AI and Automation Drive Innovation Across Industries
A wave of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation technologies is transforming various sectors, from document management to cloud computing and enterprise resource planning (ERP). Several companies are emerging with innovative solutions, while established players are integrating AI to enhance their offerings, according to recent reports.
Factify, a Tel Aviv-based startup, emerged from stealth on January 28, 2026, with a $73 million seed round to revolutionize digital documents. Founder and CEO Matan Gavish, a computer science professor and Stanford PhD, aims to move beyond standard formats like PDF and .docx. "The PDF was developed when I was in elementary school," Gavish told VentureBeat, emphasizing the need to redesign the digital document itself.
In the realm of cloud computing, Adaptive6 also emerged from stealth on January 28, 2026, with a solution to reduce enterprise cloud waste. According to Gartner, public cloud spending is projected to rise 21.3% in 2026. However, Flexera's report indicated that up to 32% of enterprise cloud spending is wasted on duplicated, non-functional, or outdated code. Adaptive6 aims to address this issue by optimizing cloud resource utilization.
Airtable is also making strides in AI with the debut of Superagent, a standalone research agent that deploys teams of specialized AI agents to complete research tasks. Launched on Tuesday, Superagent's orchestrator maintains full visibility over the entire execution journey, creating what co-founder Howie Liu calls "a coherent journey" where the orchestrator makes all decisions along the way.
Meanwhile, Western Sugar is leveraging its early adoption of SAP S4HANA Cloud Public Edition to drive AI-driven automation. Ten years ago, the company moved from on-premise SAP ECC to the cloud, a decision that is now proving prescient. According to Richard Caluori, Director of Corporate Controlling at Western Sugar, the company was trying to escape "a trainwreck: a heavily customized ERP system so laden with custom ABAP code that it had become unupgradable." Now, Western Sugar is uniquely positioned to take advantage of SAP's rollout of business AI capabilities across finance, supply chain, and HR.
In other AI news, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently released details about Mobile Fortify, a face recognition app used by federal immigration agents. The DHS's 2025 AI Use Case Inventory revealed that Mobile Fortify is in the deployment stage for both Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). CBP began using the app in early May 2025, while ICE gained access on May 20, 2025, according to Wired.
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