AI FOMO and Investor Pressure Collide as Martech Innovators Roll Out New Tools

Apple’s AI Spending Debate and What It Means

This week brought two contrasting headlines in AI-powered marketing technology. On one hand, Apple’s investors expressed frustration over CEO Tim Cook’s cautious approach to AI investments. On the other, SEC filings revealed that many major U.S. companies admit they have yet to see a clear return on investment (ROI) from their AI spending.

This suggests that Cook’s restraint could be a smart move. Instead of rushing to invest heavily in AI, Apple is protecting its resources, waiting for the AI market to mature and prices to stabilize. Apple continues to generate strong profits, so the urgency to spend aggressively on AI may be misplaced. Some shareholders are clearly experiencing AI FOMO, but history shows that patience often pays off better than rushing in—just look at companies that have spent big without clear payoff.

Key AI-Powered Martech Releases – July 2025

July 17, 2025

• ActiveCampaign launched WhatsApp Messaging to automate marketing and customer communication on WhatsApp, enabling businesses to send messages and manage campaigns directly within the platform.
• AdGood partnered with Viant Technology to offer nonprofits affordable, targeted connected TV (CTV) ad campaigns through combined donated inventory and audience targeting tools.
• Attain updated OutcomeHQ with integrated purchase data from various retailers, AI-driven audience planning based on natural language prompts, and seamless ad platform integrations.
• Auxia enhanced its Analyst Agent, adding real-time analytics and a natural language interface for marketing teams to query campaign performance without needing data scientists.
• Bloomerang introduced Journey Automation for nonprofits, allowing donor communications to be automated using visual builders and real-time tracking.
• Brand Networks unveiled Aimy, an AI advertising assistant for small to mid-sized businesses that offers campaign planning, cross-platform ad buying, performance alerts, and creative suggestions.
• CallRail released Conversion Signals, an AI feature that automatically tags calls leading to appointments, improving Google Ads targeting.
• Chatmeter launched Pulse AI for competitive intelligence, giving multi-location businesses real-time competitor insights by geography.
• CoSchedule introduced Insights Assistant, which summarizes social media metrics in real time and explains content performance using AI analysis.
• Cortex Synapse rolled out Influence Intelligence, showing how online content influences AI responses about brands and products.
• Cyara launched a customer experience testing platform combining AI validation, live monitoring, and no-code automation.
• HG Insights introduced Market Analyzer and Copilot, combining AI with queries to perform market sizing, competitor tracking, and account targeting.
• Hootology released HOOQZ, a generative AI market research tool to scale qualitative research with automated analysis.
• ImageKit expanded image editing tools with URL-based automation and brand-consistent visuals via API.
• Natterbox launched AI Assistants and AI Agents integrated with Salesforce for handling customer questions and completing tasks autonomously.
• Prescient AI released a model that links top-of-funnel marketing activities to revenue, offering daily forecasts and efficiency insights.
• PromoRepublic launched AI tools for franchise marketing coordination, balancing brand consistency with local needs.
• SearchStax added Smart Answers, AI-generated summaries atop site search results using proprietary content indexes.
• Smartcat introduced AI Agents for automated content creation and translation, customizable via no-code, with real-time staff assistance.
• Streamforge launched a freemium influencer marketing platform featuring an Audience Analysis tool for creator discovery.
• Takeads unveiled Takedeals, an AI-powered coupon feed for publishers and developers to offer deals and earn affiliate revenue.
• Twilio added Event Triggered Journeys, EU email data residency for compliance, and WhatsApp Business Calling for voice transitions.
• Unbounce enhanced its platform with AI email summarization, reply features, inbox syncing, CRM integration, and 100+ landing page templates.
• Viant Technology integrated with LG Ad Solutions for targeted CTV ads combining audience targeting, identity resolution, and contextual placement.
• Vidnoz AI released Product Avatar and Interactive Avatar tools: lifelike product-holding avatars and virtual assistants with real-time facial expressions.
• Vonage partnered with AWS to add speech-to-speech translation to voice interactions via Amazon Nova Sonic integration.
• Wix.com launched AI Visibility Overview to track brand citations in AI answers, monitor sentiment, compare competitors, and analyze AI-driven traffic.
• Zendesk acquired HyperArc, bringing generative AI-powered real-time analytics for customer service data.

July 10, 2025

• Airship launched AI Agents to automate creation, testing, and optimization of customer experiences.
• Amplitude acquired Kraftful to combine Voice of Customer feedback for improved product and digital experience development.
• Auxia upgraded its Analyst Agent to connect with AI Decisioning engines, explain performance outcomes, and learn from user interactions.
• Bevy introduced Engagement Hub with AI-powered community knowledge, gamification, content creation, and moderation agents.
• CallRail released conversion signals to automatically tag appointment-generating calls and feed data into Google Ads.
• ContentWise added AI agents to its UX Engine platform to perform user goal-driven tasks and decision-making.
• Collectively and Jellyfish launched Chorus, a creator marketing tool that aligns brand qualities with large language model (LLM) perceptions and offers improvement strategies.
• Natterbox expanded AI Assistants and Agents to handle routine customer questions and complete full tasks without human involvement.
• Rep Data introduced Second Shield, a machine learning fraud detection feature for Research Defender software.
• Smartcat launched expert-enabled AI Agents for global content automation with customizable no-code builders and real-time guidance.

July 3, 2025

• AiOpti Media launched a platform uniting data, media, attribution, and measurement with cross-channel ad management and offline tracking.
• CommBox introduced CommSite, an AI-driven conversational website system that handles gated information and delivers precise responses.
• Creatopy launched Live Data for automatic ad updates tied to real-time data, ideal for industries like retail and iGaming.
• Grammarly announced plans to acquire Superhuman, an AI-enhanced email app focused on faster response times.
• Hightouch released Adaptive Identity Resolution to unify fragmented customer data into profiles for diverse use cases.
• Idomoo launched AI Video Ads creation with customizable voiceovers, avatars, and interactive elements supporting multi-language versions.
• Imperium AI released Copilot Suite to automate PR, content marketing, and social media tasks across channels.
• Integral Ad Science partnered with Snap and Lumen Research to measure Snapchat ad attention using eye-tracking combined with ad quality scores.
• Metricool launched MetriLAB AI integrating with Claude AI for social media management tasks like competitor analysis and campaign planning.
• Monetate acquired SiteSpect, enhancing personalization, real-time testing, and consistent user experiences across channels.
• Tila by Tovie Mobile offers a workspace with multiple AI agents working interactively across text, images, code, audio, and video.

June 25, 2025

• AI CERTs introduced the AI+ Marketing certification, equipping marketing pros with AI technology knowledge without product bias.
• Athena launched a generative engine optimization platform that suggests website improvements to boost rankings in AI search results.
• Birdeye unveiled Social AI Publishing Agent for scheduling and managing social content across multiple locations.
• Botify expanded search optimization with new AI agents, MCP server integration, and joined the AWS ISV Accelerate Program.
• Cognizant announced Autonomous Customer Engagement, an AI contact center solution with multi-channel support and learning capabilities.
• Cordial added Price Sensitivity to its AI marketing platform, enhancing customer value prediction and message frequency optimization.
• DAIVID released a tool to measure AI-generated creative content effectiveness using emotional engagement and attention metrics.
• Digital Wave Technology launched agentic AI within its ONE Platform to automate pricing, product content updates, compliance, and workflows.
• Floyi introduced AIRS Analyzer, a dashboard comparing brand presence across AI search engines and traditional results.
• Genesys launched Genesys Cloud AI Studio for building and managing AI-powered customer experiences with safeguards.
• Globant released FUSION, a suite of AI Agents automating marketing content, ads, visuals, videos, and landing pages.
• Make introduced Make Grid, a real-time visual map of automation systems for better visibility and management.
• Mixpanel expanded digital analytics with session replay, experimentation, AI insights, and data warehouse integrations.
• NLX launched a freemium AI conversational platform allowing connection to LLM providers or use of own keys.
• Omnisend added AI tools for email and SMS marketing to generate subject lines, preheaders, and multilingual copy based on past data.
• PanTerra Networks introduced Streams.AI, combining customer engagement, automation, and custom AI personalities for business communications.
• Savant Labs released Agentic Analytics Suite and Intelligence Graph with bot-driven data processing and integration with Anthropic Claude.
• Sitecore announced Sitecore.ai, a platform merging content data and intelligence to improve digital customer engagement.
• Wildfire Systems Inc. launched a solution offering cashback and rewards via AI-assisted shopping with popular AI tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini.

For marketing, customer support, and communications professionals looking to stay ahead, these updates offer practical tools for automation, data-driven decision-making, and customer engagement. To deepen your AI skills and apply these innovations effectively, consider exploring relevant AI training courses tailored for marketing and customer experience roles.