The headline-grabbing conclusion of this INSEAD study is that ecommerce companies with tightly-integrated tech stacks grew more slowly under GDPR than companies with loosely coupled stacks.  The academic jargon is nearly impenetrable but the authors seem to argue that tightly integrated stacks are harder to change, and this resulted in worse customer experience when GDPR enforcement began.  It’s intriguing if not entirely convincing.

One of the normal stages in the maturation of a new technology is appearance of industry-specific applications. AI agent-powered end-to-end marketing campaigns have reached that stage remarkably quickly. Case in point: Birdeye has released an agentic marketing platform for its base of multi-location brand marketers.