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Syria’s former President Bashar al-Assad, whose notoriously brutal rule over the country earned him the nickname The Butcher, was deposed in 2024 after years of bloody civil war. Now, in a surreal cyberpunk twist, according to a report in German newsweekly Die Zeit, the former dictator is largely holed up in a luxury high-rise in Moscow, where he routinely spends hours playing online video games. Assad, who practiced as a physician and was reportedly thought of as geeky during his medical training years, also appears to enjoy stunning views of Moscow landmarks from his apartment, and has access to a villa outside the city. He also reportedly makes occasional visits to a shopping mall below his apartment. Assad apparently resides in Russia under President Vladimir Putins protection, according to Die Zeit. Assad succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad, as president of Syria in 2000. Despite there being initial hopes for reform, Bashar al-Assad ultimately presided over a brutal crackdown on dissent and a 13-year civil war, in which his Russian-backed forces were accused of deploying chemical weapons and bombarding the civilian population with so-called barrel bombs. The German publication didnt specify what video games the former Syrian leader enjoys, nor whether he plays against online opponents who might be unaware of his identity.
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E-Commerce
Michelle, a 42-year-old marketing executive, was scrolling through her grocery app when she saw the total: $87. A year ago, her weekly cart never dipped below $200. Chips, late-night snacks, and bottles of wine had given way to produce, yogurt, and lean proteins. But that same morning, a $900 charge for her GLP-1 prescription landed on her credit card. Whatever she was saving at the supermarket felt dwarfed by the cost of her medication. Drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound are being hailed as medical breakthroughs. Theyre not just changing waistlinestheyre changing household budgets. And as these shifts ripple through everyday spending, the financial industry has an important role to play in helping people rethink, rebalance, and plan for this new reality. THE PRICE TAG OF TRANSFORMATION GLP-1s arent cheap. Out-of-pocket, they run $500 to $1,300 a month. Thats as much as a car payment, or a mortgage in some parts of the country. People using them are often reshuffling their budgets to afford the drugs. Many think about it like another utility bill: essential, non-negotiable, and something they can plan their whole month around. Still, users often find savings elsewhere: fewer restaurant meals, less alcohol, smaller grocery runs. Some even report that the math comes closer to breaking even than expected. WHERE THE MONEY GOES NOW Losing weight changes more than the number on a scale. People cycle through three or four clothing sizes in a single year. Gym memberships and boutique fitness classes suddenly feel worth the money. Trips once avoided now get booked. GLP-1s arent just about shrinking waistlines. They open doors people may have kept shut for years, and with that comes a new set of financial decisions. Affluent households can absorb both the prescriptions and the lifestyle upgrades that follow. But for families living paycheck to paycheck, these medications arent just expensive. Theyre simply out of reach. THE EMOTIONAL ECONOMICS With new health often comes new confidence. People may invest more in savings accounts, 401(k)s, or long-delayed experiences. But the flip side is anxietythe fear of relapse or losing access if coverage changes. That can drive spending on coaches, supplements, or nutrition programs to try to lock in results. This duality is real. Weve seen people feel free enough to book the beach trip theyve dreamed about, and weve seen others overspend chasing every add-on that promises to make results last. When health changes this dramatically, peoples money habits have to change too. Thats where financial education comes in, helping people build financial resilience so the gains arent just physical, theyre sustainable. WHEN HEALTH EQUITY MEETS FINANCIAL EQUITY The GLP-1 boom highlights a blunt truth: Wealth buys health. GLP-1s have created a new form of inequity. Those that can afford them have a better chance of living healthier and perhaps longer. Those that cant afford them, nothing changes. Access to health shouldnt depend on access to wealth. Theres a role for financial institutions here. Banks and credit unions can make innovation work for people looking to live a healthier life. Budgeting tools, fair loans, more transparent buy-now-pay-later programs, even text alerts for prescription rebatesthese are the kinds of things that can close the gap, and allow for better health. Financial institutions cant make the drugs cheaper, but we can give people more room to breathe financially. RIPPLE EFFECTS ACROSS INDUSTRIES Food companies are already adjusting as grocery carts shrink. Fashion retailers are expanding sizing in both directions. Resale sites are buzzing with transitional wardrobes. Wellness clinics and med spas are seeing record demand. The open question is whether financial institutions will adapt in the same way, stepping in as partners in resilience. They can, if health and finance leaders are willing to work together. GLP-1s dont just change bodies. They change what shows up on a credit card statement. For some, thats empowering. For others, its destabilizing. If GLP-1s are the health revolution of our time, then financial literacy and inclusion have to be the companion revolution. Edwin Endlich is president of the National Association for Financial Literacy and Inclusion (NAFLI). Ana Reisdorf, MS, RD is founder of GLP-1 Hub.
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E-Commerce
To survive in todays market, enterprises must deliver experiences that feel instant and intelligent. Customers expect brands to anticipate their needs and guide them through interactions that are seamless and personal. Its the promise of having the right conversation at exactly the right moment. But heres the reality check: While real time dominates boardroom conversations, most data ecosystems are anything but. MOVING BEYOND NEXT BEST ACTION For years, the next best action model has been the playbook for customer engagement. It takes available data, analyzes it, and delivers a single, data-driven response, like recommending a product or sending an offer. The problem is this approach operates in isolation. It focuses on the moment, but not the journey. The next best experience takes this much further. Instead of one-off actions, it orchestrates the entire customer journey in real time, across every channel and touchpoint. It doesnt just react; it anticipates. Imagine a customer browsing a product on your website. Within seconds, that behavior could update their profile across your entire tech stack; informing a proactive support chat if intent signals show frustration, triggering a perfectly timed in-store notification if theyre nearby, or refining the next AI-driven recommendation at checkout. This isn’t a campaign running on static segments. It’s a living, adaptive experience that learns and optimizes as more customer data is collected, powered by data that moves as fast as your customers do. REAL-TIME PROFILE SYNDICATION: THE MISSING PIECE Heres where technology matters. Modern data warehouses excel at storage, analytics, and batch processing, and theyve become the center of gravity for many enterprises data strategies. But they werent built for the low-latency demands of real-time customer engagement. Data often moves through a series of handoffs: warehouse to CDP, CDP to marketing automation, marketing automation to personalization engine. Each hop adds friction. By the time the data lands where its needed, the moment to act has already passed. Real-time profile syndication solves this by treating the customer profile as a single, continuously updated asset, not a file copied across systems in batches. Every time a customer clicks, browses, or buys, their profile is enriched and made available instantly across the tech stack. No waiting for overnight processes. No discrepancies between tools. Just one unified, real-time version of the truth powering every decision. Think of it as the heartbeat of your data infrastructure by pumping fresh signals into every system, every second, without delay. WHY THIS MATTERS FOR AI AI models are only as good as the data they consume. If your model runs on profiles that are even an hour old, your so-called real-time decisions are already outdated. Instead of guessing what customers might want, AI-powered experiences adapt in real time, learning and evolving with every interaction. This is only possible when brands collect and control their data at the edge, which is the critical moment when customers engage. By having this real-time, first-hand data, companies can ensure their AI models are fueled by the freshest, most trustworthy information available, which turns predictive analytics into prescriptive actions. The result? Enterprises move from static campaigns to living, learning systems that deliver truly personalized experiences at scale. I believe every interaction is a moment of truth. By transforming disconnected tools into a single, real-time experience engine, enterprises can turn those moments into meaningful, AI-powered journeys. And in a world where milliseconds can make or break customer loyalty, the companies that master this will define the next era of customer engagement. Mike Anderson is CTO of Tealium.
Category:
E-Commerce
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