Harnessing AI as a force for good

Amidst ongoing concern surrounding AI risk, safety and ethics, a key question arises – how can we truly harness this powerful technology as a force for good? To answer this, our recent ‘What’s Next?’ event provided an invaluable forum. It’s time to look beyond the Artificial Intelligence (AI) hype Last…

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Azure AI celebrates Women’s History Month through its customers

As a young girl growing up, the tech world seemed like a distant reality, predominantly occupied by men. It wasn’t until my older sister pursued a degree in informatics in college that I realized the potential for women in technology. This revelation was not just about inspiring young girls like…

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Diplomacy as a Way to Strengthen Sovereignty

On March 28, 2024, the Valdai Club presented its new report, titled “Crafting National Interests: How Diplomatic Training Impacts Sovereignty”. The moderator was Andrey Sushentsov, programme director of the Club.Nikita Neklyudov, an expert at MGIMO University’s Institute for International Studies, noted that the report returns us to the discussion about…

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Author Talks: Charles Duhigg on how the best communicators ‘click’

Connecting with others can feel like an art, but it’s also a science. In this edition of Author Talks, McKinsey Global Publishing’s Lucia Rahilly chats with Charles Duhigg, a New York Times best-selling author and writer for the New Yorker, about his new book, Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret…

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Six Principles for Successful Multiparty Negotiations

COP28 in Dubai was a key milestone in global climate talks, convening nearly 200 countries for the first assessment since the Paris Agreement. Highlighting the urgency for action – with 2023 as the hottest year on record – it emphasised the need for united efforts amid complex negotiation challenges. At…

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The brokerage concept: a new perspective on strategy and innovation 

Making radical innovation a business realityA new era of technology that is led by AI and other advancements signals huge opportunities for radical and disruptive innovation. Existing markets are transforming and new markets are opening up.  For business leaders, it can be difficult to know which path to take in…

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Sustainable style: How fashion can afford and accelerate decarbonization

Fashion brands, big and small, have made ambitious, public commitments to creating more sustainable apparel by 2030. But keeping pace with their decarbonization commitments has been a challenge across the industry. About two-thirds of brands, according to a new McKinsey analysis, are behind on their own decarbonization schedules, and 40…

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Sanctions Policy With an Anti-Russian Accent: The UK’s New Sanctions Strategy

Despite its significantly lower weight in the global economy compared to the United States, London is trying to secure its role as one of the leaders in the application of sanctions. This is facilitated by the continued position of the UK as one of the world’s financial hubs, a major…

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FCC Adopts New Minimum Standards for Broadband Services

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in a Report to Congress, has adopted new standards for determining when internet services are fast enough to qualify as broadband services. The report sets the speed threshold at 100 megabits per second (Mbps) for downstream traffic and 20 Mbps for upstream traffic for fixed…

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An update on European consumer sentiment: Proceeding with caution

In the first quarter of 2024, consumers in Europe once again reported having mixed feelings about the economy, but their concerns didn’t stop them from spending on discretionary items. Travel and self-care were two categories that these consumers expressed interest in. Even so, cautious consumers continued to trade down. The…

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How AI Changes Your Workforce

In this short video, two experts share insights on how AI is reshaping work, workers, and talent ecosystems. MIT Sloan Management Review March 28, 2024 Reading Time: 1 min  subscribe-icon Subscribe Share [embedded content] Today’s leaders must grapple with big expectations for the impact of AI on the workforce —…

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License Renewal Process for Providers of Outsourced Specialized Services in Mexico: 7 Frequently Asked Questions

Quick Hits Mexico’s Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social) (SLSW) recently enabled a module on the REPSE website in order to renew licenses for providers of outsourced specialized services. REPSE license holders have three months to complete the renewal process, with the start date…

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New approach to monitoring freshwater quality can identify sources of pollution, and predict their effects

The source of pollutants in rivers and freshwater lakes can now be identified using a comprehensive new water quality analysis, according to scientists at the University of Cambridge and Trent University, Canada.Microparticles from car tyres, pesticides from farmers’ fields, and toxins from harmful algal blooms are just some of the…

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TB vaccine may enable elimination of the disease in cattle by reducing its spread

The research, led by the University of Cambridge and Penn State University, improves prospects for the elimination and control of bovine tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease of cattle that results in large economic costs and health impacts across the world.  This is the first study to show that BCG-vaccinated cattle…

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Putting Data in a Corner: LLMs and Financial Services Data

Nobody puts Baby in a corner — especially if Baby happens to be fragmented financial services data. Historically, the key to building a successful financial services data company has been to extricate and analyze valuable but difficult-to-access resources like public filings, diligence materials, research reports, conference call notes, and news.…

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Margo Harrison: Women’s Health as a Path to Empowerment

Howie and Harlan are joined by Margo Harrison, an OB-GYN and femtech entrepreneur, to discuss how innovative solutions to women’s health problems offer deeper understanding and expanded choices. Harlan and Howie each offer a caveat emptor for lightly regulated, unproven supplements and treatments such as Prevagen and hydration spas. Links:…

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Leading with Purpose: Oxfam interim CEO Aleema Shivji in conversation – PODCAST

In this episode of Knowing Not for Profits, host Ruth Wilkinson sits down with Aleema Shivji to discuss the importance of stakeholder engagement, the complexities of corporate partnerships, and the evolving landscape of the not-for-profit sector. With a focus on measuring impact and the power of authentic storytelling, this conversation…

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Minnesota Legislative Update 2024: Employment Law Bills Cover ESST, Human Rights Act, Pay Disclosure, and Restrictive Covenants

Quick Hits The Minnesota Legislature is considering competing bills that would amend the statewide earned sick and safe time law. The legislature has also introduced bills that would hike punitive damages for violations of the Minnesota Human Rights Act and require employers with thirty or more employees to include salary…

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‘Exhausted’ immune cells in healthy women could be target for breast cancer prevention

Everyone has BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, but mutations in these genes - which can be inherited - increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.The study found that the immune cells in breast tissue of healthy women carrying BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations show signs of malfunction known as ‘exhaustion’.…

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How the Lack of Training Affects your Organization

The workforce is the heart of any thriving company. However, without proper training, employees may find themselves ill-equipped to meet the demands of their roles effectively.  Millennials think learning and growing are important reasons for joining a new company. Additionally, individuals from Generation X and subsequent generations require chances to…

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Reclaim ‘wellness’ from the rich and famous, and restore its political radicalism, new book argues

Today’s wellness industry generates trillions of dollars in revenue, but in a new book, Dr James Riley (Faculty of English & Girton College), shows that 1970s wellness pioneers imagined something radically different to today’s culture of celebrity endorsements and exclusive health retreats. “Wellness was never about elite experiences and glossy, high-value…

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The Power of Public-Private Partnerships

Current global challenges are daunting. We’re not on track to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. In fact, the United Nations warns that we’ve entered an age of “polycrisis” in which increased conflicts, the climate emergency and widening economic and social disparities threaten our collective future. The public sector can’t address this…

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MLOps so AI can scale

Building advanced AI is like launching a rocket. The first challenge is to maximize acceleration, but once it starts picking up speed, you also need to focus on steering.Jaan TallinnFor AI/ML to make a sizable contribution to a company’s bottom line, organizations must scale the technology across the organization, infusing…

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Mayo Clinic’s Healthy Model for AI Success

Topics AI in Action This column series looks at the biggest data and analytics challenges facing modern companies and dives deep into successful use cases that can help other organizations accelerate their AI progress. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Alice Mollon / Ikon Images In 2022, we argued…

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Get to know AI-powered collaboration with Microsoft Teams

As we bring Microsoft Copilot to more customers around the world, people are already unlocking its value and learning the power of generative AI at work. Our recent Copilot customer research shows that 11 minutes of time savings is all it takes for most people to feel like AI is…

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Is Uber Strangling the Restaurant Business?

Jiwoong Shin, professor of marketing at Yale SOM, likes to keep in touch with his former students. They tell him about what’s going on in the world and give him ideas for new research. In December 2019, one of those former students, now a restaurateur in New York and San…

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Choose the right transformation ‘bite size’

Pick battles big enough to matter and small enough to win.Jonathan Kozol Many companies set their digital and AI transformations up to struggle from the start by getting the scope of the change wrong. Some companies start too small, believing an incremental approach will lower risk. This is a mistake.…

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Understanding B2B buyer behaviour and digital self-service – PODCAST

Discover the transformative trends in B2B buying as digital self-service experiences gain prominence. In this episode of CX Talks, hosts and customer experience experts Simon Blosse and Tom Carpenter delve into the changing dynamics between B2B and B2C, the impact of generational shifts on buyer behaviour, and strategies for engaging modern…

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How Do Great Leaders Overcome Adversity?

Brian Kenny: If you've listened to Cold Call before, you may have heard our discussions about cases that focus on individual acts of courage and leadership, like the case about Muhammad Ali risking his boxing career as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, or the one about Madame Curie,…

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Investing in productivity growth

At a glance The past quarter century has been a success story for global productivity. Median economy productivity has jumped sixfold. Thirty emerging economies, with 3.6 billion people, are in the “fast lane” of improvement; if they maintained this pace, they would converge to advanced-economy productivity levels within roughly the…

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25 Years of the New Cold War

NATO’s aggression against Yugoslavia for international politics was that it was a collective attack, perpetrated by a large group of Western countries, against a sovereign state, and marked the watershed between a time when a peaceful world order could still be expected, and the resumption of the Cold War in…

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How playing offense on sustainability can power e-commerce performance

The business case for marketplace sustainability is now well established: sustainability leaders decarbonize faster, enjoy higher multiples, and see stronger growth in their sustainable product lines. But how can marketplaces effectively attract customers to their sustainable offerings? McKinsey research shows that some features are more powerful than others in driving…

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AI for Demand Forecasting and Inventory Planning in Retail

Advanced data analytics is now a table-stakes tool for inventory planning. Some estimates show that applying AI-driven forecasting can reduce errors by between 20 and 50 percent, reducing lost sales and product unavailability by up to 65 percent. Sharper demand forecasting also reduces waste and unsold products that need to…

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Are Consumers Getting a Bad Deal from Debt Collectors?

The problem of personal debt is as old as the existence of money. In ancient Rome, people who were unable to pay their debts became temporary slaves to their creditors, ordered to toil on their land until the overdue sum was paid back. In 19th-century-England, broke Britons were sent to…

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In AI We Trust — Too Much?

Topics Column Our expert columnists offer opinion and analysis on important issues facing modern businesses and managers. More in this series subscribe-icon Subscribe Share Andrew Baker / Ikon Images I’ve been thinking about technology and trust for much of my career. Here’s one example: Back in 2011, my research focused…

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How Humans Outshine AI in Adapting to Change

You’ve probably never thought about all the split-second adjustments you make in a single day to perform different tasks. Wake up in a hotel room, walk into a library, sit behind the wheel of a car, or swipe up to access your phone apps. Each time, you automatically “self-orient” before…

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Etiquette as a Luxury Brand-Building Tool

On 19 January 2024, André Terrail, owner and CEO of the legendary restaurant La Tour d’Argent in Paris, was a happy man. The sale of part of the tableware and elements of the historic décor of his establishment raised over €720,000 in just a few hours. What motivated people to obtain…

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Pivoting to a billion-dollar idea: Lessons from Wei Deng

“Pivot” isn’t the bad word some people make it out to be. Many of the greatest companies in YC’s history pivoted along the way. One example: Clipboard Health. Today Clipboard is built around the idea of connecting independent healthcare professionals — think nurses, medical assistants, or phlebotomists — with healthcare…

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Tri-Seal Compliance Note Highlights Broad Reach of US Trade Controls, Obligations of Non-US Persons

On 6 March 2024, the US Department of Commerce, Department of the Treasury and Department of Justice issued a Tri-Seal Compliance Note (compliance note) advising foreign-based companies and individuals to assess their obligations with respect to US export control and sanctions laws and regulations (trade controls) and implement appropriate measures…

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