DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ The dollar's dominance on the world stage isn't going away. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The move makes sense, given Russia's growing status as a pariah state, but it also highlights a push to unseat the dollar as a dominant force in global trade. But to strategists at the Carson Group, a scenario where the dollar isn't the world's primary reserve currency simply isn't in the cards in the near future. Are you convinced that the dollar won't lose its status as a dominant global reserve currency? Some companies in this batch of oil stocks have upsides of up to 180%, according to strategists at Bank of America. An expert from the World Gold Council pointed out that history says gold performs well in a recession.

☆ Generative AI Tools Use Custom Data to Power More Business Functions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Adobe’s Amit Ahuja, left, Anjul Bhambhri, center, and Ely Greenfield discuss generative AI at the Adobe Summit last week. Business software makers in financial management, design and other areas are rolling out generative artificial intelligence tools that pack troves of industry-specific data into customized applications, aiming for an edge in an already crowded market. By leveraging data gathered from specific business functions—in some cases stockpiled from decades of commercial use—software firms can offer AI tools fine-tuned for distinct applications, industry analysts said. They can also keep underlying algorithms free of extraneous data scraped online from unknown sources, which can produce unreliable results, they said.

☆ A.I. could drive $7 trillion in global growth in 10 years, Goldman estimates. Here's how to play it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Within that, generative AI has a total addressable market of $150 billion, Goldman said. We believe Generative AI can streamline business workflows, automate routine tasks and give rise to a new generation of business applications," Goldman analysts wrote in a recent research report. But generative AI is able to produce new content such as text, video, images or computer code — putting it a step ahead. "Generative AI tools have far-reaching implications across industries, from enterprise software to healthcare, financial services and more," Goldman said. With the tech giants already incorporating it into their products, Goldman sees generative AI boosting sales, productivity and product innovation.

☆ Microsoft Adds the Tech Behind ChatGPT to Its Business Software
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Tom Dotan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Microsoft Corp. is infusing its popular workplace software with the technology behind the viral chatbot ChatGPT, upgrading PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook with new abilities in its latest move to try to stay ahead in the artificial-intelligence race. The software giant has gone all-in on generative AI, following its multibillion-dollar investment in ChatGPT’s creator OpenAI. In February, Microsoft rolled out a new version of its search engine Bing that used generative AI to give direct answers to questions and had a sophisticated chat tool. Now it is bringing the technology to its Microsoft 365 suite of software to enable users to create presentations, write documents and summarize emails—all from natural-language prompts.

☆ Microsoft adds OpenAI technology to Word and Excel
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Photographer: Charles Pertwee/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesMicrosoft is bringing generative artificial intelligence technologies like the popular ChatGPT chatting app to its Microsoft 365 suite of business software. features, dubbed Copilot, will be available in some of the company's most popular business apps like Word, PowerPoint and Excel. The Copilot technology is built upon a type of artificial intelligence software known as a large language model, or LLM. Microsoft executives demonstrated some of the capabilities of its Copilot tool on Thursday during an online presentation. In February, Microsoft debuted a new version of its Bing search engine that included a chatbot powered by OpenAI's GPT-4 language technology.

☆ SVB Collapse Puts Pressure on Enterprise-Tech Pipeline
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince spoke at The Wall Street Journal CIO Network Summit on Tuesday in Palo Alto, Calif. The abrupt collapse of Silicon Valley Bank is expected to put a damper on innovation in the enterprise-technology market—at least in the short term—with emerging software startups facing new fundraising challenges and higher-priced loans, corporate technology chiefs, investors and industry analysts say. Beyond added financial pressures, they say, enterprise-tech developers—which make business software tools for companies—will also have to adjust to the sudden loss of the bank as a networking hub at the center of the startup ecosystem, which has helped foster the growth of countless go-to enterprise software products and services.

☆ Salesforce to add ChatGPT to Slack as part of OpenAI partnership
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 7 (Reuters) - Salesforce Inc (CRM.N) said on Tuesday it was working with ChatGPT creator OpenAI to add the chatbot sensation to its collaboration software Slack, as well as bring generative artificial intelligence to its business software generally. ChatGPT also would integrate with Slack to help users summarize conversation threads and handle other queries. Clara Shih, a general manager at Salesforce, said in a press briefing that the announcement responded to demand by businesses for the nascent technology. Salesforce's generative AI tools would help companies “completely reimagine how they engage with their customers,” she said. Salesforce also announced a fund to invest in generative AI startups.

☆ Salesforce shares climb as growth forecast, buyback plan appease investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 2 (Reuters) - Shares of Salesforce Inc (CRM.N) jumped 15% in premarket trade on Thursday after the cloud-based software provider's revenue forecast eased concerns about slowing growth and its move to double its share repurchase to $20 billion appeased investors. Still, Salesforce's first-quarter revenue forecast implied growth of 10%, higher than analysts' estimates of 9%. Other activist investors with a stake in Salesforce include Starboard Value, Inclusive Capital Partners and ValueAct Capital. They have pushed for higher growth and margins, more share buybacks and raised concerns about recent acquisitions. Shares of Salesforce have advanced 26% this year through Wednesday's close, compared with a near 3% gain in the benchmark S&P 500 index (.SPX).

☆ Salesforce sufficiently acquiesces to angry mob
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The software developer revealed financial progress in its quarterly results, indicated it would throttle pricey deals and installed new board members, including a representative from ValueAct Capital. Co-Founder and Chief Executive Marc Benioff said on Wednesday that improving profitability is the company’s top priority. As evidence of the commitment, Salesforce said in January that it would lay off 10% of its workers. They are Mason Morfit, chief executive of ValueAct Capital; Sachin Mehra, Mastercard’s finance chief; and Arnold Donald, the former CEO of Carnival. Assertive investors Starboard Value, ValueAct Capital, and Inclusive Capital, have held talks with Salesforce, according to Reuters.

The nominating window closes March 14, and it is unclear if it is two or three nominees, Faber said on " Squawk on the Street ." The slate will likely include Jesse Cohn who runs the activist practice at Elliott, according to people familiar with the situation, but Faber said his position hasn't been confirmed. Activist investor Elliott Management has nominated a slate of directors for Salesforce 's board, sources told CNBC's David Faber on Wednesday. Elliott Management unveiled its multibillion-dollar investment in Salesforce in January, and the company said ValueAct Capital CEO Mason Morfit will join its board this month. Dan Loeb's hedge fund, Third Point, has also built a position in the company, CNBC confirmed in February.

☆ China tech companies are closely watching ChatGPT's A.I. skills. Here's what they're doing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Big tech companies in the U.S. and China rushed this month to announce they are working on similar AI tools. PingCap launched "Chat2Query" for customers outside China in January that uses a publicly available application programming interface from OpenAI. "We think the revolution may not be in AI search but in every business," he said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC. Transformative potentialFang said he was directly inspired by OpenAI's early version of ChatGPT tech in 2020. In contrast, he said generative AI tech can immediately provide value since it operates where users are already producing and consuming content.

Pros Check mark icon A check mark. Expert help is available with every filing package Check mark icon A check mark. Pay less than H&R Block and TurboTax and get a comparable experience Check mark icon A check mark. Efficient and streamlined interface Check mark icon A check mark. Ability to set up reminders to pay estimated quarterly taxes throughout the year Check mark icon A check mark.

Marc Benioff, cofounder and CEO of Salesforce, attends a session at the Congress centre during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 17, 2023. Dan Loeb's hedge fund Third Point has built a position in Salesforce , expanding the group of activists circling the business software maker, CNBC has confirmed. The news comes two weeks after Salesforce said ValueAct Capital CEO Mason Morfit will join its board in March. Since, which joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2020, has faced high-profile departures and slowing revenue growth of late and dealt with criticism for buying companies such as Slack and Tableau at high multiples. On Jan. 4, Salesforce shares rose more than 3% after the company announced a plan to cut 10% of employees.

☆ TripActions Rebrands as Navan, Adds ChatGPT to Expense Reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

TripActions, a business-travel software startup, plans to integrate OpenAI’s ChatGPT capabilities across its online platform, an effort aimed at seizing market share by making expense reports easier to use. That way, the expense report is generated during the trip as expenses are incurred, Mr. Cohen said. “Generally, software in the business-to-business space is designed to serve the company,” rather than the employees, Mr. Cohen said. “Using AI helps you create the kind of software that I’m talking about,” Mr. Cohen said. PREVIEWSAP Concur has also begun using AI in its travel and expense software, which can “tap decades of expense data and experience tracking to identify hard-to-detect spend issues and anomalies,” said Charlie Sultan, president of Concur Travel.

☆ Here’s our February rapid-fire update on all 34 stocks in Jim Cramer’s Investing Club portfolio
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Matthew J. Belvedere | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Here's a rapid-fire update on all 34 stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust, the holdings we manage in the CNBC Investing Club. J & J is a good stock to get into ahead of the impending split into two companies: consumer brands and pharma/medical technology. The company reported a good quarter and guidance, while fundamentals are solid ahead of the split. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio.

Advertising meme account @digital_chadvertising had decidedly humble beginnings on its way to becoming a popular outlet for industry workers to voice their frustrations, connect with each other and share marketing news. @digital_chadvertising has since gained nearly 80,000 followers on Instagram while mocking everything from industry acronyms to Twitter’s recent advertiser exodus. That does not match the Instagram followings of the leading ad trade publications, but it tops those of large ad-agency networks and other industry accounts. Some prefer formats and platforms that don’t fit the strict definition of a meme but still use the meme world’s sardonic tone to target an industry niche. “The line is so thin between meme and work with my specific niche,” said @digital_chadvertising.

Feb 1 (Reuters) - QAD, a business software maker was taken private by buyout firm Thoma Bravo in 2021 for $2 billion, told Reuters on Wednesday it has agreed to acquire employee productivity platform Redzone for about $1 billion. Redzone, which was founded in 2013, offers enterprise software solutions primarily for the manufacturing industry. Founded in 1979, QAD provides cloud-based planning and resources solutions software to manufacturing companies. The deal will help QAD expand its footprint across different sectors within the manufacturing industry. Reporting Milana Vinn in San Francisco and Krystal Hu in New York Editing by Greg RoumeliotisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Global IT Spending Decreased in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Companies worldwide made deep cuts in enterprise technology spending last year, with tighter information-technology budgets likely to stretch well into the year ahead. Global IT spending contracted 0.2% in 2022, dropping to $4.38 trillion—a rare instance of corporations spending less on digital business tools than in the previous year, according to IT consulting and research firm Gartner Inc.Gartner had initially estimated that IT spending had increased 0.8% last year. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | CIO Journal The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. Spending on business software and IT services is expected to remain steady year-over-year, together accounting for more than $2.16 trillion in projected spending in 2023, Gartner said. Within IT services, spending on consulting services alone is projected to reach $264 billion, up 6.7% from 2022, Gartner said.

☆ The most-popular big tech default email programs are old and vulnerable
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Elizabeth Macbride | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

All over the world, organizations of all sizes, including small businesses, scrambled to upload patches and to figure out if they'd been infiltrated. Each time big software companies have changed default settings or made blanket changes with cybersecurity in mind, he points out, cybercrime fell measurably. Some of its donors are big technology companies. "Microsoft takes email security very seriously," said Girish Chander, head of Microsoft Defender for Office, in a statement to CNBC. Updating email software default settings.

☆ 5 writers break down how they launched careers from their copywriting side hustles and now make up to 6 figures
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Ella Hopkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Alexa Nizam started freelance copywriting on weekends and in the evenings alongside her job in 2020 using the freelancer-platform Fiverr. She left her day job one year after she started copywriting when she realized she'd made $8,000 in a month from freelancing. Read more: I make up to $13,000 a month on Fiverr doing freelance copywriting. Courtesy of Elna CainElna Cain started freelance writing in 2014 when her maternity leave was coming to an end. Emilina LomasEmilina Lomas started freelance copywriting while earning her master's degree in 2018.

☆ Save, don't spend, warns Intuit's CEO, as he notices 'good behavior' around money habits eroding
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

That's partially due to inflation woes, but spending on travel and recreation still remains high. That's largely due to an unprecedented boon in cash from stimulus checks and other pandemic aid along with reduced spending amid the pandemic. Inflation has been eating into Americans' wallets for the last two years, but it's not the only reason savings are falling. Spending has remained strong overall, especially for in-person services that were especially constrained during the worst of the pandemic, said Goodarzi. Credit bureau Experian defines a score of 580 to 669 as "fair," and most Americans fall somewhere between 600 and 750.

A comparative few credit cards on the market specify that EV charging stations will receive bonus rewards. Popular charging stations include:TeslaChargePointEVgoLet's examine how to get the most return for EV charging expenses. These cards do not officially list EV charging stations in their bonus categories, so your results may vary. Electric vehicle charging station credit cards frequently asked questions (FAQ)Is there an EV charging stations map? The above credit cards offer effective bonuses between 2% and 4.5% back for EV charging stations.

☆ From Amazon to The Trade Desk, experts predict these companies will be the most active acquirers of advertising businesses next year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

There's a strong interest from acquirers in hot trends like commerce media and data consultancy. Experts predicted the companies most likely to be acquirers of advertising businesses in 2023. Many industry observers expect advertising industry M&A deal volume and value to be down next year due to volatile macroeconomic conditions. Experts across the advertising industry — from consultants, to agency executives, analysts, investors, and adtech leaders — named the companies likely to be active in the advertising M&A market in 2023 and why. Apple could make an under-the-radar adtech acquisition for its sleeping giant advertising businessIndustry insiders predict Apple has big plans for its $5 billion-and-growing advertising business next year.

☆ Companies Strengthen Collections, Aim to Get Cash in the Door as Threat of Downturn Looms
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Kristin Broughton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Companies are stepping up efforts to collect on their bills and get cash in the door, aiming to limit future write-offs ahead of a potential downturn. The company’s days of sales outstanding during the latest quarter declined to 67.3 days from 70.4 days during the prior period, according to S&P. Early in the pandemic, some companies extended payment terms to customers that needed funds to shore up liquidity to help navigate temporary lockdown measures. Everbridge said it aims to provide customers with payment terms that are mutually beneficial. ServiceNow’s days of sales outstanding during the third quarter fell to 44 days from 47.4 days a year earlier, according to S&P.

☆ Adobe Fourth-Quarter Revenues Up 10% as Demand Remains Strong
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Sabela Ojea | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Adobe’s earnings report comes as various business software companies indicate customers are more wary about spending due to a challenging economy. Adobe Inc. said fourth-quarter revenue rose 10% on continued strong demand for its software and services. The company on Thursday also issued profit guidance for the current quarter that was better than Wall Street analysts projected. Shares of Adobe, down 42% this year through Thursday’s close, added 5.7% in after-hours trading.

Search resuls for: "Business Software"

25 mentions found