People First, the Profits: The Case for Wellbeing as Strategy
At AsiaHRM’s Sustainability in Business Series, experts highlighted employee wellbeing as a strategic sustainability pillar rather than a peripheral perk. They argued that psychological safety is the prerequisite for autonomy, creativity, and collaboration, which in turn drive productivity and profit. The panel exposed common pitfalls of one‑size‑fits‑all programmes, low usage of mental‑health services due to stigma, and the outsized influence of line managers on culture. They concluded that leadership endorsement, early observation, and accessible digital tools are essential to turn wellbeing into a measurable business advantage.
IWD Voices: Kavita Prasad – ‘The Future Should Be About Capability, Not Assumption’
Kavita Prasad’s International Women’s Day commentary stresses that gender equity must be built into a company’s structure, not left to goodwill. She argues that hiring, mentoring, and promoting women into operational and technical positions is essential. While workplace respect has...
Pixazo API Now Supports Seedance 2.0 & GPT Image 2 — Bringing Next-Generation AI Video and Image Creation to Developers
Pixazo announced that its API now includes ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 video model and OpenAI’s GPT Image 2 model, giving developers access to high‑fidelity AI video and language‑aware image generation through a single key. Seedance 2.0 supports text‑to‑video, reference‑based inputs and...
Closing the Trust Gap Starts at the Opt-In
Intuit Mailchimp’s new research reveals a widening trust gap in e‑commerce opt‑ins. While 65% of brands request phone numbers, only 28% of consumers are willing to share them, and fewer than 8% achieve conversion rates above 20%. The study shows...
How to Reframe Operational Challenges
The article argues that operational problems are often viewed through a narrow "lens of experience," limiting creative solutions, and proposes shifting to a "lens of expertise" for breakthrough results. It illustrates this shift with a property‑repair firm that renegotiated its...
Why AI-Powered Cloud Migration Is Becoming Essential for Startups
Startups and SMEs are turning to AI‑powered cloud migration to eliminate the slow, manual, and costly processes that plague traditional moves. By leveraging machine‑learning for workload analysis, automated provisioning, and real‑time cost forecasting, AI reduces migration timelines and downtime. The...
Kohat Cement Co Posts Lower Profit in 9MFY26
Kohat Cement Co Ltd reported a 20% year‑on‑year profit drop to PKR 7.4 billion (≈US$26.5 million) for the nine months ended FY26. Net sales were flat at PKR 28.9 billion (≈US$103 million) while total dispatches rose 9%, but an 8% decline in retention prices kept revenue...
Chile Braces for Bad Acid Trip
Chile’s mining sector is confronting a looming shortage and price surge for sulphuric acid, a critical reagent for copper processing. The disruption stems from the Iran‑Israel conflict and the recent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which have choked global...
Telecom News: Univity, Starlink, Eutelsat, MTN, Eutelsat
French space‑tech startup Univity secured a €27 million (≈$29 million) Series A round to launch a wholesale‑focused VLEO satellite network that will give European telecom operators an alternative to SpaceX’s Starlink. The company plans a large‑scale deployment starting in 2028, targeting low‑latency, high‑speed...
How Can Startups Win in This AI-Driven Venture Landscape?
Venture capital has pivoted toward native‑AI startups that embed artificial intelligence at the core of their product, favoring domain‑specific applications over broad foundational models. Investors are channeling funds into companies like Layton Labs and Lovable that solve narrow, high‑value problems,...
Another Reason To Avoid AI: NO ECONOMIC GROWTH COMES FROM AI!
Goldman Sachs’ latest study, cited by Fortune, finds no measurable link between AI spending and economy‑wide productivity gains. In 2025, corporations poured roughly $450 billion into AI projects, yet the macroeconomic impact was effectively zero. The analysis argues that the same...
Swiss Re Targets $250m US Named Storm Retro with Matterhorn Re 2026-2 Cat Bond
Swiss Re is issuing a second catastrophe bond this year under its Bermuda‑based Matterhorn Re program, targeting $250 million of U.S. named‑storm retrocession. The deal comprises a $150 million Class A tranche covering the Northeast and a $100 million Class B tranche offering nationwide protection,...
Jobs Warning | Ex-PM Rishi Sunak Warns AI Is 'Flattening' Entry-Level Jobs Market for Young Workers
Former UK prime minister Rishi Sunak warned that artificial intelligence is flattening the entry‑level jobs market for young workers. He told the BBC that graduates’ fears of AI replacing early‑career roles are justified, as business leaders report scaling back recruitment....
Premier Composite Technologies Appoints Oliver Rohde as Chief Sales Officer
Premier Composite Technologies (PCT) has appointed Oliver Rohde as its new Chief Sales Officer. Rohde brings more than two decades of international façade engineering experience, including 18 years in the Gulf region where he led a major façade construction firm....
‘There’s a Lot of Risk Out There’ – Bank of England Warns of Market ‘Adjustment’
Bank of England deputy governor for financial stability Sarah Breeden warned that global markets remain vulnerable and that current asset prices are at all‑time highs despite heightened risks. She said an adjustment is inevitable after recent turmoil, including an eight‑percent...
Keyword Structuring Shapes the Foundation of Effective Website Content
Keyword structuring is emerging as a core SEO tactic, emphasizing the logical organization of primary and secondary terms rather than isolated keyword repetition. By arranging topics hierarchically—starting with a main theme and branching into sub‑topics—content mirrors natural search intent and...
'Fell Between the Cracks' | Police Force Breached Equality Act over ADHD Support and Noise-Cancelling Headphones Request, Tribunal Finds
An employment tribunal found that Avon and Somerset Constabulary failed to make reasonable adjustments for a Victim and Witness Care Officer diagnosed with ADHD, violating the Equality Act. The employee, Donna Vale, requested noise‑cancelling headphones, a request that was ignored,...
CMMS Success Metrics: How to Build KPIs That Validate Results
Many CMMS deployments deliver data without proving financial impact, leaving leaders in the dark. Limble outlines a framework to shift from activity tracking to decision‑support KPIs that tie maintenance work to cost savings, uptime, and asset life. It highlights five...
When Places Stop Talking About Themselves
Place branding is shifting from a broadcast‑first model to a talent‑centric approach that asks "why me?" rather than "why here." The new paradigm emphasizes listening to residents and delivering accountable promises, as illustrated by Gold Coast’s resident‑driven narrative and Greater...
Telecom News: Orange, Bouygues, Iliad, SFR, Claro, TRAI, Bharti Airtel
Orange, Bouygues and Iliad have entered early regulatory talks for a joint €20.35 billion (≈ $22 billion) bid to acquire France’s SFR, a move that would shrink the French mobile market from four players to three. The consortium is preparing separate filings and...
Vinyl Eats Into Cash Reserves and Pushes Back Profitability Date
Vinyl Group reported a $1.8 million USD cash burn this quarter, pushing its EBITDA‑positive target to the first half of FY27. The delay is tied to the pending Val Morgan Digital acquisition, which was originally slated to help meet a year‑end profitability...
Webinar Recap: M&A in Uncertain Times (Strategic Execution in Volatile Markets)
On April 16, the Institute for Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances hosted a webinar with Mary Joyce of Corum Group and IMAA Managing Director David Olsson to dissect M&A dynamics in today’s volatile environment. The speakers highlighted four structural forces shaping...
Google Cloud Next 2026: Scaling AI Agents
Google Cloud Next 2026 showcased a full‑stack AI push, highlighted by the eighth‑generation 8t TPU pods that can deliver 121 exaflops of FP4 compute across 9,600 chips. The event emphasized Google’s multi‑cloud stance, promising seamless integration for customers who refuse vendor...
Iran War Hits Asia’s Suppliers to Global Fast Fashion
The Iran‑War‑driven surge in fossil‑fuel prices is hitting polyester feedstock costs, pushing Indian yarn producer Filatex to pay roughly 30% more for PTA and MEG. Indian and Bangladeshi textile firms report sharp rises in yarn and thread prices, labor shortages,...
Rohan Lund Announced as New CEO of Southern Cross Austereo
Rohan Lund, former CEO of Yahoo7 and COO of Seven West Media and Foxtel, has been appointed Managing Director and CEO of Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), effective May 1, 2026. The appointment follows a turbulent post‑merger period where Seven West Media’s...
GoTo Now Offers a Direct Integration with DriveCentric to Modernize Dealership Operations
GoTo announced a direct integration of its AI‑powered GoTo Connect platform with DriveCentric’s dealership engagement system. The partnership lets automotive dealers manage calls, texts and AI‑driven insights entirely within DriveCentric, eliminating the need to toggle between separate tools. Features include...
Safe Software Bolsters Leadership Team with CFO and CPO Appointments to Drive Next Phase of Growth
Safe Software, the creator of the FME data integration platform, announced the appointment of Judd Lee as Chief Financial Officer and Vanessa Ribreau as Chief People Officer. The hires come as the Seattle‑based firm recently crossed $100 million in revenue and...
InMarket Announces Partnership for Real-Time, Visit-Based Optimization Solution with Yahoo DSP
InMarket, a leader in real‑time marketing measurement, has partnered with Yahoo DSP to deliver a visit‑based optimization solution for advertisers in the United States and Canada. The integration streams daily observed store‑visit signals into Yahoo’s In‑Flight Outcomes platform, allowing marketers...
The Last Mile Reputation Gap
Retailers have focused on checkout speed and product content, neglecting the post‑purchase journey, creating a "last mile reputation gap" between promised and actual delivery experiences. Customers now judge brands on reliability, transparency, and how exceptions are handled, not merely on...
Ecosystem Roundup: The Illusion of Stability in Philippines’s Talent Market
The Philippine white‑collar job market looks steady, but a new survey reveals deep churn risk: 54% of professionals plan to switch jobs within a year and 66% would still leave even after a counteroffer. Employees are increasingly benchmarking salaries and...
Quiet $10M+ Exits Thrive Across Ten Service Sectors
10 industries producing quiet $10M+ exits: – radiology networks – waste platforms – HVAC rollups – trucking fleets – pest control networks – dental groups – physiotherapy chains – senior care facilities – security firm portfolios – behavioral health groups
ChatGPT Enters Sports Marketing Arena via OpraahFx and Mohammed Siraj Partnership
OpraahFx has launched a strategic partnership with OpenAI's ChatGPT and Indian fast‑bowler Mohammed Siraj, creating an AI‑driven content engine for sports marketing. The collaboration focuses on short‑form, platform‑native storytelling that can be produced and iterated at speed across Instagram, YouTube...
Internal Audit Flagged It. The Board Ignored It. The FCA Fined It.
The FCA has levied more than £1.02 billion (≈$1.30 billion) in fines on UK financial firms for internal‑control failures between 2021 and 2025, as highlighted in the IIA’s *Internal Control Failure!* report. Most penalties stem from basic AML, fraud‑prevention and data‑governance weaknesses...
Create Experiences that Inspire Unprompted Referrals
Referral customers: higher lifetime value, lower churn, faster sales cycles. Yet most businesses treat referrals as something that happens to them — not something they create. What would your customer experience have to look like for people to bring it up unprompted? Answer...
CarbonCure Technologies Appoints Yuliya Kravtsov as CEO
CarbonCure Technologies named Yuliya Kravtsov as chief executive officer, ending an interim period under Kristal Kaye. Kravtsov brings over 20 years of senior leadership in cement, most recently overseeing integration at CRH and holding roles at Holcim and Lafarge. Her appointment...
Timing Beats Copy: Trigger Events Drive Cold Email Success
Most cold emails fail before anyone reads them. Not because of the subject line. Not because of the copy. Because it showed up before the person had the problem. Timing is the variable nobody optimizes for. Best campaigns I've run weren't the most creative. Every one...
Premier League‑EFL Broadcast Rights Deal Still Uncertain
New Deal or No Deal? The progress on the negotiations between the Premier League and EFL over broadcast rights per the always brilliant @mjshrimper https://t.co/qHdE0c48yo
CME Group Benchmark Administration Deploys Repo Funds Rate US Dollar for Customer Testing
CME Group Benchmark Administration (CBA) has launched the Repo Funds Rate U.S. Dollar (RFR USD) in its New Release environment for customer testing. The rate is a volume‑weighted median of overnight repo trades on the BrokerTec CLOB, using both specific and...
One Bad Season Can Shatter Lofty Budget Assumptions
The cautionary tale of Leicester City who budgeted a few years ago for constant top half of Premier League finishes. It only takes one bad season for things to unravel. With my chums from @talkSPORT https://t.co/cOiUSU9b8P via @YouTube
UK Retail Sales Rise as Drivers Fill Up
UK retail sales rebound as drivers stock up on motor fuel https://t.co/vmKSFNdn0g via @irinaanghel12 https://t.co/sYif8aJDQB
Warner Shareholders Backed Paramount’s Deal. That Tells You Who Now Owns Hollywood
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders have overwhelmingly approved Paramount Skydance’s roughly $110 billion takeover, moving the deal toward a July‑September close pending regulators. The merger is backed by tech billionaire Larry Ellison, RedBird Capital and sovereign wealth from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and...
Indonesia to Import 150 Million Barrels of Russian Crude
JAKARTA, April 24 (Reuters) - Indonesia will import 150 million barrels of crude oil from Russia this year, the country's deputy energy minister Yuliot Tanjung said on Friday.
Sainsbury’s in Discussions with Tu Clothing Team Ahead of Potential Restructure
Sainsbury’s is holding early‑stage talks with staff in its Tu Clothing division about operational changes that could result in job cuts. The review targets buying and merchandising functions, with the possibility of new roles emerging as some positions are removed....
EXL Picks Sharon White to Lead APAC Data Management
EXL announced the appointment of Sharon White as head of APAC data‑management solutions, based in Sydney. White will oversee client delivery in Australia and New Zealand, drive data‑modernisation initiatives, and expand the EXLdata.ai suite developed with Databricks. She arrives with more...
Office Hours: B2B Storytelling: How to Make Your Brand Their Favorite
SparkToro’s Office Hours webinar with Jay Acunzo revisits a core B2B truth: audiences choose brands they feel connected to, not the objectively best. The session argues that today’s AI‑driven, content‑saturated landscape makes resonance more critical than sheer volume. Acunzo offers...
Telefónica Appoints Gómez as Movistar Plus+ CEO
Telefónica has named Alfonso Gómez as the new chief executive of Movistar Plus+, ending Daniel Domenjó’s brief tenure. Gómez arrives from leading Telefónica’s Hispanoamérica unit after the telco trimmed its Latin American portfolio to a single remaining market, Venezuela. The board’s decision is...
SNB's Sub‑zero Rate Shift Outweighs Standard Cuts
SNB move below zero is a bigger step than a normal cut, Schlegel tells NZZ https://t.co/ZMyYbIPZxG https://t.co/a1V1z0xvIk
Payment Delays and Geopolitics Test Exporters
Allianz Trade’s 2026 Global Survey of 6,000 exporters shows optimism persisting despite the Middle East war, with 75% still expecting export growth, though confidence slipped six points. Geopolitical risk now tops the agenda for 65% of firms, pushing 80% to...
Digitalist Group Plc’s Business Review, 1 January – 31 March 2026
Digitalist Group Plc reported a 14% drop in first‑quarter turnover to €3.8 million (≈ $4.1 million), down from €4.5 million a year earlier. EBITDA swung to a €0.4 million loss (≈ $0.44 million) and EBIT fell to €0.5 million negative, widening the profit gap. The company trimmed its...
Nilörn Interim Report Q1, 2026
Nilörn Group reported a 16% drop in Q1 net sales to SEK 218 million ($21.8 million), with order intake falling 18% to the same level. Operating profit slipped to SEK 15.4 million ($1.54 million), and adjusted profit after non‑recurring costs was SEK 17.7 million ($1.77 million). The board proposed...