Agent ROI.
Consumer wearables.
RIP metaverse.

March 19, 2026

Apple of my eye

Hi there,

Here is this week's Hot or Not.

Hot: Apple's acquisition spree

Apple has already closed 3 acquisitions in 2026, on pace to beat its historical average of ~5 per year.

The deals span hardware, software, and creator tools:

Audio & facial recognition AI (Q.ai)
Photonics research (Invrs.io)
Video editing tools (MotionVFX)

CB Insights customers track where Apple is placing its bets with our Apple Strategy Map.

Not: Measuring agent ROI

Enterprise leaders are struggling to measure the impact of their AI agents.

According to CB Insights data, 63% of director-level+ enterprise leaders track productivity gains to assess agent performance, but less than 20% track ROI.

To fill the gap, software engineering analytics platforms are building measurement frameworks for AI coding workflows.

Span, which raised funding in November 2025, is challenging incumbents like GitLab and Harness with tools to evaluate AI-driven productivity.

Read more about this in our recent tech trends report.

Hot: Consumer wearables

Consumer wearables are moving into medical-grade diagnostics, with FDA regulation and consumer demand finally converging.

Based on CB Insights hiring data, Oura, Whoop, and Huawei are all staffing up in regulatory affairs, clinical validation, and medical device roles, a clear signal of the push toward FDA-cleared diagnostic features.

Explore the full trend in our 2026 digital health predictions report.

Not: The metaverse

Meta was rumored to be shutting down VR support for Horizon Worlds, until the company's CTO walked that back today. The uncertainty reflects the deteriorating state of the metaverse more broadly.

The company's earnings calls already flag the decline: mentions of "metaverse" and "Horizon" fell to zero by Q4'25.

The reversal comes as Meta shifts resources toward AI, as evidenced by its recent acquisitions of AI agent social network Moltbook and agent developer Manus.

Dig into Meta's evolving strategy in its Strategy Map.

The +1

AI chart fail. Arts, Design, & Media marked safe.

I love you.

Anand

@asanwal

Co-Founder & Exec Chair

P.S. Want to know what's next in physical AI? Register for our briefing here.

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