- Oil production hit a study-period high while reserve replacement fell below 100% for the first time since 2021.

- Capital expenditures declined 49% and exploration represented just 3% of total spending in 2025.

- Natural gas reserves reached a five-year high, supported by higher discoveries, exports and rising electricity demand.

HOUSTON, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The US oil and gas industry is increasingly focused on improving the performance of existing assets while maintaining disciplined growth, according to an annual benchmarking study released today by Ernst & Young LLP (EY US). While mergers and acquisitions (M&A) continue to play an important role in shaping portfolios, the findings suggest producers are prioritizing operational performance, capital efficiency and maximizing returns from current assets.

The annual EY US Oil and Gas Reserves and Production Benchmarking Study analyzed five years of performance data from the 30 largest publicly traded exploration and production (E&P) companies based on 2025 year-end US reserves, representing about 43% of combined US oil and gas production. The study captures industry performance during the most recent full calendar year and does not reflect subsequent market impacts associated with the 2026 Strait of Hormuz disruption and related geopolitical developments.

"One of the clearest signals in this year's study is that oil production and reserve replacement are moving in different directions," said Matt Melnar, EY Americas Oil & Gas and Chemicals Assurance Leader. "Reserve replacement metrics alone no longer tell the full story. Producers are engaged in a balancing act between production goals, shareholder returns, and long-term portfolio resilience as they make investment decisions."

Record production masks a shift in how companies are allocating capital

One of the study's most notable findings is the divergence between production and reserve replacement. Oil production reached a study-period high in 2025, yet oil reserve additions from extensions and discoveries declined 11% year over year and failed to fully replace production volumes for the first time since 2021. Combined oil reserves also declined by less than 1%.

The trend raises important questions about how producers balance near-term production performance with long-term reserve renewal and points to an industry becoming more selective in how it allocates capital.

Total capital expenditures fell 49% year over year, while M&A spending declined 70% as the industry moved beyond the recent megadeal cycle. Exploration spending declined 11% to $4.8 billion and represented only 3% of total capital expenditures, underscoring the industry's focus on developing existing assets rather than pursuing frontier opportunities. Despite a 7% increase in revenues, pretax operating results declined 2% as lower commodity realizations compressed margins.

"After years of consolidation and portfolio building, the industry's focus is increasingly shifting toward operational performance," said Regina Balderas, EY-Parthenon Americas Oil & Gas and Chemicals Leader. "The question is less about how much acreage a company owns and more about how effectively it can develop, operate and generate returns from that portfolio."

Natural gas emerges as a key growth story

While oil reserve replacement moderated, natural gas fundamentals strengthened across nearly every measure in the study. Gas production rose 18%, reserves increased 14%, discoveries rose 21%, and reserve revisions turned positive for the first time since 2021.

The study points to growing demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG), rising electricity consumption and the expansion of AI-related infrastructure and data centers as factors supporting long-term natural gas demand.

"As energy security, industrial competitiveness and AI-related infrastructure investment continue to shape energy markets, US natural gas is increasingly positioned at the center of several of the industry's most significant demand trends," said Patrick Jelinek, EY Americas Oil & Gas and Chemicals Leader. "The strength we're seeing in gas reserves, discoveries and revisions suggests producers are recognizing the opportunity and positioning for a future where natural gas plays an increasingly strategic role in the energy system."

About EY

EY is building a better working world by creating new value for clients, people, society and the planet, while building trust in capital markets.

Enabled by data, AI and advanced technology, EY teams help clients shape the future with confidence and develop answers for the most pressing issues of today and tomorrow.

EY teams work across a full spectrum of services in assurance, consulting, tax, strategy and transactions. Fueled by sector insights, a globally connected, multidisciplinary network and diverse ecosystem partners, EY teams can provide services in more than 150 countries and territories.

All in to shape the future with confidence.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

Ernst & Young LLP is a client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited operating in the US.

About the study

The EY US Oil and Gas Reserves and Production Benchmarking Study analyzes Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-reported reserves, production and financial data from the 30 largest publicly traded exploration and production companies, as determined by their 2025 year-end US oil and gas reserves. The study focuses specifically on the companies' US operations and covers the period from 2021 to 2025. Together, these companies represent approximately 43% of total US oil and gas production and serve as a bellwether of industry trends.

In its more than 20-year history, the annual EY benchmarking study has evolved alongside the industry. The study group has narrowed from 50 companies to 40 and now 30, reflecting ongoing consolidation across the US upstream sector, while continuing to represent a significant share of domestic production. The research examines trends in capital allocation, production, reserve replacement, profitability and strategic positioning across the industry.

Media Contact:

Molly Hardy-Knowles

[email protected] 

SOURCE EY

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VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Century Lithium Corp. (TSXV: LCE) (OTCQX: CYDVF) (Frankfurt: C1Z) ("Century Lithium" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that it has submitted the Mine Plan of Operations ("PoO" or "Plan") and Nevada Reclamation Permit Application for the Company's 100%-owned Angel Island Mine Project ("Angel Island" or the "Project") in Esmeralda County, Nevada, USA. The PoO was submitted on September 3, 2026, to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management ("BLM"), Battle Mountain District, Tonopah Field Office. The PoO is the proposed action for the Project and is the document upon which the BLM will base its environmental analyses under the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"). It was prepared in accordance with BLM surface management regulations at 43 CFR Subpart 3809 and Nevada reclamation regulations at NAC 519A.

"The submission of the Mine Plan of Operations for Angel Island is a substantial milestone for Century Lithium," said Bill Willoughby, President and CEO of Century Lithium. "It defines the Project the BLM will analyze, starts the clock on the environmental review, and reflects multiple years of baseline data collection, engineering, and coordination with the agencies. With the PoO completed, our focus turns to supporting the BLM and the third-party NEPA contractor toward a final Project approval through a Record of Decision."

The PoO describes the mine, the processing plant, and the supporting infrastructure, and defines the process for reclamation of the land when mining is complete, and was submitted by the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Cypress Holdings (Nevada), Ltd., the operator of record for the Project.

The Angel Island Lithium Project

Angel Island is an advanced-stage, sedimentary lithium project located in Clayton Valley, Esmeralda County, Nevada, approximately six miles east of Silver Peak and 41 road-miles southwest of Tonopah. The Project Area covers 5,379 acres of BLM-administered public land held under federal mining claims. As described in the PoO, the proposed operation would result in approximately 2,364 acres of disturbance.

Key elements of the proposed operation, as set out in the PoO, include (see 2026FS):

- Shallow Surface Mine. Lithium-bearing claystones allow mining in six pit phases with minimal overburden and low strip ratio. No drilling or blasting is anticipated; the ore will be ripped, loaded, and hauled to the processing facility.

- Staged Growth. A two-phase development, with an initial production rate of approximately 8,300 tons per day ("tpd") for the first four years of operation, increasing to a maximum of up to 16,500 tpd in years five through 40.

- On-site Processing to Battery-grade Lithium Carbonate. Processing by agitated tank leaching, solid/liquid separation, Direct Lithium Extraction ("DLE"), and crystallization to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate. The process circuit is closed-loop and designed to operate with recycled water.

- Salt-based Reagents. A chlor-alkali plant will produce hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide, both required by the process circuit, with surplus sodium hydroxide to be sold into the open market. Sodium hydroxide is a product of the processing circuit and is not derived from material mined from the Project.

- Support Facilities. Included are two waste rock storage facilities, two low-grade ore stockpiles, a dry-stack tailings storage facility, heavy- and light-vehicle roads, and a warehouse, office, shop, and laboratory.

- Grid Power. 53 MW in Phase 1 and 106 MW in Phase 2 are to be supplied by a transmission-voltage connection, with the Company's preferred route tying into the new Esmeralda substation on the NV Energy Greenlink West corridor.

- Water Supply. Process make-up water is to be obtained under the Company's existing water rights from a well approximately 11 miles south of the Project and delivered to site via a buried 12-inch pipeline on BLM land, for which biological and cultural baseline surveys were completed.

- Workforce. A workforce of approximately 275 full-time personnel is anticipated during operations, with a temporary peak of approximately 450 during construction.

Next Steps and Permitting Schedule

Angel Island is a Transparency Project under the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council's FAST-41 program, with the BLM as lead agency. FAST-41 status provides coordinated federal oversight, publicly tracked milestones, and schedule transparency through the Permitting Dashboard for Federal Infrastructure Projects. The Permitting Dashboard currently shows an estimated completion date for environmental review and permitting of February 4, 2028. As with any federal schedule, the timetable may be adjusted as the review proceeds, and updates are posted on the Permitting Dashboard.

With the PoO submitted, the BLM will complete a 30-day regulatory review of the Plan for completeness and adequacy. Once the Plan is deemed complete, the third-party NEPA contractor will begin environmental analysis of the Project and will develop the Supplemental Information Report ("SIR") and the Supplemental Environmental Reports ("SERs") to support the NEPA document. Once the SIR and SERs are completed, the Administrative Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") can be prepared, after which the BLM is expected to publish a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register and initiate public scoping, ultimately leading to a Record of Decision ("ROD"). The anticipated sequence of milestones is summarized below.

In parallel with the federal process, the Company continues to advance state and local permitting in Nevada and prepare the Water Pollution Control Permit application package, which includes detailed engineering of Project components and facilities. Ongoing metallurgical test work continues in support of the Angel Island flowsheet, including definition of supporting project infrastructure, including power and water delivery.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information in this news release was reviewed and approved by William Willoughby, PhD, PE, President and Chief Executive Officer of Century Lithium Corp., who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

ABOUT CENTURY LITHIUM CORP.

Century Lithium Corp. is an advanced-stage lithium development company focused on its 100%-owned Angel Island lithium project in Esmeralda County, Nevada. Angel Island hosts one of the largest known sedimentary lithium deposits in the United States and is designed with an integrated, end-to-end process for the on-site production of battery-grade lithium carbonate to support the electric vehicle and battery storage markets.

The Company has developed a patent-pending process that incorporates hydrochloric acid leaching combined with direct lithium extraction to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate. As part of the integrated chlor-alkali process, Angel Island is designed to produce sodium hydroxide as a co-product, with planned surplus sales expected to lower operating costs, reduce reliance on externally sourced reagents, and minimize environmental impacts.

Century Lithium is currently advancing Angel Island through the permitting process.

All inferences to mining, processing and economics for Angel Island herein are from the Updated NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Feasibility of the Clayton Valley Lithium Project, Esmeralda County, Nevada, USA, January 3, 2026 ("2026FS"), which is available on SEDAR+ and the Company's website.

Century Lithium trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "LCE" the OTCQX under the symbol "CYDVF" and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "C1Z".

To learn more, please visit centurylithium.com.

ON BEHALF OF CENTURY LITHIUM CORP.

WILLIAM WILLOUGHBY, PhD., PE

President & Chief Executive Officer

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" and similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook.

Forward-looking statements relate to any matters that are not historical facts and statements of our beliefs, intentions and expectations about developments, results and events which will or may occur in the future, without limitation, statements with respect to the potential development and value of the Project and benefits associated therewith, statements with respect to the expected project economics for the Project, such as estimates of life of mine, lithium prices, production and recoveries, capital and operating costs, IRR, NPV and cash flows, any projections outlined in the Feasibility Study in respect of the Project, the permitting status of the Project and the Company's future development plans.

These and other forward-looking statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of the Company to control or predict, that may cause their actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein. These risks include those described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent annual information form and its other public filings, copies of which can be under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- La Luce Cristallina today launched its 0.5-micrometer (µm) silicon-based quantum paraelectric strontium titanate on insulator (QP-STOI) wafer platform, enabling researchers and national laboratories to leverage STO's low-temperature quantum paraelectric properties for next-generation devices. Built on a thick layer of silicon dioxide (SiO₂), the bulk-like, highly insulating STO layer is 100 times thicker than conventional STO buffer layers used for epitaxial growth on Si, with its highly insulating nature enabling organizations to use STO's extreme voltage-tunable dielectric behavior at cryogenic temperatures.

At cryogenic temperatures, STO enters a quantum paraelectric state in which its dielectric properties become highly responsive to applied electric fields. This enhanced tunability allows researchers to precisely control electrical behavior, supporting applications such as parametric amplifiers for qubit readout, tunable microwave components and future electro-optic components. The platform also offers tunable piezoelectric properties, providing a foundation for future research into electrically controlled actuators, precision sensors and other advanced electromechanical devices.

La Luce Cristallina's STO wafer platform is CMOS- and foundry-compatible, allowing for integration into established semiconductor manufacturing workflows. The solution is currently available in 2-inch wafer size for customers and expected to scale to 200 millimeters early next year. The launch comes as governments and research organizations accelerate investment in quantum and cryogenic technologies. The U.S. Department of Commerce recently announced more than $2 billion in planned investments across nine quantum companies to accelerate domestic quantum manufacturing. Additionally, NIST launched a new Quantum Manufacturing Engineering Center to advance scalable quantum components and manufacturing technologies.

"Our new strontium titanate wafer provides a highly tunable materials platform for researchers developing quantum and cryogenic devices, helping to support increased market interest in emerging use cases," said Alex Demkov, CEO of La Luce Cristallina. "By combining quantum paraelectric behavior with foundry-compatible manufacturing, we're making it easier for researchers and device developers to explore new architectures for quantum sensing, qubit readout and related applications."

About La Luce Cristallina

La Luce Cristallina (LC) is a manufacturer of silicon-integrated, high-performance materials for silicon photonics, focused on barium titanate (BaTiO₃)-based platforms enabling electro-optic modulators for next-generation optical interconnects. The company's technology supports high-speed, low-power data transmission across AI infrastructure, cloud data centers and telecommunications networks. By advancing CMOS-compatible BaTiO₃ materials, La Luce Cristallina is driving the transition beyond traditional silicon toward more scalable, energy-efficient photonic solutions that support accelerating datacom and network infrastructure demands.

La Luce Cristallina Contact

Rowshanak Irani

+1 737 781 0325

[email protected] 

Media Contact

Jeannette Bitz, Engage PR

+1 510 295 4972

[email protected] 

SOURCE La Luce Cristallina

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The Tectra™ ecosystem simplifies personal protection while improving real-time visibility, automated maintenance, and confidence in safety programs.

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Industrial Scientific, a global safety company providing industry-leading technologies for gas detection, hazard monitoring, and real-time air quality insights, has launched Tectra™, a game-changing personal gas monitoring ecosystem designed to strengthen worker protection, reduce human error, and help ensure safety systems work as intended.

Despite decades of innovation, many gas detection programs still rely on manual processes, infrequent data, or cellular signals – causing disruptions that can take away from the work getting done safely. Tectra marks a shift from a standalone gas monitor to a fully connected safety ecosystem that integrates personal gas monitors, docking, low-power connectivity, and an option for indoor location awareness into a single, scalable solution for in-plant environments.

The Tectra™ iX5 personal monitor is built for every moment of every shift – combining rugged reliability with 20-hour runtime, peer-to-peer alerts, effortless data transfer, helping ensure workers stay protected without disrupting their work.

Personal gas detection no longer has to end with the monitor. The Tectra ecosystem is designed around the full worker experience, from preparing equipment at the start of a shift to accessing critical safety information when it matters most.

With quick bump tests and calibrations for up to six monitors at once, Tectra streamlines daily maintenance and helps workers get equipped and ready faster. Hands-free data sharing and over-the-air updates improve uptime while eliminating reliance on workers' docking devices for data. For greater visibility, the system scales with real-time alerts and indoor/outdoor location awareness to reduce lost assets and improve emergency response. All data flows seamlessly through iNet Insights, delivering actionable insights to enhance site-wide situational awareness and safety.

Tectra helps reduce complexity, minimize opportunities for human error, and gives safety teams real-time visibility and confidence that their programs are working as intended.

"Tectra is more than a new gas monitor—it is a whole ecosystem that completely rethinks how connected safety should work," says Andreas Schmid, president, Industrial Scientific. "For decades, safety teams have had to manage manual maintenance processes, challenging device connectivity, and limited visibility into the data feeding their safety programs. Tectra changes that by streamlining operations, simplifying safety, and scaling with each sites' needs. This launch represents a major step forward in our mission to preserve human life and defines the next generation of personal gas detection."

Additional information is available here.

About Industrial Scientific Corporation

Industrial Scientific is a global safety company on a mission to end death on the job through connected technologies that help prevent exposure to workplace and environmental hazards. Our industry-leading products and services—including gas detection, real-time air quality monitoring, hardware as a service, and advanced analytics—provide organizations with unmatched visibility into safety and operational performance. For more than 40 years, Industrial Scientific has helped customers worldwide automate critical safety workflows so people can go home safely each night. For more information, visit www.indsci.com.

SOURCE Industrial Scientific Corporation

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Acquisition to combine Valvoline's global operation scale with Luval's established local capabilities.

LEXINGTON, Ky., Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Valvoline™ Global Operations, The Original Motor Oil1 and worldwide leader in automotive and industrial solutions, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Luval S.A. ("Luval"), a premier Chilean manufacturer and distributor of high-performance lubricants, greases, and maintenance products, accelerating Valvoline's global growth strategy and strengthening its position across Latin America.

The transaction builds upon the existing 37-year commercial partnership between the two companies and combines Valvoline Global's leadership in fluid technology with Luval's operational and commercial presence in Chile. Additionally, the transaction emphasizes Valvoline's commitment to its global growth strategy through a strengthened operational footprint in Latin America.

"Luval acts as a strategic partner to its customers, providing them with trusted products and solutions," said Jamal Muashsher, Valvoline Global Operations President & Chief Executive Officer. "This acquisition is a natural progression of our strong, long-term relationship with Luval and a continuation of its excellent representation of the Valvoline brand in the Chilean market. By bringing together our complementary capabilities, we will be better positioned to serve customers in Chile, with a broad range of high-quality products and solutions. We look forward to welcoming the Luval team to Valvoline Global Operations."

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, with completion expected in 2026. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Valvoline Global Operations

Valvoline™ Global, being America's first branded motor oil, is powering the next generation of mobility through innovation for customers in 140+ countries and at more than 80,000 points of distribution. A worldwide leader in future-ready automotive and industrial solutions and best-in-class services for partners around the globe, our legacy of firsts spans 160 years.

With solutions available for every engine and drivetrain, from high-mileage and heavy duty to electric vehicles, Valvoline™ Global is inventing the way forward for mobility and beyond, expanding its heat transfer solutions to high-performance computing.

Together with our parent company Aramco, one of the world's leading integrated energy and chemicals companies, we are driving unparalleled product innovation and sustainable business solutions for what the future holds – on and off the road.

Learn more by following us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Valvoline Global Operations

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Company earns two XCelent Awards for advanced technology and breadth of functionality, in addition to earning the highest-level rating from Celent's 2026 Report

BOSTON, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Duck Creek, the intelligent core of insurance, has earned several significant distinctions in Celent's recent Claims Systems Vendors: North America P&C Insurance, 2026 report.

Achieving a Luminary rating in Celent's Technical Capabilities Matrix, the highest possible rating, Duck Creek is recognized as "a powerful claims solution that uses modern technology and offers comprehensive features." Duck Creek also earns XCelent awards in two categories, Advanced Technology and Breadth of Functionality, the third consecutive time Duck Creek received recognition from Celent for its Claims solution.

"Celent's recognition validates the direction we've taken with Duck Creek Claims, particularly as we continue building agentic AI deeper into the claims workflow," said Jose Lazares, Chief Product Officer of Duck Creek. "From AI-powered summarization to a claims intelligence portlet that brings third-party fraud and complexity models directly into the adjuster's workflow, we're focused on giving carriers technology that keeps pace with how claims actually get handled."

Duck Creek is also advancing claims intake with Agentic FNOL, an AI-Native capability that helps carriers orchestrate and automate the first notice of loss process across personal and commercial lines. By capturing loss details in a conversational multi-channel intake process, Agentic FNOL enriches and validates information, identifies potential fraud and anomalies, and routes each claim to the appropriate next action or flagged for user review. This reduces manual re work effort and accelerates resolution, helping carriers create more complete, adjuster-ready claim records faster.

An Award-Winning Platform

Celent, a global research and advisory firm for the financial services industries, aims in its 2026 Claims Systems Vendor report to analyze the capabilities of claims administration solutions active in the insurance marketplace, evaluating vendors based on functionality, technology architecture, and customer base and support.

The report points to several areas where Duck Creek Claims stands out, including:

- AI-powered summarization built on the Mistral Small 3.1 LLM, embedded directly in the adjuster workflow via a "Summarize" button

- A claims intelligence portlet that brings third-party AI models for fraud detection, claim complexity, and predictive inspection routing directly into the claim screen

- A loss intake API supporting both incomplete FNOL submissions and a complete route that triggers straight-through automation

- Multi-channel intake, including mobile, portal, email, and third-party vendor submission

- LexisNexis integration that automatically pulls in police reports to pre-populate claim fields

- Early duplicate detection via ISO claim search and a "Key Facts" section to flag claim complexity up front

- Straight-through processing from FNOL, including support for subrogation, liability, and payments

"Achieving value from investments in advanced AI comes from improving the user experience for crucial knowledge workers like claims adjusters," says Nathan Golia, senior analyst for P&C insurance at Celent. "Duck Creek's claims intelligence portlet and AI summarization tools give adjusters practical, configurable ways to act on third-party models for fraud, complexity, and inspection routing, right at the point of decision-making."

Celent's Technical Capability Matrix measures the sophistication and breadth of technology and functionality for leading claims administration systems being used or actively sold to insurers in North America and rates them accordingly. Duck Creek's P&C insurance claims administration system earned the highest rating achievable through the matrix, a Luminary-level distinction that Celent reserves for the strongest performers across both criteria.

About Duck Creek

Duck Creek is the intelligent core that leading insurers choose to build on. Purpose-built for property and casualty (P&C) and general insurance, Duck Creek unifies the full insurance lifecycle on a single platform with one data foundation. As an agentic platform, it connects intelligence across underwriting, policy, billing, claims, reinsurance, and payment workflows where decisions are made and compliance is non-negotiable. Duck Creek enables carriers to launch products faster, adapt quickly to change, and grow with precision and confidence. Solutions are available individually or as a full suite via Duck Creek OnDemand. Visit www.duckcreek.com and follow Duck Creek on LinkedIn and X. 

Media Contacts:

Marianne Dempsey / Tara Stred

SOURCE Duck Creek

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Qualtrics XM Data & AI Platform Built On The World's Largest AI Dataset For Human Experiential Context

XM Data & AI Grows Customer Lifetime Value at Scale

PROVO, Utah, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- There is a gap in every business between what people expect and what is delivered. It is called the Experience Gap, and it is the most expensive problem most organizations have never calculated.

The gap is widening, and AI is the driver. People no longer grade companies against their direct competitors, but against the best experience they had from anyone, in any setting.

The Experience Gap has a price. Close to $3 trillion in sales is at risk from poor customer experiences. Most organizations cannot act on that risk fast enough to matter, because the technology to close the gap inside the moment did not exist.

Until now.

"Experience has always been the strategy every leader believed in, but unfortunately the technology wasn't available to execute at scale," said Jason Maynard, CEO of Qualtrics. "Customer lifetime value determines how a company performs over time, and experience is what builds and compounds that value. XM Data & AI is how organizations deliver legendary outcomes in the moments that matter."

XM Data & AI

Qualtrics created the Experience Management category and is now redefining and expanding the vision for the world of AI. The Qualtrics XM Data & AI Platform is the new system built to run it and will be available in 2027.

Qualtrics will provide a preview of the XM Data & AI Platform during a livestream on September 9, 2026 at 2:30 p.m. MT (4:30 p.m. ET). Watch live.

Qualtrics created Experience Management by closing the insight gap, listening and measuring at scale across customers, employees, products, and brands, so organizations could understand what the people they serve actually think. The $6.75 billion acquisition of Press Ganey Forsta in May of 2026, the trusted standard for healthcare experience, brings decades of healthcare data and established governance with regulatory systems to the Qualtrics XM dataset. That anonymized health and wellness data broadens the human context behind the platform, bringing the same rigor that governs patient care to experience management in every industry.

The Qualtrics XM Data & AI Platform brings the data into one system and adds three capabilities.

Simulate an outcome before committing to it.

Predict what a specific person is likely to do while there is still time to act.

Deliver trusted outcomes, embedded inside the moment.

It replaces disconnected listening, survey applications and static experience data hubs with one purpose-built system, focused on creating lifetime value for organizations.

Experience Loops. Where lifetime value compounds.

Lifetime value is created across a continuous cycle of Experience Loops (X-loops), not a single journey. A journey map has an end point and doesn't adapt. Experience Loops run from acquiring customers to retaining them to growing them. Those X-loops carry the Experience Moments (X-moments) that matter, compounding lifetime value. X-loops are continuous and dynamic so trusted outcomes can be delivered in every X-moment. Simulation, Prediction, and Trusted Outcomes are what separate this system from general-purpose models that guess without experience context, and from static data hubs that can only report after the fact.

What makes the loop work is context. Qualtrics' experience ontology gives experience data meaning: what a signal is, who it belongs to, where it sits in the lifecycle and what the next best outcome is. Without that layer, an AI produces answers that are plausible but often wrong. With it, Experience Agents produce trusted outcomes.

Underneath every outcome sits more than two decades of Qualtrics intelligence on how customers, patients, and employees feel and behave, a continuously updating record across 18,000 organizations, extended by Press Ganey with forty years of healthcare experience data from more than 41,000 facilities.

Simulation. Test before you commit.

Multi-million-dollar decisions misfire because nobody knew how customers would respond until it was too late.

Experience simulation is a capability of the Platform. It generates synthetic data and builds digital twins of real customers, so an organization can test how a pricing change lands before it reaches a market, evaluate the reaction to a new offering, see where a policy creates friction before anyone feels it, and understand how their best customers will respond before committing.

These are not general-purpose models role-playing a persona. They are research-grade simulations, fine-tuned on Qualtrics' own research corpus, used to pressure test price, policy, and product decisions.

Prediction. Know before they act.

Simulation tells you how a population behaves. Prediction tells you what a specific person is likely to do.

Experience Prediction Models are small language models trained and refined on Qualtrics' proprietary experience datasets and built on the experience ontology that gives them context, to predict how different experience management decisions will shape customer engagement, satisfaction, and lifetime value.

Trusted Outcomes. Act in the moments that matter.

Before any action reaches a real person, the Platform checks it against the organization's rules and policies, and only does what the organization would have approved.

Experience Agents then act inside the moment, inside those rules, carrying the full meaning of everything that came before it. Trusted Outcomes close the loop inside the moment. What the system learns in one X-moment makes the next more precise.

Customer data never leaves the organization's environment and never trains shared models. Every outcome is one the organization would have chosen itself. The advantage starts with your data, and it stays yours.

Customer Momentum

"It's not enough to know what's resonating after the fact," said Steve Lilly, Director of Customer Experience at SiriusXM. "The organizations that win are the ones that can hear signals across every touchpoint and act on it in real time. That's why we're working with Qualtrics to transform our approach to experience management."

TruGreen deployed Experience Agents across millions of customer interactions and reported $7 million in ROI from closed-loop feedback with automated responses, a 30 percent reduction in customer escalations, and $30 million in total ROI across digital optimization, retention, and churn prevention.

Two New Capabilities, Available Today

The Experience Loop (X-Loop) Diagnostic Service. Most journey maps are collecting dust while customer expectations keep moving. The result is a gap nobody can close, because nobody can see it.

The X-Loop Diagnostic Service maps the customer lifecycle, identifies where data is missing, and surfaces the disconnected systems keeping an organization from seeing what comes next. Working alongside Qualtrics XM Advisors, clients can better understand how their customer and employee experience moments, and the products and processes behind them, impact outcomes.

The engagement delivers three outputs. A defined relationship map of the experience as it actually operates. A visual model of the X-loop, showing which moments carry weight and what they are worth to the business. And a governance plan and roadmap for activation, so an organization knows what has to change and what to prioritize. The output also becomes an input to the experience ontology in XM.

Reputation Experience. What customers say in public is now a channel that acquires customers, and for most organizations it sits outside the experience program entirely, split across agencies, listing tools and review platforms. Reputation Experience brings it into the XM suite, connected to the experience data that explains it.

Reputation Experience keeps critical business information accurate and consistent everywhere people look, from locations and hours to contact details, across a company's own website and its local pages. Survey responses a company already collects are turned into verified ratings that both search engines and AI assistants can read and act on. Responses are managed across Google, Yelp and Facebook in the brand's own voice, surfacing the most high-priority feedback.

A services package is available to enable Reputation Experience for a brand.

The XM Data & AI Platform is scheduled for release in 2027.

About Qualtrics

Qualtrics is trusted by thousands of the world's best organizations to power exceptional customer and employee experiences.

Contact:

Tyler Petersen, [email protected] 

SOURCE Qualtrics, LLC

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Durante su viaje, ST1 de Sceye recorrió casi 30.000 km y reingresó al territorio continental de Estados Unidos el 4 de septiembre de 2026. ST1 alcanzó el espacio aéreo cercano a la sede de Sceye en Moriarty, Nuevo México, el 5 de septiembre de 2026, donde Sceye completó pruebas adicionales del vehículo y la finalización y descenso planificados.

"Innovador e histórico son solo algunos de los términos que describen nuestro vuelo de la ST1", afirma Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, fundador y consejero delegado de Sceye. "Esta misión demostró no solo que nuestra tecnología, sistemas del vehículo, carga útil e infraestructura operativa están listos para los servicios de conectividad, sino también que la estratosfera es donde reside la futura infraestructura no terrestre. La estratosfera es lo que permitirá un futuro de conectividad permanente, incluyendo la prometida tecnología 6G. Juntos, la tierra, la estratosfera y el espacio, cada uno operando a su máximo potencial, cambiarán el rumbo de la humanidad".

Realizado en colaboración con SoftBank Corp.  (TOKYO: 9434, "SoftBank"), operador líder de telecomunicaciones y servicios de TI en Japón y a nivel mundial, ST1 marca el primer vuelo de Sceye a Asia y un hito revolucionario hacia el despliegue comercial de HAPS como infraestructura estratosférica. ST1 transportó SceyeCELL, una innovadora "torre de telefonía móvil en el cielo" diseñada para ofrecer banda ancha móvil de amplio alcance directamente a dispositivos estándar desde la estratosfera. Una vez desplegada a gran escala, un HAPS de Sceye está diseñada para cubrir el área equivalente a aproximadamente 500 torres terrestres.

La estratosfera ofrece la posición óptima: está lo suficientemente cerca de la Tierra para una conectividad y observación de alta capacidad, pero a la vez a la altitud suficiente para un amplio alcance. Lo más importante es que la estratosfera ofrece condiciones similares a las del espacio sin el coste de estar en el espacio ni las desventajas de estar en órbita. Los HAPS de Sceye mantienen su altitud y su área de operación en la estratosfera durante ciclos consecutivos de día y noche, funcionando como satélites geoestacionarios, pero 1.800 veces más cerca de la Tierra y a una fracción del coste.

La misión ST1 de Sceye se completó con éxito:

- Recorrió casi 30.000 km desde Nuevo México hasta Japón y de regreso a Nuevo México en un viaje de un mes.

- Operó dentro del espacio aéreo japonés durante más de 7 días.

- Permaneció continuamente en su ubicación objetivo en la costa de Japón durante un período prolongado, alcanzando un radio de búsqueda de estación de tan solo 5 km.

- Operó entre 16,5 y 17 km de altitud mientras realizaba comunicaciones de telecomunicaciones, con drones y de emergencia.

- Demostró banda ancha móvil desde la estratosfera, incluyendo mensajería de texto, llamadas de voz, acceso a internet y transmisión de video.

- Se probaron llamadas de emergencia mediante un sistema de mensajería de alerta diseñado para desastres a gran escala, así como comunicaciones con drones.

- Se confirmó un rendimiento de comunicaciones equivalente al de las redes terrestres, reduciendo la interferencia de radio con las estaciones base terrestres.

- Mediante un servidor instalado en el HAPS, Sceye y SoftBank procesaron los datos directamente en la plataforma, demostrando un tiempo de respuesta promedio de 68 milisegundos, lo que redujo la latencia de las comunicaciones en más del 40 % en comparación con el procesamiento en la nube. Esta es la primera prueba exitosa a nivel mundial en la que se instaló una red central móvil y un servidor web para el procesamiento en un HAPS, lo que permitió que el procesamiento de la respuesta se realizara completamente a bordo del HAPS y que los resultados se transmitieran a los teléfonos inteligentes.

ST1 es el primer vuelo del Programa de Pruebas de Servicio de Sceye.

Acerca de Sceye

Fundada en 2014, Sceye (que se pronuncia "sky") es una empresa aeroespacial dedicada al desarrollo de infraestructura estratosférica para conectar a las personas y proteger el planeta. Sceye lidera la industria de Sistemas de Plataformas de Gran Altitud (HAPS), centrándose en la conectividad universal, la monitorización del clima, la gestión de los recursos naturales y la prevención de desastres.

Contacto:  [email protected]

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BLAZE launches a new headless commerce solution, letting cannabis retailers build fully custom, compliance-ready storefronts.

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- BLAZE, a leading provider of retail technology for the cannabis industry, today announced the launch of the BLAZE E-Commerce API, a headless commerce solution giving licensed cannabis dispensaries and multi-state operators complete creative and technical control over their online storefronts, without sacrificing the compliance, inventory, and payment infrastructure regulated retail requires.

As cannabis retailers seek unique online experiences, the BLAZE E-Commerce API offers full developer access to product, cart, order, and compliance data—enabling teams to build fully custom websites or in-store kiosks. The API connects natively with BLAZE Retail POS, keeping inventory, pricing, and order data in sync between a dispensary's physical and digital storefronts with little to no maintenance.

The API was also documented for machines as well as people. BLAZE publishes a structured, agent-readable API reference, including a machine-readable API specification, so a development team can point an AI coding assistant at the documentation and have it scaffold working storefront code against real endpoints. For agencies and in-house teams working against a migration deadline, that means less time spent translating documentation into boilerplate and more time spent on the parts of the storefront customers actually see.

"Cannabis retailers have told us again and again that their storefront is one of the last places they can truly differentiate their brand, and they shouldn't have to choose between that freedom and having their compliance and inventory handled correctly," said Chris Violas, CEO of BLAZE. "The BLAZE E-Commerce API gives operators and developers a completely open foundation to build on, and we documented it well enough that a small team using AI coding tools can stand up a storefront that used to take a much larger one, all backed by the same retail infrastructure that already powers thousands of dispensary transactions every day."

The BLAZE E-Commerce API is now available to new and existing customers, as well as agencies. BLAZE also provides support for SEO preservation, data migration, and minimizing downtime.

Dispensaries and agencies interested in learning more can request a demo at our ECOM Headless API request page.

About BLAZE

BLAZE provides retail technology purpose-built for the cannabis industry, including point-of-sale, e-commerce, delivery, and payment solutions used by dispensaries across the U.S. and Canada. Learn more at blaze.me.

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During its journey, Sceye's ST1 traveled nearly 30,000 km and re-entered continental U.S. on September 4, 2026. ST1 reached airspace near Sceye's headquarters in Moriarty, New Mexico on September 5, 2026, where Sceye completed additional vehicle testing and a planned termination and descent.

"Groundbreaking and historic only begin to describe our ST1 flight," says Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, Founder and CEO of Sceye. "This mission proved not only that our technology, vehicle systems, payload, and operational infrastructure are ready for connectivity services, but also that the stratosphere is where the future non-terrestrial infrastructure lies. The stratosphere is what will enable the always-on future – including the promised land of 6G. Together ground, stratosphere, and space – each operating at their optimal strengths, will change the course of humanity."

Conducted in partnership with SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434, "SoftBank"), a leading operator of telecommunications and IT businesses in Japan and globally, ST1 marks Sceye's first flight to Asia and a groundbreaking milestone toward the commercial deployment of HAPS as stratospheric infrastructure. ST1 carried SceyeCELL, a first-of-its-kind "cell tower in the sky" designed to deliver wide-area mobile broadband directly to standard devices from the stratosphere. When deployed at full scale, one Sceye HAPS is designed to cover the equivalent area of approximately 500 terrestrial towers.

The stratosphere offers the optimal vantage point: It is close enough to Earth for high-capacity connectivity and observation, yet the altitude is high enough for wide-area reach. Importantly, the stratosphere offers space-like conditions without the cost of being in space and the disadvantages of being in orbit. Sceye's HAPS maintain altitude and their area of operation in the stratosphere through consecutive day and night cycles, operating like geostationary satellites, only 1,800 times closer to Earth and at a fraction of the cost.

Sceye's ST1 mission successfully:

- Traveled nearly 30,000 km from New Mexico to Japan and back to New Mexico over a month-long journey

- Operated within Japanese-managed airspace for over 7 days

- Remained continuously within its target location on the coast of Japan for an extended period, achieving a station-seeking radius as low as 5 km

- Operated between 16.5 and 17 km altitude while completing telecommunications, drone, and emergency communications

- Demonstrated mobile broadband from the stratosphere, including text messaging, voice calls, internet access, and video streaming

- Tested emergency calls, using an emergency alert messaging system designed for large-scale disasters, as well as communications with drones

- Confirmed communications performance equivalent to that of terrestrial networks while reducing radio interference with ground-based base stations

- Through a server installed on the HAPS, Sceye and SoftBank conducted data processing directly on the platform, demonstrating an average round-trip processing response time of 68 milliseconds, reducing communications latency by over 40% compared with internet-based cloud processing. This marks the world's first successful test in which a mobile core network and a web server for processing were installed on a HAPS, enabling response processing to be performed entirely onboard the HAPS and the results to be relayed back to smartphones.

ST1 is the first flight of Sceye's Service Test Program.

About Sceye

Founded in 2014, Sceye (pronounced "sky") is an aerospace company dedicated to advancing stratospheric infrastructure to connect people and protect the planet. Sceye leads the High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) industry, focusing on universal connectivity, climate monitoring, natural resource management, and disaster prevention.

Contact:  [email protected]

SOURCE Sceye

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