Valona Intelligence has unveiled its new Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, a solution designed to connect artificial intelligence platforms with external intelligence sources. As an open standard, MCP enables enterprise AI tools and agent frameworks—including Microsoft Copilot, Claude, and others—to access Valona's market and competitive intelligence directly within their workflows.

Artificial intelligence has become a standard component of modern business operations. According to McKinsey's 2026 research, nearly 90% of organizations now utilize AI technologies. However, as AI adoption becomes widespread, the differentiating factor is no longer access to the technology itself, but the quality and relevance of the information powering it.

"Organizations gain an advantage not from AI alone, but from the intelligence feeding those systems," said Stuart Reynish, Chief Product Officer at Valona. "Our MCP server allows enterprise AI platforms to draw upon continuously updated market and competitive insights. Rebuilding the same analysis repeatedly is both costly and inconsistent. Decision-making requires intelligence that is accurate, current, and immediately actionable."

The company believes that strategic decision-making is evolving from periodic research efforts to a model of continuous intelligence. Instead of requiring AI agents to generate analysis from raw information every time, Valona's MCP server provides access to a curated and constantly maintained intelligence foundation that is readily available whenever needed.

"The intelligence layer is the most challenging element to develop effectively, and we've spent more than twenty years refining it," said Eetu Laaksonen, Chief AI Officer at Valona. "MCP enables us to integrate that intelligence into the AI tools our customers already rely on, while also supporting the broader AI ecosystems they are building."

Laaksonen noted that interest in enterprise-wide intelligence is expanding beyond competitive market intelligence teams. "We're increasingly engaging with IT departments and senior executives because intelligence is becoming a strategic capability across the organization. Customers are telling us they want critical insights delivered proactively, rather than having to search for them."

Valona is currently working with a select group of enterprise customers to pilot the MCP server within Microsoft Copilot and agent-driven AI environments. The company plans to showcase the technology during its webinar, What Agentic AI Means for Competitive Intelligence, scheduled for June 24.

FusionAIrre, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based company specializing in agentic AI solutions for External-Party Assurance, has announced a strategic partnership with Delta Dental of New Jersey and Connecticut, Inc. (DDNJ). As both a key customer and collaborative partner, DDNJ will play an important role in helping shape the next generation of assurance management.

Organizations today face mounting expectations to demonstrate trust, transparency, and compliance while responding to an ever-growing volume of assurance-related inquiries. Customer assessments, regulatory reviews, compliance audits, due diligence requests, and third-party evaluations are becoming increasingly frequent and complex. These demands place significant pressure on teams across information security, compliance, legal, privacy, procurement, and customer-facing functions. At the same time, organizations must balance operational efficiency, revenue protection, and business growth while meeting these obligations with speed and accuracy.

Through their collaboration, FusionAIrre and DDNJ are showcasing a modern approach to External-Party Assurance—one that transforms assurance activities from a reactive administrative task into a structured, measurable, scalable, and strategically managed business function.

“FusionAIrre’s proprietary agentic AI enables us to maintain complete control of our data while expanding our assurance capabilities without increasing operational burden. That represents a significant advancement for our organization,” said Doug White, Manager of Information Security at Delta Dental of New Jersey and Connecticut, Inc.

DDNJ selected FusionAIrre’s Ape-X Assurance platform to enhance how assurance activities are managed across the enterprise and to establish a more scalable framework for handling increasing assurance requirements. The platform combines proprietary agentic AI technology, centralized knowledge management, human oversight, audit-ready processes, and real-time visibility to help organizations reduce response times from weeks to hours while improving consistency, governance, and accountability.

As assurance-related requests continue to increase across customer, regulatory, compliance, due diligence, and procurement functions, organizations are seeking more efficient ways to coordinate subject matter experts, maintain trusted information sources, and respond effectively without compromising oversight or control.

Ape-X Assurance addresses these challenges through AI-driven workflows, centralized enterprise knowledge, multilingual collaboration capabilities, and automated response generation with full auditability. The platform supports responses to customer inquiries, regulatory requests, compliance assessments, due diligence questionnaires, and RFPs while maintaining traceability, governance, and expert review.

The solution also serves as a centralized repository for assurance-related information, enabling teams to quickly access policies, certifications, approved responses, contracts, and supporting documentation through natural-language search regardless of source format or location.

In addition to automating responses, Ape-X Assurance provides organizations with comprehensive visibility into assurance operations. Real-time dashboards, workload monitoring, response tracking, departmental reporting, and analytics help leaders understand what requests are active, where bottlenecks exist, who is responsible for tasks, and how work is distributed across teams. This level of visibility enables organizations to actively govern and optimize assurance processes at scale. Available as both a SaaS and on-premises solution, the platform offers deployment flexibility for enterprise and highly regulated environments.

“As assurance requirements continue to expand, we see a significant opportunity to centralize and modernize assurance management across our organization,” said White. “Our objective is to strengthen consistency, governance, and operational effectiveness while building a foundation that can support future growth in assurance activities. FusionAIrre’s proprietary AI capabilities, centralized knowledge framework, and governed workflows provide the scalability and adaptability we believe are essential for the future.”

Stephanie Greer, Founder and CEO of FusionAIrre, emphasized the strategic importance of assurance management: “Organizations can no longer view assurance as merely an administrative obligation. By leveraging centralized knowledge, intelligent workflow orchestration, agentic AI, and operational visibility, businesses can strengthen trust, safeguard revenue, and create new opportunities for growth.”

The partnership reflects a shared vision of improving External-Party Assurance through intelligent automation, centralized information management, governance, and operational transparency. Together, FusionAIrre and Delta Dental of New Jersey and Connecticut are demonstrating how assurance programs can become more scalable, measurable, and closely aligned with broader business objectives.
 

SAS, a leading provider of data and AI solutions, has been named to CRN's 2026 Big Data 100 list in the Big Data Business Analytics category for the second consecutive year. Compiled annually by CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, the list honors technology companies that demonstrate exceptional innovation across the big data landscape, including business analytics, data warehouses and lakes, database technologies, data management and integration, big data platforms, and data observability.

The Big Data 100 serves as a key guide for solution providers looking for advanced technologies and services that help create data-centric solutions and deliver measurable business outcomes for customers.

SAS supports its partner ecosystem with technologies designed to unlock value from vast and complex datasets, including SAS Viya, its cloud-native AI and data platform. Engineered to handle data-intensive environments, SAS Viya enables organizations to efficiently manage and analyze information at scale while leveraging embedded AI capabilities to generate timely, actionable insights. With integrated governance and trusted AI features, the platform helps partners and customers make informed decisions and achieve meaningful business results.

"Organizations are increasingly seeking innovative ways to turn data into tangible action," said John Carey, Senior Vice President of Global Channels at SAS.

"Working closely with our partners, SAS continues to provide data and AI solutions that accelerate insights, improve outcomes and create significant value for customers."

Jennifer Follett, Vice President of U.S. Content and Executive Editor at CRN, The Channel Company, noted that the 2026 Big Data 100 highlights organizations pushing the boundaries of data technology while delivering practical benefits to solution providers and end users. She praised the recognized companies for advancing innovation and helping partners enhance their offerings and drive business growth.

Click here to see the 2026 Big Data 100 list.