Hi there,

As a recession looms, here is an important money-saving tip before we dive into today’s stacked newsletter:

If an author has done a TED Talk or a few podcasts about their book, you can just listen to those and not buy the book.

Read on for: 

• State of AI

• Salesforce acquires Shopify (M&A improv winners)

• Future of the oilfield

• Goldman Sachs strategy map

• And more

Venture circa 2020

The latest casualty of venture’s reversion to the mean? Artificial intelligence.

Funding and deals in the space dropped to their lowest levels since Q3’20 — $8.3B and 672, respectively. 

Discover what went down (and up) last quarter in our State of AI Q3’22 Report.

M&A improv, pt. 2

Last week, we asked you to share why Salesforce should acquire Shopify.

Here is just one of the top responses we received on LinkedIn, from Zachary Hanlon.

Thanks for playing.

Rebellions are built on blockchain

Love it or hate it, blockchain is disrupting traditional banking.

The tech is being applied to:

• Payments

• Securities

• Trade finance

• And more

We tackle blockchain’s transformative potential in banking in this report.

I gotta wear shades

Oil & gas companies are generating record profits.

However, they still face 2 major challenges: market volatility and environmental scrutiny.

We explore the 5 technologies that will help these players move forward in The Future of the Oil Field.

If you're not a client, sign up for a CB Insights free trial to access this report and those below.

Where the streets are paved by Goldman 

What’s the first term that pops into your head when you think of Goldman Sachs?

E-commerce? Embedded finance? Probably not.

Yet, it has made significant investments in these areas over the past 2 years. Learn more in our Goldman Sachs strategy map.

Spotlight on supply chain

Here are 4 supply chain & logistics software companies that recently completed a CBI Analyst Briefing:

• Flexport is a global logistics platform that moved nearly $19B worth of merchandise across 112 countries last year. [Connect here.]

• By leveraging data and machine learning, digital freight broker Loadsmart speeds up the freight brokerage cycle. [Connect here.]

• Project44 offers end-to-end supply chain visibility and has worked with Walmart, Schneider, and GE Transportation, among others. [Connect here.]

• FourKites, a supply chain visibility platform, tracks more than 2.8M shipments daily. [Connect here.]

Customers can click “Connect here” above if they want to speak directly to these companies, or hit the Connect button in platform to get in touch with any company with a CB Insights profile.

Hi, would you like any assistance? 

Many brands and retailers have implemented AI-powered chatbots to provide 24/7 customer support.

However, this isn’t the only way to automate customer service interactions.

Protocol. Ryan Deffenbaugh (@RyanDDeff) and the Protocol Fintech team cover Stripe’s biggest missteps and quote CB Insights lead analyst Anisha Kothapa.

Wall Street Journal. The outlet visualizes venture capital funding trends using CB Insights data.

CNN. Paul R. La Monica (@LaMonicaBuzz) discusses the IPO slowdown and cites CB Insights data.

I love you.

Anand

@asanwal

P.S. We’re launching our first-ever Energy Tech 50 report — and you have 10 days left to apply. Fill out and submit your application here.