The crm, saas & automation stories our desk judged worth your time, written so anyone can follow them.
A new MIT Technology Review Insights survey finds every company uses AI, but only 16% report transformative value. One expert blames missing business context.
Read more: Most companies using AI still see little payoff, a new survey findsGitHub now lets teams build shared Copilot Automations, so one AI helper can do routine work for everyone, but an admin has to turn on billing first.
Read more: GitHub lets teams share AI helpers that do routine work for themOpenAI and ServiceNow are widening their partnership to bring AI into more everyday work tasks. Details are thin, but ServiceNow customers should pay attention.
Read more: OpenAI and ServiceNow team up to bring AI to more work tasksA Twilio strategy leader says AI can make calls, texts and chatbots feel like one conversation, so customers stop repeating themselves.
Read more: Twilio says AI can link your calls, texts and chats into one experienceAnthropic added ready-made templates to Claude for Legal that check sources first, so a lawyer reviews work that already links each claim to its origin.
Read more: Claude's legal tool now checks sources before a lawyer reviews the workPypestream says its AI phone agent is now live for fast-food brands, and one national line launched in four weeks. Here is what is known and what is not.
Read more: Fast-food chains now use AI to answer customer phone callsLettuce says an AI tool cut its ad costs by about 75% and made new Meta ads in 45 seconds, but the numbers are the company's own estimates.
Read more: A small finance company now makes new Facebook ads in 45 secondsNvidia released a free model that turns recordings into text in up to 40 languages, which could improve meeting and medical note apps. It does not handle live audio.
Read more: Nvidia gives away a tool that turns recordings into textA new survey finds 78% of US consumers went to a competitor after an unanswered call. AI receptionists may help, but most callers want to know it is AI.
Read more: Most shoppers have left a business that didn't pick up the phoneTwilio's new podcast series opens with a talk on joining up scattered customer data and keeping support staff from burning out once AI joins the team.
Read more: Twilio's new podcast asks how firms can truly recognize customersMicrosoft ends its own text and phone-call sign-in codes for work accounts on February 1, 2027, so staff will soon be asked to set up a passkey.
Read more: Microsoft will stop texting sign-in codes to work accounts in 2027Zoho DataPrep 3.0 lets an AI helper plan, build and run a data cleanup from one request, and nothing is sent out until you approve it.
Read more: Zoho's data tool now builds the whole pipeline from one plain requestWhatsApp is rolling out optional usernames, so customers can message a business without showing their phone number. Businesses need tools that can cope.
Read more: WhatsApp users can now hide their phone number from businessesAI agents now handle much of the first-contact sales and support work, but companies still need a revenue leader to decide what AI does and what people do.
Read more: AI now does much of the sales grunt work, so sales bosses matter moreA basic motion sensor can dim hallway lights at night, read a morning briefing and warn you when mail arrives, with one catch.
Read more: A cheap motion sensor can do much more than switch on a lightA campaign called Skyw4lker uses fake contracts to get workers to approve a real Microsoft sign-in that hackers started, giving them access to the account.
Read more: Fake contract emails trick workers into approving hackers' Microsoft loginsZoho's Ask Zia now uses a team of six AI agents to analyze business data, and prices stay the same. Here is what small businesses should check first.
Read more: Zoho's business data assistant now uses six AI helpers to do the workProphecy has announced DataGPT, a product built to work with Claude, ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, so teams may soon use business data inside the AI chat tools they know.
Read more: Prophecy launches tool to use company data inside Claude and ChatGPTProphecy's new DataGPT lets staff run data work inside ChatGPT, Claude and Copilot, with a visible map of the steps behind each answer. A free account is available.
Read more: New tool lets office staff check the steps behind AI spreadsheet answersA Spanish ALS association and ElevenLabs will give eligible patients a free digital copy of their own voice, so they can keep speaking as themselves.
Read more: Spain's ALS patients can now get a digital copy of their voice for freeEleven payments companies say 2026 showed that speed, automation and more information do not always mean better results for customers or cash flow.
Read more: Payments Leaders Admit Which Business Beliefs They Got Wrong in 2026Demand for AI chips is lifting the makers of inspection machines, and a small company says it wants in. Here is what the numbers show and what to check first.
Read more: The machines that check AI chips may profit from the AI boomA Twilio report finds companies rate their AI customer service far higher than customers do, and a popular success metric can hide people who simply gave up.
Read more: Companies say customers like their AI help. Customers disagree.Stripe's study of 100+ fast-growing companies finds they sell in many countries at once, offer more local payment options, and face more fraud attempts.
Read more: Fast-growing companies sell in many countries at once, Stripe finds
