The crm, saas & automation stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
Xero users can now ask Google's Gemini chat about profit, overdue bills and cash, and get charts from live numbers. Changes still need your approval.
Read more: Xero accounting data now works inside Google's Gemini chatPhonic-1, a new voice AI, begins looking up answers while you talk. In the company's own demo, it replied 1.1 seconds after the speaker stopped.
Read more: New voice AI starts looking up answers while you are still talkingA developer's free, open-source apps now mimic Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Adobe tools. They could cut subscription bills, but they come with real gaps.
Read more: Free AI-built apps now copy Word, Excel and PhotoshopWealth firm Arca lets AI agents do the background work, but only human advisors can trade or move client money. Here is why that setup matters for your own tools.
Read more: This wealth firm lets AI do the prep work and humans move the moneyMicrosoft is promoting physical AI, software that lets factory machines sense, decide and act on their own. Small manufacturers are part of the pitch.
Read more: Microsoft Pushes AI That Lets Factory Robots Think on the JobOpenAI and ServiceNow now let staff look up work data and take actions from inside ChatGPT, within each company's own permission rules.
Read more: ChatGPT can now carry out work tasks inside ServiceNowA researcher released working attack code for an Android flaw that can crash a phone or cut off calls with one text. Older phones may stay exposed.
Read more: A single text message can crash some Android phonesAI company Sierra passed $400M in yearly recurring revenue as ServiceNow stock fell 26.9% in a day. Software pricing is shifting from per user to per result.
Read more: A young AI company added $150M in sales in three monthsVaani AI Research has opened a self-serve tool for building voice agents that answer calls in many languages, though its claims are untested by outsiders.
Read more: Vaani AI Launches a Tool to Build Phone Agents That Speak Many LanguagesA privacy nonprofit is asking the FCC to protect people from unwanted political robocalls, which could mean fewer interruptions and fewer scams.
Read more: Privacy group asks FCC to stop unwanted political robocallsA SaaStr founder who long pushed yearly software contracts now lists the hidden costs, from discounts to slow payments, and says the best AI firms are changing the deal.
Read more: Why Locking Customers Into Annual Contracts Can BackfireSalesforce plans to buy Loops, an AI tool that explains why key business numbers moved, and send the answers to Slack and email.
Read more: Salesforce is buying Loops, a tool that explains why your numbers changedA warm transfer briefs the next person before connecting you, so callers skip the retelling. Here is when it beats a cold transfer, and how AI agents do it.
Read more: Warm or cold call transfers: how to stop callers repeating themselvesThe FTC and eight states say Toast signed up customers for add-ons they did not want and made cancelling hard. Business owners should check their bills.
Read more: FTC and eight states sue Toast over hidden fees and billing trapsWorkday agreed to buy C1.ai, a tool that controls which people and AI agents can reach company apps and data, and the move points to a gap many firms share.
Read more: Workday buys C1.ai to control who and what can access company systemsAI-focused investors are buying whole companies, including ADT for $15.3 billion, so the firms behind your alarm, payroll or HOA may soon run differently.
Read more: AI investors are now buying whole companies, from ADT to payroll firmsSalesforce is buying Rune, a startup that builds military supply software, for a reported $375 million, a sign business software firms are moving deeper into defense.
Read more: Salesforce buys Rune, a military supply software startup, for $375MA former Goldman Sachs banker who now teaches AI to 1 million YouTube subscribers says employees are learning AI faster than the founders who run their companies.
Read more: Ex-Goldman banker, now a YouTube AI teacher, says workers are ahead of bossesZoho Recruit added three AI features that summarize tests, transcribe video interviews and compare candidates, aiming to save recruiters hours of review.
Read more: Zoho Recruit adds AI tools to help staffing teams pick candidates fasterSalesforce will pay $5.66 billion for Braze, far above its market price. The deal shows why investors doubt software that charges per user as AI agents spread.
Read more: Salesforce pays a 58% premium for Braze as sales software sinksFlaws in the networks that connect phone carriers let attackers track you and redirect your text codes without ever touching your phone.
Read more: Hackers can track your phone and read your texts without touching itTELUS Digital says a voice agent that phones new internet customers cut early cancellations to less than half the usual rate. Here is what it did and what to check.
Read more: TELUS uses an AI voice agent to call new customers and cut cancellationsA writer at How-To Geek says an old computer under $100 can replace audiobook, streaming and photo subscriptions, and pay for itself in about two months.
Read more: A used computer under $100 can replace three paid subscriptionsTata Communications says its Commotion voice AI was tested in eight Indian languages, but the claims come from a paid press release with few details.
Read more: Tata Communications tests its voice AI in eight Indian languages
