AI skills Archives - AiThority

Amesite Offering Teacher Training on AI Technology in New Contract With Scottsdale Unified School District

PR Newswire — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 09:29:45 +0000

Amesite Inc., a leading artificial intelligence software company offering a cloud-based learning platform for business and education markets, announced that it will be collaborating with Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) to provide opportunities for teacher training on use of AI technology in a new contract.

The teacher training will focus on providing comprehensive instruction on use of AI. It will integrate teacher feedback, leveraging Amesite’s cutting-edge AI technology to enhance collaboration and communication.

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Dr. Ann Marie Sastry, CEO of Amesite, commented, “Amesite is proud to partner with SUSD to advance AI practices for teachers. Our cutting-edge solution will equip educators with vital AI skills, paving the way for nationwide adoption. This marks a significant step in our mission to innovate teaching and learning, and we’re ready to bring other districts on board as we scale up.”

Scott Menzel, Superintendent of Scottsdale Unified School District, also shared his thoughts on this partnership. “We are committed to making sure that our teachers have all of the support they need to deploy AI-enhanced methods safely and effectively. Piloting Amesite’s state-of-the-art AI platform will enable us to implement more dynamic and effective teaching methods. This work is a testament to our ongoing commitment to investing in our educators, who are the cornerstone of our students’ success.”

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Scottsdale Unified School District, serving over 22,000 students across 29 campuses, is a premier educational institution recognized for its innovative programs and commitment to academic excellence. This partnership with Amesite aims to set a new standard in educational training, further enriching the learning environment for both teachers and students alike.

Founded in 1896, SUSD has a long-standing tradition of educational excellence, adapting over the years to meet the evolving needs of its community. This partnership with Amesite is another step in its continuous pursuit of providing the best educational opportunities and outcomes.

[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]

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AiThority Interview with Dave Bottoms, VP of Product at Upwork

Sudipto Ghosh — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 13:09:21 +0000

Hi Dave, please tell us a little bit about your role at Upwork. How do you work with AI and other intelligent technologies to build workplace tools?

As GM of Marketplace and VP of Product at Upwork, I oversee the overall product strategy and execution of Upwork’s marketplace, connecting talent and clients all over the world. I lead multiple teams responsible for delivering value to clients who rely on Upwork’s global work marketplace to find and hire the best talent. While we are still in the early days, the rapid rate of change ushered in by Generative AI is certainly impacting both the ways we work to build products, as well as the very products we are building for our customers.

We very much see generative AI as the newest capability in our product development toolkit, and a massive force multiplier for both businesses and talent who come to our marketplace to find and get work done. One of our most ambitious goals is to foster the most AI-empowered independent talent in the world.

As announced on November 6, we are providing both the best third- and first-party tools and educational resources to enable talent to harness the power of generative AI to work smarter, and ultimately get more done. One example of this is the launch of Upwork Chat Pro, a new GPT-4-powered app currently live as a limited-release beta and developed by our Upwork Labs team to allow professionals to start and complete work faster and more effectively.

How has Upwork evolved in the GPT era? What are your key offerings in the AI space?

At Upwork, we’re seeing firsthand the transformative impact generative AI is having on professionals and companies alike, supercharging productivity and efficiency for talent and businesses that need to get mission-critical work done.

AI is the fastest-growing category on our platform this year. Our goal is to become the preeminent destination for AI-related talent and work, while also improving the efficiency, effectiveness, and speed to match on our platform through improvements to our core product experiences and capabilities.

We first welcomed the era of generative AI at Upwork with the launch of the AI Services hub, a singular destination for customers to source the AI talent they need, and get matched with AI-powered solutions and expert talent across virtually every category of work. We also aim to ensure talent on Upwork has access to the most modern generative AI tools to dramatically increase productivity and quality of work. The AI Services hub has seen a 10x increase in average monthly visitors since it debuted in July.

Recently, we built on our offerings with the announcement of an extension of the hub with a new suite of generative AI apps, offers and educational content specially designed for talent this week.

Could you tell us more about your latest generative AI offerings? How do you differentiate your AI apps in the education marketplace?

As I shared above, we introduced a new set of AI apps and offers, alongside new educational content so that independent talent on Upwork can harness the power of generative AI to supercharge their productivity and improve the quality of their work.

Additionally, we launched limited access to Upwork Chat Pro, a new generative AI application embedded directly on Upwork’s platform and powered by GPT-4, developed to allow independent professionals to start and complete work faster and more effectively.

Upwork’s unique position as a two-sided marketplace allows us to introduce our global talent pool to a comprehensive array of best-of-breed AI-based tools and resources. We are partnering with industry-leading developers like Adobe, Amazon, ClickUp, and Miro, that have incorporated Gen AI into their products.

In making these tools available for trial or discount, we are ensuring that our talented professionals have every opportunity to leverage AI tools to do their best work.

In addition to offering these apps to independent talent, our learning center, Upwork Academy, is adding educational content in the new AI Education Library, including AI-related courses, AI learning paths that cover the basics of AI, as well as mini courses. It’s this combination of apps, tools and educational resources for talent that will help upskill their capabilities and leverage the power of generative AI so they stay competitive and become more productive.

What has been your most memorable experience related to Generative AI capabilities in 2023?

Upwork has been fueled by cutting-edge technologies since the company started more than 20 years ago.

We were founded on the idea that technology could break down barriers and borders and bring people together to unleash their uniquely human potential to work together in ways made possible by the technological advances of the last few decades.

Think about the most significant technology shifts in our lifetime – from personal computers to the Web, mobile devices, and cloud computing as the foundational building blocks underlying our own work marketplace.

Today, we’re undergoing another seismic shift with the advent of generative AI and how it will directly impact the future of work. I am particularly excited about the transformative possibilities already unfolding for professionals and businesses tapping into generative AI.

It’s a game-changer for work, and for Upwork, as we seek to help so many professionals and companies embrace this moment of opportunity to deliver major critical business outcomes and ultimately work smarter and more efficiently. It’s truly an awesome and memorable experience to be at a company that is working tirelessly towards empowering millions of professionals to embrace the power of generative AI to continuously serve their respective customers.

Thank you, Dave! That was fun and we hope to see you back on AiThority.com soon.

About Dave Bottoms
About Upwork

About Dave Bottoms

Dave Bottoms leads Upwork’s Marketplace organization, a global team responsible for the core Talent Marketplace, search & discovery, ads & monetization, core mobile experiences, as well as new product innovation and analytics.

About Upwork

Upwork is the world’s largest work marketplace that connects businesses with independent talent from across the globe. We serve everyone from one-person startups to large, Fortune 100 enterprises with a powerful, trust-driven platform that enables companies and talent to work together in new ways that unlock their potential. Our talent community earned over $3.8 billion on Upwork in 2022 across more than 10,000 skills in categories including website & app development, creative & design, customer support, finance & accounting, consulting, and operations.

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AiThority Interview with Shagun Malhotra, Founder, SkyStem

AIT Staff Writer — Sat, 25 Nov 2023 03:41:25 +0000

Hi Shagun, welcome to our AiThority Interview Series. Please tell us about your journey in the tech industry so far.

I was educated in the United States and Switzerland and had briefly contemplated pursuing a career in fashion. I started my career in the travel and hospitality industry and ultimately fell in love with the world of audit, controls, and the accounting process.

Over the course of working in this industry, I knew firsthand the multitude of problems and risks accountants faced when employing manual methods to close the books and complete account reconciliations. Whether it’s a large corporation or a small company, closing and reconciling is part of the routine function in the accounting department. Although not the most glamorous part of accounting, it is the last line of defense to identify errors and/or fraud and hence a critical organizational process. I also realized that existing platforms that have automation in this area are priced quite high, and often beyond reach for mid-sized companies.

Mid-sized companies are often operationally complex, and can benefit from automation during the close, but may lack the excess capacity and resources to make a large investment and undergo a multi-month implementation. This realization became the spark that compelled me to found SkyStem, a SaaS provider that aimed to create an affordably priced solution to help automate month-end closes and reconciliations.

SkyStem’s flagship solution, ART, was brought to the market shortly after. ART’s main purpose is to modernize the month-end close and reconciliation process through automation. It was designed to meet four criteria: robust in features, easy to use, fast to implement, and reasonably priced. SkyStem’s core belief is that software should be robust, but never break the bank or cause unnecessary business disruption.

We have a heavy financial services presence in our customer roster which is where we got our start but have expanded into a variety of industries since then. We service public and private companies mostly in the mid-size space. We are obsessed with customer service and have enjoyed building out the product to feed into what customers really need. We have users in over 15 countries and look forward to more innovation in our product and in the industry.

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What book inspired you through your entrepreneurial journey?

I read a lot of books during the initial creation of SkyStem, but the book that stands out the most is “The Founders Dilemma” by Noah Wasserman. It was specifically relevant due to the tech nature of our business.

Founders often struggle with the best course to take in terms of investment, how to get co-founders, equity distribution etc. To take money or not to take money was personally my biggest dilemma. This book objectively discusses the pros and cons of taking outside capital. There is no right answer but there is an answer that feels right for an individual and the type of business they are pursuing.

This book covers all major milestones that occur during the lifecycle of a company and it was a great go-to book to remind yourself what options there are and how to navigate through that.

What inspired you to start Skystem and what were the main challenges you faced?

SkyStem began with a $4 billion dollar problem. I discovered broken internal controls while consulting at a troubled financial services giant, resulting in the balance sheet of over 10,000 accounts being off by billions of dollars.

This didn’t just happen overnight. Years of manual inefficiencies, the absence of consistent processes, and the lack of a centralized repository for spreadsheets and documentation created the monster. As a CPA and CIA, I experienced this situation and its recurring issues from both sides. I had empathy for accountants, understanding they were often working late nights with limited resources, and sympathized with auditors, who needed to hold companies accountable to the public.

The business spent a full year and millions of dollars fixing a mess that could have been prevented. Life would have been so different if there had been automation infused in this process. I realized that even large companies were grappling with manual processes despite having the resources. It made me think of how inaccessible automation was to those who didn’t have big budgets and how much they could benefit. Shortly thereafter, SkyStem’s flagship solution, ART, was born.

ART is a B2B SaaS product developed to help mid-market companies automate and streamline their month-end close. It was made with affordability and customer service as pillars of its ethos.

According to a recent industry study, financial executives waste 21.8 hours a week on repetitive tasks, but when you automate them, you set up your employees for more strategic work.

How do you see automation capabilities solving the productivity issues in the financial services industry?

Automation is a key to survival for companies. It has become a necessity rather than a nice to have and now provides a competitive edge. We work in the accounting space for month-end close automation but the benefits for automation in any area would provide similar benefits.

Here are some key benefits of adopting software/automation:

Streamline processes and create disciplined workflows
Make it easier to review results for accuracy
Embedded automation within reports means that they can be generated quickly and easily, eliminating the need to manually enter data and create them
Reduce the risk of error or miscommunication

Companies are less prone to data loss due to power outages, as cloud-based systems automatically store data securely. Additional benefits include:

Saves time spent on manual tasks, writing emails, following up
Helps to reduce costs by eliminating the need to hire additional staff
Obtains real-time information as it happens

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What are the new skills required to thrive in the evolving financial landscape in the Generative AI era?

Changes in customer expectations, and shifts in regulatory environments, demand a set of skills that go beyond traditional financial skills. Here are the top 3 skills that I believe could be a great add-on to traditional financial skills.

Data Analytics and Data Science – Skills in data analysis, including proficiency in data visualization, statistical analysis, and machine learning, are increasingly valuable. Financial professionals who can extract insights from large datasets are in high demand.

Digital Literacy – A strong understanding of digital tools, software, and platforms is crucial. This includes proficiency in using financial software, understanding blockchain technology, and navigating digital banking systems.

Coding and Programming – Basic programming skills, particularly in languages like Python and R, can be highly beneficial. They enable financial professionals to automate tasks, build financial models, and work with data more effectively.

Could you please throw some light on the modern digital literacy tools?

With so many digital literacy tools, we can take control of our own education for a myriad of topics without having to enroll in a college/school, etc. It’s been a boon in helping people stay connected and up to date with information that they need to enhance their skills and pursue all types of careers.

Modern digital literacy tools cater to a wide range of skill levels and areas of interest. Whether you’re a beginner looking to improve basic computer skills or an advanced learner seeking to develop coding proficiency, there are resources available to help you enhance your digital literacy. Education via these tools has been game-changing for any type of learning.

Although there are countless numbers of portals and tools in the market a few to note are as follows:

Udemy – Features a diverse collection of courses on digital literacy, computer basics, and software applications.
Coursera – Offers a wide range of online courses, including digital literacy and technology-related topics.
Online Webinars and Workshops – Many organizations and institutions host webinars and workshops on various digital topics.
Khan Academy – Offers courses in computer programming, computer science, and mathematics.

Please share your thoughts on the organic and inorganic growth marketing strategies in the tech domain for SkyStem.

For now, we have focused most of our efforts on organic growth. We are a customer-funded company and are very proud of that. Our organic strategies have focused on 2 areas primarily:

Product Development – we continue to build out our product by adding features and modules that continue to help accounting teams. Much of our roadmap is determined by our customers as we proactively solicit feedback and have made it a company goal to have at least 30% of our build comprise customer requests.
Market Expansion – Starting last year we have seen an increase in international inbound inquiries. And although we have users in over 15 countries, we have not proactively targeted markets outside the US. Recently, we signed a large deal with a company headquartered in the Netherlands and this will begin our journey in the geographical expansion of SkyStem.

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What are your predictions for the future of FinTech?

Fintech is a hot and lucrative space so there is bound to be a variety of growth, either directly or tangentially in this industry. The main prediction that seems imminent is the introduction and enhancement on Fintech products to take them further in helping humans do their jobs. This will definitely impact the products that SkyStem develops.

Other high level predictions include things like –

Moving away from traditional banking to digital banking only
AI-powered advisors (Robo-Advisors) that will be able to guide users through investment decisions
Digital wallets and mobile payments will continue to replace cash even further
There will be more banked people all over the world

With the advent of the above, there will be a need for more regulation and oversight with which will come different types of jobs and careers.

Thank you, Shagun! That was fun and we hope to see you back on AiThority.com soon.

About Shagun
About SkyStem

About Shagun

Shagun is the visionary behind the product and user experience. A CPA, CIA and an experienced auditor and process consultant, she designed ART for accountants. Having gone through the broken and inefficient process various times over, she believed there was a more efficient and user-friendly way to do reconciliations.

Being process-focused, Shagun injected process within ART to deliver a product that is highly integrated and process-centric.

Shagun started her career in public accounting and has worked in Fortune 100 companies such as Marriott and Freddie Mac. Her work focused primarily on internal controls and risk mitigation in both, the international and domestic arenas. She has been a speaker for Fast Trac – a Kauffman Foundation program and is very passionate about entrepreneurship.

About SkyStem

Headquartered in the heart of New York City, SkyStem delivers a powerful close and account reconciliation application for organizations seeking to streamline their financial processes. The company’s flagship solution, ART, is an enterprise technology that helps CFOs and Controllers shorten the month-end close and the time to issue financials by automating balance sheet reconciliations, managing month-end tasks, and providing insightful reporting. The web-based solution streamlines and eliminates up to 90% of manual activities while strengthening internal controls and corporate governance.

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Quantiphi Achieves Elite Tier Partner Status with Snowflake, Furthering Data Driven Decision Making with AI Innovations

PR Newswire — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 17:06:06 +0000

Quantiphi, an AI-first digital engineering company, announced that it has achieved Elite tier partner status from Snowflake, the Data Cloud company. As an Elite tier partner, Quantiphi can accelerate the digital transformation of its joint customers who can fully leverage the performance, flexibility and near-infinite scalability of the Snowflake Data Cloud.

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In the last few years, Quantiphi expanded its Snowflake operations globally, drove wider customer adoption, and delivered developments and innovations that enabled customers to maximize and mobilize their data using the Snowflake Data Cloud. As an Elite partner, Quantiphi will continue to build momentum and expand its offerings on Snowflake, specifically with capabilities using Snowpark, Snowflake’s libraries and runtimes to securely deploy and process non-SQL code such as Python. Quantiphi’s partnership with Snowflake and expertise in Snowpark will enable clients to garner greater value from their data investments using Machine Learning and AI to drive real business outcomes.

“We are thrilled to be recognized as an Elite partner of Snowflake,” said Bhaskar Kalita, Global Head of Financial Services and Insurance and Executive Sponsor, Snowflake Alliance at Quantiphi. “This tier up reflects our unwavering dedication to helping our clients harness the power of Snowflake’s cutting-edge technology. As an Elite partner, Quantiphi will continue to work closely with Snowflake to explore new opportunities, provide comprehensive support, and stay ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving data landscape.”

“Our team is committed to delivering exceptional results and driving our clients’ success through our expertise of the Snowflake Data Cloud and our proficiency in leveraging Snowpark’s capabilities. We are particularly excited about the integration of Snowpark, as it opens up new possibilities for our clients to accelerate AI-powered innovation and gain valuable insights from their data” said Pronoy Roy who leads the Snowflake alliance for Quantiphi.

Quantiphi’s Snowflake alliance is supported by a dedicated team of over 115+ SnowPro Core, Advanced Architect, and Snowflake Sales certified professionals. The large pool of certified Snowflake experts have worked on over ten wins in the last six months and have actively collaborated with the Snowflake team to help customers thrive in a data-intensive, highly regulated, and competitive environment. Last year, Quantiphi was also present at the biggest data cloud event – Snowflake Summit in Vegas, Snowflake’s Data Cloud World Tour in Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi locations to meet and help enterprise customers unlock new ways to tackle the most critical data initiatives.

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“At Snowflake, we are committed to building a vibrant ecosystem of partners who share our vision of transforming the way businesses use data. Snowflake’s partnership with Quantiphi has been instrumental in helping our joint customers realize the full potential of our platform.

As leading enterprises across the world take AI mainstream- in order to solve complex business challenges, we are excited about our partnership with Quantiphi, with their deep data and AI skills.

We congratulate Quantiphi on achieving Elite partnership status and look forward to leveraging their deep expertise in AI/ML, data engineering, and analytics to drive innovation and value for our customers,” said Dhiraj Narang, Director, Partnerships, Snowflake India.

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[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]

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Workera Introduces the World’s First Skills Assessments for Generative AI

PR Newswire — Fri, 26 May 2023 11:35:43 +0000

Series B startup Workera announces the release of its generative AI assessments to test, rate and develop the skills of this cutting-edge technology in the contemporary workforce. Over 1,000 users have already signed up to take the new assessments.

Assessing a workforce’s skills allows organizations to understand their employees’ strengths and weaknesses in working with AI, and to utilize AI capabilities optimally. By identifying and understanding skill gaps and training needs, leaders can design targeted training programs that upskill their workforce, keeping them competitive in the rapidly-evolving AI landscape.

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Having a workforce proficient in using AI improves decision making and fosters better collaboration between humans and AI systems. Measuring a workforce’s skills in using generative AI can help organizations ensure responsible AI usage, identify potential risks, and ensure that employees are following ethical guidelines and best practices.

Generative AI will play an important role in shaping the future workforce – increasing productivity in many careers,” says Kian Katanforoosh, CEO and co-founder of Workera. “It used to take years to adopt a new technology shift, but today is different. Our teams at Workera have worked tirelessly to allow people to measure, understand, and close their skills gaps in Generative AI.”

Workera’s new assessments cover three distinct, core skill areas – what Workera calls ‘domains’ – inside which are many more specific skills. The first domains to be assessed in generative AI are:

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ChatGPT which gauges a deeper understanding of essential generative AI skills, including prompting, use cases, and optimization.

Generative AI, which covers foundational, non-technical concepts of generative AI such as how GenAI systems work, real-world application, and ethical considerations.

LLMs which evaluates technical knowledge of Large Language Models, assessing the ability of individuals to work with and optimize the performance of these systems.

Says Kian: “Our new suite of Generative AI assessments is the most comprehensive GenAI skills assessment in the market, measuring skills from the fundamentals of large language models, to prompt engineering, business specific-use cases and responsible deployment. It is available for both technical and non-technical audiences. Our psychometricians are also establishing skills benchmarks that will be available soon.”

[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]

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HackerRank Research Finds Generative AI Changing How Developers Code–and How Companies Hire Developers

PR Newswire — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 10:59:25 +0000

HackerRank, the developer skills company,released a new report on the state of AI-related coding skills and found that the nature of a developer’s work is quickly evolving to keep up with advancements in Artificial Intelligence. As a result, how companies find, hire and upskill developers must also change to match this emerging reality.

HackerRank surveyed more than 42,000 global developers in February and March 2023 and analyzed recent technical hiring data from HackerRank’s skill assessment platform. Of survey respondents, 82% of developers believe AI will redefine the future of coding and software development, with 75% of developers adjusting their skills in anticipation of this seismic shift.

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“We’ve entered an AI revolution that is poised to change the very nature of what it means to be a developer and write code,” said Vivek Ravisankar, co-founder and CEO at HackerRank. “I see the result of this revolution as faster innovation than ever before, the democratization of development and expanded opportunities for developer creativity. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

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The report found that developers and employers alike are racing to embrace artificial intelligence in the workplace. Access to AI assistants will transform key elements of development work—automating many repetitive or tedious tasks and creating space for more abstract thinking and creative problem-solving.

“AI is set to become a key part of developer workflows, with the rise of AI assistants like GitHub Copilot and all-purpose tools such as ChatGPT,” said Ankit Arya, Principal Product Manager, AI at HackerRank. “Personally, I use ChatGPT for retrieving information or code snippets while coding, and I find it way more efficient than traditional search engines. AI’s potential lies in augmenting developers’ skills rather than replacing them.”

Uptick in Demand for AI Skill Sets
For employers, there’s emerging pressure to find, hire and nurture teams with the technical skills needed to fuel innovation and business opportunities unlocked by advancements in AI. HackerRank’s developer skills assessments are critical to interviewing and validating technical talent, and the report found that the creation of new assessments with AI-related questions has increased by 81% since ChatGPT’s public launch in November 2022. Test creations are a good indicator of business interest, and that usage increase suggests a surging interest in hiring for AI-centered skill sets.

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The report also uncovered a gap between the AI skills companies need and the skills they’re currently testing in potential hires. HackerRank used machine learning to extract skill requirements from tens of thousands of job descriptions and found the most in-demand skills for AI-related roles were machine learning, Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow, deep learning, and AWS. Companies, however, continue testing for more general and conceptual topics like problem-solving and statistics.

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[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]

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Fraction Rides ChatGPT Wave and Hits $2 Million ARR

PR Newswire — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 13:46:38 +0000

Fraction, a leading platform for fractional software developer services, has doubled its annual recurring revenue to $2 million just three months after hitting its $1 million ARR milestone in January. Fraction attributes its success to the emerging demand for fractional developers with generative AI expertise.

“We’ve seen growing demand for AI skills from our clients,” said Fraction CEO Praveen Ghanta, as reported by CNBC. “Now we’re seeing it appear on developers’ resumes as a skill.” The emergence of generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion has led to growing demand from technology firms looking for engineers with AI skills. “We have a number of fractional developers who are experts at integrating with LLMs (large language models like ChatGPT), so they are capable of driving our AI-engagements and immediately delivering value,” said Alyssia Maluda, Head of Developer Relations at Fraction.

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Fraction’s developers leverage their prompt engineering experience to know what inputs produce the best-generated result. “We are seeing the best results when developers chain multiple requests to LLMs together, or when they use the output of ChatGPT as the input to Dall-E – learning how to integrate these technologies has become an imperative skill in leveraging the full power of AI,” said Ghanta.

Fraction’s ability to tap into a larger talent pool to find niche skills like AI has helped the company reach a new milestone of $2 million in ARR just three months after surpassed seven figures in annual run-rate revenue. “Doubling our ARR in a short period of time has reinforced that fractional work is not only possible, but it’s the best talent solution for companies looking to use ChatGPT and ML while staying capital efficient,” said Jeffrey Baker, Head of Sales at Fraction.

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Founded in July 2022, Fraction helps startups and growing companies access the best developers in the United States by hiring them in long-term, part-time (“fractional”) positions. Fraction guarantees success by including project management, product management, and software architecture guidance as part of every engagement. Fraction combines the skill of 100% US-based senior developers with this delivery model to outperform offshore, nearshore, and domestic outsourcing options on a price-performance basis.

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[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]

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Fastfutures Leads With the Uk’s First Generative AI Skills Bootcamp

AIT News Desk — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 11:03:23 +0000

FastFutures, powered by Avado, launches the UK’s first Generative AI Skills Bootcamp. Participants will be the first to undergo in-depth training on how to harness the power of Generative AI tools to radically improve their performance and productivity.

The bootcamp offers organizations seeking to implement game-changing Gen-AI technologies (Chat GPT, Dall-E 2 and more) at a fast pace to upskill their workforce and increase overall business productivity and competitiveness at scale. The bootcamp will provide training across multiple business functions, use cases and practical applications to unlock potential of this latest advance in technology for the UK’s workforce.

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Along with the launch of the Bootcamp, Avado is adding Generative-AI modules to its existing training including its portfolio of Data & Digital Apprenticeships & Bootcamps, and Avado’s Squared and CIPD courses. FastFutures is also excited to announce the development of a virtual coaching app based on Chat GPT and trained on its unique learning materials and delivery practice, which will be available in beta to select group of apprentices in mid-Feb 2023.

To celebrate the launch of Generative-AI training, FastFutures is hosting a workshop for senior leaders on Generative-AI, its use cases include increasing the pace of execution, reduce costs, legal and ethical considerations involved, and how to move fast with iteration whilst navigating any potential risks.

“This is not a drill”, says Lee Arthur, CEO of Avado. “Generative AI is the most transformative thing in business since the internet. A solid understanding of this is mandatory for leaders and organizations to thrive and not be left behind by the competition. For the UK economy it creates the opportunity to move to inconceivable levels of GDP growth, 6-10% sounds fantasy, but is not”.

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“Generative AI is a genuine game changer for digital workers, and especially so in marketing. Sadly, most people are still only scratching the surface of what this technological leapfrog can bring to organisations, which is why we have put this intensive bootcamp together. By the time someone finishes this programme, they will be ready to propel an organisation’s marketing efforts forward” shared Fabrizio Conrado, Director of AI & Technology at Avado, the organisation behind the FastFutures programmes.

“Everyone is talking about ChatGPT and Midjourney, but no one seems to be able to relate this to business. This FastFutures programme does exactly that: it digs deeper and demystifies the technology, highlighting very tangible use cases that can be implemented in large organisations today, and providing the right context from both a risk and a legal point of view,” commented Rob Shilton CTO at Blenheim Chalcot, the UK’s leading venture builder.

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Potential Role of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Employee Experience Management

AIT Staff Writer — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 13:33:22 +0000

A decade ago, no one could have envisioned (even remotely), how AI was going to ferociously conquer and change the dynamics of the tech world. In layman’s language, the singularly most potent and enticing reality today in the tech landscape (and most likely the future as well), is machine with brains, or Artificial Intelligence as it is most commonly referred to as. By all means, AI and ML tools are powerfully soaring, empowering one company, one employee at a time.

Today, we are emphasizing on the marvels of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, their different tools, and the enormous impact in employee experience management. Let’s start by asking the most basic questions. What is every company’s vision/goal?

How to keep their employees excited and productive at the same time? The answer is simple– to evolve, excel, and rule the roost. And to realize this humble yet passionate dream, companies must invest in keeping their employees not just happy and satisfied, but also inspired to upskill, grow and be a better asset to the company.

What Are AI Tools Doing For Companies

In the current scenario, post the pandemic to be more precise, organizations are facing the highest attrition rate ever. Employees as well as employers are mired in a vicious circle of robotic feedback, predictable appraisal conversation, attrition and onboarding. The questions that most companies are grappling with are:

How to retain employees?
How to reduce attrition?
How to empower employees better?
How to identify training courses to upskill the employees?

Several corporate behemoths including Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Barclays, and Walmart are heavily relying on AI inputs to gauge employee experience and finding innovative ways to enhance the way employee engagement works. Also, one of the reasons why AI has smoothly worked for the aforementioned companies is its ability to customize according to the business needs of different companies.

It would interest you to know that Google uses AI software to record its employee’s interactions. This software enlightens the company to understand and assess how satisfied/dissatisfied their employees are.

What Researches Say About The New Age Tools for Employee Experience Management

Recently, according to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management, roughly 20-25% of companies imbibe AI related tools in their system to efficiently manage their HR-related activities like recruitment and hiring, onboarding, performance management, learning and development opportunities, productivity monitoring etc.

How AI Helps To Evaluate The Efficacy Of Employee Engagement

Armed with a host of innovative, high-end features like analytics, coding programs, and algorithms, Artificial intelligence can identify the real-time productivity and performance of employees.
With practically no human biases or any kinds of prejudice, AI, can, in a very brutally honest way, help companies with resolutions and transparent employee feedback.
AI, in a very unassuming way, helps to create a very diverse work culture and work environment.
Some AI tools also help in personalizing employee incentives based on personality analysis.

How AI and Machine Learning Tools Contribute in Employee Experience Management?

A terminology that all companies are earnestly incorporating in their employee engagement system is AI and machine learning. Let’s ask the basic question here – what are ML and AI tools and how exactly do they contribute in encouraging and inspiring the employees of an organization.

ML and AI tools are magnificent, futuristic tools that empower organizations to put an automated process in place to not just streamline a variety of processes like the hiring process, performance process etc, but also predict how an employee will perform in the future purely based on their behavioral patterns, gestures.

Following are a few points that can help to decipher the vivid nuances of AI and machine learning and how they are effectively incorporated by different organizations.

Employee Performance Evaluation

AI tools such as Performance Journal boast of a 360-degree appraisal process that primarily executes automated reviews with a holistic approach. AI amalgamates pulse-surveys and real-time feedback to determine an employee’s skill-set and strengths and offer a transparent review. Additionally, AI can help the employee identify areas of improvement and suggest appropriate learning courses.

Tailor Made Training And Development Programs

One of the most crucial aspects of employee experience management is offering customized learning and development courses and offering opportunities to constantly enhance their knowledge and keeps the dedication intact.

Employee Onboarding

Usually, onboarding processes are lengthy and tedious and require a special kind of module to simply the process for the new hires or new joiners. With AI tools, it is easier for the hiring managers to see through the facial recognition and asses the different personality traits like emotional intelligence and cognitive capabilities. This particular machine learning process assists organizations to match the right candidate with the right role.

With the most accountable, transparent and logical reasoning, it is safe to assume that the AI and army of ML, the liveliest and innovative tools the world has witnessed, have refurbished the way an organization looks at its employees and do business.

[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]

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IBM Acquires Dialexa to Speed Digital Innovation

AIT News Desk — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 08:25:01 +0000

Dialexa’s leading digital product engineering consulting services will enhance IBM’s hybrid cloud and AI capabilities, accelerate growth for clients

IBM announced plans to acquire Dialexa, a leading U.S. digital product engineering services firm, to help companies drive innovation and achieve their digital growth agendas. The acquisition is expected to deepen IBM’s product engineering expertise and provide end-to-end digital transformation services for clients.

Dialexa will be the sixth acquisition IBM has made in 2022, further bolstering the company’s hybrid cloud and AI skills and capabilities. Since Arvind Krishna became CEO in April 2020, IBM has acquired more than 25 companies. Thirteen of those acquisitions, including Dialexa, have been in IBM Consulting. Today’s news builds upon IBM Consulting’s prior acquisitions, including Neudesic, Sentaca, Nordcloud and Taos.

The acquisition of Dialexa will be IBM Consulting’s first in the fast-growing digital product engineering services market, which is estimated to reach $700 billion by 2026¹. Upon close, Dialexa will join IBM Consulting, spearheading IBM’s digital product engineering services presence in the Americas.

“In this digital era, clients are looking for the right mix of high-quality products to build new revenue streams and improve topline growth,” said John Granger, Senior Vice President, IBM Consulting. “Dialexa’s product engineering expertise, combined with IBM’s hybrid cloud and business transformation offerings, will help our clients turn concepts into differentiated product portfolios that accelerate growth.”

Founded in 2010, Dialexa delivers a suite of digital product engineering services, helping organizations create transformative products to drive business outcomes. Its multi-disciplinary and highly skilled team of 300 product managers, designers, full-stack engineers and data scientists, based in Dallas and Chicago, advise and create custom, commercial-grade digital products for clients such as Deere & Company, Pizza Hut US, and Toyota Motor North America. Dialexa has deep experience delivering end-to-end digital product engineering services consisting of strategy, design, build, launch, and optimization services across cloud platforms including AWS and Microsoft Azure.

“Digital product engineering represents the tip of the spear for competitive advantage,” said Scott Harper, CEO and Co-Founder, Dialexa. “IBM and Dialexa’s shared vision for delivering industry-defining digital products could be a game changer. We are thrilled to become part of one of the world’s most iconic companies to continue to scale and grow our global client relationships in this rapidly growing market.”

“The Dialexa team has been an outstanding partner for us in deepening our product thinking and assisting in our design practice on some of our key digital initiatives. It is rare to find a partner with such a strong combination of great thought partnership and deep execution capabilities,” said Chuck Rhoades, Chief Technology Officer, Pizza Hut US. “We’re excited about the possibilities of bringing these two companies together.”

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year and is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearances. Financial details were not disclosed.

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[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]

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