Seasoned executive brings 20+ years of experience; prepares to lead Telesign into its next chapter of growth

Telesign, the leading provider of customer identity and engagement solutions, announced today the appointment of Christophe Van de Weyer as CEO, effective September 15, 2023. Van de Weyer succeeds Joe Burton, who has decided to leave the company.

As CEO, Van de Weyer will lead Telesign in its next stage of growth as a leading provider of customer identity and engagement solutions. In June 2022, Proximus Group, Telesign’s parent company, announced the acquisition of Route Mobile. Upon close of the deal, Van de Weyer will lead Digital Identity (DI) activities across the group. Both companies are strong, highly complementary global assets that are central to Proximus Group’s international growth strategy.

“I’m honored to be appointed CEO and to be part of an organization that contributes positively to building a safer digital world,” said Van de Weyer. “Telesign’s commitment to Continuous Trust™ aligns with the challenges our customers face in today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape. Tremendous opportunity lies ahead and I’m excited to join this fantastic team to help lead Telesign into the future.”

“On behalf of the management team, I would like to thank Joe for his important contribution to our international business success,” said Guillaume Boutin, CEO of the Proximus Group. “Under his leadership, Telesign has followed an impressive trajectory of fast growth and delivered excellent operational and financial performances. Looking forward, I have full confidence in Christophe to guide Telesign through its next growth phase and help Proximus Group become one of the worldwide leaders in digital communications and digital identity.”

Van de Weyer is a seasoned transformation leader with an extensive background working with telcos and technology companies across the globe. He joined Proximus Group in 2020, where he held senior leadership positions, serving as managing director of its ICT Subsidiaries across Belgium, Luxembourg, and The Netherlands, as well as chief operating officer of the Proximus Enterprise Business Unit. Prior to Proximus Group, Van de Weyer dedicated nearly two decades of his career to Bain & Company. During his tenure, he served as a partner for nine years, in addition to holding various leadership roles within the global management firm’s Telecom and Tech practice.

Van de Weyer completed the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford Graduate School of Business and earned a master’s in commercial engineering from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

The enhanced integration allows users to easily utilize the valuable data from webinars and virtual events in HubSpot, helping to score leads, segment programs, and increase personalization

Kaltura, the Video Experience Cloud, today announced an enhancement to the company's HubSpot integration for both Kaltura Webinars and Kaltura Events. The enhanced integration simplifies operations, enabling data from virtual events and webinars to be put into use across events, marketing campaigns, and lead-gen activities. With event data, marketers can better automate workflows and leverage the data to score leads, improve segmentation and personalization, and more. To learn more about the new integration, click here.

With the enhancement, businesses can better plan and execute impactful and engaging digital experiences, while maintaining existing lead lifecycles, flywheels, and workflows. With the rich event data funneled into HubSpot, this will also assist in raising conversion rates and ROI.

Main capabilities of the new integration include:

• Simplified setup for event registration: Create a registration form directly from HubSpot, integrated with event data from Kaltura.
• Real-time updates: Manage lead scoring and campaigns, and follow up with real-time attendance and registration updates.
• From Registration to VOD: Continue tracking registration and engagement throughout the VOD period, making the most of your content. Optimize future event marketing strategies by analyzing engagement, tracking conversions, and identifying improvement areas.

“Digital experiences, for a good reason, are a staple for marketers, with video at the core. From generating leads to upselling to customer education, their impact and utility are unquestioned. Integrating Kaltura webinars and events with HubSpot makes them an even more impactful tool with consolidated data across systems to create a smarter funnel in a scalable manner, helping marketers be more efficient and data-driven,” said Lisa Bennett, EVP Marketing at Kaltura.

Quadient, a leader in helping businesses create meaningful customer connections through digital and physical channels, announces it has expanded cloud hosting services to Japan and the UK, furthering its commitment to delivering secure, cutting-edge and scalable cloud-based business communication solutions to its customers across the globe. Quadient now has the ability to deploy its Quadient Inspire omnichannel customer communication and journey mapping cloud solutions for clients in Japan and the UK who have data sovereignty needs.

Quadient is a trusted leader in Customer Communications Management (CCM) solutions for organizations of all sizes across regulated industries such as banking, utilities, insurance and healthcare. Data sovereignty is important for many companies as it ensures they retain full control and legal ownership over their sensitive information within the geographical boundaries of their jurisdictions. This control not only fosters trust among customers and partners by demonstrating a commitment to privacy but also enables companies to navigate complex compliance landscapes, mitigate risks and maintain the integrity of their operations.

"We are thrilled to expand our cloud offerings to customers in the UK and Japan, in line with our commitment to deliver leading business communication cloud solutions that empower organizations to connect with their customers in meaningful ways,” said Chris Hartigan, chief solution officer, Intelligent Communication Automation, Quadient. "The transition of Quadient’s software model from license to software-as-a-service has been a key component of our strategy. We remain dedicated to providing industry-leading, cloud-based solutions that are secure, efficient, compliant and scalable to drive business success."

Quadient Inspire is the only fully integrated, any-premise enterprise CCM solution that enables organizations to create and deliver personalized, compliant customer communications across all channels from one centralized platform. The Inspire cloud portfolio includes Inspire Evolve, Inspire Journey, Quadient Messenger, Quadient Omnichannel Orchestration and Quadient Digital Services.

OpenText™, today announced the strategic appointment of Shannon Bell as the Chief Digital Officer and new member of OpenText's Executive Leadership Team. Ms. Bell will lead a charter focused on digital and AI systems and data platforms for sales, products, customers, and operations.

"The OpenText future has never been brighter as we expand our Information Management mission with new Cloud Editions from Titanium X, new AI capabilities and our new Micro Focus business areas. We are in a premier position to accelerate transformative value to our customers and partners as they seek The AI Advantage," said OpenText CEO & CTO Mark J. Barrenechea. "We have the strongest leadership team in our history, and I am excited to welcome Shannon to the team as we execute against our strategic plan." 

Ms. Bell joins OpenText from Rogers Communications, where she most recently led all aspects of IT, digital, cloud, and data. Having driven many large integration efforts, Ms. Bell is an accomplished Information Technology Executive with international experience in global technology, product management, development, delivery, and operations. At OpenText, she will be responsible for all IT and digital systems, data platforms, networks and communications, commercial and corporate cloud operations, and security and compliance.

"It will be exciting to watch the achievements from our executive team as we continue to grow and scale our cloud business and deliver against our rapid-paced AI innovation agenda in the coming years," added Mr. Barrenechea. "We remain laser focused on our value creation approach to total growth and having a leader focused on the strategic digital and AI agenda within our own company is going to help us better serve our key stakeholders, including our customers, partners and employees."

"I believe OpenText's Information Management Automation and AI strategy will enable OpenText to power and protect organizations to better compete and win," said Shannon Bell EVP & Chief Digital Officer OpenText. "I am excited to be part of the most innovative team in Information Management, and meeting customers at OpenText World next month."

OpenText™ World Las Vegas

In a rapidly changing era of information and artificial intelligence, businesses must stay ahead by equipping themselves with the right data and tools. At OpenText™ World Las Vegas, attendees will get the chance to explore hands-on labs, insightful keynotes and panel discussions and learn more about OpenText's latest AI-driven innovations featured in the Titanium X journey. 

Combined expertise of both organizations further accelerates UAE's digital transformation, allowing public sector and regulated industries to securely take full advantage of the latest cloud and AI technologies.

G42 and Microsoft have embarked on the next phase of their ongoing strategic collaboration and announced a multifaceted plan to make available sovereign cloud offerings, co-innovate and deliver advanced AI capabilities, and expand the existing data center infrastructure in the UAE.

Microsoft's sovereign cloud offering public sector and regulated industries to use new platform capabilities for securing access to the latest cloud and AI features available on Azure public cloud and helping local privacy and regulatory requirements. G42's deep understanding of UAE sovereignty requirements and technical capabilities are central to customizing the offering to help address customer's specific needs.

By combining their expertise and existing capabilities, the companies will also focus on bringing cutting-edge, AI-enabled industry specific solutions for health and life sciences, energy, sustainability and projects of national significance, for example the COP28 conference being held in the UAE this year.

In addition to setting new milestones for public sector cloud computing security and innovation, G42 and Microsoft will further empower the wider technology ecosystem by delivering new in-country services, extend go-to-market opportunities for partners, and unlock considerable value for Microsoft's partner ecosystem to deliver industry-specific solutions to local entities. The partnership will also see Microsoft expanding its Azure services footprint in the UAE via Khazna Data Centers, a joint venture company between G42 and e&.

His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cyber Security for United Arab Emirates Government & Director of The National Data Center under The Supreme Council for the National Security, praised the partnership between Microsoft and G42 stating that it will further contribute to creating a safer and more resilient digital environment that the public sector and regulated industries can utilize to enhance efficiency, as well as enable citizens to access services seamlessly, which will lead to flourishing innovation without compromising security and data privacy while bolstering the country effort to manage cyber risks effectively, ensure continued services to society, support economic growth, and uphold the reputation of the United Arab Emirates.

Peng Xiao, Group CEO of G42, described the joint sovereign cloud and AI offering with Microsoft as a significant step forward in the company's mission to accelerate innovation and drive meaningful technological advancements across key sectors. "This strategic collaboration with Microsoft isn't just about technology; it's about creating a holistic ecosystem for societal resilience and growth. By combining our respective expertise and shared forward-thinking approach, we aim to not only transform industries but also create positive economic opportunities and lasting impacts on the well-being of individuals, communities, and society as a whole."

Judson Althoff, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Microsoft, noted that organizations all over the world are turning to advancements in generative AI technology to imagine new ways to solve business, societal, and sustainability challenges. "Microsoft's partnership with G42 will empower customers across the public sector with next-generation AI solutions built on the most trusted, comprehensive, and integrated cloud platform. With data privacy, security, and compliance as our core priorities, we have a unique opportunity to help organizations responsibly innovate for the benefit of citizens and residents across the UAE."

Samer Abu-Ltaif, Corporate VP and President for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Microsoft, said that the UAE has distinguished itself as an early adopter of the latest technologies, creating the ideal environment for developing and deploying cutting-edge solutions. This has given organizations across every industry the confidence to explore solutions that will drive their digital transformation agendas, improve efficiency and enhance agility. "By strengthening our collaboration with G42, we are supporting the UAE's vision of empowering individuals and businesses to innovate AI solutions that not only drive sustainable economic growth, but also tackle ongoing challenges in our communities."

This announcement marks the first significant outcome since G42 and Microsoft announced their intention to partner earlier this year, in April 2023. The two companies plan to further strengthen their collaboration in the upcoming months.

Story Protocol is building the infrastructure layer to power a new era of open and collaborative IP.
The project launches with filmmaker David S. Goyer as an advisor.

Insert after eighth paragraph of release: “As a co-lead investor in Story Protocol's earliest funding round, I was highly impressed by the caliber of the leadership team and their ability to execute at the intersection of mainstream IPs and web3,” said Simon Kim, CEO and Managing Partner at Hashed. “Just as Git revolutionized software development, Story Protocol is transforming the development of creative IP and enabling contribution at scale with clear ownership attribution.”

The updated release reads:

STORY PROTOCOL LAUNCHES WITH OVER $54M IN FUNDING LED BY ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ

Story Protocol is building the infrastructure layer to power a new era of open and collaborative IP.
The project launches with filmmaker David S. Goyer as an advisor.

Story Protocol, an open infrastructure designed to power a new era of creativity and intellectual property (IP) ownership, has raised over $54 million in funding led by a16z crypto. Story Protocol is creating a new IP protocol optimized for the internet era. The project aims to democratize IP creation through a global and extensible IP repository.

Story Protocol provides a streamlined framework to manage the entire lifecycle of IP development, enabling features like provenance tracking, frictionless licensing and revenue sharing. Made for creators across all media – prose, images, gaming, audio and more – applications built on Story Protocol give writers and artists the ability to track their work's provenance, allowing anyone to contribute and remix while capturing the value of their contributions.

“In a world of total abundance catalyzed by generative AI, blockchain technology presents the perfect solution for transparent provenance tracking and fair attribution,” said SY (Seung Yoon) Lee, Co-Founder of Story Protocol. “Story Protocol will usher in a new era of entrepreneurial creators and provide existing IP holders an entirely new way to engage audiences and advance their IP.”

The project aims to attract a rich ecosystem of third-party developers providing services encompassing crowdfunding, capital formation, IP discovery, licensing modules, authentication for AI content, and community growth. Story Protocol presents an open and modular architecture that any application can plug into and its decentralized nature removes platform risk for ecosystem builders.

"Web3 has the promise to help solve some of the longest-standing problems in the media and entertainment industries," said Sriram Krishnan, General Partner at a16z crypto. "We believe that Story Protocol has the opportunity to revolutionize the future of IP for artists, fans, and developers by empowering creativity at the speed of the internet."

Funding includes participation from Hashed, Endeavor, Samsung Next, dao5, Insignia Venture Partners, David Bonderman (Founder & Chairman of TPG Capital), Si-hyuk Bang (Founder & Chairman of HYBE/BTS), Paris Hilton’s 11:11 Media, CH Kim (CEO of Krafton/PUBG), Kyung In Jung (CEO of Black Label), Wattpad Co-founder Allen and Eva Lau’s Two Small Fish Ventures, Alliance DAO, Foresight Ventures, Mirana Ventures, Balaji Srinivasan, Nicolas Berggruen, Charlie Songhurst, David Lee (SLVC), Sanghun Kim (Former CEO of Naver), Chang Kim (Founder of Tapas) and Roham Gharegozlou (Founder & CEO of Dapper Labs), among others.

“Artists and fans are integral to any successful IP franchise, and Story Protocol will power platforms that allow them to participate in the creative process,” said Ben Enowitz, SVP, Corporate Development & Talent Ventures at Endeavor. “Technology cannot replace authentic, human creativity – but it can bring communities together to unlock the full potential of existing and new IP. We’re excited to support Story Protocol in expanding the ways IP is created and shared with the world.”

In addition to the fundraising, Story Protocol welcomes David Goyer as an advisor. Goyer is a filmmaker and novelist best known as the screenwriter for the “Blade” trilogy (1998-2004) and “The Dark Knight” trilogy (2005-2012) and as the showrunner for the television series “Foundation” (2021) among others. He also has a proven track record of exploring new storytelling mediums such as gaming via Call of Duty and VR with Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series.

“As a co-lead investor in Story Protocol's earliest funding round, I was highly impressed by the caliber of the leadership team and their ability to execute at the intersection of mainstream IPs and web3,” said Simon Kim, CEO and Managing Partner at Hashed. “Just as Git revolutionized software development, Story Protocol is transforming the development of creative IP and enabling contribution at scale with clear ownership attribution.”

“I envision a future where creators will wield greater control over their IPs, extend their influence on a global scale, and cultivate direct connections with their community,” said David S. Goyer, filmmaker and advisor to Story Protocol. “Story Protocol marks a new era for the entertainment industry and the start of a new ownership model for creators and fans.”

Story Protocol's founding leadership team features a powerful mix of a serial entrepreneur and seasoned operators with diverse backgrounds in entertainment, web3, and artificial intelligence (AI).

• Co-founder Seung Yoon (S.Y.) Lee previously founded the mobile serial fiction platform Radish.
• Co-founder Jason Levy led content at Episode, a breakthrough storytelling ecosystem.
• Co-founder Jason Zhao served as a product lead at Google’s Deepmind, translating cutting-edge AI research into customer-facing applications.
• Weilei Yu led growth for Flow blockchain at Dapper Labs, helping bootstrap a multi-billion dollar ecosystem from inception and onboarding thousands of developers.
• Leo Chen was the founding VP of Engineering at Harmony Protocol and previously served as Tech Lead at Amazon and built the first hardware-assisted storage virtualization engine.
• Ben Sternberg most recently served as CFO of Radish Media and previously co-founded and exited Fexy Media to IAC.
• Susan Park served as a design lead at Google where she spearheaded Google’s first web3 patent filings and is a leading art education influencer as @thatsprettyneat on Tiktok and Instagram.

Zenlayer, the hyperconnected cloud, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jeff Geiser as the Vice President of Customer Experience. This is a new role created to enhance the customer journey end to end, ensuring that customers receive exceptional service at every touchpoint.

Geiser comes with over 15 years of experience in technical leadership at startups and distinguished technology companies like UUNet, Akamai, and most recently, EdgeCast (now Edgio), where he led teams responsible for the design, production, onboarding, and deployment of solutions for notable clients that included Twitter, Disney/ESPN, and PayPal.

In his capacity as the VP of Customer Experience at Zenlayer, Geiser will take on the crucial role of elevating Zenlayer’s technical capabilities. His history in leading customer-facing technical teams and his proficiency in solution architecture will play a pivotal role in ensuring seamless onboarding of new customers. In addition, he will head Zenlayer’s technical support team to ensure an unparalleled level of service regardless of where customers choose to deploy.

“We have always prided ourselves in providing ‘global service, local support.’ This means that customers use our cloud services in far-reaching emerging markets to deploy their applications, but still enjoy U.S. based support around the clock,” said Joe Zhu, Founder and CEO of Zenlayer. “Jeff’s arrival will ensure that we deliver fast and flexible solutions to reinforce our unwavering dedication to the success of our customers, making it as easy as possible for customers to do business with us. His leadership experience and technical expertise will enhance our support for customers and partners alike.”

“I’m excited to join the incredible team at Zenlayer and look forward to instilling the voice of the customer throughout their adoption of our hyperconnected cloud,” Geiser shared. “By building solutions based on customer objectives and delivering consistent support to meet those needs, we’ll elevate customer success to new heights around the world.”

Jotform's customers can now benefit from integrated powerful form automation

Jotform today announced it has launched Jotform for Salesforce on Salesforce AppExchange, empowering customers to seamlessly integrate the form automation tool with their Salesforce accounts. 

Jotform is currently available on AppExchange at https://appexchange.salesforce.com/appxListingDetail?listingId=a0N4V00000JTeWyUAL&tab=e.

Jotform for Salesforce
Jotform empowers organizations with a way to collect the data they need to make mission critical decisions and increase lead generation flow. Jotform is used by more than 20 million people worldwide, including organizations across various industries, including professional services, healthcare, nonprofits, enterprises and small businesses. Anyone who needs to collect data, can use Jotform.

Now that Jotform for Salesforce is available on the Salesforce AppExchange, customers can access all of Jotform's suite of products, including Jotform's no-code form builder, a new e-signature product, a mobile app builder, approval workflows, automated report generator, and more. This solution enables organizations to collect, organize and make sense of data, cutting out redundant tasks and helping them get work done more efficiently and effectively.   

Comments on the News
"We're so excited to deliver our powerful online form automation software to the Salesforce ecosystem," said Aytekin Tank, founder and CEO of Jotform. "We've built automation into our software to free organizations of busywork and give them more time to spend on more meaningful work."

"Jotform for Salesforce is a welcome addition to AppExchange, as it accelerates business transformation for customers by giving them the power to automate data collection through online forms," said Alice Steinglass, Executive Vice President of and General Manager, Platform. "AppExchange is constantly evolving to connect customers with the right apps and experts for their business needs."