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Will Buyers of More Complex Infrastructure, Software, and Services Shift to AI and Work Less with Salespeople Along the Buying Journey?

Laurie Buczek — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This subset of IDC's 2025 Business-To-Business (B2B) Technology Buyer Behavioral Survey aims to understand the impact of digital, omni-channel, AI, and consumer experience expectations on B2B buying behavior and practices and the role of the human-to-human experience as agentic AI rises. This subset of data featured focuses on B2B technology buyers' propensity to use AI to accomplish buying tasks for more complex buying processes and decisions, resulting in relying less on salespeople.

"AI is not replacing sales in complex deals, but it is redefining the early stages of engagement. Buyers are using AI to augment evaluation, compress research cycles, and enter vendor conversations more informed — and often further along — than ever before," states Laurie Buczek, group VP, market and business intelligence, IDC.

Industry Personas Handbook: Worldwide Manufacturing, 2026

Stefanie Naujoks, Heriberto Roman, Nigel Wallis — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Worldwide Manufacturing Personas Handbook 2026 is designed to provide technology vendors with a better understanding of the buyer personas in the manufacturing industry in 2026. It aims to answer the following questions:

Who are the key personas I need to address with my offering, marketing messages, sales campaigns, or sales activities?
What are their strategic priorities and day-to-day responsibilities?
What are their major operational pain points and strategic challenges?
What KPIs drive their decision-making and investment priorities?

The descriptions provided for each persona support early-stage engagement (awareness, interest, and consideration). This handbook does not address procurement execution once investment decisions have been finalized.

"Understanding the various personas in manufacturing organizations and tailoring value propositions accordingly is key to delivering relevant solutions and building credibility." — Research Director Stefanie Naujoks, IDC Manufacturing Insights

Navigating Volatility: Leveraging Technology to Optimize Liquidity and Mitigate Financial Risk

Kevin Permenter — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 05:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Perspective discusses the importance of leveraging technology to optimize liquidity and mitigate financial risk. In a high-interest-rate environment, trapped cash has become an expensive operational failure rather than a passive balance sheet condition. By combining automated receivables acceleration with intelligent payables timing, organizations can compress the cash conversion cycle and generate a self-funded liquidity buffer that reduces borrowing exposure and improves financial resilience.

"Working capital velocity is becoming a core resilience strategy. Organizations that synchronize inflows and outflows can create an internal liquidity buffer that reduces borrowing needs and strengthens financial optionality," said Kevin Permenter, research director, Financial Applications and Agents at IDC.

Industry Analysis Perspective: Americas Retail, 2026

Jose Ignacio Diaz, Margot Juros, Nigel Wallis — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Presentation provides technology companies' sales teams, marketers, and product and channel managers with foundational insight into the Americas retail industry in 2025.

By understanding how the business side operates, sales, marketing, and product and channel managers will see more clearly where their technology products and services can truly add value to retail organizations.

Industry Personas Handbook: Worldwide Grocery Retail, 2026

Filippo Battaini, Cristiano Quattrini — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

This IDC Tech Buyer Presentation is IDC's Industry Personas Handbook, designed to provide technology vendors with a better understanding of their buyer personas in the global retail grocery sector. It aims to answer the following questions:

Who are the key personas I need to address with my offering (products and services), marketing messages, sales campaigns, and sales activities?
What are their strategic priorities and day-to-day responsibilities?
What are their major operational pains and strategic challenges?
What KPIs drive decision-making and investment priorities?

Special Report — Convergence of Retail Media and Connected TV

Ananda Chakravarty, Alex Holtz — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

This IDC study covers the convergence of retail media networks (RMNs) and connected TV (CTV) that is transforming advertising by integrating first-party shopper data with streaming viewership, enabling precise targeting, closed-loop attribution, and shoppable ad formats. This shift is driving rapid growth, budget reallocations, and the emergence of standardized, performance-driven, and AI-enhanced advertising ecosystems, positioning CTV–RMN integration as a new standard for accountable, commerce-linked marketing strategies through 2026 and beyond.

"As retail media networks and connected TV converge, the screen in your living room is no longer just for storytelling, it's becoming the new point of sale. The fusion of first-party shopper data with streaming viewership is redefining advertising, where every impression can be measured, every ad can be shoppable, and every campaign is accountable," stated Alex Holtz, director of research, Worldwide Media and Entertainment Digital Strategies at IDC. "Are you ready for a future where commerce and content are inseparable?"

Industry Analysis Perspective: European Healthcare, 2025

Nino Giguashvili, Heriberto Roman, Nigel Wallis — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

This Industry Analysis Perspective report provides technology vendors — including sales, marketing, product and channel managers — with essential insights into the healthcare sector in Europe for 2025. It clarifies how the industry functions, enabling readers to identify specific areas in which their technology solutions can add real value.

This report offers a comprehensive view of the healthcare landscape, detailing business dynamics, key players, and future directions on both regional and country levels, along with the implications for IT strategies in the sector.

"Boosting investments is critical to improve European healthcare systems' resilience and performance; however, this analysis reaffirms that similar investments can produce different outcomes. What makes the difference is not just how much countries spend on healthcare, but how intelligently they deploy resources — strengthening governance, empowering healthcare workforce, enhancing proactive care models, and intelligently utilizing digital technologies to improve patient outcomes and experiences." — Research Manager Nino Giguashvili, IDC Healthcare Insights

When Giants Collide: What the Seismic-Highspot Merger Means for the New Era of AI-Powered Revenue Enablement

Michelle Morgan — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Note examines the Seismic-Highspot merger and how it marks a pivotal shift in the revenue enablement market, signaling rapid consolidation and the rise of AI-driven, agentic platforms that span the full go-to-market performance stack. This move accelerates the transformation of enablement from isolated tools to integrated, AI-native operating layers, challenging vendors to deliver comprehensive, outcome-focused solutions and pushing organizations to prioritize readiness for AI adoption and measurable business impact.

2026 Ushers in Deeper Maturity in the Agentic Era with Rapid Innovation to Scale Enterprise Adoption

Shari Lava, Kathy Lange, Tim Law, Hayley Sutherland, Amy Machado, Andrew Gens — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective discusses how 2025 launched the agentic era. In 2025, enterprises accelerated the adoption of agentic AI, marking the start of the agentic era with autonomous, goal-driven agents transforming workflows, data management, and automation. Key innovations included unified AI platforms, advanced governance, scalable automation, and modernization of unstructured data and document pipelines. As organizations prepare to scale agentic solutions in 2026, success hinges on industrializing AI development, robust governance, interoperability, and aligning investments to measurable business outcomes.

"2025 marked the dawn of the agentic era — where organizations experimented with AI agents to move from passive assistants to autonomous innovators. In 2026, AI will be about building scale and value from AI investments to shifting enterprise strategy and competitive advantage," said Shari Lava, research vice president, AI and Automation, IDC.

IDC ProductScape: Worldwide Sales Intelligence Tools, 2026

Michelle Morgan — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 05:00:00 GMT

The IDC ProductScape offers a comprehensive guide on the key functionalities of sales intelligence tools, featuring products from 6sense, Bombora, Cognism, HubSpot, and ZoomInfo. The status of each functionality is categorized as fully supported, partially supported, partner provided, road map, or not supported, aiding technology purchasers in quickly identifying which vendors align with their changing requirements.