News/Business
Salesforce launches AI agent marketplace to accelerate enterprise adoption
Salesforce's new AgentExchange marketplace represents a strategic move to accelerate AI agent adoption while creating a monetization channel for partners. This platform enables enterprises to jumpstart their AI implementation by providing pre-built agents, templates, and specialized actions across multiple industries and business functions. As competition intensifies in the agentic AI market that Salesforce pioneered with Agentforce, this marketplace could give the company a distinctive advantage over tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and AWS. The big picture: Salesforce has launched AgentExchange, a marketplace for AI agents and related components designed to drive adoption while creating revenue opportunities for partners. The platform...
read Apr 7, 2025Floating on Air: Award given to Airtel Business for AI-powered B2B marketing transformation
Airtel Business's AI-powered marketing strategy unlocked a lucrative enterprise badge. The company has earned industry recognition for transforming traditional B2B marketing approaches and successfully implementing artificial intelligence across its operations, creating measurable business impact through automation and personalization that delivers more relevant customer experiences. This recognition from ASSOCHAM highlights how AI implementation can create tangible benefits in enterprise marketing by enhancing team capabilities and customer intelligence simultaneously. The big picture: Airtel Business, the B2B division of Bharti Airtel, has received the "Best Adoption of AI in Marketing" award at the ASSOCHAM Branding and Marketing Excellence Awards 2025, recognizing its innovative...
read Apr 7, 2025SPAR framework shows how AI agents unlock hidden business value beyond automation
Stop, Look and Listen: Have you heard of Sense, Plan, Act and Reflect? AI agents represent a watershed moment in business transformation, offering unprecedented value creation opportunities that go beyond automating existing work. While hundreds of vendors claim to offer AI agents, understanding their true capabilities requires looking beyond current workflows to unlock hidden value potential. The SPAR framework provides a structure for evaluating how agents operate, mirroring human cognitive processes and creating a foundation for effective implementation. The big picture: Organizations typically only capture a fraction of their total addressable value creation potential, with AI agents offering a path...
read Apr 7, 2025Google’s Gemini replacing Assistant by end of 2025—what users need to know
Don't let the phone case slam you on your way out, Assistant. Google's transition from Assistant to Gemini marks a significant evolution in the company's AI strategy, creating disruption for millions of users while promising more advanced capabilities. This shift represents a fundamental reimagining of Google's voice assistant technology, forcing users to adapt to new features and limitations while potentially leaving some older devices without support. Understanding what's changing and how it affects different devices is crucial for the millions who rely on Google's voice assistant technology daily. The big picture: Google is replacing its nine-year-old Assistant with Gemini, an...
read Apr 7, 2025Microsoft’s Copilot Pages brings order to chaos by turning messy notes into structured documents, for free
Microsoft's new Copilot Pages feature transforms disorganized notes into structured, enhanced documents through AI, representing a significant evolution in digital note-taking. This free tool not only organizes information but adds contextual details on demand, making it valuable for students, researchers, and professionals who need to transform raw information into coherent, detailed documents. The big picture: Microsoft unveiled Copilot Pages at its 50th Anniversary Event as a free, cloud-connected notebook that automatically organizes information and enhances it with additional research and details. The feature works through the Copilot web app and gives users control over how their notes are structured and...
read Apr 7, 2025San Francisco forms CEO council of 26 top executives to tackle urban challenges
San Francisco's economic recovery efforts are gaining momentum with a new public-private partnership that brings together 26 top executives from the city's most influential companies. This CEO council, formed at Mayor Daniel Lurie's request, aims to address critical urban challenges through business-government collaboration, focusing initially on street safety and cleanliness before tackling the city's struggling downtown economy and significant budget deficit. The big picture: The Partnership for San Francisco represents a strategic alliance between city government and corporate leaders to revitalize a city facing serious economic challenges. The organization will serve as a CEO council working directly with public officials...
read Apr 7, 2025Yum! Brands brings AI ordering to 500 restaurants in major Nvidia partnership
Yum! Brands is dramatically expanding its AI implementation across KFC, Taco Bell, and other restaurant chains, positioning fast food as many Americans' first meaningful interaction with conversational AI technology. Following a successful initial deployment at hundreds of Taco Bell locations last fall, the world's largest restaurant company is now partnering with Nvidia to integrate AI more deeply throughout its global network of over 61,000 locations. The big picture: Yum! Brands is rolling out AI-powered ordering systems and operational tools to 500 restaurants across its portfolio, potentially making fast food drive-thrus the most common touchpoint between everyday consumers and advanced AI...
read Apr 7, 2025McKinsey’s AI platform slashes legacy system modernization time by 80 percent
McKinsey's LegacyX platform harnesses the power of generative and agentic AI to transform aging digital infrastructure that hampers innovation in large organizations. This breakthrough approach tackles a widespread challenge—70 percent of Fortune 500 software was developed over two decades ago—by accelerating modernization efforts by up to 80 percent while reducing costs. Beyond technical upgrades, the platform also intelligently reengineers underlying business processes that have been tailored to legacy systems over decades, addressing a critical but often overlooked dimension of digital transformation. The big picture: Legacy infrastructure remains a significant barrier to digital innovation for large enterprises, requiring massive investments of...
read Apr 7, 2025Survey: One-third of employees pay for AI tools out of pocket for work
A third of employees are paying out of pocket for AI tools at work, highlighting a grassroots adoption trend that organizations should recognize and formalize. This "bring-your-own-AI" movement demonstrates the immediate productivity value workers see in generative AI, particularly in industries like financial services and healthcare where creating and manipulating words, images, numbers, and sounds (WINS) represents a significant portion of work. The big picture: Employee-driven AI adoption is creating a shadow IT ecosystem as workers independently invest in productivity-enhancing AI tools despite lack of formal corporate support. The survey by writer.com reveals 35% of employees personally pay for AI...
read Apr 7, 2025Oracle’s new AI Agent Studio brings custom agent creation to enterprise cloud
Oracle's expansion into AI agent capabilities marks a significant evolution in enterprise cloud offerings, positioning 2025 as a potential watershed moment for enterprise AI integration. Following the introduction and rapid adoption of generative AI in 2023-2024, major technology providers like Oracle are now embedding sophisticated AI functionality directly into their core enterprise platforms, creating purpose-built solutions that leverage decades of industry expertise and infrastructure. The big picture: Oracle has unveiled Oracle AI Agent Studio for Fusion Applications, a comprehensive toolkit that allows enterprises to build, customize, and orchestrate AI agents within their existing Oracle environments. This launch follows Oracle's earlier...
read Apr 7, 2025Major energy companies form Open Power AI Consortium to tackle industry challenges
The electric power industry is taking a major leap forward in AI adoption with the formation of a new global initiative. EPRI's launch of the Open Power AI Consortium brings together major energy companies to collectively develop AI solutions specifically for power sector challenges. This collaborative approach signals a strategic shift in how utilities plan to leverage artificial intelligence to improve reliability, optimize operations, and enhance customer experiences across the electrical grid. The big picture: The Electric Power Research Institute has launched the Open Power AI Consortium, bringing together major global energy companies to develop and deploy an open AI...
read Apr 7, 2025Adobe unveils AI agents to automate customer journey optimization
Adobe is intensifying the AI race in customer experience management with new AI agents designed to transform how businesses engage with customers across digital channels. The company's latest additions to Adobe Experience Cloud leverage AI to automate personalization, optimize web performance, and streamline B2B marketing processes—a significant advancement for brands seeking to deliver unified customer experiences amid resource constraints. By integrating AI agents that can analyze trends, run experiments, and generate real-time recommendations, Adobe aims to bridge the gap between companies' engagement strategies and increasingly complex customer journeys. The big picture: Adobe has unveiled new AI-powered capabilities for its Experience...
read Apr 7, 2025Nvidia partners with Yum! Brands to expand AI ordering to 500 fast food locations by 2025
Yum! Brands' new AI partnership with Nvidia marks a significant expansion of automated ordering systems across fast food chains. The company plans to implement AI drive-thrus at 500 Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, and Habit Burger locations by the end of 2025, building on its existing deployment in over 100 restaurants across 13 U.S. states. This move represents a growing trend of AI integration in customer-facing food service that promises increased efficiency but raises questions about potential impacts on human employment. The big picture: Yum! Brands has announced a formal partnership with Nvidia that will bring AI ordering systems to...
read Apr 7, 2025Report: India positioned to become global testbed for AI-driven advertising
India's advertising industry is embracing AI as a transformative force, with significant implications for creativity, consumer engagement, and ethical considerations. A new comprehensive report by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) Academy reveals how AI is reshaping advertising practices in the country, highlighting India's unique position as a potential global testbed for AI-driven advertising innovations due to consumer receptiveness. The big picture: ASCI Academy's "AdNext: The AI Edition" report examines AI's growing influence on India's advertising landscape, emphasizing its potential to enhance efficiency while augmenting human creativity rather than replacing it. The research, conducted by design tech firm Parallel...
read Apr 7, 2025Cheshire East Council eyes £60 million AI savings amid financial struggles
Cash-strapped Cheshire East Council is exploring artificial intelligence as a potential financial lifeline, with an internal report claiming AI implementation could save the local authority between £40-60 million over five years. This initiative comes at a critical time for the council, which has faced ongoing financial difficulties requiring exceptional government support for two consecutive years, making AI adoption a potentially significant strategy in its broader transformation plan. The big picture: An internal assessment by Cheshire East Council identifies artificial intelligence as a source of substantial potential savings across multiple service areas. The report suggests AI implementation could generate between £40-60...
read Apr 7, 2025Google’s NotebookLM adds mind maps and multilingual output for better research
Google's NotebookLM AI research assistant is expanding its capabilities with new productivity-focused features aimed at both students and professionals. The tool, which has consistently impressed users with its research capabilities for tasks ranging from apartment hunting to vehicle research, now offers enhanced visualization and multilingual output options. These upgrades represent Google's continued investment in making AI tools more versatile and accessible for knowledge workers across various fields. The big picture: Google is enhancing NotebookLM with features that transform it from a simple research assistant into a comprehensive knowledge management system. The updates introduce visualization capabilities and language flexibility that make...
read Apr 7, 2025Oracle adds free AI Agent Studio to Fusion Cloud as enterprise agents surge
Oracle is making a strategic move in the enterprise AI race by adding an AI Agent Studio to its Fusion Cloud business applications at no extra cost. This addition comes as AI agents rapidly transition from novelty to necessity in enterprise software, with Gartner predicting a jump from less than 1% adoption in 2024 to 33% by 2028. The global AI agents market, already valued at $5.4 billion in 2024, is projected to grow at nearly 46% annually through 2030 as organizations seek to automate workflows and enhance customer experiences. The big picture: Oracle is working to retain enterprise customers...
read Apr 7, 2025Where AI excels and fails at generating system architecture diagrams
Generative AI has shown remarkable capabilities in creating text and images, but its ability to generate accurate system architecture diagrams varies significantly by use case. Understanding these limitations is crucial for developers and architects looking to leverage AI for diagramming tasks, as the technology currently offers value primarily in ideation stages rather than in documenting complex existing systems. The big picture: AI's capability to generate system architecture diagrams varies dramatically across three distinct use cases, with effectiveness decreasing as the need for accuracy and specificity increases. Generic technology-focused diagrams and whiteboarding scenarios represent AI's current sweet spot for diagram generation....
read Apr 6, 2025ASUS co-CEO highlights DeepSeek’s cost advantage in reshaping AI hardware needs
ASUS's co-CEO SY Hsu has highlighted the emergence of DeepSeek as a significant development for the artificial intelligence industry, particularly noting its cost advantages. His comments signal a potential shift in how major hardware manufacturers view the AI model landscape, with implications for hardware requirements and supply chain strategies amid ongoing tariff concerns. The big picture: China-based DeepSeek's new AI model has drawn attention for its efficiency, potentially challenging assumptions about the necessity of investing in the most advanced and expensive Nvidia chips for AI development. Why this matters: Hardware manufacturers like ASUS are closely monitoring AI model efficiency improvements,...
read Apr 6, 2025Report: AI transforming food industry through predictive analytics and data insights
AI is transforming food industry research and supply chains by enabling predictive analytics and data-driven insights, according to a new MIT Technology Review Insights report. The study examines how artificial intelligence can help meet growing global food demands while ensuring resilient supplies and reducing environmental impact. While large agricultural companies are leading AI implementation through strategic partnerships, fragmented data practices remain a significant barrier to unlocking the technology's full potential across the industry. The big picture: Advanced AI systems are revolutionizing food product development and supply chain management, but comprehensive data strategies remain a critical challenge for widespread implementation. The...
read Apr 6, 2025SK Telecom partners with Kpler to develop AI-powered commodity intelligence
SK Telecom has forged a strategic partnership with global commodities data provider Kpler to develop AI-powered market intelligence capabilities, marking a significant step in the Korean telecom giant's AI transformation strategy. The collaboration aims to create enterprise-grade intelligence solutions by integrating Kpler's raw materials and logistics data with SK Telecom's advanced AI platforms, positioning the company to deliver specialized insights for telecom operators navigating energy-intensive infrastructure transitions like 5G and edge computing deployments. The big picture: SK Telecom signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with Kpler on April 2nd at Seoul's Lotte Hotel, establishing a framework to leverage AI for...
read Apr 6, 2025YC’s AI startups at SaaStr 2025 show $2.4M median ARR as AI market matures
SaaStr Annual 2025 is set to showcase a new wave of YCombinator AI startups that represent the frontiers of artificial intelligence commercialization. The event will feature approximately 20 AI startups in a dedicated YC Demo Pod area, complemented by 100+ presentations on an AI Demo Stage. This gathering highlights how AI infrastructure and specialized vertical applications are maturing into viable businesses with impressive early revenue figures, suggesting the AI startup ecosystem is evolving beyond proof-of-concept into sustainable business models. The big picture: YCombinator's upcoming showcase at SaaStr Annual 2025 reveals a cohort of AI startups with significant early traction, signaling...
read Apr 6, 2025Wayne State University receives record $50 million gift to transform engineering college
Wayne State University's historic $50 million gift from alumnus James Anderson and his wife Patricia marks the largest single donation in the institution's 157-year history, surpassing previous records. The transformative contribution will rename the school's engineering department as the James and Patricia Anderson College of Engineering, positioning it to become "Detroit's engineering school" while accelerating research in mobility, energy storage, and artificial intelligence—a significant investment in both the university and the future of Michigan's engineering talent pipeline. The big picture: Wayne State University has received a record-breaking $50 million donation from alumnus James Anderson and his wife Patricia to enhance...
read Apr 6, 2025Survey: 45% of Americans now use AI-powered search tools for shopping
Nearly half of Americans have embraced AI-powered search tools, reshaping how consumers find information and make purchases online. The new survey from adMarketplace reveals significant generational and gender differences in adoption patterns, offering critical intelligence for advertisers looking to capitalize on this shift. As AI becomes more integrated into native search environments, these emerging consumer behaviors signal important opportunities for businesses to enhance relevance and personalization in their digital marketing strategies. The big picture: AI-powered search is gaining significant traction, with 45% of Americans having already used these tools and 17% now relying on them more than traditional search methods....
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