Welcome to your newsletter featuring the most essential news curated in tech and innovation this week.

Facts and Stats

8 Employee Engagement Trends Shaping Workplaces in 2024. Creating a motivated and productive workforce is crucial for organizations and employee engagement plays a vital role in achieving this goal.

How brands can support consumers now, while also preparing for future prosperity. Timing is crucial for brands to adapt to changing consumer demand during the economic recovery. Acting too early risks insensitivity, while waiting too long means missed opportunities.

Figma is using developers and AI to expand what can be done in design. With Figma, design collaboration is made easier through its comprehensive set of tools and balance between individual and team work.

AI will take over 300M jobs, but it’s not exactly a bad thing. For most of us, the possibility of artificial intelligence (AI) replacing our jobs must be at the top of our minds since the groundbreaking launch of ChatGPT.

The Gen Z equation. Generation Z is coming into its own. Savvy companies will consider what differentiates these 13- to 27-year-olds—in the workplace and as consumers.

TikTok loses popularity as e-commerce search engine. Amazon's popularity has grown as the starting point for product searches, including those in younger generations.

Which European countries have the most AI startups? New research by VC firm Earlybird has mapped the European hotbeds for AI innovation

The Number

91 %

of consumers agree that many loyalty programs feel similar and are not that differentiated from 91% of other programs.

Who’s Innovating

Roblox Scales Brand Innovation and Immersive Advertising Business Through New Partner Program. The program promotes community engagement among Roblox developers, agencies, brands, and sellers for global education and best practice sharing.

The City of Boston is actively empowering immigrants through a range of innovative collaboration initiatives. City agencies have implemented strategies to improve access to essential services such as housing, education, internet connectivity, and legal support.

MongoDB announced its new MongoDB AI Innovators Program. The AI Innovators Program simplifies AI app development and offers engagement opportunities with MongoDB through the AI Amplify track.

PG&E Launches New R&D Strategy Initiative and Innovation Summit. The initiative is anchored on PG&E's R&D Strategy Report, available at www.pge.com/innovation. The report identifies nearly 70 priority energy system challenges requiring R&D to achieve PG&E's True North Strategy.

Ikea’s AI-Powered Billie chatbot revolutionizes customer experience and empowers co-workers. Billie is an exceptional chatbot that can understand customer inquiries, provide detailed product information, offer personalized recommendations, and even assist in creating entire interior spaces without the assistance of a human.

Adidas links NFT to physical sneakers with NFC hang tangs. Adidas has announced a new partnership with artist Fewocious to release a limited edition drop of 4500 pairs of sneakers. However, this collaboration is unique because fans will initially purchase a digital ‘Trefoil Flower Mint Pass’ instead of physical sneakers.

Lacoste Uses NFT to Launch Innovative Blockchain Powered Loyalty Program. Lacoste, the renowned French sportswear brand, has made a daring move by introducing the Undw3 (Underwater) card,

Corporate Culture

Startup Stories

8 Key Factors VCs Consider When Evaluating Startup Opportunities. VCs are crucial for supporting promising startups. What exactly do they take into account while evaluating startups? Let's explore.

Ramp acquires customer support startup Cohere. Founded in 2020, New York-based Cohere.io raised $3.1 million in a seed funding round led by Initialized Capital, later tacking on another $400,000 in funding.

This AI Startup Generates Videos With Text And It Just Raised $141M. Runway has raised $141 million from investors which include Google and Nvidia. Runway helps content creators generate videos and tweak existing ones using text prompts and images.

The good, bad, ugly: S’pore serial entrepreneurs share what it takes to run multiple ventures. So what is it like to be a serial entrepreneur? What is it like to walk in their shoes, embracing the challenges and success that come with a life dedicated to perpetual innovation and relentless pursuit of success?

The 147 startups that could soon become unicorns. The Hurun Research Institute today released the Hurun Future Unicorns in the World 2023, a list of the world’s Gazelles, defined as start-ups founded in the 2000s, worth over US$500mn.

Silicon Valley's youngest entrepreneurs are making millions. The hard truth is nine out of 10 startups fail. The single biggest reason? No one wants their products. So when today’s youngest entrepreneurs do well, they’re doing something right. Many things right.

Tech News

Best Practices

OpenAI: Insights from global conversations. Open AI shares what they've learned from their conversations in 22 countries, and how to implement this in the future.

AI Foundation launches AI.XYZ to give people their own AI assistants. AI Foundation, an AI research lab that gave us virtual Deepak Chopra, has launched AI.XYZ, a platform for people to create their own AI assistants

Want to Understand Shopper Decisions? Context is the Key. Did you know that shoppers, on average, consult approximately 18 sources of information before making a purchase? This number varies by product category, but this reality indicates the environment in which shoppers now operate.

How PwC and SAP are doing right by helping clients unlock ESG value. PwC developed an innovative cloud app to help clients achieve their due diligence obligations in Environment Human rights to comply with the new German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (SCDDA).

Events

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