and data layers for modern supply chains. Founded by Joanna Pachnik, blueclip is an execution intelligence platform built on 15+ years of supply chain work and more than 1,800 codified improvement projects, giving operations teams real-time visibility, root-cause analysis, dollar-quantified impact, and governed AI agents that act within defined rules. Beneath it sits a governed data layer and MCP server that connects WMS, TMS, ERP, EDI, spreadsheets, and legacy systems, cleans and unifies master data, and provides AI agents with trusted calculations and safe, auditable actions, with SOC 2 compliant controls. blueclip operates across Chicago, Warsaw, and Perth. Learn more at blueclip.ai.

Media Contact

Maine Pointe, Maine Pointe, 1 (781) 934-5569, info@mainepointe.com, https://mainepointe.com/

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SOURCE Maine Pointe

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Intouch Insight to Host Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call on August 27, 2026 at 10:30am ET

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OTTAWA, ON, Aug. 18, 2026 /CNW/ — Intouch Insight Ltd. (TSXV: INX) (OTCQX: INXSF) (“Intouch” or the “Company”), a provider of customer experience measurement solutions, today announced it will host a conference call and live webcast on August 27, 2026, at 10:30am Eastern Time to discuss the results of the second quarter 2026.

Conference Call Information

To participate in this event, register and log-in approximately 5 to 10 minutes before the beginning of the call.

Date: August 27, 2026
Time: 10:30 a.m. eastern time
Register for the live webcast and access on-demand recording
https://events.zoom.us/ev/ApEXp4MTIT3r7mdIyMnepiOj0JWWQZz-8QK_9Gn0AtLGAC-R-pYn~Anj41TOs5ON_y0VBbXslnvdVEyaq_Dsmqwga9gdn5FSs1jbXHdNT1B07Hw 

About Intouch Insight
Intouch Insight offers a complete portfolio of customer experience management (CEM) products and services that help global brands delight their customers, strengthen brand reputation and improve financial performance. Intouch helps clients collect and centralize data from multiple customer touch points, gives them actionable, real-time insights, and provides them with the tools to continuously improve customer experience. Founded in 1992, Intouch is trusted by over 300 of North America’s most-loved brands for their customer experience management, customer survey, mystery shopping, mobile forms, operational and compliance audits, geolocation data capture and event marketing automation solutions. For more information, visit intouchinsight.com.

Certain statements included in this news release including those related to the Company’s quarterly results, future products, opportunities and cost initiatives, strategies, and other statements that are predictive in nature that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “estimates”, or similar expressions, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward looking statements that are made of the date hereof, which by their nature are necessarily subject to risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the Company’s current views with respect to future events, and are based on information currently available to the Company and on hypotheses which it considers to be reasonable; however, management warns the reader that hypotheses relative to future events which are beyond the control of management could prove to be false, given that they are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Please refer to the risks set forth in the Company’s most recent annual MD&A and the Company’s continuous disclosure documents that can be found on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com. The Company does not intend, and disclaims any obligation, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Intouch Insight Ltd.

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PETFINDER MARKS 30TH ANNIVERSARY WITH RESCUE FLIGHTS FOR SHELTER PETS AND AN INVITATION FOR PEOPLE TO HELP FILL MILLIONS OF BOWLS

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From Aug. 17 to Nov. 16, every favorite to a pet’s profile, adopter profile created, and adoption inquiry form submitted on Petfinder.com helps fill a bowl for an adoptable pet

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Petfinder, the online pet adoption platform that began with a simple wish to connect more pets with more people, is celebrating its 30th anniversary by making a wish come true for shelter pets nationwide. In partnership with Greater Good Charities, Petfinder is marking this milestone year with a new initiative that grants shelter pets three wishes: a full bowl, a flight to a better chance at adoption, and a home of their own. From Aug. 17 to Nov. 16, 2026, digital actions taken on Petfinder.com will count toward a donation of up to 6 million meals (roughly 1.5 million pounds of pet food)*, while also funding two rescue flights to relocate more than 100 pets from high-intake shelters to adoption-ready communities.

Together, the initiatives reflect the wish at the heart of this milestone year: that celebrating 30 years of forever homes means showing up for the pets still waiting for theirs. The public can help grant that wish directly on Petfinder.com, with digital actions that spark a contribution toward the meal total, turning a few clicks into millions of full bowls for pets who haven’t yet found their people:

Favoriting a pet’s profile provides one meal for a shelter petCreating an adopter profile provides one meal for a shelter petSubmitting an adoption inquiry form provides a full day of meals

Petfinder’s 30th anniversary campaign provides meals to shelter pets and vital support to animal welfare communities across the country, creating a cycle where browsing on Petfinder.com for your next best friend turns small actions into millions of full bowls for pets waiting for their forever homes.

“Thirty years ago, Petfinder had a simple idea: make it easier for pets and people to find each other. Over three decades Petfinder helped turn that idea into a movement, reshaping the entire companion animal landscape, turning countless hopeful searches into wagging tails, happy homecomings, and a new standard for how people find their next best friend,” said Kristen Beckerle, Brand Director for Petfinder. “As Petfinder celebrates 30 years of happy tails, we wanted to take the opportunity to give back to the pets still waiting, not just celebrate the ones who’ve already found their way home.”

Runway to Forever: Petfinder and Greater Good Charities Fund Two Rescue Flights

Petfinder’s “Runway to Forever” initiative, funded in partnership with Greater Good Charities, is relocating more than 100 pets from overcrowded, high-intake shelters to communities where they have a greater chance of adoption. Through two rescue flights, the initiative eases pressure on shelters while connecting pets with new opportunities to find loving homes. Paired with Petfinder’s digital adoption search, these flights help turn hope into action and move pets closer to the forever homes they deserve.

“At Greater Good Charities, we know small actions add up to real change. Through this 30-Year Celebration with Petfinder, every meal funded and every mile flown helps vulnerable, harder-to-place pets who need it most, and that’s exactly the kind of collective effort that fuels our mission to amplify the good for communities globally,” said Jeremy Colborn, Director of Transport for Greater Good Charities. “We’re so happy to partner with them in this campaign to provide millions of meals and lifesaving flights to animals nationwide.” 

30 Years of Petfinder: Pet Adoption by the Numbers

Since 1996, Petfinder’s wish has grown into 40 million adoptions facilitated across more than 12,000 shelters and rescue groups nationwide, becoming the connective tissue transforming how American families find and adopt pets. This milestone year builds on that legacy, showing that Petfinder’s mission has never been just about adoption — it’s about making sure every pet, whether newly adopted or still waiting, is fed, supported, and given the best shot at a forever home.

Visit Petfinder.com for the chance to adopt one of the shelter pets featured in Petfinder’s 30th anniversary campaign and help feed the shelter pets still waiting for their forever home.

*Donated meals vary based on product availability. Meal size is based on feeding recommendations for a medium-sized dog and average cat.

About Nestlé Purina PetCare
Nestlé Purina PetCare creates richer lives for pets and the people who love them. Founded in 1894, Purina has helped dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives by offering scientifically based nutritional innovations.

Purina manufactures some of the world’s most trusted and popular pet care products, including Dog Chow, Purina ONE, Pro Plan, Friskies and Tidy Cats. Our more than 11,000 U.S. associates take pride in our trusted pet food, treat and litter brands that feed 46 million dogs and 68 million cats every year. Nearly 500 Purina scientists, veterinarians, and pet care experts ensure our commitment to unsurpassed quality and nutrition.

Over the past five years, Purina has contributed more than $150 million towards organizations that bring, and keep, people and pets together, as well as those that help our communities and environment thrive.

Purina is part of Nestlé, a global leader in Nutrition, Health and Wellness. For more information, visit purina.com or subscribe here to get the latest Purina news.

About Greater Good Charities
Greater Good Charities is a 501(c)(3) global nonprofit organization that works to help people, animals, and the environment by mobilizing in response to need and amplifying the good. Greater Good Charities, with a Four-Star rating on Charity Navigator and a Platinum Seal on GuideStar, has invested more than $1.1 billion in impact, including cash grants, in-kind supplies, and programmatic support to charitable partners in 121 countries since 2006. To learn more about how Greater Good Charities is amplifying the good across the globe, please visit greatergood.org.

 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/petfinder-marks-30th-anniversary-with-rescue-flights-for-shelter-pets-and-an-invitation-for-people-to-help-fill-millions-of-bowls-302854572.html

SOURCE Petfinder

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ARCOS Labs Launches to Protect Human Creativity in the Age of AI, Unveils Nelson Chu as Founder and CEO

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The company has emerged from stealth to help creators, studios, and rights holders protect and enforce intellectual property and likeness rights as generative AI rapidly advances.

NEW YORK, Aug. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Applied Research in Creative Output Synthesis (ARCOS) Labs, the parent company behind VN and Lightbar, today launched publicly and announced Nelson Chu as founder and CEO, unveiling its mission to protect creators, studios, and rights holders as AI rapidly transforms the creative economy.

ARCOS enters the market at a critical moment for the entertainment industry. As generative AI models become increasingly capable of reproducing characters, creative works, and human likenesses, rights holders face growing challenges in identifying, measuring, and enforcing the use of their intellectual property. The company was founded to provide the infrastructure creators and rights holders need to protect, enforce and monetize their work in an AI-driven world, while enabling the responsible use of AI throughout the creative production process.

Founded by repeat entrepreneur Nelson Chu, who previously raised more than $50 million to build Percent into a leading private credit platform and led the company to profitability, ARCOS represents his second company built around solving foundational infrastructure challenges. The company was inspired by a defining moment in March 2025, when AI-generated Studio Ghibli-style images flooded social media, highlighting how quickly generative AI could replicate distinctive creative works while leaving creators with little visibility or control. For Chu, it was the clearest example yet of a pattern that had become impossible to ignore. From viral moments that transformed iconic artistic styles into one-click filters to increasingly sophisticated image and video generation models, the industry repeatedly introduced new capabilities without developing meaningful infrastructure for consent, control, or enforcement on behalf of creators. Each new frontier model follows the same pattern: launch into a free-for-all IP infringement, then quietly walk back capabilities after screenshots go viral.

“AI has transformed how all of us live, but it has also created an entirely new set of problems for the people who create the stories, characters, and art that power our culture,” said Nelson Chu, founder and CEO of ARCOS Labs. “This is the Napster moment for human creativity. The technology is extraordinary and it isn’t going away, but the protections haven’t kept pace with the models. There is a small window to get this right before the rules governing AI and creativity are written for all of us. If human creativity is to be worth anything in the age of AI, it has to be worth protecting. That’s the principle on which we were founded, to stand on the side of creators and rights holders, move as fast as the technology itself, and build the infrastructure needed to protect and enforce the value of creative work in the AI era.”

The company’s growing suite of products is focused on safeguarding and advancing creative rights. Its flagship platform, VN, is powered by a proprietary fidelity recognition engine that enables studios, creators, and rights holders to protect and produce with confidence in the age of AI. The engine analyzes AI-generated content with statistical precision, helping identify how AI systems reproduce specific characters, intellectual property, and human likenesses. By measuring fidelity of outputs to original creative assets, VN provides the insights needed to safeguard rights while empowering creators to evaluate, refine, and develop AI-generated content that aligns with their creative vision. It also previously developed Lightbar, a community-powered micro-product that harnesses the power of the crowd to surface potential AI infringement, with thousands of submissions across the major studios, highlighting the scale of the problem and the need for greater transparency.

Before launching publicly, VN and Lightbar quietly established traction within the entertainment industry. VN has delivered extensively detailed forensic reports to studios and talent agencies, demonstrating how current AI models can accurately reproduce protected characters and human likenesses with statistical precision. The platform supports both protection and production use cases, enabling right holders not only to identify potential infringement, but also confidently incorporate AI into creative workflows. The team is now exploring trials with major studios and rights holders seeking solutions that keep pace with advancing AI technologies.

From inception, the team intentionally operated anonymously while its products gained attention from studios, agencies, and media outlets, believing the work should earn attention before the founder did. It is now stepping into the spotlight as it expands its efforts to help rights holders defend the value of human creativity in the AI era.

To learn more about ARCOS Labs, please visit: https://arcoslabs.co/ 

About ARCOS Labs
Applied Research in Creative Output Synthesis (ARCOS) Labs is a technology company focused on protecting and empowering human creativity in the era of artificial intelligence. The company develops products and infrastructure that enable creators, studios, talent agencies, and rights holders to identify, measure, enforce and responsibly create with intellectual property and likeness rights in AI-generated content. ARCOS’ suite of products , including VN and Lightbar, ensure that AI innovation progresses with meaningful protections for the people and organizations behind the world’s stories, characters, and cultural assets.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/arcos-labs-launches-to-protect-human-creativity-in-the-age-of-ai-unveils-nelson-chu-as-founder-and-ceo-302854118.html

SOURCE ARCOS Labs Co.

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