New Indian Startup RaagaPay Wants to Fix AI’s Hindustani Classical Music Problem
Delhi‑based startup RaagaPay launched in October 2025 to create India’s first ethical Hindustani classical music dataset for AI. The initial phase delivered ten hours of recordings across sitar, tabla, vocals and other instruments, with a goal of 1,000 hours from over 100 performers by 2028. The dataset includes roughly 80 metadata fields covering raga, taal, rasa, season, and gharana, and 50% of the content focuses on Hindi film music. Musicians will earn lifetime royalties each time their recordings are used for AI training or licensing.
Industry Snapshot: Meaningful Media Planning
5th Element’s CEO Muneef Khan says media planning in 2026 has moved from buying audiences to buying moments, using a behavioral cascade model that aligns each touchpoint with a decision trigger. He warns that algorithms are conservative and must be...
Ipsen Appoints Michelle C. Werner as EVP, President of North America
Ipsen announced that Michelle C. Werner will become Executive Vice President and President of North America effective 23 March 2026, reporting directly to CEO David Loew. Werner brings more than 25 years of pharmaceutical leadership, most recently as President and...
The Spheres-of-Influence Illusion
For the first time since World War II, the United States, China and Russia are coalescing around an authoritarian notion of sovereignty that privileges raw power over international law. This emerging bloc coincides with a surge in U.S. military activity under...
Rethinking ERP Transformation: Daniel Chilton on Adaptive Change and the Human Side of Enterprise Programmes
ERP programmes are traditionally fixed‑scope projects, but business realities shift mid‑stream, causing fatigue and stalled momentum. Embridge Consulting’s Daniel Chilton introduces Elastic Change, a delivery model that blends disciplined governance with adaptable, EQ‑focused leadership. The approach treats ERP as a...
Visio Lending Appoints DeJohn Allen as Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel
Visio Lending, the nation’s largest independent rental‑property lender, announced the appointment of DeJohn Allen as Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel. Allen will oversee legal, compliance, corporate governance, human resources and vendor management for a company that originates DSCR loans...
Your Off Air Self Drives On Air Success
The article argues that personal self‑care is the foundation of on‑air success, urging radio leaders to manage their own mental and physical health before managing teams. It highlights practices such as daily exercise, sleep optimization, meditation, and intentional reflection, citing...
Google Says They Deploy Hundreds Of Undocumented Crawlers via @Sejournal, @Martinibuster
Google’s podcast revealed that the historic "Googlebot" label now covers hundreds of distinct crawlers operating across its product suite. Internally, these crawlers use a SaaS‑style fetching service, nicknamed "Jack," which exposes API endpoints for web requests. Most of these specialized...
CEE Startup & Tech Weekly: Croatian Drone Tech Startup Orqa Raises €12.7M Series A
Croatian drone startup Orqa closed a €12.7 million Series A round, led by Expeditions with participation from AYMO Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Taiwania Capital, and Radius Capital. The funding will accelerate development of its first‑person view (FPV) unmanned aerial systems and support...
China’s Credit Shows Surprise Growth as Firms Step Up Borrowing
China’s aggregate financing surged 2.4 trillion yuan in February, outpacing the Bloomberg‑survey median forecast of 2 trillion yuan. The People’s Bank of China reported that banks extended 900 billion yuan of new corporate loans, also beating expectations. The growth was driven by stronger...
Vilnius-Based WhiteBridge AI Raises €2.6 Million for Its AI-Powered People Research Engine
Vilnius‑based startup WhiteBridge AI announced a €2.6 million seed financing round. The round was led by FIRSTPICK VC with participation from several other VCs and angels. WhiteBridge offers an AI‑powered people research platform that aggregates, verifies and analyses publicly available personal...
The Trends Redefining Expense Management in 2026
Capture Expense’s latest report, based on 371,000 UK expense claims worth £60 million across 460 organisations, shows expense management shifting from back‑office task to strategic infrastructure. Slow approvals—only 2.6% immediate and 42% taking over a week—pose regulatory risk under new FRS 102...
Most UK Employers Unprepared for Employment Rights Act as 64% of Workers Receive Rotas with No Audit Trail, UKG Finds
UK research by UKG shows 64% of frontline workers receive rota updates via informal channels lacking audit trails, exposing employers to compliance risk under the Employment Rights Act 2025. The new law mandates reasonable notice and compensation for last‑minute schedule...
Spotted Zebra Launches AI Interview Agent: Bringing Skills Science to Every Candidate Conversation at Enterprise Scale
Spotted Zebra unveiled its AI Interview Agent, an enterprise‑grade hiring tool that conducts live, adaptive two‑way interviews using validated Role Skills Profiles. The platform delivers transparent, evidence‑based scores with audit trails, operates 24/7 on any device, and meets ISO 42001 and...
Conflict in the Strait of Hormuz Is Spilling Into the Indian Ocean
Conflict between the US‑Israel coalition and Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, forcing commercial vessels to reroute through the Indian Ocean. At least 18 ships have been attacked and dozens have disabled AIS, while Iran permits Chinese‑flagged traffic,...
Desperate for Skilled Workers, a Furniture Maker Looks to Apprenticeships for Relief
Virco Manufacturing in Arkansas is using a three‑year, paid apprenticeship program to upskill internal workers like tool‑and‑die apprentice Caleb Moss, addressing a growing shortage of skilled labor in U.S. manufacturing. The Trump administration’s 2025 executive order targets 1 million active apprenticeships,...
Quantinuum, Nelipak, and Global Innovation Labs Establish New Innovation Hubs in Singapore
On 11 March three firms announced new Singapore innovation hubs. Quantinuum will house its Helios quantum computer and partner with universities and startups to develop quantum applications in finance, pharma and materials. Nelipak opened an Asia‑Pacific Technical Development Centre to accelerate...
‘Innovative’ | How Sky Will Blend External Talent & Internal Mobility to Drive Business Resilience
Sky is confronting the looming global skills disruption by combining external hiring with a strong focus on internal talent mobility, as outlined by Group Director Eugene Chin. The World Economic Forum predicts that 22 % of jobs will be disrupted by...
‘The Largest Supply Disruption in the History of the Global Oil Market’: IEA’s Take on the Hormuz Crisis
Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has pledged to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed, turning the vital oil chokepoint into a geopolitical weapon. The International Energy Agency warns this blockade represents the largest supply disruption in oil market history,...
India Taps 65m Barrels of Russian Crude
The U.S. Treasury issued a one‑month OFAC wind‑down licence, allowing Russian crude already at sea to complete voyages through April 11. The licence is intended to stabilise energy markets amid the Strait of Hormuz crisis that has disrupted Gulf supplies. Broker...
More Employers Than Ever Are Contributing to Workers’ 401(k) Plans
New ICI and ISS Market Intelligence research shows that 91% of large 401(k) plans offered employer contributions in 2023, up from 85% in 2007. Employer matching accounted for $181 billion, roughly 35% of total contributions to these plans. Plan fees have...
Malaysia’s Best Digital Learning Providers Recognised in 2025
At the HR Vendors of the Year Awards 2025 in Malaysia, the Best Digital Learning Providers category highlighted leading employee‑development platforms. Think Codex captured Gold, SOCO earned Silver, and EQWIP took Bronze, each judged on technology, content quality and customization....
LINE Plus Unveils B2B Platform ‘ActEngine AI’ to Drive Enterprise Revenue Growth with Action-Oriented AI
LINE Plus launched ActEngine AI, an enterprise‑focused AI agent platform for customer service and sales. The CS‑oriented agent reduced case‑handling time by more than 60% and improved accuracy by 16% at Thailand’s LINE MAN Wongnai. The sales agent provides 24/7,...
New Loopio Research: RFP Revenue Influence Reaches a Five-Year High
Loopio’s 2026 RFP Trends & Benchmarks Report shows RFPs now influence 40% of company revenue, the highest level in five years. Annual RFP submissions rose 9% while average completion time dropped to 33 hours, two hours faster than last year....
Tower Secures €5.5M to Support Data Engineers in the AI Era
Berlin‑based Tower announced a €5.5 million raise across pre‑seed and seed rounds, led by DIG Ventures and Speedinvest. The startup offers a unified storage‑compute platform that lets data engineering teams retain full data ownership while accelerating AI‑driven pipeline development. Leveraging Apache...
UK Economy Begins 2026 on a Softer Note Ahead of Energy Price Storm
The UK’s economy started 2026 sluggishly, with January’s GDP unchanged from December as administrative support services and hospitality contracted sharply. While three‑month averages suggest modest growth, the data’s volatility raises uncertainty about the near‑term trajectory. A sustained rise in gas...
PwC Planning to Increase the Number of Graduates It Takes On
PwC UK will increase its graduate intake next year after trimming numbers last year due to a weak economy, not artificial intelligence concerns. The firm cut graduate roles from 1,500 to 1,300 in 2023, but received 60,000 applications for 2,000...
S Hotels & Resorts Posts Record 2025 Profit, Outlines Growth Strategy
S Hotels & Resorts posted a record normalised net profit of over 615 million baht in 2025, driven by RevPAR growth and lower finance costs. The company announced a 0.07 baht per share dividend, its highest since listing. For 2026, SHR outlined...
Exclusive: PhysicsWallah Co-Founder Prateek Boob Set to Invest in Newton School
Newton School, the Gurugram‑based certification platform, is raising roughly Rs 25 crore through an extension of its Series B round, issuing 72,738 preference shares at Rs 3,437 each. The fresh capital comes from Prateek Boob, co‑founder of PhysicsWallah, giving him about a 2.37% stake...
Data Sovereignty for Employees: The “Worker-Owned” Data Lake
Employee data sovereignty is emerging as a movement that lets workers own a portable, verifiable digital record of their performance reviews, project outcomes, certifications, and endorsements. By storing these credentials in a personal, encrypted data lake—often powered by decentralized identity...
PlanSource Certified as a Great Place to Work® for Fourth Consecutive Year
PlanSource has earned Great Place to Work® certification for the fourth straight year, a distinction driven entirely by employee feedback. The survey revealed 95% of staff feel treated fairly regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation, while 87% cite strong...
Red Access Firewall-Native SSE Adds GenAI Security and Browser Protection to Existing Firewalls
Red Access unveiled a firewall‑native Security Service Edge (SSE) that sits atop any existing firewall without agents, instantly delivering GenAI‑driven security, data loss prevention, CASB, and browser isolation. The solution is vendor‑agnostic, supporting Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, Cisco and Check...
Glencore Raises Hope of Reviving Rio Tinto Deal as Coal Prices Turn
Glencore CEO Gary Nagle sees the recent 26% jump in coal prices as a catalyst to revive talks with Rio Tinto on a $240 billion mega‑merger that previously stalled over valuation disputes. The surge has boosted Glencore’s share weight in a potential...
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks Fall as Oil Rocks Markets; Reeves Struck by Flat Economy
The FTSE 100 fell as oil prices surged past $100 per barrel, driven by heightened tensions in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran’s new supreme leader vowed to keep the waterway blocked. UK economic data showed flat growth in January,...
Meet the Female Operators Helping Africa’s Startup Ecosystem Scale
The article spotlights a cohort of female operators who form the operational core of Africa’s venture‑capital ecosystem. These women lead accelerators, government‑backed programs, angel networks and venture studios, linking founders to capital, policy and talent. Profiles include Ireayomide Oladunjoye at...
PixVerse Hits Unicorn Valuation with New Series C Funding
AI startup AIsphere's PixVerse achieved unicorn status after closing a Series C round led by CDH Investments. Although the amount raised and valuation were undisclosed, the company already reports over 100 million users in 175 countries and subscription revenue covering...
NYK Takes Full Control of Saga Welco
Japanese shipping giant NYK has acquired full ownership of Saga Welco, ending its 12‑year 50:50 joint venture with Norway’s Westfal‑Larsen. The deal, with undisclosed financial terms, gives NYK control of Saga Welco’s fleet of 48 open‑hatch vessels that serve global...
Amazon to Build £400m Robotics Fulfilment Centre in Australia
Amazon Australia disclosed a A$750 million investment to build a four‑level, 150,000 m² robotics fulfilment centre in Brisbane, slated for completion in 2028. The warehouse will handle more than 125 million parcels per year and store up to 15 million small‑item SKUs across categories...
Luma AI’s Jason Day on How Agentic AI Is Remaking the Creative Process of Marketing
Luma AI’s head of EMEA, Jason Day, says agentic AI is fundamentally reshaping marketing by turning the creative workflow into an end‑to‑end, real‑time system that can generate infinite, hyper‑personalized assets. The technology promises unprecedented speed, scale and cost efficiency, turning...
Prediction Markets Rule the Day at Boca
At the FIA Global Cleared Markets Conference in Boca Raton, prediction markets dominated the agenda, with FIA President Walt Lukken praising their accessibility and crowd‑sourced accuracy. He also warned that legal clarity and robust insider‑trading surveillance are essential. Exchange CEOs...
China’s AI Adoption May Limit Economic Fallout of Its Rapidly Ageing Population: Analysts
Analysts at Bank of America and S&P Global argue that accelerating AI and robotics adoption in China, South Korea and Japan can cushion the economic drag of rapidly ageing societies. These economies already boast robot densities far above the global...
Vectoflow Appoints New Co-CEO to Support Flow Measurement Technology Growth
Vectoflow, a specialist in UAV flow‑measurement and air‑data systems, has named Stefanie Hach as Co‑CEO alongside co‑founder Dr. Christian Haigermoser. Hach, who joined as chief commercial officer in 2025, previously overhauled the go‑to‑market strategy and doubled order intake year‑over‑year. In...
Brands Don’t Have a Messaging Problem. They Have a Signalling Problem.
Indian brands are spending more on advertising yet seeing weaker recall, prompting a reassessment of strategy. Author Avinash Joshi argues that the core issue is not messaging but signalling—what brands repeatedly do. Sustained, observable actions transform into symbols that generate...
Finland’s Behavix Teams up with Fair Response to Expand Behavioral Data Platform in the US
Finland‑based Behavix has entered a strategic partnership with U.S. panel operator Fair Response to integrate its AI‑powered passive behavioral data with Fair Response’s high‑quality survey responses. The combined platform will enable clients in market research, advertising and finance to link...
Vladislav Apostolyuk Appointed CTO & Technical Lead at Volz Servos
Volz Servos, a leading actuator supplier for unmanned systems, has appointed Dr. Vladislav Apostolyuk as Chief Technology Officer and Technical Lead. Apostolyuk, who joined as Technical Director in 2025, previously led autonomous flight engineering at Lilium and contributed to EUROCAE...
Workers Lose £28 Billion a Year to Unpaid Overtime, TUC Warns
The Trades Union Congress reports that UK workers lost £28.5 billion to unpaid overtime in 2025, affecting roughly 3.5 million employees – about one in eight of the workforce. On average, each affected worker forfeits 6.8 hours weekly, translating to a personal loss...
Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls: Why We Need a Better Metaphor for Demand
The article argues that the Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) and its waterfall funnel metaphor have become entrenched in B2B despite growing criticism. It contends that the model reduces buyers to numbers and overlooks their agency, leading to misguided marketing tactics....
Interest in Apprenticeships on the Rise in UK
National searches for apprenticeships and vocational training rose 9% in 2025, with the strongest demand in Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East and the East Midlands. Early‑career specialist Helen Russell notes a cultural shift as adults increasingly pursue earn‑while‑you‑learn...
Hong Kong Gov’t Urged to Stabilise Oil Prices as some Residents Turn to Illicit Fuel Amid Middle East War
Hong Kong lawmakers are pressing the government to curb soaring fuel prices that have risen sharply since the Middle East conflict began in late February. Esso’s standard petrol is up 6.4% to HK$23.43 per litre, while Sinopec’s price has jumped...
Do We Want to Keep Fixing the Same Issue? Unlearned Lessons From the First Big Oil Crisis
The 1973 oil shock forced Europe to choose between quick fixes and systemic change, and a few nations seized the moment to build lasting clean‑energy foundations. Denmark turned the crisis into a wind‑power boom, the Netherlands institutionalised cycling infrastructure, France...