Latest updates for ANZ sales professionals
Sydney's Canva slashed its 2026 growth target from 30% to 20% after AI task costs ballooned. CEO Melanie Perkins said they were relying too heavily on frontier models like OpenAI. The company has since cut AI serving costs by 90% but it slowed product rollout and hit near-term growth.
Palantir posted revenue growth that breaks every mental model about B2B software at scale: 93% YoY to $1.9B, 157% NRR, Rule of 40 at 155%. U.S. commercial grew 149% YoY. The company raised full-year guidance by $500M mid-year. For sales teams, this is the new benchmark for what enterprise AI motion can deliver.
Sydney-founded Canva pulled 10.5 billion visits in 12 months, behind only ChatGPT (64.7 billion) and ahead of Gemini, Claude, and Grok. The traffic data reflects Canva's embedded AI features in design workflows, not pure chatbot usage. Context for sales teams: this is about where your buyers are spending time, not which AI agent closes deals.
Victorian Premier Ben Carroll is reportedly considering carve-outs for small businesses in the state's work-from-home legislation, which would give eligible employees the right to work remotely two days a week. Business groups have pushed back on compliance costs and liability exposure, particularly for the 1.3 million Victorians employed by SMEs.
The construction software incumbent spent $845 million cash on drone tech, more than double its own valuation multiple. Meanwhile, sales and marketing spend grew just 3% while revenue jumped 16%. First GAAP profit in company history, new CEO six months in.
Brussels hit Google with its first Digital Markets Act penalty: €890 million for favoring its own services in Search results and blocking app developers from steering users to cheaper payment options outside Play. The fine underscores EU enforcement on platform gatekeepers, relevant to ANZ app developers and digital advertisers navigating Google's ecosystem.
Australian fintech Thriday warned customers Tuesday that a phishing email sent from its official address contains a fraudulent link requesting banking credentials. The timing matters: it hit during tax season, when small business owners are most vulnerable to credential harvesting attempts.
New ATO taxation data shows who got real pay rises during the cost-of-living squeeze. Some roles saw income jump 15-20% while most treaded water. Here's what the numbers say about which patches are worth targeting.
Anthropic rebuilt their enterprise motion around AI and now closes 54% of new logos without a rep. Owner.com is running reps at $2M ARR each, 20x their OTE. PayPal pointed agents at 8,000 leads per month no human would touch. The war stories from SaaStr AI 2026 show what happens when sales teams actually ship AI, not just talk about it.
ICONIQ data shows three-year contracts fell from 28% to 23% of new logos between 2023 and 2026, while sub-one-year deals jumped from 4% to 13%. The shift is driven by AI replacement cycles compressing to 18 months. Translation for AEs: stop forcing long commits, focus on fast ROI and NRR instead.
Stripe's 2025 numbers: $6.8 billion revenue (up 33%), $3.2 billion free cash flow (47% margin), and Q1 2026 running at $8 billion annualised. The company is private, profitable, and reportedly bidding $53 billion for PayPal. Its Revenue suite (Billing, Tax, Invoicing) is tracking toward $1 billion ARR, which matters if you are selling into payments or infrastructure.
Australian exports to the US face a new 12.5% tariff starting today, replacing the temporary 10% levy. The Trump administration claims Australia has not done enough to stop forced labour imports. Australian government says the findings lack credible evidence.