Observer

Expert Insights: Few industries stand to benefit from #AI more than restaurants. While the experience of hospitality is inherently human, the business that supports it is still managed through disconnected tools and providers. Restaurants are among America’s largest employers and most important small businesses. They are also unusually complex operations, balancing thin margins, rising labor costs, volatile demand and highly perishable inventory. A.I. has the potential to bring those functions together while keeping hospitality fundamentally human. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ewc-4DUH By Johann Moonesinghe, inKind

Expert Insights: As tariff volatility and reshoring pressure expose the depth of industrial workforce vulnerabilities, spatially aware #AI agents—already capable of interpreting 40-plus data types across 500 field tasks—are the most consequential and least covered deployment of agentic A.I. today. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gpxMYdgg By Indradeep Ghosh, Fujitsu Research

Flying between Manhattan and the Hamptons has long symbolized wealth. But economically, it’s a difficult business. Despite high fares and steady demand, operators don’t make much money. BLADE Air Mobility, the largest provider on this route, has undergone restructuring and leaned on other segments, including medical organ transport and private jet services, to offset financial gaps. The biggest constraint, according to Blade founder and CEO Rob Wiesenthal, is the limited number of landing zones due to noise restrictions. The company's New York routes are currently limited to international airports, Manhattan heliports in Chelsea, the Financial District, Midtown and the Hamptons. With far less noise and fewer moving parts, Blade is now betting on eVTOLs to enable more landing zones and improved economics for short-haul flights to the Hamptons. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eRq8AnKh By Rachel Curry

The wealth concentrated in the Hamptons doesn’t remain confined to coastal estates and summer galas. Through private foundations, locally based families and seasonal residents quietly sustain the institutions that serve the East End year-round, from the Parrish Art Museum and Sag Harbor Cinema to Southampton Hospital and the South Fork Natural History Museum. Beyond the South Fork, their philanthropic footprint includes funding major universities, cancer research, iconic cultural centers and public parks. Here are seven notable private foundations with deep ties to the Hamptons, and a look at where their money actually goes: https://lnkd.in/eNqvmAqK By Beth Duckett

Expert Insights: It has never been more expensive to buy into the Hamptons. On paper, one of America’s most climate-exposed luxury markets has never looked stronger, even as the risks beneath it continue to grow. The same coastline looks starkly different when viewed through the eyes of an insurance broker. National and regional carriers have stopped writing new homeowner coverage in eastern Suffolk County and, increasingly, across Long Island. Record home prices and retreating carriers in America’s premier coastal market are two readings of the same instrument. Insurance is repricing the coastline first, and family balance sheets are absorbing the difference. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gezGAFSR By Stuart J. G.

"Boldness and rigor really have to balance with each other." insitro Founder & CEO and Observer A.I. Power Honoree Daphne Koller says breakthrough innovation in biotechnology requires more than ambitious ideas. It demands the discipline to rigorously test every assumption because in drug discovery, the cost of getting it wrong only grows with every stage of development. Observer's 2026 A.I. Power Index is now live. Explore the full list, and keep watching for more interviews with our 2026 A.I. Power Honorees: #ObserverPowerIndex #ObserverPowerLists

Expert Insights: From wearable data to wellness culture, consumers have spent years optimizing nearly everything. The next cultural shift is already underway: a renewed appreciation for hospitality, connection and experiences worth remembering. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ecVwsgxu By Adam Rosen

It has been about six months since Lauren Weinberg joined Supergoop! as chief marketing officer, stepping into the role amid a period of leadership transition for the 21-year-old sunscreen brand. Supergoop! was built on a dual mission to prevent skin cancer and to make sunscreen an enjoyable part of daily skincare. In an increasingly crowded SPF market, the company has differentiated itself by positioning sunscreen as skincare rather than a seasonal afterthought. As Gen Z drives growth in the sun care category, Weinberg is looking to build on this momentum. In a conversation with Observer in June, Weinberg discussed her first major campaign and how Supergoop! is working to reach a new generation of consumers while advancing its mission to make sun protection a daily habit. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ecZSvXEB By Saleah Blancaflor

Expert Insights: Every July, a familiar migration begins. Investors head to Sun Valley. Founders and executives fill the Hamptons. Private dinners replace Zoom calls. Packed conference schedules spill into beach walks, tennis matches and backyard conversations. At the same moment #AI is generating vast amounts of emails, marketing messages and content that can communicate and transact with audiences anywhere, the world’s most influential business leaders are still choosing to be in the same places at the same time. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eszwUHKr By Alex Reynolds, Vendelux

"You cannot make a cell grow faster by throwing more GPUs at it." insitro Founder & CEO and Observer A.I. Power Honoree Daphne Koller says biology sets its own pace, but that doesn't mean every step of drug development has to. The real opportunity, she argues, is relentlessly questioning where timelines can be compressed without compromising scientific rigor, from identifying earlier biomarkers to streamlining operational bottlenecks. Observer's 2026 A.I. Power Index is now live. Explore the full list, and keep watching for more interviews with our 2026 A.I. Power Honorees: https://lnkd.in/eKnADbwz #ObserverPowerIndex #ObserverPowerLists