The crm, saas & automation stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
Salesforce says half of Slack messages now come from apps and AI agents, not people. Here is what that means for teams that use Slack.
Read more: Half of all Slack messages now come from apps and AI agentsWalmart is growing its investment in Symbotic by $6 billion, and new robot systems are headed to 25 of its U.S. regional distribution centers.
Read more: Walmart puts $6 billion more into warehouse robots from SymboticMatch Group says Hinge is testing a lower-priced subscription for women, with extra filters and more say over who appears in their feed.
Read more: Hinge is testing a cheaper subscription aimed at womenAn Android Police writer swapped six paid apps for free, open source ones. Here is what he picked and what to know before trying them.
Read more: Free Android apps that can replace paid subscriptionsYango Ride now works inside ChatGPT, so riders in more than 25 countries can check fares, routes and pickup times in one chat before booking.
Read more: You can now plan a Yango ride inside a ChatGPT conversationCall transcription turns phone and video calls into searchable text, which can replace note-taking and give teams a record for training and compliance.
Read more: Call transcription turns phone calls into searchable written textA video from The Economic Times shows how ElevenLabs can copy a real voice and use it to run a customer-facing voice agent, with consent as the key caution.
Read more: How to make an AI voice agent that answers customers in your own voiceChery's robot brand AiMOGA unveiled MOBO, a home companion robot, and opened pre-orders worldwide. Price and ship date have not been shared.
Read more: Chery's carmaker unveils MOBO, a home robot you can pre-orderClaude can now connect to apps like HubSpot, Salesforce and Zendesk to read data and act in them. Starting with read-only access keeps the risk low.
Read more: Claude can now work inside your CRM and other business appsZoho Writer now lets businesses design their own document approval steps and bring in outside reviewers who do not need a Zoho account.
Read more: Zoho Writer lets you build your own document approval stepsIntuit says its AI can send payment reminders and stop once you are paid, and customers using it get paid up to four days faster. Owners set the rules.
Read more: QuickBooks wants AI to chase your unpaid invoices for youA non-programmer says he built stand-ins for three paid apps with a $20 Claude plan, and the apps keep working even if he cancels.
Read more: A writer used Claude to replace $400 a year in app subscriptionsConvoso has launched an AI voice agent that answers sales calls and screens leads, which could ease the load on small sales and call center teams.
Read more: Convoso Launches an AI Voice Agent to Answer Sales CallsElevenLabs, the AI voice company, says 2028 is a good time to start preparing for a stock market debut, riding demand for AI agents that handle business communications.
Read more: ElevenLabs, the AI voice company, eyes a stock market debut around 2028Microsoft's Dataverse business data tool now works inside Copilot Cowork, more AI coding helpers and n8n, using each user's existing permissions.
Read more: Microsoft's business data tool now plugs into more AI coding helpersCyclon, a Y Combinator-backed startup, is taking preorders for an AI phone that taps through your apps and builds missing ones. Here is what is known so far.
Read more: Startup Cyclon is building an AI phone that uses apps for youVaani AI has launched a self-serve tool for building voice agents that handle mixed-language calls, which could matter to any business that takes customer calls.
Read more: Vaani AI lets any business build a voice agent that speaks many languagesA voice in an ad, call or audiobook may be AI. ElevenLabs explains how these voices are built and says a copy can start from under two minutes of audio.
Read more: How computers learn to talk like real peopleKPN, the Netherlands' largest phone company, now sells an AI call assistant to small businesses, aiming to cut missed calls without stopping the work.
Read more: Dutch phone company adds an AI assistant to answer small business callsSaaStr warns that software firms raising prices and locking in contracts as sales slow may push customers to cheaper, AI-built alternatives.
Read more: When sales slow, software firms squeeze loyal customers. It backfires.A software rep's pitch cited 'end of 2024 goals' in 2026. SaaStr says it shows why outbound email needs a check, and why buyers' AI may screen sloppy pitches.
Read more: A sales email with the wrong year shows why companies are turning to AI agentsBloomberg will pay $500,000 after New York said a $1.99 trial price jumped to $39.99 a month, and some customers can get refunds.
Read more: Bloomberg to pay $500,000 over hidden subscription price jumpsHinge is testing a cheaper paid plan with extra filters and location limits, but its parent company has not said what it will cost.
Read more: Hinge is testing a cheaper paid plan as dating app fatigue growsA How-To Geek writer runs a small AI on a Raspberry Pi 5 to search his notes at home, with no subscription and no cloud AI service.
Read more: A small home computer now searches his notes with private AI
