TikTok and Nest Commerce launch Hummingbird, OpenClips makes video ads, and more - Sales & Marketing AI Weekly #71

September 18, 2026 - Sales & Marketing AI Weekly
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Welcome to this week's edition of Sales & Marketing AI Weekly.

Deloitte introduces FastForward for Life Sciences, a CRM accelerator built with Salesforce for mid sized life sciences firms, while Siemens and Salesforce expand their work to connect engineering data with sales and service workflows. Gather also introduces AI customer simulations based on interviews and company data, and TikTok with Nest Commerce will launch Hummingbird, a platform for ad creative analysis, content variations and fatigue monitoring.

Advertising Research Foundation data shows marketer confidence in AI generated outputs rose to 93 percent in May 2026, although privacy, accuracy and brand safety remain concerns. This edition also covers consumer trust in AI shopping support from Sinch, localized creative tools from Tiger Pistol and Twelvio, and AI email assistance deployed by Deutsche Kreditbank with Senacor.
Stonly launches AI agents for complex customer service
Stonly launches Business Process Agents for customer service workflows. The agents use structured guides and connected systems to resolve cases independently or route issues requiring human judgment to support staff. Read more
Deloitte launches Agentforce CRM accelerator for mid sized life sciences firms
Deloitte launches FastForward for Life Sciences, a preconfigured CRM accelerator developed with Salesforce. The offering combines managed services and Salesforce Agentforce to help mid sized life sciences companies deploy compliant CRM systems in four to six months. Read more
Rime becomes Dialpad's voice provider for agentic AI products
Rime will provide text to speech technology for Dialpad's agentic voice AI products worldwide. The companies will also share production feedback to improve Rime's voice models. Read more
Profound raises $180M Series D at $1.8B valuation
Profound raises $180 million in a Series D led by Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins, valuing the AI marketing platform at $1.8 billion. The company plans to expand its platform and research team as it serves more than 1,000 enterprise customers. Read more
Hyperbound named Gartner example vendor for B2B sales AI
Hyperbound is listed as an Example Vendor in Gartner's 2026 overview of AI role play applications for B2B sales. The report covers software that simulates business conversations for sales training, coaching and skills development, and Gartner states that inclusion is not an endorsement. Read more
Storiad and Bitta AI partner on interactive book marketing assets
Storiad and Bitta AI partner to turn books into interactive, AI powered marketing and sales assets called Living Books. The initial focus is nonfiction skill building titles, with fiction applications planned later. Read more
Sinch survey finds trust in AI strongest for shopping logistics
Sinch reports that consumers are most likely to trust AI assistants with order tracking, shipping updates and pre purchase questions. The survey also identifies privacy and data use as the leading concern, while expectations that AI will ease holiday shopping vary widely by country. Read more
Tiger Pistol joins TikTok as Channel Sales Partner
Tiger Pistol joins TikTok's Marketing Partners Program as a Channel Sales Partner. The company also expands its AI driven Creative Automation Studio to produce localised TikTok videos for franchise and multi location brands, alongside Facebook and Instagram Reels. Read more
Salesforce and NVIDIA introduce Koa CRM reasoning model
Salesforce and NVIDIA introduce Koa, a CRM reasoning model for Agentforce built on NVIDIA Nemotron open models. The model uses synthetic scenarios based on Salesforce workflows to handle multistep sales, marketing and customer service tasks within Salesforce infrastructure. Read more
Twelvio partners with WIDER on AI creative for gaming
Twelvio and WIDER partner to help gaming brands produce localized video, static, gameplay and playable ads using campaign data and competitor intelligence. The companies will demonstrate WIDER and Twelvio's Retarget.gg platform at SBC Summit 2026 in Lisbon from September 29 to October 1. Read more
TELUS Digital Named a Leader in Everest Group's 2026 CXM Assessment
Everest Group named TELUS Digital one of eight Leaders among 48 customer experience management providers in its 2026 Americas assessment. The recognition cites the company’s Fuel iX AI suite, multilingual delivery services, technology partnerships and customer experience capabilities. Read more
Luth Research finds 80% of AI health users consult other sources
A Luth Research study finds that about 80% of people using AI for health information also seek information elsewhere. Users primarily turn to AI for quick explanations, while established health websites are more commonly used for appointment and treatment decisions. Read more
Gather introduces AI customer simulations based on real interviews
Gather introduces customer simulations built from AI moderated interviews, research data, customer information, and updated evidence. The company says its Emma AI teammate delivers insights in Slack to help teams test messaging and better understand target buyers. Read more
Omneky brings AI Growth Agent to Slack
Omneky integrates its AI Growth Agent with Slack, allowing marketing teams to manage advertising workflows within the messaging platform. Customers can research markets, create and approve ads, launch campaigns, and monitor performance. Read more
Datasea begins AI agent services for five Chinese customers
Datasea says five Chinese customers have begun using its AI agent digital marketing services under customer agreements and pre order arrangements. The company estimates potential annualized service volume of up to US$89.4 million, while noting this figure is not guaranteed revenue or backlog. Read more
Momentus Technologies launches MomentusMAX AI platform for venues
Momentus Technologies launches MomentusMAX, an AI platform for venue operators, and makes MAX for Sales available to Enterprise and Elite customers. The product automates lead triage, calendar management, proposal creation, upsell recommendations and margin projections. Read more
DanAds partners with Nodals AI on outcome based advertising
DanAds and Nodals AI partner to help publishers run cost per click and cost per acquisition campaigns through DanAds' self service platform. Nodals AI will use first party data to predict campaign outcomes and support pricing floors. Read more
Brandi AI study finds human written pages receive 5.7 times more AI citations
Brandi AI analyzed about 900,000 responses from ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot. Its study found that the 25 most cited human written pages received 5.7 times as many citations on average as the equivalent AI written pages, while noting the analysis does not establish causation. Read more
Quinnipiac University and Verndale report AI agent content gains
Quinnipiac University and Verndale report that an AI agent model repurposes existing university stories into digital content. The organizations cite improvements in content optimization, user experience and marketer productivity, while marketers retain final approval. Read more
Advertising Research Foundation finds marketer confidence in AI rose to 93%
Advertising Research Foundation reports that marketer confidence in AI generated outputs increased from 82% in November 2025 to 93% in May 2026. The report examines AI use across advertising functions and identifies privacy, inaccurate outputs and brand safety as leading concerns. Read more
transcosmos cuts Vietnam agent training time by 50% with AI tutor
transcosmos deployed its trans-AI Tutor in a Vietnam financial services project, reducing new agent training from 10 business days to five. The system uses role play simulations and the voice based INK Test assessment tool to evaluate customer service responses. Read more
Penguin Ai launches Intelligent RCM for healthcare revenue teams
Penguin Ai launches Intelligent RCM, an AI workforce platform for healthcare revenue cycle operations. The platform reviews claims, supports denial and appeal management, identifies underpayments, and retains specialist approval. Read more
Evergreen Digital Media partners with Adwave on WaveRunner AI platform
Evergreen Digital Media will provide capital for Adwave's WaveRunner AI advertising platform and receive preferred licensing rights. The platform manages campaigns across streaming TV, Google, Meta, Reddit and the web through a single daily budget. Read more
Decimal AI raises $4 million for customer engineering platform
Decimal AI raises a $4 million seed round led by Khosla Ventures and Kearny Jackson, with participation from Atlassian Ventures and Weekend Fund. The company will expand its Customer Engineering Platform, which investigates customer issues and prepares potential fixes for engineering teams. Read more
Qloo named a Gartner synthetic population front runner
Qloo was one of two companies placed in the highest maturity category of Gartner's 2026 research on synthetic population and behavioral simulation, which assessed 33 companies. Gartner said the placement does not constitute an endorsement. Read more
BEN and Cataneo introduce conversational AI for TV ads
Brand Engagement Network and Cataneo introduce technology that lets broadcast and streaming viewers interact with AI agents during advertisements. The system supports product recommendations and transactions, while providing advertisers with real time engagement and transaction data. Read more
Wingify launches AI platform after AB Tasty and VWO merger
AB Tasty and VWO have combined under the Wingify brand and launched an agentic experience optimization platform. The platform brings experimentation, personalization, behavioral analysis, commerce optimization, feature management and customer loyalty tools into a shared AI system. Read more
OpenClips turns product URLs into video ads
OpenClips, developed by Coinis, creates video advertisements from product URLs. The platform uses product page details to generate scripts, storyboards and final renders without prompts or shot lists. Read more
ServicePower adds Vision AI to field service platform
ServicePower adds Vision AI to ServicePower Mobile, enabling technicians to analyse inspection images in real time, including in areas with limited connectivity. The feature links image checks to work orders and reports, with initial applications in telecommunications and utilities. Read more
Apollo becomes Salesforce Hunter data partner
Apollo is a flagship launch partner for Salesforce's Hunter outbound sales agent. The pilot service gives users access to Apollo's contact data and prospecting tools, with general availability planned for November. Read more
Acosta Group study finds 34% of US shoppers use AI while shopping
A Acosta Group study finds that 34% of US shoppers use AI tools to compare and research products, with higher use among Gen Z and Millennials. Concerns about trust, inaccurate information, advertising bias and data privacy continue to limit AI led purchase decisions. Read more
Circana adds AI powered Analysis Builder to Unify+
Circana adds Analysis Builder to Unify+, allowing users to create and share customized market analyses with AI generated summaries and visualizations. The tool is expected to become available globally in early Q4 2026. Read more
Insider One launches Agent One for customer engagement
Insider One launches Agent One, an autonomous agent system for planning and delivering customer engagement based on customer context. The platform includes Agent One Teams for businesses and customer facing tools such as Shopping Agent and Support Agent. Read more
MediSights completes AI agent study for multiple myeloma research
MediSights reports that its AI agents conducted specialist interviews for multiple myeloma market research, reducing research timelines from months to days or weeks. The study identified insurance authorization, physician knowledge and manufacturing wait times as barriers to in vivo CAR T treatment. Read more
Siemens and Salesforce deepen AI partnership for industrial sales and service
Siemens and Salesforce will connect Siemens Teamcenter with Salesforce Agentforce, bringing engineering data into sales, service and customer workflows. Siemens also uses Agentforce to qualify more than 2,500 leads each month for 18,000 sellers in 132 countries. Read more
TikTok and Nest Commerce launch Hummingbird AI creative platform
TikTok and Nest Commerce will launch Hummingbird, an AI platform for advertising creative, on September 23, 2026, in London. The platform analyzes campaign performance, identifies effective creative elements, produces content variations and monitors ads for creative fatigue, while Nest Commerce's creative teams retain control. Read more
Deutsche Kreditbank introduces Pega AI email assistant with Senacor
Deutsche Kreditbank, working with Senacor, introduces a Pega Customer Service AI assistant in several service centers. The tool analyzes customer emails and suggests responses and follow up actions, while employees retain final decision making authority. Read more

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