Research Focus
Economics & Finance
- How Gen Z Is Navigating an Economy That Hires Their Seniors
A generation that came of age during a pandemic, an inflation spike, and the AI revolution is now confronting a labor market that hires their seniors but pauses on them. By [Byline] When LinkedIn released its 2026 Grad's Guide on April 15, the headline number landed with an unwelcome thud…
- OpenAI’s Pre-IPO Stress Test: What WSJ’s Report on Missed Revenue and User Targets Really Means
The Wall Street Journal reported on April 27, 2026 that OpenAI has missed its own internal targets for both new user acquisition and revenue, with CFO Sarah Friar privately telling colleagues the company may not be able to fund its computing commitments if growth does not accelerate. The numbers behind…
- U.S. Housing Market April 2026: Three-Year Mortgage Lows, Slowest March Sales Since 2009, and What Comes Next
The 2026 spring housing market is sending mixed signals. Mortgage rates have fallen to their lowest levels in three spring seasons, inventory is at a post-2020 high, and yet existing-home sales just posted the slowest March since 2009. This analysis breaks down the data, presents regional differences, and assesses whether…
Marketing & Strategy
- Beyond the 57% Rule: How the Modern Buyer Journey Reached 80% Self-Directed
The often-quoted "57% rule" claimed that B2B buyers complete more than half of their purchase decision before talking to sales. By 2024, Gartner data put that figure at 80%. The 2026 Gartner survey shows 67% of B2B buyers now prefer a rep-free experience, and 45% used AI in their last…
- Why Apple’s New CEO Inherits a Strategy That Cannot Win the AI Era
Apple's CEO transition arrives at precisely the moment when its AI strategy is most exposed. Tim Cook hands the keys to John Ternus in September, but the company he inherits is running Siri on Google's models, spending less than 10% of what rivals spend on AI, and betting that hardware…
- Signify NV: Can the World’s Largest Lighting Company Outrun Its Own Disruption?
A DuPont analysis of Signify NV reveals a global lighting leader navigating simultaneous headwinds: declining conventional revenues, intensifying price competition, and a CEO transition that leaves 2026 as a defining year for the company's strategic direction. Signify NV (Euronext: LIGHT), formerly Philips Lighting, closed its fiscal year 2025 with €5,765…
Technology & Security
- Trump Calls Off AI Executive Order Hours Before Planned White House Signing
President Trump on May 21, 2026, abruptly halted the signing of a planned executive order intended to establish government vetting of cutting-edge artificial intelligence models, abandoning what appeared to be a centrepiece of his administration's AI regulatory framework. The cancellation came hours before a White House ceremony was set to…
- MIT Iceberg Index Reveals How AI Really Threatens American Jobs
An MIT research team has published the Iceberg Index, a comprehensive mapping of 923 occupations and 32,000 skills that reveals how AI capabilities overlap with the workforce in ways that extend far beyond headline automation concerns. The Iceberg Index provides a searchable dashboard at iceberg MIT that maps how much…
- The Silver Bullet Excuse: Are AI Layoffs Justified, or Just the Most Convenient Narrative in Tech?
Tech CEOs are now framing every layoff as an AI decision. The economic case is real in some companies, threadbare in others, and politically convenient nearly everywhere. The data shows which is which. By [Byline] On May 20, 2026, Meta Platforms terminated approximately 8,000 employees, roughly 10 percent of its…
Society
- The Silver Bullet Excuse: Are AI Layoffs Justified, or Just the Most Convenient Narrative in Tech?
Tech CEOs are now framing every layoff as an AI decision. The economic case is real in some companies, threadbare in others, and politically convenient nearly everywhere. The data shows which is which. By [Byline] On May 20, 2026, Meta Platforms terminated approximately 8,000 employees, roughly 10 percent of its…
- When Productivity Punishes the Profession: AI Coding, Tech Layoffs, and the Software Engineering Labor Market in 2026
AI made coding easy for everyone. The labor market for software engineers has not adjusted gracefully. By [Byline] On the May 1, 2026 episode of Bloomberg's Wall Street Week, host David Westin framed the central paradox of this technology cycle in a single sentence: "AI made coding easy for everyone,…
- Beyond the 57% Rule: How the Modern Buyer Journey Reached 80% Self-Directed
The often-quoted "57% rule" claimed that B2B buyers complete more than half of their purchase decision before talking to sales. By 2024, Gartner data put that figure at 80%. The 2026 Gartner survey shows 67% of B2B buyers now prefer a rep-free experience, and 45% used AI in their last…
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– W. Edwards Deming