As AI data centers spring up across the country, their energy demand and resulting greenhouse gas emissions are raising concerns. With servers and energy-intensive cooling systems constantly running, these buildings can use anywhere from a few megawatts of power for a small data center to more than 100 megawatts for a hyperscale data center. To put that in perspective, the average large natural gas power plant built in the U.S. generates less than 1,000 megawatts.
When the power for these data centers comes from fossil fuels, they can become major sources of climate-warming emissions in the atmosphereunless the power plants capture their greenhouse gases first and then lock them away.
Google recently entered into a unique corporate power purchase agreement to support the construction of a natural gas power plant in Illinois designed to do exactly that through carbon capture and storage.
So how does carbon capture and storage, or CCS, work for a project like this?
I am an engineer who wrote a 2024 book about various types of carbon storage. Heres the short version of what you need to know.
How CCS works
When fossil fuels are burned to generate electricity, they release carbon dioxide, a powerful greenhouse gas that remains in the atmosphere for centuries. As these gases accumulate in the atmosphere, they act like a blanket, holding heat close to the Earths surface. Too high of a concentration heats up the Earth too much, setting off climate changes, including worsening heat waves, rising sea levels, and intensifying storms.
Carbon capture and storage involves capturing carbon dioxide from power plants, industrial processes, or even directly from the air and then transporting it, often through pipelines, to sites where it can be safely injected underground for permanent storage.
The carbon dioxide might be transported as a supercritical gaswhich is right at the phase change from liquid to gas and has the properties of bothor dissolved in a liquid. Once injected deep underground, the carbon dioxide can become permanently trapped in the geologic structure, dissolve in brine, or become mineralized, turning it to rock.
The goal of carbon storage is to ensure that carbon dioxide can be kept out of the atmosphere for a long time.
Types of underground carbon storage
There are several options for storing carbon dioxide underground.
Depleted oil and natural gas reservoirs have plentiful storage space and the added benefit that most are already mapped and their limits understood. They already held hydrocarbons in place for millions of years.
Carbon dioxide can also be injected into working oil or gas reservoirs to push out more of those fossil fuels while leaving most of the carbon dioxide behind. This method, known as enhanced oil and gas recovery, is the most common one used by carbon capture and storage projects in the U.S. today, and one reason CCS draws complaints from environmental groups.
Volcanic basalt rock and carbonate formations are considered good candidates for safe and long-term geological storage because they contain calcium and magnesium ions that interact with carbon dioxide, turning it into minerals. Iceland pioneered this method using its bedrock of volcanic basalt for carbon storage. Basalt also covers most of the oceanic crust, and scientists have been exploring the potential for sub-seafloor storage reservoirs.
How Iceland uses basalt to turn captured carbon dioxide into solid minerals.
In the U.S., a fourth option likely has the most potential for industrial carbon dioxide storagedeep saline aquifers, which is what Google plans to use. These widely distributed aquifers are porous and permeable sediment formations consisting of sandstone, limestone, or dolostone. Theyre filled with highly mineralized groundwater that cannot be used directly for drinking water but is very suitable for storing CO2.
Deep saline aquifers also have large storage capacities, ranging from about 1,000 to 20,000 gigatons. In comparison, the nations total carbon emissions from fossil fuels in 2024 were about 4.9 gigatons.
As of fall 2025, 21 industrial facilities across the U.S. used carbon capture and storage, including industries producing natural gas, fertilizer, and biofuels, according to the Global CCS Institutes 2025 report. Five of those use deep saline aquifers, and the rest involve enhanced oil or gas recovery. Eight more industrial carbon capture facilities were under construction.
Googles plan is unique because it involves a power purchase agreement that makes building the power plant with carbon capture and storage possible.
Googles deep saline aquifer storage plan
Googles 400-megawatt natural gas power plant, to be built with Broadwing Energy, is designed to capture about 90% of the plants carbon dioxide emissions and pipe them underground for permanent storage in a deep saline aquifer in the nearby Mount Simon sandstone formation.
The Mount Simon sandstone formation is a huge saline aquifer that lies underneath most of Illinois, southwestern Indiana, southern Ohio, and western Kentucky. It has a layer of highly porous and permeable sandstone that makes it an ideal candidate for carbon dioxide injection. To keep the carbon dioxide in a supercritical state, that layer needs to be at least half a mile (800 meters) deep.
A thick layer of Eau Claire shale sits above the Mount Simon formation, serving as the caprock that helps prevent stored carbon dioxide from escaping. Except for some small regions near the Mississippi River, Eau Claire shale is considerably thickmore than 300 feet (90 meters)throughout most of the Illinois basin.
The estimated storage capacity of the Mount Simon formation ranges from 27 gigatons to 109 gigatons of carbon dioxide.
The Google project plans to use an existing injection well site that was part of the first large-scale carbon storage demonstration in the Mount Simon formation. Food producer Archer Daniels Midland began injecting carbon dioxide there from nearby corn processing plants in 2012.
Carbon capture and storage has had challenges as the technology developed over the years, including a pipeline rupture in 2020 that forced evacuations in Satartia, Mississippi, and caused several people to lose consciousness. After a recent leak deep underground at the Archer Daniels Midland site in Illinois, the Environmental Protection Agency in 2025 required the company to improve its monitoring. Stored carbon dioxide had migrated into an unapproved area, but no threat to water supplies was reported.
Why does CCS matter?
Data centers are expanding quickly, and utilities will have to build more power capacity to keep up. The artificial intelligence company OpenAI is urging the U.S. to build 100 gigawatts of new capacity every yeardoubling its current rate.
Many energy experts, including the International Energy Agency, believe carbon capture and storage will be necessary to slow climate change and keep global temperatures from reaching dangerous levels as energy demand rises.
Ramesh Agarwal is a professor of engineering at Washington University in St. Louis.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Fluorescent lights that softly hum. Magazines nobody reads. A television mounted in the corner playing cable news as a receptionist mispronounces my last name.
I am at my first of several doctors appointments intentionally scheduled during the winter holiday season.
Not because I’m sick. Because it’s the only week of the year when nothing work-related is fighting for my time. The office is closed. The investors aren’t emailing. The product update notifications have stopped. For seven days I can put my body first.
So I schedule the bloodwork. The dermatologist. The physical I’ve been postponing since March. The dentist I keep rescheduling because there’s always a board meeting or a customer call or a crisis that feels more important than my teeth.
I came to this ritual the hard way.
I spent my entire career building venture-backed technology companies while ignoring what my body was telling me. I did everything right by founder standards. Didn’t drink, didn’t smoke. Exercised when I could. I told myself the stress was temporary. I told myself I’d rest after the next milestone.
My kidneys failed anyway. Twice: once in 2016 and once in 2025. End-stage renal disease. Two transplants. A decade of dialysis and hospitals taught me something simple: your body doesn’t negotiate. Listen to it while it’s still whispering.
The culprit? Stress. Work-related stress that I knew was hurting me and still gave myself permission to ignore.
I got a second (and third) chance. Not everyone does.
I lost a close founder friend to suicide. He was brilliant and successful by every external measure. I noticed him pulling away. I gave him space, thinking that’s what he needed.
I was wrong.
We don’t talk enough about what this life actually costs. Research shows that founders are twice as likely to suffer from depression, three times more likely to struggle with substance abuse, and 72% report mental health issues.
We celebrate the wins and go quiet about everything else. The founder who sold and can’t get out of bed. The one who shut down and disappeared. The one still building but running on empty.
The physical toll hides in plain sight, too. Burnout isn’t exhaustion you recover from with a vacation. It’s an occupational phenomenon the World Health Organization recognized in 2019. For founders who delay or forgo health checks, it can show up as heart disease, autoimmune disorders, and a nervous system that forgets how to stand down.
And the damage doesn’t stay contained.
Research shows 57% of employees can read their founder’s stress through tone, energy, and body language. The same report shows teams led by highly stressed founders report lower well-being, higher burnout, and less psychological safety. When founders suffer, everyone around them absorbs it.
Taking care of your health
We defer our health because something always feels more urgent. If youre a founder, this is a 15-minute exercise to start listening to your body while it’s still whispering this holiday season.
Minutes 05: List What’s Been Avoided
Write down every health-related item that’s been put off. Appointments postponed. Symptoms ignored. Checkups overdue. Include everything.
Minutes 510: Identify the Cost of Waiting
For each item ask: What’s the risk of continuing to defer? What would a friend say about ignoring it? Mark the ones where waiting feels the most like avoidance.
Minutes 1015: Schedule One Thing
Pick the item that’s been waiting longest or carries the most risk. Open the calendar. Find a time in the next 30 days and book it. Not a reminder. The actual appointment.
Why This Works
We treat health as something we’ll get to when things calm down. Things don’t calm down. One appointment won’t fix everything. But it can break the pattern of deferral.
How a founder is doing is the leading indicator of how their company will do. Not the pitch deck. Not the cap table. The person. It’s a core driver of investment ROI.
Nobody talks about it that way.
Instead, investors scrutinize market size, competitive moats, and unit economics. But the biggest risk in any portfolio isn’t the market. It’s the founder who burns out and starts making questionable decisions. Or walks away entirely. If either of those happens, every dollar invested to back them is on the line.
Heres the truth: wellness isn’t a reward founders claim after the exit. By then, relationships are broken, bodies are compromised, and purpose is lost. Wellness is the foundation that makes the hard work of being a founder possible.
To quote Vince Vaughn in Four Christmases: “You can’t spell families without lies.” That’s a cynical view, for sure, but when it comes to talking about one particular thing around the family dinner table at the holidays, it might be especially true.
That thing? Work.
According to a recent survey, young people are seriously bending the truth when it comes to talking to family members about their professional lives. The survey of 2,000 young U.S. adults (ages 21 to 35) from the digital skills course provider Elvtr found that a third have bailed on family events simply to avoid conversations about their jobs or career progress.
Even more say they have stretched the truth: A staggering 58% of young professionals have lied about their jobs, whether that means downplaying or exaggerating their success.
Interestingly, there’s a pretty big gender divide when it comes to how young people misrepresent their work life. Men were about twice as likely as women to inflate their success while talking to family. Women, meanwhile, downplayed their income, success, or responsibilities.
Per the report, if a promotion or raise occurred, “some women reported understating their accomplishments around relatives, whereas men more often admitted to inflating theirs.
Talking about jobs seems to get more stressful the more infrequently people see their families, which is why holiday visits can stir up so much anxiety. Those who spend time with family only once a year reported stress at a higher rate: 44% of those who saw their relatives annually said they were anxious about work chat, while only 25% of those who saw their families more regularly shared the concern.
Roman Peskin, CEO of Elvtr, says that a big part of why people lie to their families about work over the holidays may have to do with sibling rivalry. All the sibling comparisons and proving to your grandma that youve made it in the big city add up fast. Whats striking is that the influence doesnt stop at the dinner table,” Peskin stated in a press release. About 55% of respondents report that such comparisons happen sometimes, and 19% say they happen frequently.
The CEO also notes that young people allow the weight of family approval to dictate their work decisions at a surprisingly high rate. Nearly half (45%) have considered or made career changes due to family expectations. And 22% would actually sacrifice their dream job in favor of family approval.
“So maybe skip the classic ‘Why arent you a doctor yet?’ or ‘Your cousin just got promoted’ lines this Christmas,” Peskin urges. “Well-meaning advice can push young adults down paths that arent theirs to take.”
Likewise, the anxiety seems more intense for the youngest workers, perhaps because they are just starting out in their careers and feel more pressure to show their success. (Or maybe it’s because they’re the anxious generation.)
Overall, 35% are very or somewhat stressed about the conversation, and 42% in their 20s are stressed. Only 29% of those in their 30s say the same; suggesting that the older one gets, the less inclined that person may be to care deeply about their family’s take on their job.
While job questions can be stressful, young people can rest easy. Eventually, family members will switch to the dreaded “So, when are you giving us a grandbaby?”
This story first appeared in Advisorator, Jareds weekly tech advice newsletter. Sign up to get more insights every Tuesday.
On a recent evening, I had a mild panic after trying to call my wife and repeatedly getting the same error: Your call could not be completed as dialed.
She was supposed to come home late that night from an out-of-town trip with some old friends, but I hadnt heard from her that day and couldnt recall the timing of her flight. If her phone was merely in Airplane mode, my calls should have gone to voicemail instead of failing to connect outright.
In the end, it was just a random network connectivity glitch, solved by a reboot after my wife got off the plane. But as a member of the in-law family group chat was quick to point out, I could have avoided this brief feeling of unease by simply tracking my wifes location through her phone.
Of course, Im well aware of the location-sharing features that smartphones offer. Apple and Google both make it easy to let friends and family track your whereabouts, which in turn gives those companies valuable location data (and, in Apples case, reinforces the social pressure to have an iPhone).
My wife and I have just never wanted to track each other this way, having agreed that itd be creepy for either of us to do so. This weekends travel blip did not change our minds.
Part of the problem is that to enable these features, your phones mapping app must check your location constantly, not just when youre looking up a business or getting directions. But the bigger concern is simply about personal privacy, and being able to go somewhere without it becoming anyone elses businesseven people you know and trust.
I can see the other side of the argument: Youd regret not having this feature when you really need it, and its not like you have anything to hide.
True, but thats always the kind of argument tech companies use when a product erodes personal freedoms. As a result, you can no longer walk down the street without being monitored through neighbors doorbell cams, and pretty soon you might be recorded by anyone wearing a pair of sunglasses. Meanwhile, the entire ad-supported tech economy revolves around being so invasive that it feels like your phone is recording you, which it turns out people find unsettling even when theyve done nothing wrong.
While I cant control those larger dynamics, I can at least second-guess whether my own fears justify yet another layer of surveillance. No judgment if you come to a different conclusion, but Im not ready to make that leap even after some momentary nervousness. (Ask me again about this in couple years, though, when my kids have smartphones and are old enough to get into actual trouble.)
How to see whos tracking your location
Location sharing between iPhone users:
To find out who can see your location, open Apples Find My app and head to the People tab. Turn off location sharing by tapping a persons name and selecting Stop sharing.
If you do want to share your whereabouts with another iPhone user, there are several places to do so:
In the Find My app: Under the People tab, tap the + button, select Share My Location, then select one or more contacts.
Via iMessage: Tap + in any chat window, select Location, and choose how long to share.
In the Family Sharing menu: Youll find this under Settings > Family > Location Sharing. Selecting a person here will also share the location of all your Find My-compatible devices, including Apple Watches, iPads, and AirPods.
In Apple Maps: Swipe down and select Share Location. This only shares your current location and does not automatically update.
Location sharing is indefinite when enabled through the Family Sharing menu.
Note that once youve shared a location with someone, they can set up notifications for each time you leave an area, arrive at a place, or fail to show up at a location during a set schedule. Your approval is only needed for recurring alerts, not one-time notifications.
As an alternative to sharing your location indefinitely, consider sharing for just one hour or the rest of the day. You can choose this option in the Find My app or iMessage, but not the Family Sharing menu.
Location sharing for Android and Google Maps users:
The Location Sharing menu in Google Maps.
Google has its own location sharing system that works across Android and iOS. If you have an iPhone and arent sharing through Apples Find My app, you ay still be sharing through Google Maps instead.
Heres how to see who can track you via Google Maps:
In the Google Maps app (iOS and Android): Tap on your profile picture, then select Location Sharing. (Those youve shared with in the Find Hub app will also appear here.)
In the Find Hub app (Android only): Just look under the People tab. (Those youve shared with in Google Maps will also appear here.)
Location sharing in the Find Hub app for Android.
If you do want to share your location with others, you can do so by hitting the + button in the menus above. Both allow you to share for one hour, the rest of the day, or indefinitely, while the Find Hub app has an additional option to share for a limited number of hours.
As with Apples system, anyone who can see your whereabouts can also set up alerts for when you leave or arrive at a location. Youll get an email when this happens, but the only way to disable it is to stop sharing entirely.
This story first appeared in Advisorator, Jareds weekly tech advice newsletter. Sign up to get more insights every Tuesday.
At the Exceptional Women Alliance, we enable high-level women to mentor each other to achieve personal and professional happiness through sisterhood. As the nonprofit organizations founder, chair, and CEO, I am honored to interview and share insights from thought leaders who are part of our peer-to-peer mentoring.
This month, I introduce you to Malika Begin, the CEO and founder of Begin Development, an organization development firm based in Malibu, California. Known for her signature approach to building heart-centered, high-performing cultures, Malika partners with leading organizations to strengthen executive teams, design transformational leadership programs, build cross-functional trust, and create systems where people and performance thrive together.
Malika believes the most effective leaders of the future will not only embrace technology but will also deepen their humanity. In her words, Self-awareness isnt softits strategic.
Q: Everyones talking about AI, productivity, and innovation. Why talk about self-awareness right now?
Malika Begin: Because the more the world automates, the more human leadership matters. AI can replicate skills, but it cant replicate self. When everything is shifting around you, knowing who you areyour values, your patterns, and your impactbecomes your anchor. You have to be clear on your motivators, how you engage with others, and how you distinctly move through the world.
AI can replicate skills, but it cant replicate self.
Brené Brown often says that leadership used to be about muscle, then brains, and now its about heart. I couldnt agree more. The heart of leadership is self-awareness. Its empathy. Its the courage to show up as you are. The leaders who know themselves and are committed to continued growth and development make better decisions, build stronger teams, and create workplaces where people actually want to stay and invest.
Q: Youve said that professional assessments are mirrors, not boxes. How does that fit into this idea of human and heart-centered leadership?
Malika: Tools like CliftonStrengths, DiSC, Strengths Deployment Inventory, or Enneagram dont define you; they describe you. They give you language for what you already sense about yourself. The point isnt to label people but to understand patterns: how you lead, how you communicate, how you react under stress.
That insight is gold right now. When you can name your wiring, you can also recognize it in others. Thats what builds trust, belonging, and compassion, everything that makes a team feel human and valued again. The value isnt in the label, its in the insight.
Q: So, self-awareness is also about connection?
Malika: Completely. Self-awareness is the gateway to empathy, and empathy is the gateway to performance. Gallup found that teams that focus on their strengths every day are six times more engaged and 12% more productive. But thats only part of the story. Leaders who understand their own style and the styles around them create psychological safety, clearer communication, and faster trust, which directly translates to lower turnover, higher collaboration, and stronger results.
People dont just work better; they work together better. In a business environment where retention, engagement, and innovation drive profit, that kind of relational intelligence has real ROI. You cant automate trust. You have to build itand self-awareness is where it starts.
If AI is scaling data, then self-awareness is how we scale connection.
We talk a lot about psychological safety, but it starts with emotional honesty. You cant create a sense of belonging if youre disconnected from yourself.
Q: You tell leaders, Stop auditioning for roles that were never meant for you. What do you mean by that?
Malika: Its freedom. When you know who you are, you stop wasting energy trying to be everything to everyone. You make decisions that align with your values. You build relationships that align with your strengths.
In a world thats constantly shifting, self-awareness is your competitive edge. Author Tasha Eurich told the Harvard Business Review in a podcast that self-awareness is the meta-skill of the 21st century. The best leaders arent defined by certainty; theyre defined by clarity.
Q: Whats one practical way to start developing this skill?
Malika: Write your superpower statement. Its one or two sentences that capture you at your besthow you show up and the value you bring. Something like: Im at my best when Im focused on possibilities and relationships. My positivity helps others feel seen and confident in their own strengths.
Its not bragging. Its clarity. And clarity builds confidence. Clarity is contagious in your organization, and its the thing organizations need now more than ever.
Q: If you had to summarize your philosophy of leadership in one line?
Malika: When you know yourself, you stop performing and start connecting. The future belongs to leaders who lead with heart, who pair self-awareness with empathy, courage, and authenticity. Machines might build efficiency, but humans build meaning and connection. The meaning and connection are everything.
Larraine Segil is founder, chair, and CEO of the Exceptional Women Alliance.
Leadership is becoming both easier and harder.
Artificial intelligence has revolutionized how we work, especially over the past year, as its transitioned from a secret aid to a welcomed enterprise partner. As a partner, it streamlines work processes, leaving more time for big-picture decisions and strategizing. Each decision, in turn, becomes more impactful. And honestly, it can be overwhelming. Leaders need people around them who challenge their thinking and keep their foot on the gas for innovation.
According to Harvard Business Impacts 2025 Global Leadership Development Study, respondents are looking for more strategy and creativity from leaders. People now deem skills like leading change, fostering innovation, strategic thinking, and decision making more important than last year.
These insights reveal the expectations people have about business needs. How can leaders ensure they meet these expectations and rise to the occasion? They can either ask people or technology. The catch is, theyre both likely to agree with you.
With people, it’s human nature to agree. Team members get in the habit of wanting to impress their boss, avoid confrontation, and be nice. Ive seen this firsthand in the two years since I became a CEO. While it can be a nice ego boost, Ive become apprehensive about any type of perennial support.
WHY YES IS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE
Yes might be one of the most positive words in the world, but in the business world, it can be counterproductive.
Why? Because its overused. We hear it too much, especially in leadership. Sometimes its hard to tell when a person is being supportive of a genuinely great idea, or if theyre just afraid to ruffle any feathers.
AI has intensified this concept. Large language models (LLMs) are the ultimate yes man. Ive found they reinforce my perspective by default unless explicitly instructed to counter me. They often double down, even giving me some of my most complimentary feedback.
Even when chatting with colleagues online, its so easy to merely react with a thumbs-up emoji over Slack, exacerbating this phenomenon.
People and LLMs have both been trained to agree. But progress stems from challenging that status quo. Leaders responsibility now entails building teams that question both human and technology-generated work. Our value lies in asking the nuanced questions that an algorithm cant.
HOW TO BREAK THE LOOP
Break the loop by finding ways to incorporate dissent. For me, this opportunity arises whenever we do biannual planning at Scribd, Inc. Its a chance to dig into the nitty gritty, strategize, explore different paths, and think big. And its where I try to ensure we dont fall into the trap of silence after someone asks, Any questions?
I dont pretend to know it all, but here are a few guidelines Ive found beneficial to encourage this kind of open, strategic conversation.
1. Admit your mistakes. When youre open, it reassures people that imperfection is okay. Make it clear that youre not perfect, that you dont know all the answers, and you sometimes make mistakes. This can prompt others not just to vocalize their own mistakes, but to feel comfortable pushing back and engaging in productive debate as a partner.
2. Foster a culture that treats mistakes as learnings. One thing I love at Scribd is that everyone regularly shares their wins as well as their setbacks, whether in a company all-hands, monthly metrics meetings, or just a quick update in Slack. Beyond the transparency, this allows teams to highlight what they learned when something didnt go as planned. Ultimately, thats a win. When people are afraid to fail, they become scared to try anything new. A culture of learning counters this.
3. Bring in the devils advocate. Encourage what if questions to promote deeper conversations. Model this behavior. After you propose something, instead of closing with What do you think?which can yield a one-word answerask a conversation starter like, What are the potential outcomes here, positive and negative?
4. Give context. Instead of issuing vague asks that result in employees spinning their wheels to deliver something over-the-top or not aligned with your vision, include the why. Share your intent. Where ultimately do you want to end up? This calibrates the end state, and allows the team freedom to execute.
5. Encourage your people. Build a good team around you. Make them experts in their area. Include them in decisions. Stimulate debate. Get a variety of different types of people. Encourage them to instill this behavior in their own teams.
In todays world, we all need to work a little harder to break out of our comfortable bubble. Be open to learn, debate, and be wrong. And start looking at disagreement as positive.
Tony Grimminck is CEO of Scribd, Inc.
In a recent meeting with a large retailer, my contact shared that each buyer on her team receives over 100 emails daily referencing data on a variety of topics, from out-of-stock issues and inaccurate pricing to recommendations for driving e-commerce. On the supplier side, the situation is similar: delivering Monday morning reporting to retailers, preparing for line reviews, monitoring out-of-stocks, and pushing new promotions. Emails and Excel are still the primary drivers of the $5 trillion retail industry, in the U.S. alone.
The opportunity for error in complex retail supply chains is immense. If demand forecasting and inventory management across thousands of store locations are inaccurate, the cost is tremendous. The combined cost of overstock and out-of-stocks are $1.77 trillion globally, just in 2023. These if only moments are coordination failures, and the root cause lies with siloed data and manual processes.
Tariff uncertainties, climate change, and geopolitical instability are driving additional waste and operational inefficiencies that strain an industry already operating on razor-thin margins. The disconnect between retailers and suppliers is unsustainable and presents the most challenging operational issue across highly complex retail supply chains.
COLLABORATIVE AI AGENTS
Improved collaboration between retailers, suppliers, and AI technology can overcome disconnects. Those gaps can be between product design, procurement, marketing and promotional planning, and product distribution. AI is often described as something a single company should leverage, but verticalized AI agents that specialize in retail can streamline manual tasks and facilitate collaboration across multiple companies so humans can spend time on what drives the business: being strategic.
Collaboration is at the core of a successful retail strategy. Agentic AI will change the way retailers and suppliers communicate and collaborate by surfacing alerts and making autonomous decisions that give retail the optimization boost it needs. It will not completely hand over management to agents, but it will enable humans to focus on higher level collaboration and informed decision making.
Currently, retailers, suppliers, and distributors each hold only a slice of the truth, thanks to complex workflows, fragmented data, and cross-company processes that lack connectivity, transparency, and context. AI agents can automate, negotiate, coordinate, and problem solve across organizational boundaries. They turn coordination into a competitive advantage. Companies that master agentic AI orchestration will (finally) gain complete visibility and optimization.
AI agents will become specialized AI teammates that coordinate across organizations to achieve shared goals and resolve problems independently and proactively. These autonomous agents can share insights (without exposing sensitive raw data), adapt to changing conditions in real time, and offer a path forward for retailers and their consumer packaged goods (CPG) partners to achieve immediate and long-term operational goals.
Notably, an agentic AI network requires more than technology itself. Many organizations focus on the latest agent-to-agent and multi-agent tools and frameworks, such as A2A, Microsoft AutoGen, or CrewAI. These tools support autonomous actions and support cooperation between AI agents, but they do not solve the more complex problem of building trust and standard AI operating procedures across companies.
Beyond the base technologies, these networks need a governance framework. Large enterprises are already adopting standards such as ISO 42001 and the NIST AI Risk Management Framework. These provide essential guidance, but they do not create the integral shared smart contract, a set of agreed-upon rules and goals that everyone trusts. Once this advanced framework is established, agents can take independent actions within predefined boundaries to work towards common goals shared by retailers and suppliers.
For example, price optimization is a critical joint business objective where AI agents can help. By tracking inventory levels, monitoring competitors pricing, and analyzing consumer behavior patterns, agents can recommend pricing adjustments when needed and offer ways to optimize promotional spend to help retailers and suppliers deliver value to their consumers while preserving profitability.
AI AGENTS IN ACTION
AI agents can address and solve coordination failures across many aspects of retail supply chains.
Reducing out-of-stocks: Every empty shelf means lost sales, weakened brand loyalty, and an open door for competitors to capture the shoppers choiceand purchase. Demand forecasting, which relies heavily on lagging data, often misses real-time shifts in demand, resulting in incorrect ordering. For example, phantom inventory (inventory noted as in-store but not actually on shelves due to misplacement), results in misaligned forecasts. AI agents can improve out-of-stock rates and deliver value directly to the bottom line for CPGs and their retail partners.
Manage trade promotions: Trade promotions are one of the CPGs largest P&L investments, but they quickly become discounts that drain profits. Poor measurement and inconsistent analysis lead to unprofitable promotions being repeated. CPGs often deploy a one-size-fits-all approach to promotion, offering discounts across categories rather than accounting for shopper and pack dynamics. PwCs recent 2025 Future of Consumer Shopping Survey predicts that the most successful CPG companies will leverage AI to optimize pricing and promotion strategies in the coming years, unlocking significant incremental sales and margin uplift.
E-commerce execution: Poor e-commerce execution wastes advertising spend and causes CPGs to cede the digital shelf share to the competition. Attribution and measurement are often muddied by limited cross-channel visibility. Messy product catalogs, missing attributes, or inconsistent product mapping can degrade (re)targeting campaigns. The Gartner 2025 CMO Spend Survey reports that marketing leaders are increasing their investment in GenAI to improve the efficiency of marketing tasks. By improving media spend effectiveness, AI can support brands in transforming wasted spend into profitable, scalable growth.
UNPRECEDENTED COLLABORATION
Collaborative AI agents designed for retail represent a significant structural shift in how the industry operates. The most challenging pain points and time-sensitive decisions that were if only we knew moments will be replaced by unprecedented ross-organizational collaboration, driven by informed and autonomous agents, allowing humans to focus on strategy.
Are Traasdahl is CEO and founder of Crisp.
People who are squeamish about needles will soon have an alternative, as the Food and Drug Administration has approved a pill version of Wegovy that could be available as soon as next month.
Novo Nordisk, maker of the GLP-1 weight-loss drug, announced on Monday that it has received FDA approval for its once-daily pill that has been shown to achieve comparable weight-loss results as the injectable Wegovy. The Danish drugmaker said the pill could launch in the U.S. in early January, while it is still awaiting approval from regulatory authorities elsewhere.
The news marks a new era for the spate of popular weight-loss drugs. While there is a 14-milligram oral semaglutide currently on the marketthe diabetes drug Rybelsusthe Wegovy pill will be made available in a higher, 25-milligram dose. Theres not yet a pill version of Ozempic, which is also made by Novo Nordisk.
As the first oral GLP-1 treatment for people living with overweight or obesity, the Wegovy pill provides patients with a new, convenient treatment option that can help patients start or continue their weight loss journey, Mike Doustdar, president and CEO of Novo Nordisk, said in a statement. We are very excited for what this will mean for patients in the U.S.
THE PILL RACE
The race to get a weight-loss pill on the market has been a long time coming, as Novo Nordisk began clinical trials of the Wegovy pill more than two years ago. Eli Lilly, maker of Zepbound and Mounjaro, is currently testing a weight-loss pill called orforglipron in clinical trials and the drug is part of an FDA priority voucher program that comes with a faster timeframe for reviewing medications. Wegovy is also part of that program.
As with the shot, the Wegovy pill will require a prescription from a doctor. About one in eight American adults were taking a GLP-1 drug as of several weeks ago, according to a KFF Health Tracking Poll released last month. These drugs are especially popular among middle-aged adults, as 30% of people between the ages of 50 and 64 reported that theyve used one of these drugs at some point, the highest share among any demographic.
A pill version could mean that even more people are on weight-loss medications.
We believe it will expand access and options for patients, Dr. Jason Brett, principal U.S. medical head for Novo Nordisk, told CNN in an interview. We know there are some patients who just wont take an injectable medication.
COST IN FOCUS
But the cost of these drugs has also become a concern, and particularly if insurance doesnt cover them. Last month, President Donald Trump announced a plan to lower the costs of popular prescription drugs, including Wegovy and Ozempic, if people purchase through TrumpRX.
The Wegovy pill will be available for as little as $149 per month for the starting dose of 1.5 milligrams as part of that deal the drugmaker struck with the Trump administration last month. That said, the starting dose of these drugs typically doesnt yield the same type of weight loss and are intended to help people build up a tolerance.
Novo Nordisk didnt provide information about the pricing for the higher dosage of the pill that was approved by the FDA. Shares of the Danish drugmaker have surged more than 8% so far this week.
The fintech industry has spent the last decade obsessing over seamless experiences and bringing financial products inside the tools that consumers were already hooked on. Instant approvals, one-click funding, and frictionless onboarding became the benchmarks of success. And for good reason; they removed friction that had frustrated their customers for generations.
But here’s what we’re learning as embedded finance matures: The consumers and businesses that use embedded financial products repeatedly and stay loyal to their platforms are not just staying for the technology and platform. They’re staying because when they need it, theyre able to get help from people who understand the product, can anticipate their issues, and guide them through decisions that carry real financial weight. Its not just the technology that is required to win, but the right level of service also.
EMBED SOLUTIONS, NOT JUST PRODUCTS
Embedded fintech puts financial services directly inside the software people already use to manage their everyday life or business. Here’s why the human element matters from day one. Say youre a restaurant owner looking to apply for capital through your point-of-sale system. When a business owner needs to understand their costs, their options, and whether it makes sense to take a bank loan or advance, reassurance and education are the difference between gaining a customer and losing one. Financial issues carry real consequences and static. Confusing FAQ pages often arent enough to build the trust needed to work through them.
Tomorrows embedded solutions cater to the full experience. They offer support from onboarding onwards, and a person to call when need arises. An API that works smoothly is embedded finance. A specialist who walks a customer through why their funding limit changed and what they can do about it? That’s a true embedded solution.
SPEED ALONE WONT HELP
Fast approvals get customers excited. A three-minute application that results in instant access to $50,000 in working capital, or a next generation embedded credit card, feels impressive at first. But speed without guidance often leads to confusion and eventually customers who stop using the product.
Consider the restaurant owner we mentioned above who is applying for working capital through their point-of-sale system. They’re looking at questions about personal guarantees, wondering what happens to their home if the business hits a rough patch. They’re trying to figure out if automatic deductions will interfere with making payroll next week. A self-serve flow can’t anticipate or answer questions like this. It makes it hard to build trust or drive long-term use.
Human support changes the numbers by helping customers understand what they have access to and how to use it. When someone has access to a human to help them work out how to use a product, the math is simple. They use it a lot more.
BETTER SERVICE EQUALS MORE ADOPTION
The most successful embedded fintech products combine great products with a team of people who know how to guide customers through complex decisions. It’s not about choosing between automation and service. It’s about using both where they work best.
Even with a smooth digital experience, first-time financial product users benefit from talking to someone who understands their business. The best specialists don’t just answer questions. They help customers see how to get the most value.
Most businesses don’t use the maximum available credit. Not because they don’t need it, but because they’re unsure when it makes sense to access more. When a specialist reaches out to say, “We noticed you’re growing quickly and using about 60% of your available capital. Want to talk about whether increasing your limit makes sense?” two things happen. First, the customer feels seen. Second, they’re more likely to access additional capital that actually helps them grow.
THE FUTURE OF EMBEDDED FINANCE
The embedded finance industry is moving past the early “automate everything” phase. The platforms and providers building long-term relationships understand that financial products are fundamentally about trust, and trust comes from consistent, helpful interaction backed by reliable technology.
This doesn’t mean every fintech provider will build massive support teams. It means the successful ones will figure out how to deliver expert guidance at scale, using technology to make human expertise more accessible and effective, not to replace it.
For software platforms, this creates an opportunity. As embedded finance becomes more common, service quality becomes a key way to stand out. Its not just about access to capital and financial services. The platforms that help their customers actually use them to grow will build stronger relationships than platforms that simply offer another feature.
Luke Voiles is CEO of Pipe.
Aerospace company Starfighters Space, which operates the world’s only commercial supersonic aircraft fleet out of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, is down double digits after major gains following completion of its initial public offering (IPO) last week.
Starfighters Space’s stock price has had a volatile ride in the days since, and Tuesday was no exception.
On Tuesday, shares of the stock, which are trading under the ticker symbol FJET, were down 55%, just one day after Monday’s record gains, when it soared a whopping 371%.
The Florida-based company completed its IPO last Wednesday, with shares beginning to trade on the NYSE American the next day. The company raised $40 million in its Regulation A offering.
The stock opened at $10 per share, and peaked at $17.72 on Thursday before sliding back down to $6.69 on Friday, according to Investor’s Business Daily.
In midday trading on Tuesday at the time of this writing, FJET was trading at $14.18 a share.
What is Starfighters Space?
The company owns and operates the largest commercial fleet of supersonic aircraft, which consists of seven Lockheed F-104 Starfighters adapted for space missions, and is based out of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Starfighters is developing a StarLaunch program, which uses the jets to deploy satellites and small payloads into space, with the capability to fly at MACH 2 speed.
Founded just three years ago in 2022, the company also offers pilot and astronaut training, in-flight testing services, and solutions for both defense and private sector industries. Current customers include Lockheed Martin, GE, Innoveering, Space Florida, and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.
Starfighters Space financials
Starfighters Space Inc. had an approximate market capitalization of $395 million at the time of this writing.
The public listing . . . reflects growing investor interest in companies providing real-world aerospace capabilities aligned with national security, space access, and advanced testing requirements,” Starfighters CEO and founder Rick Svetkoff said in a recent statement. “The Company is well positioned to deliver services to a range of customers through our fast, innovative and unique platform.
