Sean Hammond spearheads company's regional expansion with AI portfolio of solutions

Gcore, a global leader in edge AI, cloud, network, and security solutions, has announced the appointment of Sean Hammond as the head of its rapidly expanding UK and Nordics territory. Hammond brings a wealth of experience in the convergence of AI and digital media, which will be pivotal for Gcore’s growth in these key regions.

• Appointment Overview

  • Sean Hammond joins Gcore to lead its UK and Nordics expansion.
  • Brings extensive experience in digital media and AI applications.

• Hammond’s Background

  • Formerly at Lumen Technologies for three years.
  • Expertise in delivering applications closer to users, crucial for Gcore’s streaming, CDN, FastEdge, and AI Inference at the Edge solutions.
  • Previous roles include Head of Service and Delivery at Simplestream and StreamAMG.

• Role and Responsibilities

  • Focus on promoting Gcore’s streaming, CDN, and AI solutions in the UK and Nordics.
  • Build and maintain strong relationships with Gcore’s customers.
  • Communicate complex AI innovations effectively.

• Statements from Leadership

  • Fabrice Moizan, CRO at Gcore: Highlights Sean’s enthusiasm and customer-centric approach as key to Gcore’s expansion in the UK and Nordics.
  • Sean Hammond: Excited about the opportunity to bring cutting-edge AI technology to the market and support enterprise customers.

• Upcoming Event

  • Hammond will be part of the Gcore team showcasing innovations at IBC 2024 (stand 5.H14).
  • Focus on AI advancements in speech recognition and content moderation.

Sean Hammond’s appointment is a strategic move for Gcore as it continues to expand its presence in the UK and Nordics. His expertise in AI and digital media will be instrumental in advancing Gcore’s solutions and driving growth in these important markets.

StatSocial, a leader in cross-platform social audience insights, has announced a strategic partnership with Databricks, the Data and AI company. This collaboration significantly expands StatSocial's presence in the Databricks Marketplace, providing users with enhanced access to detailed and actionable social and influencer data.

• Partnership Overview

  • StatSocial integrates with Databricks Marketplace to offer robust social data insights.
  • The partnership facilitates seamless access to enriched datasets, enhancing marketing strategies and data analysis.

• Benefits of the Integration

  • Enrich Existing Datasets: Add comprehensive social data from major platforms to existing datasets.
  • Audience Analysis: Examine media and influencer preferences, brand affinities, and audience loyalties.
  • Targeted Segments: Model and activate on precise audience segments for impactful campaigns.
  • Custom Measurement: Utilize custom segments for accurate measurement of organically exposed audiences.

• Featured Data Segments

  • Health and Wellness: Insights into medical advice, therapies, and related topics.
  • Financial Topics: Data on investment banking, cryptocurrency, insurance, and financial institutions.
  • Media and Entertainment: Information on traditional media, podcasts, TV, movies, and more.

• Statements from Leadership

  • Jen McNamee, Director of Technology Partnerships at Databricks: Praises the addition of StatSocial’s data to the marketplace, emphasizing its value in improving customer profiling and marketing strategies.
  • StatSocial: Excited about the collaboration and its potential to provide enriched social data for diverse industry needs.

The partnership between StatSocial and Databricks represents a significant advancement in the availability and utility of social and influencer data. By integrating with the Databricks Marketplace, StatSocial enables brands to enhance their data-driven strategies and achieve more targeted and effective marketing outcomes.

Patients embrace artificial intelligence for administrative tasks, sensitive health queries, and communications, but desire a human touch for medical advice

The latest Talkdesk® U.S. Consumer Healthcare Survey uncovers insights into patient experiences and expectations regarding AI in healthcare. While the current support levels from healthcare providers have left many patients feeling frustrated, there is notable optimism about AI’s potential to improve the patient journey within the next year.

• Current Patient Experience:

  • Frustrations: 62% of patients believe support has worsened or remained stagnant.
  • Complexity Issues: 23% of patients struggle with multiple departments and insurance issues.

• Optimism for AI:

  • Future Expectations: 51% of respondents believe AI will enhance their patient experience within the next year.
  • Demographics: Stronger optimism is seen among men (59%) and Millennials (60%).

• AI’s Potential Impact:

  • Efficiency Gains: 50% expect AI to streamline interactions, reducing time spent on administrative tasks.
  • Automation Benefits: 82% see AI automating reminders, and 75% believe it will improve care coordination.
  • Non-Clinical Inquiries: 81% think AI will expedite responses to appointment changes and other non-clinical inquiries.

• Human vs. AI:

  • Preferred Consultations: 81% prefer human advice for medical queries and personal health information.
  • Administrative Tasks: Patients are comfortable with AI handling tasks like address changes (60%), prescription refills (56%), and routine appointments (42%).

• Breaking Barriers:

  • Sensitive Health Issues: 30% have avoided care due to embarrassment, but 67% would be more comfortable with AI chatbots for sensitive issues.
  • Positive Aspects: AI chatbots are appreciated for their non-judgmental nature (48%) and patience (38%).

• Concerns and Oversight:

  • Patient Worries: Top concerns include inaccuracies (26%), data privacy (24%), and loss of human touch (24%).
  • Regulations: Only 23% feel current regulations are adequate.

Supporting Quotes

• Patty Hayward, VP and GM of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Talkdesk: “Patients are eager for AI to assist them, but the human touch remains crucial for medical advice and personal health inquiries. Responsible AI integration can enhance efficiency while preserving the expertise of human caregivers.”

The Talkdesk survey underscores a growing anticipation for AI to enhance healthcare experiences, despite current frustrations. As AI continues to evolve, balancing efficiency with the irreplaceable human touch will be key to improving patient care.

Butterflies AI, the pioneering social media platform that merges human and AI interactions, has announced a significant update to its platform. The new feature, Butterflies Clones, empowers users to create AI versions of themselves, allowing them to engage with the Butterflies world in new and imaginative ways.

• Feature Overview:

  • Butterflies Clones: Users can now create AI characters that are modeled after themselves.
  • Personalization: Allows users to capture a selfie and create a Butterfly Clone with their own likeness.

• User Experience:

  • Interactive Storytelling: Users can develop backstories and explore various roles and scenarios as their AI selves.
  • Creative Exploration: See oneself as different personas like a famous painter, soccer player, or renowned scientist.

• Platform Growth:

  • User Engagement: Since its June launch, Butterflies AI has seen tens of thousands of users creating and engaging with Butterflies.
  • Accessibility: Unlike other platforms, Butterflies AI makes this feature available to all users, not just select individuals.

• Founder’s Insight:

  • Vu Tran, Founder and CEO of Butterflies AI, shares excitement about the new feature, highlighting its potential for storytelling and character development.
  • Quote from Vu Tran: “Our users are super creative and this new feature allows them to easily create themselves as an AI and see what they would be like as, say, a famous painter or soccer player or renowned scientist. It’s a new avenue for them to explore storytelling and character development.”

How It Works

• Creating Clones: Users access the new Butterflies Clones feature from their account profile screen.
• Selfie Integration: A selfie can be used to model the AI character after the user’s likeness.
• Story Integration: Users can immediately see their AI self in various creative stories and scenarios.

The introduction of Butterflies Clones represents a significant enhancement to the Butterflies AI platform, offering users new ways to engage with and explore the world of AI. This feature aligns with Butterflies AI’s mission to blend human creativity with AI innovation.

IZEA Worldwide, Inc., a leader in the Creator Economy, announces the launch of IZZY, its groundbreaking AI assistant, now available to users of IZEA Flex. Unveiled by CEO Ted Murphy at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, IZZY has completed its private beta phase and is set to transform influencer marketing for Flex subscribers.

• Advanced AI Capabilities:

  • Data-Driven Insights: IZZY leverages IZEA’s BrandGraph and IZEA Flow to provide detailed influencer profiles, audience analytics, and strategic recommendations based on historical performance.
  • Seamless Interaction: Flex users can interact with IZZY for instant, data-driven insights, enabling them to efficiently access influencer profiles, analyze audience data, and align decisions with campaign goals.

• Enhanced Campaign Efficiency:

  • Streamlined Processes: IZZY reduces the time and money required for campaign development and analysis, addressing common challenges in identifying the right influencers and crafting effective strategies.

• Intelligent Predictions:

  • Transparency and Rationale: IZZY offers clear rationale behind its predictions, providing detailed context about influencers, their audiences, and content, ensuring informed decision-making.

Supporting Quotes

• Ted Murphy, Founder and CEO of IZEA: “IZZY represents a major advancement for our Flex subscribers, merging nearly two decades of data insights with cutting-edge AI. This AI assistant transforms how marketers approach influencer marketing by providing previously inaccessible insights and empowering users to make smarter decisions.”

Experience IZZY

IZZY not only processes data but also converts it into actionable insights, making it an invaluable tool for reducing campaign development time and increasing impact. By integrating IZZY into IZEA Flex, marketers can achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness in their influencer marketing efforts.

Innovative platform helps marketers build high-quality backlinks 10x faster

LinkDR, an innovative AI-powered link building tool, has officially launched, designed to accelerate SEO and digital PR efforts for marketing teams. Created by Lewis Carhart, former head of growth at Leap AI, and Ilias Ism, owner of MagicSpace SEO agency, LinkDR leverages advanced algorithms to streamline the link building process.

• AI-Powered Prospecting:

  • Find Relevant Opportunities: Identifies relevant websites and influencers for effective link building.

• Verified Email Finder:

  • High Accuracy: Provides verified email addresses with over 95% accuracy.

• Customizable Outreach:

  • Templates and Sequences: Offers customizable outreach templates and follow-up sequences for personalized communication at scale.

• CRM-Style Pipeline:

  • Campaign Management: Manages link building campaigns with a user-friendly pipeline.

• Analytics Dashboard:

  • Track ROI and Metrics: Monitors ROI and link quality metrics to evaluate the success of campaigns.

Benefits and Early Success

• Time Savings: Early users report saving over 30 hours per month on manual outreach tasks.
• Increased Success Rates: Users have seen a 50% increase in successful placements.
• Positive Feedback: The Head of SEO at MagicSpace SEO highlights LinkDR as a game-changer for accelerating link building while maintaining high standards.

• Lewis Carhart, Co-Founder of LinkDR: “Link building remains crucial for SEO, yet it’s incredibly time-consuming. We developed LinkDR to automate the labor-intensive parts of link building, allowing marketers to concentrate on strategy and relationship-building.”

• Head of SEO, MagicSpace SEO: “LinkDR has transformed our SEO efforts, enabling us to build links faster and more effectively while upholding quality.”

Bloomreach, a leader in ecommerce personalization, has announced a major upgrade to its search and merchandising platform by integrating NVIDIA NIM embedding microservices. This development, in addition to Bloomreach’s previous integration of Google Cloud AI, positions the platform at the forefront of ecommerce search technology.

• NVIDIA NeMo Platform:

  • Enhanced Search Relevance: Utilizes NVIDIA NeMo for deeper search relevance and flexible customization by commerce teams.

• Advanced AI Technologies:

  • Low-Latency Performance: Leverages NVIDIA software including CUDA, Triton Inference Server, and TensorRT to optimize inference.

• Loomi AI™ Integration:

  • Powerful Search Engine: Combines Loomi AI™ with NVIDIA’s advanced technology to deliver a next-generation search engine that handles complex, long-tail searches with precision.

Benefits and Impact

• Revolutionized Search Technology:

  • Core Re-architecture: Bloomreach has fundamentally re-architected its core search technology to offer unprecedented search relevance.

• Enhanced Flexibility and Performance:

  • Customized Online Shopping Experience: The integration enables a more customized and flexible shopping experience, enhancing the ability to find products suited to individual needs.

• Continual AI Advancements:

  • Cutting-Edge Models: Ensures Bloomreach’s AI models are continually advanced, maintaining its leadership in ecommerce search solutions.

• Xun Wang, Chief Technology Officer, Bloomreach: “Ecommerce search is at a dramatic turning point. With the integration of NVIDIA NeMo, we have revolutionized our search technology, unlocking new levels of relevance for businesses and consumers globally.”

• Azita Martin, VP of AI for Retail, Consumer Packaged Goods and Quick-Service Restaurants, NVIDIA: “The integration of NVIDIA NeMo into Bloomreach’s platform will provide a customized online shopping experience with greater flexibility, performance, and relevance.”

Modest growth in monthly economic index score despite declines in key indicators

Zeta Global, the leader in AI-powered marketing solutions, has released the Zeta Economic Index (ZEI) for August 2024. Leveraging Zeta's proprietary Generative AI technology and data from over 240 million US consumers, the ZEI offers a detailed view of the current economic landscape and trends.

• Economic Index Score:

  • Current Score: Increased by 0.6 from July to 67.4, categorized as “Active,” indicating robust economic activity with healthy growth across various sectors.

• Economic Stability Index:

  • Current Score: Increased by 0.3 to 66.1, defined as Stable, reflecting steady income levels that help individuals manage short-term financial disruptions.

Insights and Trends

• Consumer Spending Patterns:

  • Discretionary Spending: Increased by 15% year-over-year, partly due to back-to-school spending and willingness to make non-essential purchases.
  • New Mover Index: Declined by 10% month-over-month, indicating growing caution among consumers.

• Job Market Sentiment:

  • Sentiment Index: Dipped 4.6% compared to last year, highlighting rising concerns about job stability.

• Sector-Specific Trends:

  • Automotive Sector: Index climbed by 4.1 points since July, driven by dealer incentives and excess inventory clearance.
  • Retail Sector: Dropped 12.6 points month-over-month, impacted by the early end of back-to-school shopping.
  • Travel Sector: Experienced a slowdown but remains above 2023 values by 7.5 points.

Supporting Quotes

• David A. Steinberg, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Zeta Global: “The Zeta Economic Index highlights the resilience of the US consumer despite economic headwinds. Our data reflects steady growth and adaptability, providing businesses with valuable insights to navigate a challenging market.”

The ZEI utilizes generative AI to analyze trillions of behavioral signals, offering comprehensive scores based on over 20 proprietary inputs. Unlike traditional surveys, this approach recalibrates monthly based on actual consumer behavior, delivering a nuanced understanding of economic trends.