Category Archives: Technology

Business News, News, Tech, Technology

emotii to become ‘go to’ real-time translation tool for businesses worldwide

Innovative real-time communication app, emotii, is set to become the ‘go to’ translation tool for businesses worldwide following its integration with widely used tech platforms, Microsoft Teams and Slack.

Following the successful launch of the emotii consumer app earlier this year, which garnered over 100,000 downloads in three months, emotii is now available for businesses of all sizes.

 

Accessible as a desktop app, a web solution, an API integration and the original smartphone application, emotii enables real-time authentic communication between individuals and groups, regardless of their location or languages spoken.

Available in 126 different languages, emotii leverages advanced artificial intelligence to create human connections. The global app was originally developed to redefine how we connect across languages and cultures, enabling users to send and receive messages in their own language – while automatically translating words, context, idiomatic expressions.

 

In recognising the valuable role emotii can play in a professional setting, the innovative real-time communication tool has now been integrated into widely used tech platforms, Microsoft Teams and Slack, to help organisations effectively tackle poor communication and inefficiencies between multinational teams.

Easily integrated into existing IT infrastructure, its multilingual chatbot API facilitates seamless communication between companies and their customers in the user’s native language, improving overall experience, while helping to drive brand loyalty and business growth.

 

Csaba Suket, Co-Founder and CTO of emotii, explained:  “Recent studies show that 29% of businesses have lost customers due to miscommunication and language barriers. What’s more, only about 5% of the global population speaks English as their native language, and approximately 20% can communicate in English at all. As such, we believe that emotii has the potential to revolutionise not only how we communicate but also how we connect professionally.

“By breaking down language barriers with our innovative platform, emotii enables seamless interactions across the globe. From facilitating international business transactions to fostering friendships across borders, emotii is paving the way for a more interconnected and inclusive world. We provide organisations with the opportunity to easily expand and form customer relationships in new and exciting international markets—all through a quick and easy app integration!”

 

Accessible via the in-app store for both existing and new Microsoft Teams and Slack users, emotii is available in three different tiers for business users, starting with a free basic offer, a premium solution that integrates more functionality, and the Enterprise solution that enables multinational teams unlimited integrations and usage.

 

For more information, visit: https://www.emotii.ai

 

Charity & CSR, Digital Healthcare, Digital Transformation, News

FourNet & Alzheimer’s Society in the finals at European Contact Centre and Customer Service Awards 2024

Digital transformation and customer experience specialists, FourNet, and leading UK dementia charity, Alzheimer’s Society, have reached the finals at the prestigious European Contact Centre and Customer Service Awards 2024.

 The two partner organisations have been shortlisted in a highly competitive category for Best Approach to Supporting Vulnerable Customers (In-house).
 FourNet and Alzheimer’s Society were nominated for the support being offered to those living with dementia and their carers – thanks to a new cloud-based care and support centre which is harnessing technology to transform fundraising and support services and enhance the charity’s inclusive approach.

Built in collaboration with FourNet’s cloud contact centre partners, NICE, the contact centre solution has been tailor-made to ensure best-in-class support for people living with dementia, with key input to the design from people with lived experience through Dementia Voice, Alzheimer Society specialists and their Dementia Friends programme.

 The tailor-made solution supports Alzheimer’s Society’s core fundraising and dementia support services across its operations including sites in Birmingham, Norfolk and Warrington as well as its offices in Northern Ireland and Wales.

Richard Pennington, CEO of FourNet, said: “We want to make sure that Alzheimer’s Society is able to deliver the best possible support for people living with dementia and we are delighted that the solution we designed and delivered for them has been shortlisted at the European Contact Centre and Customer Service Awards 2024.”

FourNet designed a new cloud-based support centre and telephony system to support the charity’s fundraising and dementia support services, replacing an outdated contact centre setup with a versatile omni-channel contact centre system for frontline teams, and migrating 900 staff onto a new softphone application.

Jennie Mummery, Senior Supporter Engagement Manager at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer. One in three people born in the UK today will develop dementia in their lifetime.

 “We are thrilled that we have reached the finals at the European Contact Centre and Customer Service Awards 2024, which will allow us to highlight to other organisations how our unique care and support service is harnessing technology, expert advice and input from people living with dementia, along with helping to transform our support services and fundraising.”

Typical contact centre solutions would not have suited Alzheimer’s Society or those it supports.

 Instead, FourNet’s solution enhances the charity’s inclusive approach thanks to the detail considered in designing the system. For instance, people contacting the Society through the contact centre do not have to choose multiple options on their keypad; soothing on-hold music has been tested to minimise upset to a person living with dementia, sentiment analysis identifies vulnerable callers.

New technology has also been implemented which identifies important emails and contacts for the Society’s fundraising teams and will help the charity to maximise support through donations.

Amanda Henderson, Solution Architect at FourNet said: “We are extremely proud of the strong bonds and collaborative partnership we have forged with Alzheimer’s Society and we hope that the solution we have designed will help other charities who also have to deal with vulnerable members of society and their carers.”

FourNet works with a range of organisations – from charities and local authorities to the housing sector and financial service companies – using technology to support some of the most vulnerable members of society.

AI, HR Tech, Training News

Attensi RealTalk launch: AI Virtual Humans for Realistic 1:1 Workplace Role-Play Training

Attensi, a global leader in game-based simulation training, today unveiled Attensi RealTalk: the first role-play training solution to incorporate Agentic AI and AI free-form dialogue with realistic, virtual humans.

It comes as new research shows that 75% of employees have experienced anxiety due to difficult workplace conversations and 72% of employees would welcome training on how to handle difficult conversations in the workplace, rising to 87% for Gen Z.

And a majority of employees would welcome this training from an AI Virtual role-play trainer, rather than their manager. When asked if they would prefer role-play training from their manager or an AI Virtual trainer, employees were evenly split at 38% each way. Remarkably, almost a quarter of respondents – 24% – expressed no preference between the AI trainer and the human manager.

This will be welcome news for managers, who can save valuable time by handing training over to their AI Virtual Human colleagues.

75% of employees reported that they have experienced anxiety in handling difficult workplace conversations, with 63% having felt this in the last two years and 33% as recently as the last 6 months. This is even more stark for Gen Z and Millennials at 39% and 38% respectively.

The more they use AI, the more likely employees are to fear AI taking some or all of their jobs, but they are also the most likely to welcome AI to help them train to be better at their jobs.

A Safe Space to Practice Difficult Conversations

Attensi RealTalk enables employees to engage in realistic and challenging conversations in role-play scenarios, interacting with AI-powered virtual humans across a wide range of disciplines including:

  • Sales roles

  • Customer service

  • Coaching

Using a unique combination of Agentic AI, AI freeform dialogue, voice recognition, and bespoke simulation design, Attensi RealTalk transports users into real-time conversations in role-play scenarios that feel true-to-life in their job, enabling them to practice and improve their interpersonal skills in even the most challenging, uncomfortable, and nerve-wracking situations.

Unrivalled in the market – Attensi RealTalk is completely tailored to specific business contexts and requirements, including language and culture, to provide a realistic challenge for people from onboarding to upskilling.

For example:

  • A manager talking to a seemingly disengaged employee with the aim of resolving a recent lapse in customer service standards

  • A sales exec objection handling

  • A consultant engaging in a complex negotiation at risk of breaking down

  • A journalist conducting an exclusive interview with someone who is highly media trained

Attensi Conversation Training Impact Data:

  • 31% improvement in effective handling of difficult conversations

  • 96% felt more confident in client interactions

  • 89% increase in confidence in coaching and development teams

RealTalkers Don’t Just Talk Back, They Kick Back Too!

Lifelike and responsive at conversation pace, Attensi RealTalkers are engineered to feel real and push back when challenged. They are individually programmed to have realistic personality traits, human expressions, and character nuances. They can make you feel nervous and put you under pressure or shut down and close up if you push them too far – allowing you to practice EQ skills before in-person conversations.

Trainees can start in guided mode and progress to the more challenging open mode option.

Why Attensi RealTalk?

Attensi RealTalk solves many of the challenges related to traditional in-person training and role-plays, which are restricted by the availability of human resources, limited in scale and realistic context, and not always conducive to constructive learning for those who feel anxious or uncomfortable performing in front of peers or managers.

Key Features:

  • Realistic Conversations: Super-high-quality animations and natural voices for humanlike conversations in true-to-life interactions

  • Bespoke Solutions: Tailored to individual business needs, best practices, benchmark scoring, and objectives

  • Safe Space to Learn: A risk-free space where individuals are free to practice, adapt their techniques, and test different approaches

Trond Aas, CEO Attensi:

“AI is an ally rather than a threat to employees. Our human skills and EQ, particularly soft skills and interpersonal skills, are more important than ever. We know that people want more help with difficult conversations and Attensi RealTalk is the perfect partner. One of the most important use cases for AI is to upskill employees at scale in these areas. Employers need to embrace the power of AI and adopt the right AI tools to help their employees grow and excel, close skills gaps, and adapt to change. Attensi RealTalk is a gamechanger in workplace training.”

About Attensi

Attensi is a leading training and performance platform that combines psychology, technology and gaming principles. Since 2013, Attensi game-based simulations and training solutions have empowered organizations around the world to develop their workforce through engaging, interactive training experiences that have real impact. With a focus on innovation and cutting-edge AI technology, Attensi is shaping the future of learning and development, helping people and organizations grow to become exceptional.

Clients include Circle K, Hiscox, YMCA, London Business School, Boehringer Ingelheim and KPMG.

Attensi has offices in Oslo, London, Boston, Cologne and Stockholm.

Technology

Architecting AI for the Enterprise

Written by Malith Jayasinghe, VP of Research and AI, WSO2

The rapid evolution of AI, particularly in generative AI, has significantly reshaped the way we work and the broader technological landscape. Central to this transformation is the advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs), which have greatly expanded the capabilities and applications of AI. AI can now efficiently accomplish tasks that once required extensive effort and years of model training. 

Integrating these AI models with organisational data can lead to the creation of innovative digital experiences and enhance overall efficiency. AI offers transformative possibilities, which is one of the reasons organisations are increasingly adopting AI technologies. Strategic integration of AI can enhance efficiency, improve user experience, provide a competitive advantage, and prepare the business for future growth.

According to Forbes, the global AI market was valued at $136 billion in 2022, and recent research by Grand View predicts that AI will grow to $1,811 billion by 2030. Gartner predicts that by 2026, over 80% of companies will be using Gen AI API/model or will have deployed a GenAI app in production.

While many companies are experimenting, the number of AI applications entering production is still relatively low, at less than 5% in 2023. That’s because integrating AI into an organisation and architecting it involves overcoming a new set of challenges and acquiring knowledge in emerging technologies.

Building and launching an AI-powered application or feature has numerous challenges, such as accuracy issues resulting from model hallucinations, data security-related challenges, and speed problems caused by slow models. So, how should you go about tackling your AI integration initiative?

Starting the AI Journey: Defining Problems and Prioritising Projects 

Before your organisation embarks on its AI journey, it must start with a clear definition of the problem and a keen understanding of your application’s value to guide the development journey. This understanding is essential to unlocking AI’s potential. Organisations often struggle to choose from multiple potential AI projects, making it challenging to decide which projects to prioritise. It is crucial to evaluate the value that each project will bring compared to the effort required for implementation. Priority should go to projects that offer high value with relatively low effort. Additionally, organisations should prioritise projects that demand significant effort but offer high value, as these are important strategic investments for long-term benefits.

Assessing the Value of AI Projects 

Assessing the value of AI projects can be challenging, but organisations can achieve this by considering various factors. These factors include the number of users who will benefit from the project, the percentage of time users spend on the task, and the amount of time they can save by utilising the AI solution. We should also consider the direct financial benefits resulting from using the AI solution.

Technical execution  

When developing your AI application, you will encounter several challenges. These may include architectural issues in designing the solution, ensuring model accuracy to prevent errors, and addressing concerns related to data privacy, security, and speed. Organisations need to carefully consider the trade-offs between accuracy, speed, cost, and associated risks. Understanding these trade-offs is crucial, as is ensuring that the chosen AI solution aligns with the organisation’s goals and constraints.

Dataset utilisation  

The organisation will need to identify available data sources which they may need to fine-tune and train models. When training and fine-tuning models, organisations need to perform data cleaning and preprocessing to ensure there is no data leakage and that your LLM doesn’t accidentally reveal sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or proprietary algorithms. You will also need to consider whether to collect any new data.

AI’s interaction with APIs

AI and APIs can collaborate to generate powerful experiences, replacing graphical user interfaces (GUIs) with natural language interfaces. This approach enables the development of universal interfaces that interact with multiple APIs. To create this type of experience, it is essential to understand the APIs that the AI must interact with, including their specifications. APIs come in various types and representations, such as RESTful APIs, OpenAPIs, GraphQL APIs, and more. Well-documented APIs tend to perform better when integrated with AI, but AI can also help bridge the gap when documentation is lacking.

Prompt engineering  

Prompt engineering guides generative AI to produce the desired outputs. A prompt is a natural language instruction describing how generative AI should perform. It acts as the interface between human intent and machine output and includes aspects such as Prompting, Zero-Shot Prompting, Few-Shot Prompting, Chain-of-Thought (COT), Tree of Thoughts (TOT) and ReAct (Reason and Act).

LLM generation provides information, guidance, and/or suggestions. Their output doesn’t inherently drive actions, therefore, ReAct Agents can perform actions, for example, calling APIs. ReAct Agents, with the assistance of the model, can execute natural language commands using a collection of tools registered with them. Tools can retrieve data or perform tasks, and they come in different forms, such as functions, APIs and so forth.

Accuracy evaluation and continuous feedback 

It is important to create a dataset for evaluation purposes and select a metric by either using an existing metric or by developing new metrics. Here you can automate the accuracy evaluation and re-evaluate after any changes to confirm that accuracy has not been diminished. It is worth noting that even minor changes to prompts can significantly affect accuracy.

By continuously collecting user feedback you will improve the accuracy of AI outputs. It is important for compliance purposes that you ensure you obtain user consent and follow privacy laws, anonymising sensitive data where appropriate. As you fine-tune models, so the organisation will improve prompts.

Dealing with Slow AI Models 

AI systems that execute complex tasks, require multiple reasoning iterations, and involve invoking multiple APIs that can take a long time to process. Techniques such as caching can be used, but latency might still be high. Prolonged round-trip times can result in user dissatisfaction; therefore, the organisation should think about implementing strategies to improve user experience such as incremental display. This is where you progressively display partial results as AI systems process different APIs, thereby reducing waiting times for final outcomes.

AI is a dynamic ongoing process 

The development of generative AI applications is a dynamic, ongoing process requiring constant learning and adjustment to meet evolving technological trends and user demands.

Every organisation is at a different stage in its AI journey. Some have made significant progress, while others are just getting started. The unique problems each organisation seeks to solve to gain a competitive advantage will take time to address fully. As you progress in your AI journey, you will continue to enhance your products and solutions. At the same time, new AI technologies will emerge, including more accurate and faster models. By integrating these new developments into your products and solutions, you can stay ahead of the curve.

News, Technology

Medallia announces new technology partner programme to unlock innovation and growth for ISVs and GSIs

Medallia has also unveiled Medallia XChange, a marketplace for customers to leverage apps and integrations from partners

Medallia, the global leader in customer and employee experience, today announced the launch of a new technology partner programme that will enable organisations to innovate, build, and increase revenue growth with Medallia.

The new technology partner programme is aimed specifically at independent software vendors (ISVs) and global service integrators (GSIs) who wish to build applications and develop integrations with Medallia’s enterprise experience platform. With this new programme, Medallia technology partners will be empowered to deliver exceptional value to joint customers and unlock significant revenue potential.

Medallia’s partner portal will provide partners with a single source for marketing, sales, development, and training resources needed to go to market easily and achieve rapid success.

“Epsilon is excited to take the first steps towards making our Loyalty solutions and services, which Forrester refers to as, ‘a leader with feature rich technology and well-resourced support’, available to marketers worldwide via the Medallia platform,” said Brad Macdonald, Vice President of Loyalty at Epsilon. “We look forward to utilising Medallia’s new partner tools to develop integrations for marketers seeking to deliver value and create more meaningful and personalised experiences for their customers.”

In addition to the new technology partner programme, Medallia is extending its marketplace, Medallia XChange, to partners. The Medallia Xchange will provide organisations access to an extensive library of curated partner apps and integrations for Medallia customers seeking to unlock new capabilities that transform their customer experiences.

“As the leader in the experience industry, our customers trust us to connect them with industry leading partners. We are proud that Medallia XChange will empower our customers to better deliver on their promises with access to an extensive library of curated apps and integrations,” said Ben Brewer, Chief Revenue Officer at Medallia. “With our personalised approach and commitment to partner experience, we enable Medallia partners to deliver exceptional value to our joint customers faster and Medallia customers with top-tier partners to enhance every step of their experience.”

AI, Education, News, Technology

AI is the new reality…it’s imperative that we give the coming generations the skills they will need not only to survive, but to thrive.

Written by By Dr Rashmi Mantri

For the last decade and more, it has been the conventional wisdom that coders are the new rock stars, with those who are fluent in the language of technology commanding vast salaries and using their skills to create infinite possibilities.

Then along came AI and suddenly the Cassandras of the tech industry were predicting that coders’ days were numbered as new language models proved to be effortlessly capable of writing complete computer programs on their own.

 

But is this gloomy scenario correct? Or is it more likely to be the case that the creative, problem-solving aspect of programming will remain an essentially human endeavour as AI – for the foreseeable future, at least – enables smart people to write more code, faster?

These are some of the questions which will undoubtedly be tossed around during National Coding Week, which is underway now (September 16) and has its primary theme centred around Artificial Intelligence.

 

The annual event will emphasise the importance of coding skills in today’s digital age, whether it’s developing apps, designing websites, analysing data, or automating tasks. It will stress that coding is at the heart of technological innovation.

But it will also be understood by those in the sector that coding is a way of thinking – a logical and measured means of solving problems through design and systems, and a pathway to anticipating issues and removing technological roadblocks.

And, rather than being elbowed aside by AI, those who are adept at, and comfortable in, the language of the internet are likely to become even more important to the future of human progress, providing architectural vision and direction.

 

That is why all societies should be bending their minds towards the best ways to create future workforces which are AI-ready and on board with the journey we are all going to have to make into a future in which technology runs in the veins.

The first step on that journey is clearly to embed educators in the process and make every effort to ensure that AI and technology – obviously including coding, computational thinking and data literacy – are an integral part of the curriculum in schools across the country.

Organisations such as ours have made some small steps in this direction with innovations such as the recent launch of one of the UK’s first online teaching assistants which specialises in homework assistance in mathematics, one of the subjects which is notoriously difficult to make attractive to students.

 

Called Olivia, it’s AI-powered talking avatar of a young woman in a classroom interacts with young learners and answers the questions which are puzzling them, at a time of their own choosing.

Created in conjunction with international developers, Olivia supports and underpins the delivery of Supermaths, the College’s most popular teaching app, and has already attracted an unprecedented number of visits to its website.

The value of AI in education has clearly also been recognised in UK governmental circles, with the announcement at the end of last month (August 28) of a new drive which will train AI to make it more reliable and more useful for teachers in England.

The £4 million project will pool government documents, including curriculum guidance, lesson plans and anonymised pupil assessments, which will then be used by AI companies to train their tools so they generate accurate, high-quality content, such as tailored, creative lesson plans and workbooks.

 

Of course, incorporating AI into education is more than just a technological endeavour – it involves cultivating ethically-aware professionals who will in some ways have to act as the arbiters of the moral and societal impacts of using AI technologies.

As AI systems make decisions and predictions, they can sometimes produce outcomes that raise concerns about bias, fairness, transparency, privacy, security, employability and the shaping of future societies.

There is no doubt that we are entering into a new technological environment, and one with many uncharted waters. It is increasingly imperative that we give the coming generations the tools and the intellectual skills to navigate them.

 

Dr Rashmi Mantri is Managing Director of the British Youth International College. 

 

Business Mergers, Acquisitions & Partnerships, Tech, Technology

Silobreaker expands US reseller programme with ThreatQuotient

Strengthened collaboration to deliver ​unique ​threat insight​,​ ​leveraging​​ ​contextualisation and analysis of unstructured threat data at scale.

London, UK – Security and threat intelligence technology company, Silobreaker, has announced the expansion of its US reseller programme through a strengthened partnership with threat intelligence platform innovator, ThreatQuotient. This collaboration leverages Silobreaker’s vast datasets from open, deep and dark web sources to enrich the ​​ThreatQ Platform, providing organisations with advanced capabilities to contextualise technical threat indicators and analyse unstructured threat information at scale. 

Silobreaker reseller programme expansion 

Building on the success of its existing reseller programme, Silobreaker’s expanded partnership with ThreatQuotient aims to extend its reach and enhance service offerings in the US market. This strategic move underscores Silobreaker’s commitment to working closely with resellers to deliver cutting-edge threat intelligence solutions. 

By integrating Silobreaker’s rich data sources, ThreatQuotient is strengthening the partnership between the two companies, ensuring that users benefit from a seamless and powerful threat intelligence experience. 

Utilising enrichment for enhanced threat intelligence 

The integration ​brings in​ several new features that significantly boost threat intelligence capabilities. On-demand querying allows users to easily access and query Silobreaker’s unequalled dataset of sources using intuitive search terms from the ThreatQ ​​Platform. 

Silobreaker provides powerful insights on threat indicators, drawn from a customisable pool of relevant data, as well as advanced correlation of high-relevance entities from Silobreaker documents, such as malware, threat actors, attack types and more. 

Integration use cases 

The integration supports a variety of key use cases, including threat monitoring across open sources and the deep and dark web, including novel attack methods and campaigns targeting various industries. It also facilitates vulnerability tracking and offers enhanced credential monitoring and indicator enrichment for IPs, domains and subdomains.  

“Our expanded reseller programme with ThreatQuotient underscores our commitment to providing top-tier threat intelligence solutions,” said Kristofer Mansson, CEO of Silobreaker. “The integration of Silobreaker’s capabilities with the ThreatQ ​P​latform not only enhances our collective offerings but also provides organisations with a sharper, more holistic view of potential threats. Together, we enable our partners and customers to detect, analyse, and mitigate risks before they escalate into critical incidents, ensuring they have the crucial insights needed to make proactive, informed decisions to protect their organisations.” 

John Czupak, CEO, ThreatQuotient comments: “Today’s threats are constantly evolving and if we are to remain one step ahead of adversaries we need to share, involve, collaborate, respond, learn and take swift action. Our partnership with Silobreaker enables us to deliver even deeper insights into real world threats in open and dark web sources, so customers can accelerate understanding and harden their defences. These critical insights enable customers to ensure that incident handlers, malware researchers, SOC analysts and investigation leads gain more control, and are able to take the right steps at the right time to better manage risks.” 

For more information, please visit Silobreaker and ThreatQuotient. 

About Silobreaker
Silobreaker is a leading security and threat intelligence technology company, that provides powerful insights on emerging risks and opportunities in near-real time. It automates the collection, aggregation and analysis of data from open and dark web sources in a single platform, allowing intelligence teams to produce and disseminate high-quality, actionable reports in line with priority intelligence requirements (PIRs). This enables global enterprises to make intelligence-led decisions to safeguard their business from cyber, physical and geopolitical threats, mitigate risks and maximise business value.  

Learn more at www.silobreaker.com 

About ThreatQuotientTM  

ThreatQuotient improves security operations by fusing together disparate data sources, tools and teams to accelerate threat detection, investigation and response (TDIR). ThreatQ is the first purpose-built, data-driven threat intelligence platform that helps teams prioritise, automate and collaborate on security incidents; enables more focused decision making; and maximizes limited resources by integrating existing processes and technologies into a unified workspace. The result is reduced noise, clear priority threats, and the ability to automate processes with high fidelity data. ThreatQuotient’s industry leading integration marketplace, data management, orchestration and automation capabilities support multiple use cases including threat intelligence management and sharing, incident response, threat hunting, spear phishing, alert triage and vulnerability management.  

For more information, visit www.threatquotient.com 

 

Media Contact 

Michelle Edge, Eleven Hundred Agency 

T: +44 (0) 20 7688 5202 

E: silobreaker@elevenhundredagency.com 

 

 

AI, Awards, News, Tech

Engine recognised for advanced AI solution by prestigious UK Business Tech Awards

Fast-growing AI company, Engine, has been recognised for its advanced and growing suite of AI solutions by the prestigious UK Business Tech Awards, after being shortlisted for ‘Best AI Innovation’.

Headquartered in London, Engine was created to help SMEs and public sector organisations to take advantage of the opportunities created by rapidly evolving AI technology.

 

Over the last 12 months, it has established a niche in building custom AI solutions known as ‘knowledge engines’, that enable businesses to instantly access the benefits of top-tier natural language AI without exposing their data or having to rely on online information.

Dedicated to celebrating the UK’s finest tech businesses which have added tangible benefits to customer experience, management systems, marketing and sales, data tracking and more, the UK Business Tech Awards was established by leading awards organisers, Don’t Panic Projects.

 

With the awards ceremony set to take place on 19th November 2024 at the Hilton London Bankside, the UK Business Tech Awards is one of the most anticipated events on the business and wider tech industry calendar and will celebrate over 100 finalists from 30+ different categories.

Being shortlisted for ‘Best AI Innovation’ comes at an exciting time for Engine, having recently unveiled is latest AI solution – Bid Writer – which enables businesses to create comprehensive, accurate, compelling responses to match project briefs or bid criteria within a matter of seconds.

 

Kieron White, co-founder and Director of Engine, confirmed: “We launched Engine in 2023 with a clear vision to really help businesses leverage the evolving power of AI –be that by improving operational efficiencies and staff productivity or helping to drive sales and business growth, with our latest solution – Bid Writer.

“We are incredibly proud that our growing suite of AI solutions have already been recognised by such a prestigious accolade as the UK Business Tech Awards and we now look forward to the finalists’ ceremony this November – fingers crossed!”

 

Launched in 2023, Engine is fast becoming the leading and must use AI tool for businesses both UK and worldwide and is on track to accelerate growth by 400% within the next 12 months alone.

 

For more information, visit:

https://www.engine-ai.co.uk/

https://businesstechawards.com/2024-shortlist/

Technology

Posti Group Accelerates Digital Transformation Journey with WSO2

With WSO2 at its core, Posti Group strategically shifted from a postal-centric company to a delivery and fulfilment powerhouse.

London, UK. 10 September 2024 – WSO2​, the leader in digital transformation technology, announced today that Posti Group (Posti), a leading logistics player in the Nordics and Baltics, has selected WSO2 API Manager to deliver an enhanced developer experience, faster time to market and streamline operations. By adopting WSO2 solutions, Posti has consolidated overlapping technologies and streamlined its technological landscape, aligning perfectly with its strategic vision to transform.

Posti is a versatile, modern, and international logistics expert owned by the government of Finland, delivering seamless logistics in the Baltic Sea region. For nearly 400 years, its overriding mission has been to foster connections between people and companies. Today, the company is committed to transforming its operations to better serve its customers in the digital age.

As e-commerce continues to boom, Posti is strategically shifting from a postal-centric company to a customer-focused delivery and fulfilment powerhouse. Recognising the decline in traditional mail volumes, Posti is embracing digital transformation with a robust strategy that includes an overhaul of its API management solution.

The implementation of WSO2 API Manager across Posti’s operations not only provided standardised API management services but has also empowered API product teams to accelerate development and manage APIs from a single platform. WSO2 seamlessly aligns with Posti’s API concept, empowering API product teams to focus on innovation, design and development rather than building technical capabilities.

With WSO2, Posti Group have seen improvements across the board, from development to deployment. Originally struggling with fragmented API management which hindered integration and slowed innovation using WSO2’s streamlined platform services, Posti can now bring products to market more quickly, ensuring a smooth user experience for its customers

“WSO2 API Manager has empowered Posti to establish streamlined API management platform services, playing a critical role in the successful implementation of our API strategy” states Olli-Pekka Riekkinen, Integration Development Lead at Posti Group

Additionally, leveraging the WSO2 Developer Portal, which features a unified API catalogue, has enabled developers to get started faster with clear documentation and built-in testing tools. Enhancing the developer experience has facilitated fast and easy API discovery, implementation and significantly reduced onboarding time.

The unified API management platform has harmonised and modernised technology processes, emphasising an ‘API-first’ mindset which has resulted in enhanced operational efficiency across various areas of the business. With WSO2 at its core, Posti Group has successfully transformed its business. Read the full case study here: https://wso2.com/customers/posti-groups-digital-transformation-journey-with-wso2/

About WSO2

Founded in 2005, WSO2 is the largest independent software vendor providing open-source API management, integration, and identity and access management (IAM) products. WSO2’s products and platforms—including our next-gen internal developer platform, Choreo—empower organisations to leverage the full potential of APIs for secure delivery of digital services and applications, enabling thousands of enterprises in over 90 countries globally to drive their digital transformation journeys. Our open-source, API-first approach frees developers and architects from vendor lock-in, enabling rapid digital product creation. Recognised as a leader by industry analysts, WSO2 has over 800 employees worldwide with offices in Australia, Brazil, Germany, India, Sri Lanka, the UAE, the UK, and the US, with nearly USD100M in annual recurring revenue. Visit https://wso2.com to learn more. Follow WSO2 on LinkedIn and X (Twitter).

Trademarks and registered trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

Data, News, Tech, Technology

Nearly Half of Data Engineers Say Data Quality Issues are ‘Biggest Frustration’

A poll of data engineers has found data quality is still their biggest frustration and a showstopper for delivering impact and value quickly – with almost half ranking it above other common pipeline challenges.

Over 100 data engineers responded to the poll that was published by recently launched data transformation and infrastructure management tool, Pipeliner.

The poll found that almost 1 in 5 engineers find integrations with other systems to be their biggest challenge, while just less than 20 per cent point to performance bottlenecks. Engineers who took part also stated GDPR compliance, poor team cooperation and lack of access and permissions are high on their list of frustrations when carrying out their role.

Speaking on the results of the poll, Xavi Forde, founding engineer of Pipeliner and a data engineer himself, said:

“It’s no secret that data quality continues to be a root of major frustration for many data engineers. Couple this with an increasing number of organisations looking into adopting AI to support enterprise growth – and data engineers are under increasing pressure to ensure data is insight and AI ready.

“We know data is never perfect – but there are absolutely ways engineers can reduce the chances of data being compromised as it moves through the pipeline, and it all starts from having a well-documented pipeline with a complete traceability between your intended data transformation rules and your data transformation code so that no engineer has to spend hours and hours trying to untangle someone else’s badly written sql.”

To support data engineers in tackling some of their most common obstacles, Pipeliner launched its meta-data driven data transformation and infrastructure management tool in July. It takes mapping specification as an input and delivers data pipeline and infrastructure code directly to a data engineers’ GitHub repository, accelerating the development of data lakes, all while enforcing data governance.

With the Pipeliner, an engineer can go from a mapping specification to a live pipeline in a few minutes as opposed to hours if not days. It specialises in bespoke data pipeline design and implementation, enabling organisations to streamline data integration, optimise workflows, and uphold data quality through automated end-to-end pipeline creation.

Talking about the innovation behind Pipeliner, founder, Svetlana Tarnagurskaja, who will be hosting a panel of Great British Data Founders at Big Data LDN, says: “Pipeliner can help you build production-grade complex data transformation pipelines significantly faster – it’s a tool built by engineers for engineers, with users retaining a full control and ownership of their code, which was of paramount importance to us.

“The mission of Pipeliner is to make the build and maintenance of high-quality bespoke data lakes more affordable and accessible for the industry, whether it’s a small team in a charity sector or an established engineering team under a pressure of unlocking cost-savings in a large enterprise. Pipeliner automates the most-time consuming part of infrastructure and data transformation code  creation to remove bottlenecks, increases productivity and reduces cloud costs. It could save engineers days, even weeks of time.”

Pipeliner works through a typical three stage process:

  • Define – analysts or engineers define source to target transformation logic and data structures that need to be created, it is captured in a mapping specification
  • Generate –  Pipeliner takes the mapping specification as an input and generates the ETL jobs and infrastructure code.
  • Deploy –  Pipeliner delivers fully editable code straight to the Git repo of your choice, ready to be deployed, allowing the engineering team to retain full control of their code.

Backed by a team of experienced data engineers and leveraging cutting-edge technology, Pipeliner empowers businesses to extract actionable insights, make informed decisions, and foster growth through efficient data management.