TechFinitive.com

While we’re big fans of AI and technology here at TechFinitive, we couldn’t help but nod in agreement when hearing the thoughts of David Gallivan – Sales Manager at Virtualstock – on sales tools. We asked what tool he couldn’t live without, fully expecting to hear about Salesforce or similar. But no: “The one sales tool my team and I couldn’t do without is networking and in-person events,” David said. “Personally, I believe we’re at a point where the importance of events and networking will only grow,” he added, pointing out that “while AI can handle many things, it will never replace the impact of human connection”. Here, here. So, aside from the fact he’s a people person, what do you need to know about David Gallivan? First, he’s earned his spurs in retail technology and supply chain solutions. And at Virtualstock, Europe’s largest dropshipping and curated marketplace SaaS platform, he’s the one in charge of driving digital transformation. With Argos, B&Q and Currys among Virtualstock’s clients, there’s a lot of pressure on his shoulders. Find out how he uses technology to help – and you might just get a few ideas on how to implement it in your business too. https://lnkd.in/gu7PPEp5

A new partnership between a Welsh startup and the University of South Wales (USW) is bringing VR technology to Ugandan clinicians.   USW’s Centre of Excellence in Mobile and Emerging Technologies (CEMET) and VR firm Goggleminds are building a VR simulation to help healthcare staff practise managing paediatric cases. Dr Jo Best reports on this story, here: https://lnkd.in/gZzhT_Jb

Lee Grant lays out the unsustainable truth behind the AI powering data centres - and the gadgets we all buy. Welcome to Digital Exceptionalism. https://lnkd.in/gCrvJ4RT

Optus has announced that it is now offering STARLINK’s low-orbit satellite broadband connectivity to its enterprise and SMB customers as an authorised reseller. Story by Aimee Chanthadavong here: https://lnkd.in/ghS9ggR7

Anthropic and Microsoft unveil AI agents — but digital paperwork isn’t dead yet, says Nicole Kobie. Story here: https://lnkd.in/giEFWR22

Some would argue that generative AI has democratized the creative world, turning us all into writers and designers. Even creative professionals are using AI tools to help them in their jobs. But should you take credit for work you created with a bunch of prompts? And if you’re doing something creative, how much help can an AI really be? Thanks to Eric Tan, Founder at Lighthouse Creative, you should have a much better answer to these questions by the end of this interview. “By inputting specific prompts [in generative AI art tools], designers can explore a variety of styles and concepts that might not have emerged otherwise,” Eric told us. But you need to “approach these tools with a sense of integrity and ethics”, he said, and that means not passing off “AI-generated art as one’s own work, even with some edits”. This doesn’t mean Eric is against AI. “Using generative AI art can spark new ideas and expand creative boundaries, but it should serve as a starting point rather than the final product,” he said. “This collaborative approach between human creativity and AI technology can lead to innovative outcomes that honour both the capabilities of the tools and the artistry of the designer.” But AI is just one of the topics we cover here. From collaboration tools that are helping his Singapore-based agency to thrive, to the use of generative AI within established creative apps, this is a whistlestop tour of what it’s like to run a creative business in 2024. And Eric even throws in some tips for aspiring creative designers. Read on to discover them all 👇 https://lnkd.in/gAUfUjQx

Education is vital to drive real change in how cybersecurity risk is understood and mitigated. The earlier age that education starts, the better. So, when Davey Winder saw that the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) had created new Digital Citizen badges that can be awarded to Scouts between the ages of eight and 14, to say he was overjoyed would be an understatement. Story here: https://lnkd.in/gaeRW__E

You’ve probably heard the saying about eating your own dogfood, otherwise known as using your own products. We’re absolutely certain that Pete Hannah, VP of Sales at Object First, does exactly that – using the ransomware-proof and immutable out-of-the-box Ootbi hardware as backup storage – but here we want to know what other “dogfood” Peter and his team rely on. For the idea behind this interview series, Pipeline, is to share the best practice from sales leaders in the technology industry. CRM being a great example. “Salesforce is indispensable,” Peter told us. Not just for tracking leads and managing relationships, but for integrating with marketing tools. Plus, he added, “our new partner portal and gives us valuable insights into our customers, which is crucial when we’re educating prospects on the importance of immutable object storage in today’s constant threat of ransomware”. With over 25 years of experience in the IT industry, including sales leadership positions at Netgear, TD Synnex and BT, Pete has a lot of experience to share (he’s also founder of Noima Consultancy Ltd). So whether you want to see how one VP of Sales keeps ahead, or are thinking of joining the industry yourself, keep reading for the full interview. 👇 https://lnkd.in/g5Sde5fs

Imagine spending countless hours crafting the perfect app. You’ve poured your heart and soul into every line of code, every pixel of design. You’ve carefully researched your target audience, understanding their needs and desires. You’ve even conducted market research to ensure there’s a demand for your product. But despite all your efforts, when you finally launch your app, it falls flat. It’s a disheartening scenario that many developers face. It doesn't have to be that way, though. Here, Thomas Kriebernegg shares his tips on how to run a successful app optimisation testing program. https://lnkd.in/gfk_ykmC

If you’re unsure of how your business can embrace AI, read this interview with Martin LeBlanc, Chief Experience Officer at Freepik. “Working in the creative industry, everyone at Freepik understood people’s initial concerns about AI’s impact on design,” he told us, and we’re sure that included people at the company itself. Now, he describes Freepick as an “AI-first company”. Keep reading and you’ll start to understand now just how and why Martin L. and the wider team embraced AI – and discover a hyper-realistic AI art generator in the process – but also the technology they use to keep them working closely together. You’ll be familiar with Slack, but we were intrigued to discover what else the team uses. There’s Notion, another communication tool, and Linear to keep work organised. On the same theme, Martin uses PyCharm (from JetBrains) to organise code and the AI built into Cursor to help him create it. And, like so many others in our Pixels series of interviews with design industry names, there’s Figma “because of the collaboration aspect”. This readiness to use new tools is reflected by Martin’s entrepreneurial career. Way back in 2007, he founded Iconfinder, which is still going strong today after it was acquired by Freepik in 2022. And he remains true to his developer past, still using CSS and HTML in design tasks. But most of all he strikes as a technologist-for-business-good (we really need to think of a better term). And that’s most obvious in his approach to AI: “Those who don’t fear AI and embrace it will be miles ahead of their competitors and reap the rewards of better productivity, customer satisfaction and a streamlined workflow.” Keep reading for more insights like this – none of which were written by AI 👇 https://lnkd.in/grF-UCG6