Decisions, a leading process automation platform that orchestrates business rules, workflows, and artificial intelligence, proudly announced its attainment of System and Organization Controls (SOC) Type 2 + HIPAA certification. This achievement stands as a testament to Decisions' unwavering dedication to the highest standards of data security and privacy for its customers and the HIPAA certification demonstrates Decisions' compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule requirements (Sections 154.308-316), where those requirements are applicable.

The SOC2 Type 2 certification validates Decisions' adherence to industry-recognized standards in security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. The certification process, overseen by the reputable professional services firm, Moss Adams, involved a comprehensive evaluation of Decisions' policies and practices, affirming the company's commitment to continuously improve its data security measures.

The collaborative efforts of various departments, including Security and Compliance, HR, CloudOps, QA, System Administrators, and Development teams, ensured seamless alignment with the trust services criteria and security requirements set forth by SOC2 and HIPAA.

Alongside the SOC2 Type 2 certification, Decisions was also recertified in June 2023 for the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). These certifications exemplify Decisions' dedication to maintaining the highest levels of security and compliance across its operations.

Pravash Mukherjee, the Decisions Director of Technology and Delivery, remarked, "Through this critical milestone, customers can rest assured that at Decisions, we consistently adhere to and enhance policies and practices to assure their data and sensitive information remains safe and protected. Achieving this certification ahead of schedule reflects our dedication to prioritizing data security and privacy without compromising our commitment to excellence."

Customers and partners can expect a heightened level of confidence when working with Decisions, knowing that the company's commitment to data security and privacy is reinforced by the SOC2 Type 2 + HIPAA and PCI DSS certifications. With these certifications, Decisions continues to be a reliable and trustworthy partner for businesses navigating the complexities of the digital landscape.

Looking ahead, Decisions remains committed to upholding SOC2 Type 2 compliance standards and enhancing its security posture and compliance measures. Future initiatives include introducing a platform for dark web scans of Decisions employees, enhancing monitoring of company assets, and implementing automation for gathering compliance evidence.

FineShare is an intelligent software company that offers innovative solutions to enhance multimedia experiences for individuals and businesses. In July, FineShare launched Online Voice Changer which is based on AI Voice Cloning technology. This month, FineShare is proud to introduce FineShare Singify, an innovative and free AI song cover generator that aims to redefine music creation and provide an unprecedented carnival for music lovers.

FineShare Singify can help make your singing voice sound like a professional's and create high-quality covers within seconds. Whether you want to create, parody, entertain, or seek some nostalgic feelings, there's always a way to express yourself through music.

Jared Dun, CEO and co-founder of FineShare said: "FineShare Singify's launch marks our continuous innovation in the AI Voice field. We are committed to providing music lovers with a new, free creation pattern that allows them to express themselves in a simpler and more convenient way."

FineShare Singify provides multiple simple and convenient ways of making AI song covers:

1. Song search: Find any song within the app and create song covers with one click, no threshold for creation.
2. Audio file upload: Upload your favorite song, and AI will automatically convert it to the desired singing voice.
3. Real-time recording: Utilize the built-in record function to transform your voice into song covers instantly without hassle.

Besides that, FineShare Singify boasts more features waiting for you to explore:

• A Vivid and Realistic Voice Model Library

FineShare Singify comes with 100+ built-in voice models of various styles, including singers, rappers, celebrities, and characters. These voice models are well-trained for realistic effects, providing the best song covers - almost indistinguishable from archetypes.

• Regular Updates and Expansions

FineShare Singify will regularly update its voice model library to offer more diversified choices. Whether you prefer classics or popular hits, FineShare Singify gives you infinite motivation for creating music.

• A Music Assistant for Long-term Usage

Unique to FineShare Singify is the free AI song cover feature, which makes music creation accessible to everyone. Music lovers can fully unleash creativity and make their own music works.

Dun added: "FineShare Singify is set to usher in a new era of music creation. Both professionals and amateurs can easily explore the unlimited possibilities of music with it. Let's move onto the music journey brought by FineShare Singify together!"

10th consecutive quarter of 20+% revenue growth, exceeding the high end of previously issued guidance on both revenue and adjusted EBITDA

Q2 revenue grew 21% year-over-year, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 22%

Company released Opera One, the latest version of Opera's flagship browser, incorporating new functionality and a redesigned experience

Opera introduced 'Aria', a fully integrated browser AI

Company announced a recurring semi-annual dividend of $0.40 per ADS ($0.80 annualized)

Company raises both revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance for 2023

Opera Limited, one of the world's major browser developers and a leading internet consumer brand, announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2023.

"The second quarter of 2023 was our 10th consecutive quarter of revenue growth in excess of 20%, fueled by our strong product lineup and continued scaling among high-value users. Revenue outperformance and ongoing cost discipline translated into profits also exceeding our expectations," said co-CEO Lin Song.

"During the quarter we were able to deliver several product updates that point to continued innovation and our ability to quickly iterate. We were able to roll out an entirely new generation of our flagship desktop browser, Opera One, and introduce the world to 'Aria', our unique AI chat bot that is currently available to users of Opera for Android, Opera for iOS, and Opera One. As anticipated, Aria users are displaying increased engagement with the Opera browser, and we remain very excited about the continuation of this roll-out across our user base," continued Mr. Song.

"In particular, the much anticipated roll-out of Aria to Opera GX is scheduled for the third quarter of 2023. While still early days, we believe that the increased engagement we are already seeing will become an additional driver in our ability to grow monetization as more and more of our users upgrade to newer versions of our browsers and take advantage of this integrated service," finished Mr. Song.

Second Quarter and Recent Business Highlights

• Advertising revenue grew 25% year-over-year, and now constitutes 57% of total revenue. This revenue category was driven by Opera Ads, which continues to exceed expectations, and ongoing monetization growth for mobile and GX browsers.
• Search revenue grew 15% year-over-year. The growth in search revenue continues to be driven by our focus on users with the highest monetization potential in western markets.
• Opera had 316 million monthly active users (MAUs) in the second quarter of 2023, down slightly versus the first quarter following our continued strategy of focusing on higher monetizing users. The user base in Western Europe and North America accounted for 15% of our total footprint.
• In the second quarter of 2023, annualized ARPU was $1.17, an increase of 25% versus the second quarter of 2022.
• The Opera GX gaming browser had 23.7 million monthly active users across PC and mobile in the quarter, up 9% from 21.7 million in the first quarter.
• Opera One, our new flagship browser was made available to all desktop users.
• Aria, Opera's AI chat bot, was added to Opera One and Opera for Android during the quarter and is now also available on Opera for iOS.
• In June 2023, Opera announced an ongoing dividend of $0.80 per ADS per annum to be paid semi-annually. The first record date was in June, with payment in July.
• At the end of the second quarter, our cash position was $98 million, up $13 million relative to our cash position of $85 million at the start of the quarter. In addition to our cash balance, we have a combined $196 million of assets held for sale and receivables on our balance sheet, reflecting our 9.5% stake in OPay and remaining receivables from the sale of Star X in 2022.

Business Outlook

"The second quarter of 2023 continued the trend of revenue and EBITDA exceeding guidance, and as a result we are once again raising our full year guidance," said Frode Jacobsen, CFO.

"Furthermore, our healthy cash flow and strong balance sheet enabled us to become a recurring dividend payer in the quarter, a milestone I am incredibly proud of," concluded Mr. Jacobsen.

For the full year of 2023, Opera is raising the previously issued guidance of revenue to be $380 million to $390 million, up from $373 million to 390 million. We guide adjusted EBITDA to be between $80 million and $84 million, or a 21% margin at the midpoints, up from $77 million to $83 million.

For the third quarter of 2023, Opera expects revenue of $97 million to $100 million, representing 15% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $18.5 million and $20.5 million, representing a 20% margin at the midpoint.

Second Quarter 2023 Financial Results

All comparisons in this section are relative to the second quarter of 2022 unless otherwise stated.

Revenue increased by 21% to $94.1 million.

• Advertising revenue increased by 25% to $53.8 million.
• Search revenue increased by 15% to $38.9 million.
• Technology licensing and other revenue was $1.5 million.

Operating expenses increased by 22% to $81.7 million.

• Combined technology and platform fees, content cost and cost of inventory sold were $22.6 million, or 24% of revenue.
• Personnel expenses, including share-based remuneration, were $21.4 million. This expense consists of cash-based compensation expense of $16.7 million, a 5% decrease year-over-year, and share-based remuneration expense of $4.6 million. Share-based remuneration includes grants made by Opera's majority shareholder, which represents an expense in the P&L even though Opera has no obligation in connection with these grants, and they do not represent dilution for Opera's shareholders.
• Marketing and distribution expenses were $27.0 million, an increase of 7%.
• Depreciation and amortization expenses were $3.4 million, a 2% decrease.
• All other operating expenses were $7.4 million, a 5% increase.

Operating profit was $12.5 million, a 13% margin, compared to an operating profit of $11.2 million and a margin of 14% in the second quarter of 2022.

Net finance income was $2.2 million, inclusive of interest income on bank deposits and time-value changes of our Star X receivable, compared to a net finance expense of $13.3 million in the second quarter of 2022.

Income tax expense was $1.1 million, compared to $3.7 million in the second quarter of 2022.

Net income was $13.5 million, an 14% margin. This compared to a net loss of $5.8 million in the second quarter of 2022.

Basic earnings per ADS was $0.15 in the second quarter of 2023, compared to a net loss per ADS of $0.05 in the second quarter of 2022. In the second quarter of 2023, the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding was 179.8 million, corresponding to 89.9 million ADSs.

Adjusted EBITDA was $20.5 million, representing a 22% margin, compared to adjusted EBITDA of $16.6 million in the second quarter of 2022.

Free cash flow from operations was $13.2 million, compared to a net cash outflow of $4.0 million in the second quarter of 2022.

Profitable Growth Highlighted by Customer Expansion Sales, International Customer Acquisition, and Success of Proprietary Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Solution

Planful, the pioneer of financial performance management cloud software, today announced continued strong revenue growth coupled with surging profitability, fueled by customer base growth and expansion of use case adoption within that base.

The company experienced growth across multiple key metrics including customer expansion bookings, which were up 26% year-over-year. International customer expansion bookings were up 71% year-over-year, driven by increasing global demand for Planful's Financial Performance Management platform. A record number of customers expanded their use of Planful, broadening their user base across business functions, with notable growth in the company's marketing budgeting and planning solution, made possible by Planful's 2022 acquisition of Plannuh. New customers signed in the first half of the year include World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Collingwood Lighting, Steiner Electric Company, and Envision Radiology LLC.

In May, Planful held Perform23, its annual user conference, which attracted over 1,500 in-person and virtual attendees. At the event, new members were inducted into the company's Champions Club, and customers, including Rocket Software, Arcadia, Merchant's Fleet, TogetherWork, and Zappos, were recognized with awards. Planful also announced a range of product innovations including expanded capabilities for Predict, the company's proprietary embedded AI and ML solution.

"Planful Predict serves as our 'intelligent assistant,' allowing us to reduce cycle times and manual tasks while increasing trust in our data," said Luis Martinez Luna, Senior Manager FP&A, Rocket Software. "Because the technology is embedded in the platform, there aren't any additional technical skills required to use it. I'm excited for budget managers across the company to take advantage of these AI capabilities and make financial decisions with greater speed and accuracy."

Planful's partner network expanded with the additions of Novus Proximus, Blue Noda, Kloo, Postal, and Elevate IQ. In February, the company recognized the significant contributions of its partners through its annual Partner Award program, which honors partners for excellence in sales, implementation quality, and delivering exceptional value to mutual customers. The 2022 Partner Award winners are:

• Strategic Partner of the Year: Workiva
• Partner of the Year: Bakerfield Solutions
• Solution Implementer of the Year: CFO Solutions
• Solution Implementer of the Year: KeenVision
• Rising Star: Wipfli, LLP

In the first half of 2023, Planful continued to earn recognition as a market leader from top industry analysts, including:

• Named to the Constellation Research ShortList^™ for Cloud-Based Planning and Performance Management Platforms for the 11th consecutive year
• Earned a Dresner Advisory Services 2022 Technology Innovation Award in the "Financial Consolidation, Close Management, and Reporting" category
• Earned one of the Business Intelligence Group's 2023 Excellence in Customer Service Awards
• Ranked highly in G2's Best Accounting and Finance Products for 2023 report and in the G2 2023 Spring Report across multiple categories
• Great Place to Work certification for US, UK, Canada, and India for the second year in a row
• Named to Fortune's Best Workplaces in the Bay Area 2023 list
• Named a leader in the BPM Vendor Landscape Matrix for Performance Management Solutions
• Earned a Bronze Stevie^® Award for Customer Service Department of the Year and Planful CEO Grant Halloran earned a Gold Stevie^® Award for Maverick of the Year
• Named a finalist in the 2023 Lattice People Success Awards
• Named a finalist in the CHRO of the Year Awards

"What our team accomplished in the first half of 2023 was stellar," said Grant Halloran, Planful Chief Executive Officer. "We're excited that so many customers are realizing more value from our platform, expanding its use across the business, and leveraging AI and ML to increase speed and improve accuracy. Global demand remains high for our software, as companies seek greater automation of their financial performance processes, not only to make them more productive but also to make faster course corrections as they navigate dynamic business conditions."

First-mover partnership provides more transparency into the digital shelf, enabling brands to optimize their retail media strategies and drive online sales growth ahead of back-to-school and holiday season

Criteo S.A., the commerce media company and global marketing and corporate communications company, Omnicom, today announced that they are expanding their recently announced commerce data partnership to encompass digital shelf data and insights from Criteo's widespread retailer network.

Omnicom is the first agency holding company partnering with Criteo in this area.

"With this partnership, our insights technology will empower Omnicom's clients to better understand the impact of their advertising by gaining unprecedented visibility into their share of shelf, their share of category and more product-level insights than ever before," said Brian Gleason, Chief Revenue Officer at Criteo. "As we head into the busy back-to-school and holiday season, advertisers are looking to prove the value of their investments and media budget, and Criteo is giving them the tools needed to succeed in the ever-complex retail media ecosystem."

The National Retail Federation estimates $41.5 billion spend in the US for back-to-school this year, kicking off another competitive holiday shopping season as consumers look for the best deals and advertisers look to capture their demand. With Commerce Insights, advertisers get visibility into sales rank, attributed sales, and other metrics to allow for data-driven decision making throughout the commerce media lifecycle, from media planning to campaign execution and optimization.

In a pilot conducted earlier this year, Omnicom teams leveraging the Criteo digital shelf data saw overall return on ad spending (ROAS) goals increase by 22 percent.

"This collaboration is another example of how Omnicom is co-creating with other marketplace leaders to develop unique utility and competitive advantages for our clients in this rapidly evolving space," says Frank Kochenash, Global CEO of Omnicom's connected commerce and e-retail consultancy Transact. "Operationalizing Criteo's suite of insights and tools within our Omni marketing orchestration system, our teams will be able to better optimize our clients' investments across retailers, improve their brands' standing in their categories and help them exceed ROAS goals."

Last month Omnicom expanded its connected commerce footprint with the acquisition of Outpromo and Global Shopper, two of Brazil's leading connected commerce and retail media agencies. And in June, the holding company launched Omni Commerce, the industry's first connected commerce orchestration solution. 

Criteo's investment in Commerce Insights stems from its strategic acquisition of Gradient, an intelligent insights company, in 2021. Criteo is recognized as a pioneer in applying machine learning to digital retail shelf analytics and was granted a US patent on Systems and Methods for Digital Shelf Display earlier this year.

Fueled by strong growth in customer demand in the Asia-Pacific region, AlphaSense opens a new office in Singapore to build up its local customer support

AlphaSense, the leading market intelligence and search platform, today announced its continued expansion in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region with a new regional hub in Singapore. The expansion, in response to strong customer demand in the region, will support AlphaSense's growing global footprint, enabling the company to better serve its existing APAC client base while bolstering its capacity to scale customer growth.

The announcement of AlphaSense's regional hub closely follows several significant company milestones in 2023, including the launch of its generative AI capabilities, Smart Summaries, as well as a $100 million addition to its $225 million Series D financing round in April led by CapitalG, Alphabet's independent growth fund, valuing the company at $1.8 billion.

AlphaSense's customer base now includes more than 4,000 enterprise customers and represents the region's most influential sectors, including 7 of the top 10 asset management firms in APAC and leading companies in wide-ranging industries such as life sciences, energy, industrials, consumer goods, and technology—many with existing users in APAC today. Customers in the region include Chugai Pharmaceutical, Samsung, Petronas, HSBC, Hong Kong's Sylebra Capital, Singapore's YH2 Capital Management, and many more. The new office—and AlphaSense's investment in growing its presence in the region—will help provide existing and new customers in Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, and the entire APAC region with greater levels of support.

"We are delighted to establish our new office in Singapore, especially as we continue to see growing demand for enterprise market intelligence solutions across the Asia-Pacific region," said Daniel Sanchez-Grant, SVP of International Corporate Sales. "Singapore's thriving market and impressive talent pool makes it a critical economic hub for AlphaSense to establish roots and build a best-in-class sales and support team dedicated to serving the region."

AlphaSense has also expanded coverage within Wall Street Insights® (WSI), its exclusive aftermarket research product, to expertise from APAC's top analyst teams, including Macquarie, HSBC, and Mordor Intelligence. Currently, users can search in the AlphaSense platform across non-English content in eight different languages, including Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese.

"The Asia-Pacific region is one of the most dynamic and fast-growing economies in the world," said Kiva Kolstein, President and Chief Revenue Officer of AlphaSense. "This expansion not only strengthens our global presence but also promises significant opportunities for accelerated company growth, furthering our mission to enable more professionals across every industry to make better decisions with confidence and speed."

Emerging AI data labeling practices mark new convergence of technology and the human-in-the-loop approach

Cogito Tech, a trusted leader in data labeling for AI development, offering human-in-the-loop workforce solutions, has identified the five major trends shaping data labeling for developing Large Language Models (LLMs). In an era where LLM models redefine AI digital interactions, the criticality of accurate, high-quality, and pertinent data labeling emerges as paramount.

"Data scientists are realizing that the real value in AI lies not just in the model but in the data itself, as well as the people behind the data," says Matthew McMullen, SVP, Head of Corporate Development of Cogito. "At Cogito, we are working to seamlessly blend data quality with human expertise and ethical work practices. We understand that both the data and the people behind it are indispensable. Crafting data repositories for LLMs requires diverse and domain-specific expertise, so we are committed to building a solid team of experts and value the transfer of their knowledge throughout a data labeling project.

"The future of AI-driven innovation will continue to be shaped by the individual contributors behind the technology," McMullen said. "We have a moral responsibility to promote ethical AI development practices, including our approach to data labeling. These five trends are foundational pillars for the future of AI as we consider the human impact on emerging technologies," McMullen continued.

The five crucial trends to improve the quality of enterprise data labeling for LLMs are as follows:

1. Fine-tuning and specialization for domain specificity – Every industry has specific language and labeling requirements and specializations, e.g., a medical diagnostic chatbot. Domain-specific fine-tuning aligns data annotation practices with the nuances of specific industries, such as healthcare, finance, or engineering. To be effective, machine-learning models and analytics must be grounded in domain-relevant data in order to drive superior results with actionable insights.
   
   
2. Commitment to data excellence – The concept of data quality over quantity continues to be relevant in an age when data labeling requirements are about precision, protection, and practice. Data collection and annotation must be supported by top-tier anonymization processes with minimal bias. Bias minimization can only be achieved through comprehensive annotator training backed by regular audits and feedback cycles powered by the latest application systems to reinforce data integrity and reliability.
   
   
3. Use of diverse annotation teams to promote global relevance – AI operates in a global marketplace where data annotation demands a global perspective. Data labeling requires a diverse pool of (human) annotators spanning different cultures, languages, and backgrounds, ensuring representation across varied linguistic, academic, and cultural backgrounds. Applying diversity to data labeling captures global nuances so AI systems are more universally competent and culturally sensitive.
   
   
4. Applying Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback (RLHF) – Human-in-the-loop feedback is essential to ensure the iterative evolution of machine learning models. The computational strengths of AI must be tempered by the qualitative judgment of human experts to create a dynamic learning mechanism that results in robust, refined, and resilient AI models. This dynamic learning mechanism merges the computational strengths of AI with the qualitative judgments of human experts, leading to robust, refined, and resilient AI models.
   
   
5. Respect for intellectual property and ethical data foundations – Respect for intellectual property is fundamental in the digital information age. As organizations continue to craft datasets for commercial contexts, it will be increasingly important to prioritize data authenticity and promote the highest ethical standards. AI models must be trained using genuine and ethically sourced data. This approach aligns technological advancements with moral responsibility.

Any company or person using Facebook Pages can post content from their FileShadow Library

FileShadow™ has enabled small businesses and individuals to publish content from their FileShadow Libraries to Facebook Pages. The new feature allows content-heavy users, such as photographers, attorneys, medical practitioners, family historians, and other professionals and individuals to post content to their Facebook Pages directly from FileShadow.

FileShadow is a SaaS service that collects a user’s content from wherever it’s located—cloud storage, email, hard drives, etc.—and gathers that content into a FileShadow Library. Through the service, which can be used on a desktop, a browser or a mobile device, users can share their content with others.

“The Facebook connector with FileShadow is the first of many connectors we’ll deliver to help our users post their content to their customers and groups,” said Tyrone Pike, president and CEO of FileShadow. “For the past few years, we’ve been building the connectors to your content, and now we are building applications to share that content with anyone, making it easy to find your content and then share it with others—your customers, family, friends or anyone.”

For businesses using FileShadow, they can connect their content wherever it’s stored, and then post that content to their business’ Facebook Page. Items that can be posted include logos, graphics, product photos, etc. The message and images can be posted from the FileShadow App.

Individuals can post to their Pages or family group pages. For example, a grandma can have her extended family contribute images of a recent family vacation or family history documents to a FileShadow Website Collection. The grandma can then post those images to the family’s Facebook Page for extended family members to see.

“Using FileShadow's new feature to post directly to Facebook has been a complete game-changer for me,” said Fred Whitridge, Chairman and CEO at Millennium Slate LLC. “Instead of juggling between different platforms and spending time downloading and re-uploading files, I can now seamlessly share my content directly from my storage accounts to Facebook. This convenience has made my social media experience smoother and more efficient.”

FileShadow connects data into a content library, supporting more than 1,000 file formats, including:

• Cloud storage accounts (Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe’s Lightroom solutions, Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, OneDrive and Slack);
• Email (Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, Gmail, iCloud Mail, Yahoo! Mail and IMAP servers);
• Local storage (macOS and Windows Desktops);
• Mobile devices (iOS and Android);
• Network and direct-attached storage (NAS/DAS) devices.

With FileShadow, users share images directly to Facebook from the FileShadow app. FileShadow also allows users to post content through the Website Collection Manager. Website Collections can be shared with anyone, regardless of where they are located or using FileShadow. Anyone inside or outside the FileShadow system can contribute files to Website Collections.

A Facebook Page is the central hub for managing business content to keep customers updated about a business or a service. Users post content, promote it and connect with potential customers. More than 200 million businesses use Facebook tools to reach customers with a potential audience of 3 billion monthly active users worldwide.