Brands
Infosys-Huawei aided Globe Telecom project wins TM award
MUMBAI: Infosys, a global leader in consulting, technology, outsourcing and next-generation services, has announced that it has been awarded in the ‘Best in Show’ category by TM Forum Live! Asia”.
TM Forum is a leading global industry association for digital business. The award was given for the ‘Cognitive Digital Agent’ – a project championed by Globe Telecom, Philippines along with Infosys, Amdocs and Huawei.
The project demonstrated the feasibility of using cognitive computing technologies aligned to telecom business processes to enhance customer experience in a more intuitive and natural fashion. To address changing consumer needs and demands in today’s digital economy, Infosys, along with Huawei and Amdocs, established the Cognitive Digital Agent – a five month project, led by Globe Telecom. This was aimed at creating the next-generation of customer care services, leveraging artificial intelligence technologies.
The core solution is driven by Infosys’ expertise in natural language processing, machine learning and cognitive computing. The Cognitive Digital Agent has the capability to address complex queries and answer questions through omni-channel access including interactive voice responses (IVR), portals and wearables.
The Cognitive Digital Agent creates a difference in situations where, if a call-center is contacted, the responses are generated using natural language processing – making them more consumer friendly, or on social media platforms and in smart watches where the machine agent responds to queries 24×7. TM Forum recognized the project for some of these exceptional demonstrations of business outcomes across channels, and the inventive use of machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Infosys president and global head of energy, utilities, telecommunications and services Rajesh Krishnamurthy said, “Our goal has been to explore the use of cognitive computing and artificial intelligence technologies such as natural language processing and machine learning to create the next generation of customer care services, which, in turn, enabled us to create this compelling project that can significantly improve customer satisfaction. This award is testimony to the company’s AI capabilities and demonstrates our thought leadership in the telecom industry.”
Globe Telecom chief information officer Pebbles Sy-Manalang said, “Globe is at the forefront of transforming the telecoms industry in the Philippines by being a Digital Service Provider, well-equipped to serve the needs of Filipinos in living out their digital lifestyle. Once again we are changing the game by adopting Artificial Intelligence concepts and technologies that would give more than 68 million customers of Globe improved service while being cost-efficient. When we decided to demonstrate the potential and applicability of Cognitive Digital Agent through TM Forum’s Catalyst program, we partnered with Infosys because of its leadership position in Telco industry and the richness of Infosys’ Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning platform. I am happy to see that our partner ecosystem with Infosys, Amdocs and Huawei were able to demonstrate this potential value to our industry and what it can do for our customers which has been appreciated by TMF”
TM Forum VP of services & catalysts Rebecca Sendel said, “This award-winning project captured the spirit of the Catalyst program by rapidly developing a solution through collaboration and teamwork, delivering a quantifiable business outcome in the form of significant cost reduction (between 10 and 40 percent). These results exemplify the R&D multiplication effect of the Catalyst program, which is a proven collaboration platform for designing, building and testing solutions much faster and with lower risk and cost than any individual company could hope to accomplish.”
Brands
Domino’s Q1 profit falls 6.6 per cent, announces $1 billion buyback
Sales rise 3.4 per cent as pizza giant balances growth and shareholder returns
NEW YORK: Domino’s reported a mixed start to 2026, with first-quarter net income slipping even as global sales and store expansion held steady. The company also announced a fresh $1 billion share buyback, underlining its continued focus on shareholder returns.
Global retail sales rose 3.4 per cent on a constant-currency basis to $4.74 billion. The US remained a key growth engine, with same-store sales inching up 0.9 per cent, supported by a 1.5 per cent rise at company-owned outlets.
International markets, however, painted a more uneven picture. While Domino’s added 161 net new stores overseas during the quarter, international same-store sales declined 0.4 per cent. Overall revenues still climbed 3.5 per cent to $1.15 billion, driven by higher supply chain revenues and a 2.6 per cent increase in food basket pricing for franchisees.
On the profitability front, net income fell 6.6 per cent to $139.8 million, compared to $149.7 million a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share dropped to $4.13 from $4.33. The decline was largely attributed to a $30 million unfavourable swing in unrealised gains linked to its investment in DPC Dash Ltd.
Despite this, operational performance showed resilience. Income from operations rose 9.6 per cent to $230.4 million, supported in part by a $7.8 million pre-tax gain from the sale of a corporate aircraft.
Domino’s footprint continued to expand, with the company ending the quarter at 22,322 stores across more than 90 markets. In the US, digital orders remained dominant, accounting for over 85 per cent of retail sales in 2025.
The company also maintained its dividend payout, declaring $1.99 per share, payable on 30 June 2026. After repurchasing $75.1 million worth of stock during the quarter, the new authorisation lifts the total available for buybacks to $1.29 billion.
Domino’s chief executive officer Russell Weiner said the company’s scale and store-level economics position it well to capture further market share in 2026, even as competition intensifies.
As Domino’s leans into expansion and capital returns, the latest results show a business managing short-term pressures while keeping its long-term growth strategy firmly in play.
