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Sustainability LIVE Chicago: How to drive value through Sustainability in an uncertain climate

Dan Versace — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Sustainability LIVE: The US Summit 2026 at Chicago's Navy Pier has, in IDC's view, emerged as one of North America's most strategically relevant sustainability gatherings, less because of its scale (1,000+ attendees, 50+ speakers) and more because its deliberate co-location with Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE mirrors where enterprise sustainability work is actually being executed. The 2026 edition made clear that the center of gravity has shifted away from disclosure theater toward ROI-accountable, AI-enabled action embedded in sourcing and operations, and organizers should be credited for curating an agenda that reflects that reality rather than resisting it.

Cisco's Universal Quantum Switch Advances Hardware-Agnostic Distributed Quantum Networking

Heather West, PhD — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

The Cisco Universal Quantum Switch represents a meaningful early step toward establishing the foundational networking layer of the quantum era, directly addressing the modality interoperability problem that has kept quantum systems siloed and incompatible. While still a research prototype, the device's vendor-neutral, infrastructure-compatible design signals that Cisco is building a credible full-stack quantum networking strategy with the potential to define how quantum systems connect and interoperate at scale.

Google Cloud Next 2026: Building the Agentic Enterprise

Matthew Eastwood, Dave McCarthy — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

At Google Cloud Next '26, Thomas Kurian delivered Google Cloud's most integrated and enterprise-credible AI story to date. Building on last year's agentic enterprise vision, Google returned with a more production-oriented model spanning AI infrastructure, Gemini-centered agent platforms, data modernization, security, productivity, and ecosystem execution. Key announcements included eighth-generation TPUs for training and inference, the Virgo Network fabric, Gemini Enterprise, the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, Agentic Data Cloud, deeper Wiz integration, and new Workspace intelligence capabilities. Google also introduced a $750 million partner fund and highlighted commitments from Accenture, Deloitte, McKinsey, BCG, Salesforce, and SAP. Customer examples from Merck, GE Appliances, NASA, Home Depot, Macy's, Vodafone, and Virgin Voyages showed momentum beyond digital natives. From IDC's perspective, Next '26 signaled a shift from AI-native vision to a more complete enterprise operating model.

IDC Survey Spotlight: How Much Time Are Generative AI Coding Assistants Saving Developers?

Adam Resnick — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Survey Spotlight explores how much time generative AI (GenAI) coding assistants are saving developers, drawing on insights from IDC’s 2025 Modern Software Development Survey.

Most developers using GenAI coding assistants save five hours or fewer per week, and only 4% reach the 20-plus-hour level that dominates AI productivity narratives. Beyond hours saved, 79% of developers agree that AI has reduced time spent on repetitive or tedious tasks and freed time for more meaningful work. For many developers, deeper adoption is blocked by factors outside their control, including limited tool access, production time pressures, token constraints, and lack of executive sponsorship. Enterprises that commit resources to tooling, skilling, and adoption incentives are best positioned to convert that potential into realized productivity gains.

Predict, Prevent, Resolve: Turning Customer Experience into a Self-Restoration System

Michelle Morgan — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This Market Perspective explores the evolution of proactive CX from reactive support to autonomous, self-healing systems powered by AI and real-time analytics. It highlights how organizations can predict, prevent, and resolve customer issues before they escalate, shifting CX from a service differentiator to an operational imperative. The piece outlines key use cases, common pitfalls, and strategic recommendations for businesses and technology suppliers aiming to deliver seamless, anticipatory experiences.

“Proactive CX is not about sending more notifications,” says Michelle Morgan, AI-enabled sales, customer service, and contact center strategies, research manager, IDC. “It is about redesigning how your business senses and fixes problems before customers feel the impact. When you get it right, service stops being damage control and becomes a silent, always-on growth engine,” she adds.

Figma's Expansion Strategy in Japan: Strengthening Its Positioning as an AI-Powered Platform and Expanding Value Creation Support

Tatsuhiro Soga — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This Market Note examines the latest developments in and strategy behind Figma's expansion in the Japan market as the company broadens its product portfolio for the AI era. Figma, based in California, provides a collaborative design and product development platform.

As AI-enabled development support tools and vibe coding become more widespread, efficiency is improving in prototyping and the early stages of application development. At the same time, SaaS vendors are expected to face growing pressure to move beyond functionality alone and instead leverage the best practices and operational knowledge they have accumulated through customer engagement to help customers create business value. In this environment, "Figma's advisory services will increasingly need the capability to identify and articulate concrete value-creation opportunities based on each customer's workflows, product development processes, and existing design assets," says Tatsuhiro Soga, research analyst, Software, Services, and IT Spending, IDC Japan.

This is the English translation of the Japanese document (IDC #JPJ54302326).

From Design Tool to AI Platform: Key Takeaways from Canva Create 2026

Roger Beharry Lall — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Canva Create 2026 was, as always, an energetic event, but this year it marked a significant evolution for the company, as it shifts from a design platform with AI tools to an AI platform with design tools. The introduction of Canva AI 2.0 reframes the company as offering a system that spans ideation, creation, and execution, with capabilities such as conversational design, agentic orchestration, memory, and integrated workflows.

IDC Survey: Scaling AI in Energy Retailers and Water Suppliers — Maturity, Challenges, and Investment Focus — Insights from IDC’s 2026 Energy & Utilities Industry-Specific Tech and Innovation Survey

Gaia Gallotti — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Survey examines a portion of IDC’s 2026 Energy & Utilities Industry-Specific Tech and Innovation Survey. IDC’s 2026 Energy & Utilities Industry-Specific Tech and Innovation Survey is a landmark study covering utilities around the world. It was run from February to March 2026.

The survey covered 800 respondents, of whom 531 are utilities respondents from the following countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, KSA, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the UAE, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

This study extrapolates and analyzes select data for 257 energy retailers and suppliers and water suppliers around the world.

This study focuses on AI, which for the purposes of this survey refers broadly to all forms of artificial intelligence, including machine learning, deep learning, generative AI, and embedded AI in enterprise, operational, or industrial systems. The analysis covers the following areas:

Current level of AI adoption maturity
Key data-related challenges in scaling AI
The most significant people- and process-related barriers to scaling AI
Operational and business areas currently prioritized for AI investment
Technology domains prioritized to support AI at scale
Types of partners considered most valuable for scaling AI solutions

Salesforce TDX 2026 — Developer Enablement in the Transition to Agentic Development

Adam Reeves — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Workday Innovation Summit 2026: Uncovering the New Agentic Operating Model

Mickey North Rizza — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Workday held its 2026 Innovation Summit in Napa, California, on April 22and 23. The Innovation Summit brought forward Workday's continued emphasis on AI by automating more work, designing new processes, and delivering more intuitive experiences. Workday's latest chapter brings more innovation around AI, including Workday AI teammates (agents) that cut across the Workday platform and the Workday applications.