Salesforce struck a deal to acquire AI customer service specialist Fin for around $3.6 billion, a move positioned as bolstering its ability to help companies quickly deploy agents across communications channels.

Fin’s main product is a customer support AI agent which uses its proprietary Apex model. It is marketed as resolving queries across numerous channels including live chat, email, WhatsApp, SMS, Slack and over the phone.

Salesforce plans to use Fin’s offering to compliment its Agentforce platform.

It noted the combination of assets would provide fast “time-to-value options” for businesses, citing SMBs and those which “need to launch quickly, integrate with existing systems and deliver measurable outcomes” as likely customers.

The acquisition also brings Salesforce access to Fin’s experienced team and an “established global customer base of more than 30,000 companies”.

Salesforce chair and CEO Marc Benioff said Fin brings “proven agent technology, a deep commitment to customer success and an incredible AI team that will complement Agentforce with powerful service agent capabilities”.

Fin co-founder and CEO Eoghan McCabe enthused the deal as a “major win for consumers of the world”, adding the combination with Salesforce would enable it to deploy its products “far and wide at a rate far faster than we could have ever achieved on our own.”

The deal is subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions including potential customary price adjustments. It is expected to close in Salesforce’s Q4 2027 (the three months to end-January 2027).

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Sateliot pressed the benefits of satellite connectivity for agriculture in a test with Brazilian innovation centre CPQD which it stated showcased the advantages of non-terrestrial IoT.

Standard NB-IoT devices were connected in a remote area out-with the reach of land-based mobile networks as part of a Sateliot initiative to boost use of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites in Brazil.

The company explained the “performance and commercial viability” of satellite-enabled IoT was verified, proving the “feasibility of seamless roaming” between land- and space-based networks.

Sateliot and CPQD put the technology to work tracking cattle.

The Spanish company’s Conecte o Brasil LEO NTN push involves device validation and interoperability testing. The initiative is intended to help Sateliot unlock a nation it stated is “one of the largest untapped IoT markets in the world”.

Sateliot highlighted large portions of Brazil are still not in range of mobile networks, potentially hampering the nation’s ability to capitalise on growth in cellular IoT services.

Elitelma Souza, CPQD solution manager for Automation, IoT and Hybrid Computing, said extending the “reach of IoT” services could “enable new operating models for various sectors of the economy”.

Sateliot CCO Gianluca Redolfi highlighted the test was the company’s first “commercial demonstration in Brazil”, making it “a crucial milestone” in its push there and beyond.

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Ericsson highlighted its private 5G service is now available through Verizon Business beyond US borders, giving multinational enterprises the ability to extend connectivity and boost digital transformation opportunities.

The Swedish vendor explained the expansion means global enterprises already running Ericsson technology in Verizon Business Private 5G Networks in the US can now replicate those capabilities across their operations worldwide.

As AI drives greater demand for secure, high-speed and low-latency connectivity, the collaboration is designed to offer enterprises more flexibility as they scale internationally.

Hannes Ekstrom, SVP and Head of Customer Unit Verizon at Ericsson Americas, said the vendor’s multinational customers in the US had already unlocked significant growth through 5G-enabled private networks and are now looking to extend those capabilities globally.

“By simplifying 5G adoption and enhancing reliability, low latency, and security, we are empowering industries to harness next-generation connectivity and drive innovation on a global scale,” he stated.

The Ericsson Private 5G platform operates as a dual mode 4G and 5G network with global spectrum support, built to connect in challenging indoor and outdoor environments.

It is designed to deliver ultra-low latency and high reliability for real-time applications including automated manufacturing, industrial IoT and AI-driven analytics, while keeping sensitive data within the enterprise’s private network to support compliance requirements.

Industries including manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, energy and higher education are among those expected to benefit from the international rollout, with use cases spanning smart factories, warehouse automation, remote diagnostics and AI-powered research infrastructure.

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NTT Docomo Business, the group’s global connectivity unit Transatel and cybersecurity player Zscaler moved to grasp an opportunity in IoT protection by providing a centralised SIM-based set-up the Japanese giant believes overcomes many weaknesses in device defence.

The Cellular SASE for IoT service uses the multi-SIM capabilities of Transatel’s network, the zero-trust security nous of Zscaler and NTT Docomo Businesses’ managed services products to secure the link between IoT devices, cloud and internal IT settings.

NTT Docomo Business stated the service tackles current inherent weaknesses in IoT device security including the “limited processing power and capacity” units have to run systems offering protection from “malicious communications” and unauthorised access.

It noted some devices are “vulnerable to cyberattacks”.

The operator unit explained centralising security using the SIM removes the diversity of device makers and specifications from the protection equation, asserting the approach is simpler and safer than deploying VPNs or embedding “software on each device”.

NTT Docomo Business highlighted “multi-carrier route redundancy” as another selling point, a nod to the multiple markets an IoT device might cross and the hassle of arranging connectivity in each one.

It emphasised secure cloud communications also reduce “the attack surface”.

Nathan Howe, VP of emerging technologies at Zscaler, said the system would enable “customers to deploy on a large scale, based on consistent policies”.

The operator stated the trio would continue to collaborate to improve the defences offered.

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