- High-precision OLED display polishing technology meets the fairway, setting a new standard for backspin performance and club longevity.
SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Already a best-seller in South Korea, Adak Golf is now rapidly expanding into the U.S. and Japanese markets, bringing industrial-grade technology to everyday golfers looking for reliable performance and equipment longevity.
For years, golfers seeking to restore spin to their wedges have had limited—and often risky—options. Traditional groove tools, from sharpened awls to metal cutters, can damage a clubface or injure the user. Adak Golf, a brand developed by South Korea–based manufacturing innovator Nextzhen Co., Ltd., is redefining the category with the launch of the world's first Diamond-fused Groove Sharpener & Cleaner.
Already a best-seller in South Korea, Adak Golf is now rapidly expanding into the U.S. and Japanese markets, bringing industrial-grade technology to everyday golfers looking for reliable performance and equipment longevity.
- Industrial Precision, Applied to Golf
SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Already a best-seller in South Korea, Adak Golf is now rapidly expanding into the U.S. and Japanese markets, bringing industrial-grade technology to everyday golfers looking for reliable performance and equipment longevity.
For years, golfers seeking to restore spin to their wedges have had limited—and often risky—options. Traditional groove tools, from sharpened awls to metal cutters, can damage a clubface or injure the user. Adak Golf, a brand developed by South Korea–based manufacturing innovator Nextzhen Co., Ltd., is redefining the category with the launch of the world's first Diamond-fused Groove Sharpener & Cleaner.
Already a best-seller in South Korea, Adak Golf is now rapidly expanding into the U.S. and Japanese markets, bringing industrial-grade technology to everyday golfers looking for reliable performance and equipment longevity.
Unlike conventional golf accessories, the Adak Groove Sharpener has its roots in advanced manufacturing. The product was engineered and produced by Nextzhen Co., Ltd. (CEO Jung Hun Hwang), a company internationally recognized for supplying high-precision polishing technology for display glass substrates to global tech leaders, including Samsung mobile phones.
"We realized that the same technology used to polish delicate display glass could be adapted to enhance golf-club performance—without risking structural damage," a Nextzhen spokesperson said. "By transferring our industrial expertise into the golf sector, we created a tool that is soft, durable, and exceptionally effective."
- A Safer, Smarter, More Effective Solution for Club care
At the core of Adak's innovation is a proprietary elastomer infused with Micro Diamond. The innovative polishing compound cleans and refines grooves rather than cutting into them, and offers a safer, more controlled method of restoring performance to wedges and irons.
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- Revitalizing Old Clubs — Even heavily used or oxidized irons can regain near-new performance.
- Enhanced Backspin Control — Clean and sharp grooves are essential for approach-shot precision, allowing golfers to generate more stopping power from their wedges. This performance benefit has been independently verified by the Korea Institute of Golf & Sports (KIGOS) through extensive swing-robot testing.
- Built-In Safety — The flexible, non-metallic design minimizes the risk of scratching the clubface or injuring hands—an important improvement over rigid metal sharpeners.
- Recognized by Leading Golf Media
Adak's product gained significant momentum after being featured by GOLFWRX, one of the most influential golf communities in the United States. In its July 2025 article, "Korean Gadget Report: How Adak's Diamonds Are Redefining Your Wedge Game," GOLFWRX highlighted the sharpener's unique technology and its measurable performance benefits. The coverage sparked a surge in interest among serious golfers and further validated Adak's position as a category disruptor.
Read the full GOLFWRX review:
https://www.golfwrx.com/763470/korean-gadget-report-how-adaks-diamonds-are-redefining-your-wedge-game/
Following its strong online performance, Adak Golf plans to expand into U.S. retail stores and golf shops in 2026. In addition to its flagship groove sharpener, the company is developing a pipeline of innovative products, including swing-tempo training gloves and other performance-enhancing accessories. Each new product is guided by the same principle: applying industrial-grade technology to modern golf.
The Adak Groove Sharpener & Cleaner is available now with fast shipping through Amazon in both the United States and Japan.
Nextzhen Co., Ltd., headquartered in South Korea, is a global leader in precision polishing technology. The company specializes in developing and manufacturing edge-polishing wheels for display glass substrates, providing end-to-end R&D, production, and distribution capabilities. Through its Adak Golf brand, Nextzhen leverages decades of industrial expertise to create high-performance golf accessories that elevate both the player experience and equipment longevity.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
From Mobile phone to the Green: Adak Golf Reinvents Club Maintenance with the World's First Diamond-infused Groove Sharpener & Cleaner
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TEANECK, N.J., March 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) released new research showing that companies pursuing AI adoption overwhelmingly prefer IT services firms - such as "AI Builder" firms, a new services model defined by designing and building custom, full stack AI solutions - to deliver real enterprise value from AI.
The research, based on a quantitative study of 600 AI decision makers and qualitative interviews with 38 senior executives, finds that organizations rank custom solutions and flexible engagement models as the most important factor when selecting an AI partner, ahead of pricing and time to value. Pricing and proven AI case studies remain important, but rank below capabilities that enable AI to be embedded directly into business operations and value chains.
At the same time, enterprises cite generic, off-the-shelf AI solutions as a leading reason to reject an AI provider, along with lack of industry-specific expertise, inability to integrate into existing technology stacks, and inadequate support and maintenance. According to the research, the top three challenges organizations face in enterprise AI adoption are regulatory and compliance concerns, difficulty demonstrating return on investment and lack of clear AI strategy and vision.
"AI success is not about deploying isolated models—it's about engineering intelligence into the enterprise with purpose-built solutions," said Ravi Kumar S, CEO of Cognizant. "The most trusted path to an AI future is working with an AI Builder—one that brings deep industry context, systems engineering expertise, and operational accountability. At Cognizant, we focus on building the bridge from AI experimentation to measurable enterprise value."
Key findings from the study include:
Enterprises face a "messy middle" in scaling AI: AI builders can create the bridge to enterprise value -- solving complex, real-world problems:
- 63% of enterprises report moderate-to-large gaps between their AI ambitions and current capabilities.
- The biggest barriers to scaling AI are operational and organizational:
- 33% cite regulatory and compliance challenges
- 31% struggle to demonstrate ROI
- 27% report shortages in talent
- 27% report inadequate data readiness
AI investment is long term, not experimental: Enterprises are committing sustained capital to AI, signaling long-term infrastructure building rather than speculative investment:
- 84% of enterprises maintain formal AI budgets
- 91% expect AI budgets to grow in the next two years
- 50% anticipate double-digit increases in AI budgets over the next two years
- 52% are already investing $10M or more annually on AI initiatives
AI is augmenting human workforces, not replacing them: Enterprise leaders are not forecasting workforce collapse, they're forecasting redesign of workflows for human-AI collaboration.
- Across 13 enterprise functions, the highest expected level of full automation is only 20% (in sales)
- Even in customer service, where 76% of leaders expect workflows to become AI-dominant, only 9% believe they will be fully automated.
In qualitative interviews conducted as part of the research, enterprise leaders said "out‑of‑the‑box" AI is inadequate; they want tailored solutions AI builders can develop and tune.
A Vice President in the UK banking sector shared, "A lot of vendors come in thinking that the off-the-shelf solutions they have would fit our needs, but often enough they find that that's not the case. And it takes them a number of years, more than they planned, and a lot of money, both from us … to get those software working. And these are not just AI software."
A US-based insurance industry CIO stated, "It depends on where I'm inserting this particular ingredient in our value. And so sometimes I want a builder and an engineer, sometimes I want an integrator, sometimes I want an activator. Because they're playing more of a coordinating function—a weaving, stitching-together function."
Together, these research insights underscore a clear shift in enterprise expectations: from experimenting with AI tools to partnering with AI Builders that can design, build, integrate, and operate AI systems at scale— in alignment with client governance, security, and risk‑management frameworks and with lasting business impact.
These findings align with recent remarks by Babak Hodjat, Chief AI Officer at Cognizant, who noted that enterprises are far from being able to rely on AI "out of the box." In interviews with Fortune and Reuters, Hodjat emphasized that while agentic and generative AI systems are advancing rapidly, organizations still need significant help engineering, integrating, governing, and operating these systems in ways that support client safety, reliability and governance requirements within complex enterprise environments.
AI decision makers rated IT services firms like AI builders highest in their ability to assist with their AI adoption (ahead of SaaS providers, cloud providers, AI model companies, AI startups and management consultancies). The research also finds that IT services firms are trusted across the AI adoption lifecycle—especially in ongoing management of AI-enabled systems, but also in AI strategy, custom AI solution development, increasing organizational productivity and scaling AI across the enterprise. IT services firms have a 23% trust advantage over management consultancies in AI adoption. While management consultancies benefit from strong brand recognition, they are seen as less credible in hands-on AI implementation.
About the Research
Cognizant's research findings are based on quantitative research conducted in November 2025 with 600 AI decision makers, and qualitative interviews conducted in October 2025 with 38 business and technology leaders in the United States, Germany, Singapore and Australia with AI decision making responsibility. The full report can be found here: How ai is reshaping business & empowering workforces | Cognizant
About Cognizant
Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) is an AI builder and technology services provider, building the bridge between AI investment and enterprise value by building full-stack AI solutions for our clients. Our deep industry, process and engineering expertise enables us to build an organization's unique context into technology systems that amplify human potential, realize tangible returns and keep global enterprises ahead in a fast-changing world. See how at www.cognizant.com or @cognizant.
For more information, contact:
U.S.
Name: Gabrielle Gugliocciello
Email: gabrielle.gugliocciello@cognizant.com
Europe / APAC
Name: Sarah Douglas
Email: sarah.douglas@cognizant.com
India
Name: Vipin Nair
Email: Vipin.Nair@cognizant.com
TEANECK, N.J., March 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) released new research showing that companies pursuing AI adoption overwhelmingly prefer IT services firms - such as "AI Builder" firms, a new services model defined by designing and building custom, full stack AI solutions - to deliver real enterprise value from AI.
The research, based on a quantitative study of 600 AI decision makers and qualitative interviews with 38 senior executives, finds that organizations rank custom solutions and flexible engagement models as the most important factor when selecting an AI partner, ahead of pricing and time to value. Pricing and proven AI case studies remain important, but rank below capabilities that enable AI to be embedded directly into business operations and value chains.
At the same time, enterprises cite generic, off-the-shelf AI solutions as a leading reason to reject an AI provider, along with lack of industry-specific expertise, inability to integrate into existing technology stacks, and inadequate support and maintenance. According to the research, the top three challenges organizations face in enterprise AI adoption are regulatory and compliance concerns, difficulty demonstrating return on investment and lack of clear AI strategy and vision.
"AI success is not about deploying isolated models—it's about engineering intelligence into the enterprise with purpose-built solutions," said Ravi Kumar S, CEO of Cognizant. "The most trusted path to an AI future is working with an AI Builder—one that brings deep industry context, systems engineering expertise, and operational accountability. At Cognizant, we focus on building the bridge from AI experimentation to measurable enterprise value."
Key findings from the study include:
Enterprises face a "messy middle" in scaling AI: AI builders can create the bridge to enterprise value -- solving complex, real-world problems:
- 63% of enterprises report moderate-to-large gaps between their AI ambitions and current capabilities.
- The biggest barriers to scaling AI are operational and organizational:
- 33% cite regulatory and compliance challenges
- 31% struggle to demonstrate ROI
- 27% report shortages in talent
- 27% report inadequate data readiness
AI investment is long term, not experimental: Enterprises are committing sustained capital to AI, signaling long-term infrastructure building rather than speculative investment:
- 84% of enterprises maintain formal AI budgets
- 91% expect AI budgets to grow in the next two years
- 50% anticipate double-digit increases in AI budgets over the next two years
- 52% are already investing $10M or more annually on AI initiatives
AI is augmenting human workforces, not replacing them: Enterprise leaders are not forecasting workforce collapse, they're forecasting redesign of workflows for human-AI collaboration.
- Across 13 enterprise functions, the highest expected level of full automation is only 20% (in sales)
- Even in customer service, where 76% of leaders expect workflows to become AI-dominant, only 9% believe they will be fully automated.
In qualitative interviews conducted as part of the research, enterprise leaders said "out‑of‑the‑box" AI is inadequate; they want tailored solutions AI builders can develop and tune.
A Vice President in the UK banking sector shared, "A lot of vendors come in thinking that the off-the-shelf solutions they have would fit our needs, but often enough they find that that's not the case. And it takes them a number of years, more than they planned, and a lot of money, both from us … to get those software working. And these are not just AI software."
A US-based insurance industry CIO stated, "It depends on where I'm inserting this particular ingredient in our value. And so sometimes I want a builder and an engineer, sometimes I want an integrator, sometimes I want an activator. Because they're playing more of a coordinating function—a weaving, stitching-together function."
Together, these research insights underscore a clear shift in enterprise expectations: from experimenting with AI tools to partnering with AI Builders that can design, build, integrate, and operate AI systems at scale— in alignment with client governance, security, and risk‑management frameworks and with lasting business impact.
These findings align with recent remarks by Babak Hodjat, Chief AI Officer at Cognizant, who noted that enterprises are far from being able to rely on AI "out of the box." In interviews with Fortune and Reuters, Hodjat emphasized that while agentic and generative AI systems are advancing rapidly, organizations still need significant help engineering, integrating, governing, and operating these systems in ways that support client safety, reliability and governance requirements within complex enterprise environments.
AI decision makers rated IT services firms like AI builders highest in their ability to assist with their AI adoption (ahead of SaaS providers, cloud providers, AI model companies, AI startups and management consultancies). The research also finds that IT services firms are trusted across the AI adoption lifecycle—especially in ongoing management of AI-enabled systems, but also in AI strategy, custom AI solution development, increasing organizational productivity and scaling AI across the enterprise. IT services firms have a 23% trust advantage over management consultancies in AI adoption. While management consultancies benefit from strong brand recognition, they are seen as less credible in hands-on AI implementation.
About the Research
Cognizant's research findings are based on quantitative research conducted in November 2025 with 600 AI decision makers, and qualitative interviews conducted in October 2025 with 38 business and technology leaders in the United States, Germany, Singapore and Australia with AI decision making responsibility. The full report can be found here: How ai is reshaping business & empowering workforces | Cognizant
About Cognizant
Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) is an AI builder and technology services provider, building the bridge between AI investment and enterprise value by building full-stack AI solutions for our clients. Our deep industry, process and engineering expertise enables us to build an organization's unique context into technology systems that amplify human potential, realize tangible returns and keep global enterprises ahead in a fast-changing world. See how at www.cognizant.com or @cognizant.
For more information, contact:
U.S.
Name: Gabrielle Gugliocciello
Email: gabrielle.gugliocciello@cognizant.com
Europe / APAC
Name: Sarah Douglas
Email: sarah.douglas@cognizant.com
India
Name: Vipin Nair
Email: Vipin.Nair@cognizant.com
** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **
Cognizant Research Shows Plug-and-Play AI is a Myth
