The danger of ignoring AI this Black Friday

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Hey, it's Clark.

Shanah Tovah, and my sincerest wishes to you for a healthy and prosperous new year filled with blessings.

Looking ahead, it appears shopping season is getting its first real AI upgrade. Think of it as a price-savvy concierge in your pocket—the way Spotify learns your taste and nails your Wrapped. Adobe’s latest report pegs U.S. online spend at $253B, but the real story is how people will get there: AI-driven shopping traffic is set to surge 520%, with peaks that could hit four digits on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. 

The shift from “browse and guess” to “ask and buy” is already visible. Perplexity teamed up with PayPal for in-chat checkout, and ChatGPT just launched Instant Checkout with Etsy, with Shopify next in line. Surveys show a growing share of consumers using AI for deal-hunting, gift ideas, and personalized picks. In high-choice, high-volatility categories like electronics, toys, and jewelry, letting AI do the digging isn’t futuristic—it’s just efficient.

Let’s dive in…

IN TODAY’S EDITION:

Top Story: OpenAI launches AgentKit — a drag-and-drop “Canva for agents” that lets anyone build and deploy AI agents in minutes.

Industry Watch: Oracle and Deloitte partner to bring AI automation to factory floors through the Smart Factory ecosystem.

Notable Transaction: SoftBank buys ABB’s robotics arm for $5.38B, deepening its push into AI-driven manufacturing.

New Tool: Floot — an AI sales co-pilot that writes smarter email replies to close deals faster.

Power Prompt: Instantly turn your inbox into a prioritized, calendar-ready daily agenda.

THIS WEEK’S TOP STORY

OpenAI Launches AgentKit to Let Anyone Build and Deploy AI Agents in Minutes

At its Dev Day event, OpenAI unveiled AgentKit, a full-stack developer suite designed to simplify how AI agents are built, tested, and deployed. The toolkit introduces Agent Builder—a visual, drag-and-drop interface dubbed “Canva for agents”—alongside ChatKit for embedding branded chat experiences. OpenAI showcased a live demo where an engineer built two working AI agents in under eight minutes, underscoring the platform’s push to reduce friction in AI development and outpace competitors racing to commercialize autonomous agent frameworks. (TechCrunch)

INDUSTRY WATCH

Manufacturing | Oracle and Deloitte Partner to Advance AI in Manufacturing Operations

Oracle has joined Deloitte's Smart Factory ecosystem in Wichita, bringing its Smart Operations tools to help manufacturers integrate AI and automation. The partnership connects operational technology with business functions to boost productivity, improve product quality, and increase factory output. (IAB)

Real Estate | Zillow Becomes First Real Estate App in ChatGPT

Zillow has partnered with OpenAI to integrate its housing search into ChatGPT, making it the only real estate app on the platform. Users can ask housing questions and receive listings with photos, maps, and pricing that link to Zillow for tours and agent connections. (Real Estate News)

Agriculture | AI Transforms Livestock Waste into Sustainable Fertilizer

Researchers have developed machine learning models that predict phosphorus recovery from swine manure with near-perfect accuracy. The model helps optimize waste treatment conditions to maximize nutrient recovery while preventing environmental contamination. (The Brighter Side)

Tech | DoorDash and Serve Robotics Expand Autonomous Delivery Nationwide

DoorDash has partnered with Serve Robotics to deploy autonomous sidewalk delivery robots across the U.S., starting in Los Angeles. The collaboration expands Serve's reach beyond Uber Eats, with the robots having completed over 100,000 deliveries to date. (AI Business)

Healthcare | AI Achieves 96.6% Accuracy Predicting Diseases Through Tongue Color

Researchers have developed AI models that classify tongue colors to predict diabetes, asthma, COVID, and anemia with 96.6% accuracy. Using standardized lighting, the system correctly identified 58 out of 60 images when tested against patient records. (Scientific American)

Banking & Finance | Credit Union Uses AI to Expand Access for Working Families

Federal Credit Union partnered with fintech Salus to use AI for expanding credit to ALICE households—roughly 42% of U.S. families living paycheck to paycheck. The Sentinel platform identifies resilience patterns beyond traditional credit scores to provide affordable credit access. (PYMNTS)

Retail | Klarna Partners with Google Cloud for AI-Powered Personalization

Klarna announced a partnership with Google Cloud to expand AI capabilities across its app and operations for 114 million users worldwide. The collaboration will enhance personalization, creative content, and fraud prevention through Google Cloud's AI technology. (PYMNTS)

Media | DirecTV screensavers will show AI-generated ads with your face

DirecTV is partnering with Glance to launch AI-powered screensaver ads on Gemini devices in early 2026. Users can create AI avatars to browse shoppable products including clothing and furniture, with access to over one trillion product listings during screen idle time. (Ars Technica)

NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS

SoftBank Acquires ABB’s Robotics Division for $5.38B – The Japanese tech giant is buying ABB’s industrial robot arm business to deepen its push into AI-driven automation and expand its presence in smart manufacturing. (Reuters)

Reflection Raises $2B to Build a U.S.-Based Frontier AI Lab – Founded by ex-Meta researchers, Reflection aims to become America’s answer to DeepSeek by developing large-scale, general-purpose AI systems, backed by Thrive Capital, Elad Gil, and others. (TechCrunch)

AI Chipmaker Enfabrica Lands $1.1B at $8.1B Valuation – The company, which builds networking chips that help AI models run faster and cheaper, will use the funding to expand manufacturing capacity and customer reach. (AI Business)

Former OpenAI and DeepMind Scientists Raise $300M to Automate Science – Uncharted Labs plans to use AI agents to run experiments and discover new materials and molecules across physics, chemistry, and biology. (TechCrunch)

n8n Raises $180M at $2.5B Valuation to Scale Workflow Automation – The open-source platform helps businesses automate tasks between apps without writing code, and plans to use the funding to expand its enterprise offerings. (All About AI)

NEW TOOLS TO TRY

POWER PROMPT

This Week: AI prompt to convert your inbox into a daily agenda

Step-by-step AI prompt that turns a cluttered CEO inbox into a prioritized, calendar-ready daily agenda — ideal for EAs, founders and team leads to reuse.

You are acting as an executive assistant at a law firm. Your goal is to draft a prioritized daily agenda for the CEO, focusing on the most urgent and relevant tasks for the day. The agenda should specifically highlight urgent emails that require attention, key meetings that cannot be missed, and dedicated preparation time for important tasks. Use any relevant data provided regarding the CEO’s schedule, current business priorities, and incoming communications.

Details and Guidance: 

- Review and include only the highest-priority emails that require immediate response or action.
- List all key meetings, including brief notes on their purpose or participants if available; prioritize by urgency and importance.
- Allocate preparation time for key tasks (such as meetings, presentations, or reviews), indicating what should be prepared.
- Keep the agenda clear, actionable, and concise, with each point under one line where possible.
- Limit the total agenda to no more than 150 words.
- If more context about meetings, emails, or priorities is needed, specify how it will be provided (e.g., via attached calendar, email summaries, etc.).
Output Structure: 
- Begin with the date and a heading "Prioritized Daily Agenda."
- Present the agenda as a bullet-point list, with items ordered by priority (urgent emails first, then key meetings, then preparation times).
- Each bullet must be actionable, specific, and under one line where possible.
- Agenda in a professional, succinct tone; the total length must not exceed 150 words.

IF NO ACCESS TO EMAILS, ATTACH FILE: the calendar and a summary of urgent emails received since yesterday.

Prompt credit: The Daily Prompt

THAT’S A WRAP

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See you next week,
Clark Valberg

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