Productivity stories - Page 4

New Zealand to centralise digital spending in new Public Service Commission agency, with Judith Collins saying reforms could trim NZD $3.9 billion in costs.

Banks are slowing AI rollouts as they prioritise process visibility, with Celonis arguing execution depends on understanding how work flows today.

AI in legal services is unlikely to shrink demand, with clients seeking more senior expertise and using efficiency gains to unlock latent work.

8x8's Engage platform has won Gold at the NY Product Design Awards, with judges praising its unified workspace for customer-facing staff.

Sidetrade sets out a four-year push into AI-driven order-to-cash, with three new products due in 2026 and a shift towards usage-linked revenue.

Ecommerce in 2026: AI shoppers, social sales and returns pressure push retailers to rethink data, compliance and cross-border growth.

Persistent and Databricks launch Merchant Risk Management and Fraud Detection solution for banks and payment providers facing rising digital payment fraud.

Kyndryl's AI workplace Digital Twin uses Microsoft Foundry to spot IT faults before staff are hit, as firms seek faster, predictive support.

Layercake joins Ceeblue to offer sub-second live video streaming with automated failover, broad CDN support and instant VOD replay.

Governance and compliance are stalling MSP AI rollouts, with AvePoint and Omdia finding operational strain is widening the gap between investment and delivery.

Trintech expands embedded AI across close processes with Beacon assistant, aiming to speed journal entries, matching and risk checks.

Affirmo's Lip Sing Tay says AI can unlock smarter real-time location tracking, as the Singapore firm targets tougher IoT use cases.

Oracle unveils 25 AI-powered apps across finance, HR and customer service, as it pushes agentic software deeper into core business workflows.

Optimizely training programme sees 375 AI agents built in five days as waitlist tops 1,500 amid rising enterprise marketing demand.

Twilio survey shows conversational AI is moving from pilots to live use, with current adopters reporting stronger governance confidence and clearer business gains.

Sinch Mailgun warns weak inbox placement and limited AI use are eroding email returns, with many firms unable to measure ROI confidently.

Nasuni pivots from cloud file storage with Active Everywhere and AI Activate, aiming to give enterprises governed access to unstructured data for AI.

Executives now see managed services as a critical route to scaling agentic AI, with most prioritising AI know-how and security over cost savings.

Outpayce and Riskified to roll out airline fraud and chargeback protection worldwide, with first Asia-Pacific airline launch due in 2026.

Akamai names Sean Li as Senior Vice President for Asia Pacific and Japan, as the firm sharpens its cloud, security and AI push in the region.