Microsoft Build 2026: 7 MAI Models, Agent 365, and Project Solara
Microsoft's biggest Build ever just dropped a full-stack AI play: 7 in-house MAI models (including MAI-Thinking-1, a reasoning model matching Claude Opus on benchmarks), Agent 365 for enterprise governance, and Project Solara — an Android-based platform for agent-powered devices. The headline: Microsoft is building its own model family and the control plane to govern AI agents across the enterprise. For PMMs, this means agent-native workflows are coming to Teams and the Microsoft stack.
Read on Memeburn →AI Marketing's ROI Crisis: 94% Adoption, Only 41% Prove Value
Improvado's 2026 State of AI Marketing report reveals the adoption-value gap is widening: 94% of marketing teams now use AI, but only 41% can prove business outcomes — down from 49% last year. Meanwhile, 81% lack AI-specific KPIs. The piece frames it perfectly: "The question has shifted from 'Does AI work?' to 'How do we measure, scale, and govern it responsibly?'" This is the next battleground for PMMs.
Read on Improvado →51% of B2B Buyers Now Start with AI Chatbots
Forrester's 2026 State of Business Buying report ranks generative AI ahead of Google and peer referrals as the top buyer research interaction. G2's data shows 51% of B2B software buyers start vendor research with AI chatbots, and 83% feel more confident in their final purchase because of it. The implication: if you're not in the AI's answer, you're not in the deal. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) just became table stakes.
Read on GrackerAI →Salesforce: Martech Reliability Matters More Than Features
Salesforce's "5 Martech Trends to Watch" piece makes a counterintuitive case: as platforms add AI agents, journey automation, and multi-channel orchestration, reliability becomes the differentiator. A platform that works for batch emails may fail at complex real-time journeys. For marketing leaders, this is a reminder that AI capability means nothing without operational stability.
Read on Salesforce →Forbes AI 50 2026: The Definitive Enterprise AI List
Forbes released its 2026 AI 50 list — the annual ranking of the most promising AI companies. This year's list reflects the shift from pure model players to application-layer companies solving real enterprise problems. Worth scanning to see who's rising (and who fell off) in the race to embed AI into business workflows.
Read on Forbes →💡 My Take
Read this one: The Improvado piece on AI Marketing's ROI crisis. The 94% adoption / 41% proving value split is the defining challenge for marketing leaders in 2026. If you can't measure it, you can't scale it — and the winners will be teams that build AI-specific KPIs before they build AI-powered campaigns.