Industry news

London and Singapore-based Zevero has raised $7m (£5.3m) in a seed funding round led by Spital Capital, with participation from East Ventures.

Zevero’s AI-powered carbon accounting platform focuses on measuring emissions across supply chains in the fast-moving consumer goods sector, providing tools to help clients both meet their regulatory reporting obligations and also take steps to reduce their carbon impact.

Read the full article on TechMarketView here.

Strategic agility is the ability of a company to reinvent itself over time, changing its market focus, offerings and business model as needed in order to remain competitive and win in tough markets. Corporate history is full of examples of companies that failed to change when needed, either by ignoring or failing to notice market signals, or being unable to implement transformation.

Microsoft shifted from an operating systems company to enterprise and cloud services, then consumer electronics and, more recently via substantial investments, towards incorporating AI into its key offerings.

Read the full article on Management Today here.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cognizant have announced a partnership which is set to offer recreational cricket fans, players and volunteers an improved digital experience.

The collaboration will also aim to provide a streamlined and inclusive digital experience that facilitates a more meaningful engagement for all participants with the game. The first phase is due to become operational in 2025.

Cognizant comes to the ECB relationship with significant experience of supporting major sports governing bodies in the UK.

Read the full article on TechMarketView here.

UK challenger, Metro Bank has struck a long-term deal with Infosys as the high street retail bank looks to reduce its cost base and turn around its fortunes by transforming its IT and business operations. Metro Bank has tasked Infosys with enhancing its IT and support functions, while digitally transforming many of the bank’s processes.

The collaboration with Infosys is designed to enhance Metro Bank’s digital capabilities, improve automation, refine data, and embed AI capabilities into the bank’s processes. To achieve this Metro Bank will leverage Infosys Topaz, an AI-first offering using generative AI technologies to deliver a consistent customer experience.

Read the full article on TechMarketView here.

In recent years, many organisations have reassessed their approach to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This shift is partly driven by political narratives, especially in the US, where there’s a trend towards downplaying the need to drive the agenda, reintegrating DEI initiatives back into HR departments, and mis-using the term ‘woke’ with negative connotations. But according to Gita Singham-Willis, this approach risks undermining the very essence of what DEI stands for.

DEI cannot be confined to HR practices alone. DEI has to stand as much more than a set standard of initiatives, serving as a fundamental aspect of organisational culture and a crucial driver of long-term business sustainability.

Read the full article on Consultancy.uk here

AI start-up Oxford Dynamics has secured an Enterprise Agreement Lite with the UK Ministry of Defence, worth up to £2m for its generative AI technology to assist with the searching, interrogation and summarising of complex data. This is the first AI-focused EA Lite contract of its type to be awarded by the MoD to a company, demonstrating the desire to use the innovative technology from UK start-ups to solve government challenges.

Oxford Dynamics was founded in 2020 by Shefali Sharma, Dr Edward Jackson and Mike Lawton, bringing together a blend of serial tech entrepreneurial and space industry expertise and unique AI research. 

Read the full article on TechMarketView here.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading IT firm in India, is leveraging generative artificial intelligence (AI) to boost productivity in the rapidly expanding field of engineering research and design.

According to Sreenivasa Chakravarti, vice president of Internet of Things and digital engineering at TCS, this technological advancement signifies a major shift in the industry.

In an interview with Reuters, Chakravarti highlighted that generative AI has enabled TCS to cut product development cycles for its engineering clients by up to 20%.

Read the full article on Outsource Accelerator here.

One of the world's largest banks, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), has been hit by a ransomware attack.

According to The Register, cyber group Hunters International has claimed responsibility, saying they have stolen over 5.2 million files from the bank's London branch.

Hunters International, a relatively new ransomware-as-a-service operation, has threatened to release the stolen data if ICBC does not meet their demands by today's deadline.

The leaked data reportedly amounts to 6.6 TB of sensitive information. At the time of writing, ICBC has not issued a public statement regarding the ransomware attack.

OpenAI has announced the release of o1, the first AI model in a new series designed to excel at complex reasoning tasks.

The highly anticipated model, codenamed "Strawberry," demonstrates "exceptional capabilities in fields like science, coding, and math," according to the company.

"We've developed a new series of AI models designed to spend more time thinking before they respond," OpenAI explained.

"They can reason through complex tasks and solve harder problems than previous models in science, coding, and math."

Business Process Operations specialist Serco continues with its ambition on moving up the value chain with the launch of a new consulting business called +impact.

Serco’s new consulting brand is geared towards not only providing advisory but linking into the running of operations – as such Serco is looking to deliver the initial phases of a project right through to implementation and the running of operations. Much of this expertise already exists within Serco but has been lost in how the firm has gone to market. +impact should therefore help Serco engage at a more senior level and move up the food chain from operations into the C-Suite.

Read the full article on TechMarketView here.