My Two Cents
Opinions at the Intersection of Business and Technology
Latest Posts
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Strategic Leadership in the Age of Generative AI: A Guide for Long-Term Success
Can a new book finally help executives grasp the full potential of AI? In this issue of “The AI Economy,” we look at “Winning with Generational AI” and chat with one of its authors, Charlene Li, to understand if this 90-day blueprint can offer highly sought-after clarity. You have probably heard about NotebookLM, but what…
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The 90-Day Generative AI Blueprint
As we continue to see innovations around artificial intelligence accelerate, I continue to hear about how confused executives are when discussing how to use the technology. Multiple studies illustrate this point, which Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff further emphasized during his Dreamforce keynote last month. Organizations recognize AI as being transformative and fear being left…
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Augie Launches Highlighter, an AI Tool That Captures the Best Moments from Long-Form Videos
Aug X Studios, creators of the AI-powered video platform Augie, have introduced Highlighter, a tool designed to help users effortlessly capture viral-worthy soundbites. Upload a long-form video and provide a prompt for what you’re looking for. Highlighter takes care of the rest—automatically extracting the most shareable moments for social media. This is the newest feature…
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Pinterest Rolls out Performance+, a Suite of AI-Powered Tools for Smarter Ad Campaigns
Months after its introduction at Cannes Lion, Pinterest officially released its suite of AI-powered tools designed to help advertisers streamline and automate their campaigns. Branded as Performance+, this offering promises to aid marketers in “[driving] lower-funnel performance by optimizing targeting, managing budgets or deciding how much to bid.” Pinterest boasts that its technology can save…
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Salesforce Gives the Gift of Free AI Trailhead Courses Through 2025
This is my final dispatch from Dreamforce 2024. The conference did live up to the hype Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff promised: We’d all be talking about artificial intelligence. For this issue of “The AI Economy,” read about how Salesforce is preparing non-technical workers to adapt to this third wave of AI. Although Agentforce requires…
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Marc Benioff Wants to Break the AI ‘Hypnosis,’ Urges Vendors to ‘Let the Customer at It’
Surrounded by journalists and industry analysts, Salesforce’s outspoken chief executive, Marc Benioff, revealed a secret about this year’s Dreamforce keynote address: It was only completed the prior night after he scrapped an earlier speech three weeks ago. By the time he took the stage, Benioff hadn’t even rehearsed it before addressing 10,000 in-person attendees and…
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Marc Benioff Questions Klarna’s Decision to Drop Salesforce, Workday for AI: ‘Humans Aren’t Going Away’
“I think that there’s a broad misunderstanding of artificial intelligence and how it relates to data management and applications,” Marc Benioff says during a press conference. Salesforce’s charismatic leader was responding to Klarna’s move away from using both the CRM platform and Workday in favor of internally built AI and automation. Another consequence of the…
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How California is Trying to Regulate Artificial Intelligence
Believe it or not, this “The AI Economy” issue is not about Salesforce. Instead, we’ll look at how California lawmakers are trying to legislate AI and if there’s been any progress. Plus, the week’s roundup of AI news you may have missed. The Prompt If there’s something most people will agree on, it is that…
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Salesforce’s Agentforce: What You Need to Know About the Autonomous AI Agent Platform
Welcome to another special edition of “The AI Economy.” Over the next few days, I’ll devote this newsletter to Salesforce’s annual customer conference. Today’s issue provides a closer look at the company’s autonomous AI agent platform, Agentforce, which will be formally introduced at Dreamforce next week. Calling it “what AI was meant to be,” chief…
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AI Takes Center Stage: The Message Salesforce Must Deliver at Dreamforce
Welcome to a special edition of “The AI Economy.” Over the next few days, I’ll devote this newsletter to Salesforce’s annual customer conference. New issues will feature an analysis of the company’s AI announcements that might reshape how organizations think about how they use the technology. The Prompt Thousands are set to descend on San…