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An inclusive economy is no longer a moral aspiration or a side project. Business leaders must understand that without inclusion, we cannot create a resilient, growing economy that delivers sustainable returns for all. In places where inclusion is part of the infrastructure of their economysupply chains, procurement processes, capital access, or business ownershippeople thrive. Inclusive economies create more resilience by expanding the base of potential business owners who can build, own, innovate, and hire. They allow more opportunities for homeownership and investing in the longevity of communities. As our economy becomes increasingly stratified and volatile, we need as much resiliency as we can get. At Living Cities, our work with mayors, financial institutions, philanthropy, and community partners shows that places and companies that prioritize inclusion and equity reduce long-term risk, deepen trust, and create or identify new economic opportunities. Those that ignore the benefits of economic inclusion have capital, talent, and residents move elsewhere. INCLUSION PROOF POINTS IN CITIES Consider Memphis, where Black residents are a majority of the population but historically own only a fraction of local businesses. City and local partners supported the creation of Contractors University, a cohort model that equips small firmsmany led by entrepreneurs of colorto bid on and win city contracts. Within months, participating firms converted training into new contracts and rising revenues. Contractors University was able to take one of the largest barriers to business successaccessing procurement dollarsand turned it into a growth platform. In Miami, inclusive capital has become part of the citys resilience strategy. Local leaders were able to preserve affordable space for dozens of small, often new American immigrant-owned businesses through partnerships with community organizations and investors to acquire commercial property in a cultural district. By partnering with local civic leaders, the City of Miami preserves both a burgeoning commercial corridor and future revenue streams. In Austin, cultural incubators and entrepreneurial training programs are translating modest seed grants into new firms, jobs, and community wealthbecause they have been able to offer the targeted support that entrepreneurs have been missing for generations to unlock growth opportunities and sustainable businesses. WHAT BUSINESS LEADERS CAN DO DIFFERENTLY IN 2026 The question for business leaders and investors is no longer whether to support an inclusive economy, but how quickly to align their own practices and policies with what is already working. Three shifts can help leaders tap into the benefits of an inclusive economy: Redesign how capital moves. Replace audit underwriting and investment criteria with bias-adjusted frameworks that recognize the positive records of entrepreneurs and neighborhoods long labeled high-risk. Coupled with innovative credit productssuch as first-loss capital, guarantees, and flexible lines of creditchanging the preconception of what makes a risky investment can lead to an expanded deal pipeline and more opportunities. Treat procurement as a growth engine. Moving beyond diversity pledges toward codified inclusive procurement standards that make it easier for local and small firms to become ongoing vendors. This means simplifying contracting processes, offering technical assistance, and publishing clear inclusion metrics tied to executive performance and cost savings from more resilient local supply chains. Invest in ownership, not just access. Support models that keep wealth rooted locallycooperatives, employee ownership transitions, and community land trustsby aligning corporate philanthropy, impact investing, and civic partnerships around shared-ownership pathways. In St. Paul, for example, a down-payment assistance program has invested in families who lost homes through the execution of the Federal Highway Act, stabilizing neighborhoods and the local economy. A MANDATE FOR THE NEXT ECONOMY The past year has been turbulent, from federal shutdowns to rising costs to contracting labor markets that strain both households and balance sheets. Yet we know the path forward: Cities are proving that local economies which expand the concept of who can be full participants are more productive, predictable, and investable. In 2026, neutrality is not a safe middle ground. Choosing not to prioritize inclusivity and resilience is, in effect, choosing to operate inside an outdated standard for risk, talent, and growth. Business leaders who want to bring about the next era of American prosperity should spend 2026 re-committing to inclusion as a core economic strategy. Joe Scantlebury is the CEO at Living Cities.
Category:
E-Commerce
Meta’s fourth-quarter results jumped past Wall Street’s expectations thanks to solid advertising revenue, sending shares sharply higher in after-hours trading Wednesday. The company earned $22.77 billion, or $8.88 per share, in the October-December quarter. That’s up 9% from $20.84 billion, or $8.02 per share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue grew 24% to $59.89 billion from $48.39 billion. Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $8.21 per share on revenue of $58.5 billion, according to a poll by FactSet. Once again, Meta surpassed analysts earnings expectations for the quarter, cementing its position as one of the worlds most dominant media companies,” said Debra Aho Williamson, chief analyst at Sonata Insights. “Its strong performance provides a solid foundation to continue its massive investments into AI. If there were any signs of revenue shortfall, investors would look at the capital expenditures more negatively. Meta’s expenses, which the company already warned will be significantly higher this year, grew 40% to $35.15 billion. For the current quarter, Meta is forecasting revenue in the range of $53.5 billion to $56.5 billion. That’s above analysts’ forecast of $51.4 billion. For 2026, Meta is forecasting expenses in the range of $162 billion to $169 billion, driven by infrastructure costs and employee compensation, particularly for the artificial intelligence (AI) experts it’s been hiring at eye-popping pay levels. Meta had 78,865 employees at the end of the year, an increase of 6% from a year earlier. Shares of the Menlo Park, California-based company (Nasdaq: META) rose $73.15, or 10.9%, to $741.88 in after-hours trading. By BARBARA ORTUTAY, AP Technology Writer
Category:
E-Commerce
For years, the customer experience playbook has been treated like a technology problem. Add another tool. Deploy another bot. Automate another workflow. And yet here we are, heading into 2026 with customer satisfaction in freefall. Forresters 2025 CX Index shows scores hitting a new low for the fourth consecutive year. This isnt a failure of ambition or innovation. Its a failure of how we define success. Leaders have been optimizing for activity instead of outcomes. In the rush to scale digital engagement, many organizations fell into a bit of a containment trap, measuring success by how many customer interactions never reach a human. On paper, it looks efficient. In reality, its often a false economy. If a customer gets stuck in a bot loop or a bot that cant answer a straightforward question predictably, you havent saved money. Youve lost trust. And very often, youve lost the customer. Its clear that customer experience (CX) needs a reset. Not more experimentation or hype, but more precision. Based on what were seeing across industries, four trends will define whether companies finally break out of the CX recession, or get left behind. 1. CX isnt delivering (because were measuring the wrong things) Despite massive investment, CX outcomes are stalling. The reason is simple: Most organizations are optimizing for the wrong metrics. Containment, deflection, and average handle time tell you how efficiently you move customers away. They tell you very little about whether you actually solved a problem, built loyalty, or created value. The companies that rise to the top are shifting to a hybrid model that treats AI and humans as complementary assets. AI agents handle what theyre best at: instant answers, routine transactions, and scale. Humans step in where judgment, empathy, and nuance matter. The metric shift is critical. High-performing teams measure value creation, not just cost avoidance. Personalization, resolution quality, and revenue impact matter far more than whether a conversation stayed contained, because they create value on both sides of the exchange: Customers get answers that actually move them forward, and brands earn trust, loyalty, and measurable growth. In fact, Gartners data shows that buyers have a 1.8 times greater likelihood of paying a premium, and they are 3.7 times more likely to buy more than they planned, if they feel that experience has been personalized. The future of CX isnt about replacing people. Its about freeing them to do their best work. 2. 2026 is the year of predictable AI Over the past two years, generative AI moved from novelty to necessity. In 2026, the conversation changes again, from capability to control. Unpredictable AI is expensive. Hallucinations, broken flows, and inefficient token usage quietly drain budgets and introduce brand and compliance risk. Thats why predictability has become the most important word in the boardroom. The next phase of AI adoption requires an assurance layera system that continuously tests, validates, and verifies AI behavior before it ever reaches a customer. This de-risks innovation, but just as importantly, it creates the engine for continuous improvement. It provides the framework to constantly learn from interactions, refine accuracy, and reduce the cost of every conversation, turning AI from a “science experiment” into an operational efficiency engine that gets smarter over time. The most advanced organizations are using adversarial simulation to stress-test AI against edge cases, confusion, and hostile inputs. They break their systems before customers can. The result is confidence that allows leaders to deploy AI in high-value, high-risk use cases like payments, healthcare, and financial services. Predictable AI doesnt just reduce risk. It unlocks ROI and drives value creation. 3. The CX budget crunch is an opportunity CX leaders arent struggling because budgets disappeared. Theyre struggling because scrutiny increased. In 2026, no one is funding nice-to-have initiatives. Every dollar must tie directly to financial outcomes. CX leaders need to stop selling soft metrics and start telling a before-and-after story showcasing what changed, by how much, and why it matters to the business. The most effective teams reposition CX not as a cost center, but as an efficiency engine. They run focused pilots, prove results quickly, and use hard data to unlock broader deployment. When you can demonstrate measurable improvements in resolution rates, conversion, or operational efficiency in 90 days, the budget conversation changes. CX stops being discretionary. It becomes essential. 4. Marketers must catch up with consumers expectations The biggest growth shift of 2026 isnt happening in the contact center. Its happening at the top of the funnel. Traditional lead generation is breaking down. Buyers dont want forms. They want answers, on their terms, in the moment of intent. Conversational AI enables a concierge model that replaces gated funnels with real-time, personalized dialogue. The economics are compelling. A self-service interaction costs pennies. A live agent interaction can cost dollars. But when done right, conversational AI delivers a low-cost interaction that feels premium and high touch. More importantly, it respects the customers time. And in 2026, that can be the ultimate differentiator. PRECISION IS THE NEW SCALE The lesson early in 2026 is simple: Scaling without precision is noise. Precision without scale is irrelevant. The best companies will master both. That means measurable CX, predictable AI, disciplined investment, and conversations that meet people exactly where they are. We dont need more technology. We need better outcomes. And if we get that right, 2026 wont just be the year CX recovers, but the year it finally delivers. John Sabino is CEO of LivePerson.
Category:
E-Commerce
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