Amanda Silver, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s CoreAI division, explains that agentic artificial intelligence will dramatically lower the cost of software operations for startups. By automating tasks such as code‑base maintenance, live‑site incident response, and routine workflows, AI agents can reduce the need for human intervention, accelerate development cycles, and enable more ventures to launch with smaller teams. Silver notes that cultural and purpose‑definition challenges remain, but the overall impact mirrors the transformative effect the public cloud had on early‑stage companies. Leer más →

In a 1987 Computerworld roundtable chaired by Esther Dyson, Oracle co‑founder Larry Ellison argued that artificial intelligence should be applied sparingly and only where it truly simplifies database and application development. While other panelists promoted AI as a new architectural layer, Ellison warned against treating expert systems as a catch‑all solution, emphasizing the importance of selective use and the need for higher‑level, declarative development tools. His perspective, echoed in later comments about server‑based applications, remains relevant as modern enterprises grapple with AI hype. Leer más →

OpenAI announced Frontier, an end-to-end platform that lets enterprises build, deploy and control AI agents. The open system supports agents created inside or outside OpenAI, allowing them to access external data and applications while giving companies granular oversight of permissions and actions. Early adopters such as HP, Oracle, State Farm and Uber are testing the service, which is currently limited to a small group of users with broader rollout planned. Pricing details were not disclosed. Industry analysts, including Gartner, view agent‑management platforms as critical infrastructure for AI adoption, positioning Frontier as a strategic move for OpenAI in the enterprise market. Leer más →

GitHub has expanded its AI assistant offering by integrating Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s Codex into the platform for Pro+ and Enterprise subscribers. The new agents can be invoked directly from issues, pull requests, the Agents tab, or the VS Code extension, and developers can address them with @claude, @codex or @copilot comments. Each session counts as a premium request during the public preview, and GitHub says additional agents from Google, Cognition and xAI are slated to join the lineup. Leer más →

Anthropic has introduced a plug‑in feature for its Cowork AI tool, expanding the capabilities of Claude beyond coding assistance. The plug‑ins let enterprise teams automate specialized tasks such as marketing content creation, legal risk review, and customer‑support drafting. Anthropic open‑sourced eleven internal plug‑ins and says new ones are easy to build, edit, and share without deep technical expertise. Plug‑ins currently store data locally, with organization‑wide sharing slated for the future. The feature is available to paying Claude customers while Cowork remains in a research preview. Leer más →

Google is rolling out a new Gemini feature for Google Calendar that suggests optimal meeting times based on attendees' availability. When creating an event, users can select "Suggested times" and Gemini will scan calendar data to propose slots that work for most participants. If invitees decline, the tool can quickly recommend an alternative time. The feature is currently limited to paid Google Workspace Business and Enterprise plans, as well as Google AI Pro for Education users, and is being released to Rapid Release domains before expanding to Scheduled Release domains. Leer más →

Legal AI startup Harvey has purchased Hexus, a two‑year‑old firm that builds AI‑driven product demo, video, and guide tools. Hexus founder Sakshi Pratap says her San Francisco team has already joined Harvey, while engineers in India will transition after a new Bangalore office opens. The deal aligns with Harvey’s aggressive expansion, as the company recently confirmed an $8 billion valuation after raising $160 million, bringing total funding to $760 million. Harvey now serves more than 1,000 clients in 60 countries, including most of the top U.S. law firms, and aims to accelerate its suite for in‑house legal departments. Leer más →

Microsoft is rolling out Anthropic’s Claude Code to a broad set of its internal engineering groups, encouraging both developers and non‑technical staff to experiment with the AI coding assistant. The move complements the company’s existing reliance on GitHub Copilot, with engineers asked to compare the two tools and provide feedback. By integrating Claude Code into major product divisions such as Windows, Microsoft 365, and Azure‑related services, Microsoft aims to boost productivity, simplify prototyping, and explore the potential of offering the tool to external cloud customers in the future. Leer más →

Salesforce has upgraded Slackbot, the built‑in assistant in its Slack platform, into a generative‑AI‑powered agent. Available to Business+ and Enterprise+ customers, the new Slackbot can locate information, draft messages, schedule meetings and interact with other enterprise applications such as Microsoft Teams and Google Drive when granted permission. The company says the overhaul is designed to deliver a seamless, “agentic” experience that boosts productivity without forcing adoption. Salesforce plans future enhancements, including voice interaction and web‑browsing capabilities, positioning Slackbot as a central productivity companion for modern workplaces. Leer más →

Harness, the AI‑powered DevOps platform founded in 2017 by serial entrepreneur Jyoti Bansal, announced a $240 million Series E round that lifts its post‑money valuation to $5.5 billion. The financing, led by Goldman Sachs with participation from IVP, Menlo Ventures and Unusual Ventures, includes a $40 million tender offer aimed at providing liquidity for long‑term employees. The capital will fund expanded research and development, a hiring surge at the company’s Bengaluru hub, and broader go‑to‑market and international efforts. Harness aims to automate the “after‑code” phase of software delivery, leveraging AI agents and a knowledge graph to streamline testing, security, and deployment for more than 1,000 enterprise customers. Leer más →

OpenAI announced that Denise Dresser, the outgoing chief executive of Slack, will join the AI firm as its chief revenue officer. In her new role, Dresser will lead OpenAI's rapidly expanding enterprise unit and will report to chief operating officer Brad Lightcap. The move follows Dresser's 14‑year tenure at Salesforce, where she advanced through several senior sales positions before becoming Slack CEO in 2023. OpenAI executives highlighted her experience in scaling AI‑driven products for large businesses, signaling a push to make the technology more accessible across industries. Leer más →

Microsoft is embedding AI capabilities such as Copilot, Vision, and Voice directly into Windows, aiming to create an "agentic" operating system. The rollout has sparked criticism from users who report reliability issues and a loss of control, prompting concerns about forced adoption and privacy. Microsoft officials acknowledge the need for choice and have begun adding safeguards, but the push continues as the company expands AI features across its suite of products and infrastructure. Leer más →

Dubai‑based Cercli, an AI‑native HR and payroll platform built for the Middle East and North Africa, announced an oversubscribed $12 million Series A round led by European venture firm Picus Capital. Founded by former Careem executives Akeed Azmi and David Reche, the startup has rebuilt a Rippling‑like stack to unify people operations, payroll, and compliance for MENA businesses. Cercli reports revenue growth of more than tenfold, processing over $100 million in payroll for clients in 50 countries, and plans to use the new capital to launch additional AI‑driven products and capture a larger share of the regional HR‑software market. Leer más →

Slack is testing a major upgrade to Slackbot, turning it from a simple reminder tool into a personalized AI companion. The revamped bot can draft custom plans, search across channels with natural language, pull information from Outlook and Google Calendar, and assist with tasks like organizing product launches or creating social media campaigns. Available to Salesforce employees and in limited pilots, the feature runs on Amazon Web Services’ private cloud, ensuring data never leaves the firewall. Companies may opt out, but individual users cannot, and the rollout is slated for wider release later this year. Leer más →

After years of stagnant revenue and a 50% staff cut, Replit revived its fortunes by launching the Replit Agent, an AI‑powered coding assistant. The shift from serving professional developers to targeting non‑technical knowledge workers unlocked rapid revenue growth, leading to a $250 million funding round, a $3 billion valuation, and annualized revenue in the $150 million range. Enterprise customers now drive high‑margin earnings, while the company bolsters safety after a high‑profile database mishap. Replit faces competition from AI labs but bets on its unique focus and infrastructure to stay ahead. Leer más →

Steph Curry’s venture firm Penny Jar Capital led a $3.8 million seed round for Burnt, a Y Combinator‑backed startup that uses AI agents to automate back‑office tasks in the food‑distribution industry. Co‑founder and CEO Joseph Jacob, whose family has decades of experience in seafood logistics, says the technology can handle up to 80% of manual order‑entry work, allowing distributors to keep legacy ERP systems while reducing labor‑intensive processes. Since its launch, Burnt has processed more than $10 million in monthly orders and is working with a major UK food conglomerate, signaling strong early traction for the AI‑driven solution. Leer más →

AI‑powered video platform D‑ID announced the acquisition of Berlin‑based B2B video creation startup Simpleshow. The deal combines D‑ID’s interactive avatar technology with Simpleshow’s SaaS‑based text‑to‑video tools and its roster of more than 1,500 enterprise clients. The merged entity will operate from consolidated offices in Berlin, Tel Aviv and the United States and will bring the combined workforce to roughly 140 employees. D‑ID expects the acquisition to accelerate its push into enterprise training, marketing and sales video markets while moving closer to profitability. Leer más →

At its Make with Notion event, Notion announced the launch of its first AI agent, a tool that taps into a user’s Notion pages and databases to automatically generate notes, analyses, and updates. The agent can create and modify pages, pull data from external sources like Slack, email and Google Drive, and operate on multi‑step tasks that run for up to 20 minutes across hundreds of pages. Users can customize its behavior through a profile page, and Notion plans to add scheduling, trigger‑based automation and a template library in future releases. Leer más →

AI‑powered video platform D‑ID announced the acquisition of Berlin‑based B2B video creation startup Simpleshow. The deal combines D‑ID’s interactive avatar technology with Simpleshow’s SaaS‑based text‑to‑video tools and its roster of more than 1,500 enterprise clients. The merged entity will operate from consolidated offices in Berlin, Tel Aviv and the United States and will bring the combined workforce to roughly 140 employees. D‑ID expects the acquisition to accelerate its push into enterprise training, marketing and sales video markets while moving closer to profitability. Leer más →

AI‑powered video platform D‑ID announced the acquisition of Berlin‑based B2B video creation startup Simpleshow. The deal combines D‑ID’s interactive avatar technology with Simpleshow’s SaaS‑based text‑to‑video tools and its roster of more than 1,500 enterprise clients. The merged entity will operate from consolidated offices in Berlin, Tel Aviv and the United States and will bring the combined workforce to roughly 140 employees. D‑ID expects the acquisition to accelerate its push into enterprise training, marketing and sales video markets while moving closer to profitability. Leer más →