The traditional warehouse is becoming more irrelevant with time. As e-commerce volumes surge and customer expectations for rapid delivery intensify AI-powered warehouse modernisation has transformed from a competitive advantage to a fundamental business necessity.

“Without investing in technology to improve warehouse operations, organisations will fail to meet business objectives,” warns Vivien Tay, APAC Vertical Lead for Warehousing, Transport & Logistics at Zebra Technologies, in an exclusive interview with Tech Wire Asia.

The stark assessment is backed by compelling data: 88% of APAC warehouse associates share this concern, according to Zebra’s 2025 Warehousing Vision Study. The study reveals a warehouse sector under immense pressure from multiple directions: e-commerce growth, consumer expectations for faster deliveries, and persistent labour shortages.

The challenges have created an environment where technology adoption is no longer optional but necessary for survival. Speaking to Tech Wire Asia about the report’s deeper implications, Tay explained, “Today’s warehouses face a markedly different landscape compared to five years ago. The surge in e-commerce, rising consumer expectations for faster deliveries, and ongoing labour shortages are placing immense pressures on traditional systems and manual processes, which are increasingly unable to keep up.”

Safety concerns driving AI-powered warehouse modernisation

The pressures of e-commerce growth have significantly transformed warehouse environments, creating new safety challenges that demand technological solutions. According to the study, 79% of APAC warehouse associates report heightened safety concerns as operations become more fast-paced, with 72% specifically expressing fears of injury.

“The factors have also intensified safety risks on the warehouse floor,” Tay told Tech Wire Asia. “To stay ahead, businesses are turning to AI, automation, and real-time analytics to improve operational visibility, enhance safety, and enable better productivity.” The study reveals that AI applications are expected to have the greatest impact on worker safety, with 82% of APAC leaders seeing positive impact potential in this area. Technology solutions that can detect potential hazards and issue preventative alerts are becoming increasingly valuable as warehouse operations accelerate.

The technology investment roadmap

APAC warehouse leaders are planning substantial technology investments to address these challenges, with 63% intending to implement AI software and 65% planning to deploy augmented reality (AR) in the next five years. And, 64% of APAC leaders plan to accelerate their modernisation timelines by 2029, recognising the urgency of digital transformation.

“By enhancing asset visibility, they can track and manage resources more effectively, ensuring that every asset is optimally used,” Tay explained. “By embracing these innovations, warehouses can improve workflow optimisation, enhance safety, and reduce physical strain on workers.” The study highlights specific AI-powered warehouse modernisation priorities:

• Predictive analytics (implemented by 65% of decision-makers)
• Real-time task optimisation
• Workflow automation
• Intelligent assistance for connected frontline workers

“Warehouse leaders are increasingly looking for AI solutions that go beyond back-end data crunching – they want intuitive, responsive software that directly empowers their frontline teams,” Tay noted in the interview.

Technology as a worker ally, not a replacement

The study highlights a significant paradigm shift in how warehouse workers view technology – as an ally rather than a threat. The positive perception is reflected in the finding that 90% of APAC associates feel more valued when equipped with the right technological tools.

“By demonstrating how technology can directly improve both their day-to-day tasks and long-term career development, associates are more likely to view these advancements as beneficial,” Tay told Tech Wire Asia. “When associates understand that technologies are introduced to reduce physical strain and enhance productivity, rather than replace jobs, they are more likely to embrace these changes and engage in higher-value, more strategic activities.” The sentiment is reinforced by the finding that 77% of APAC associates feel they spend too much time on tasks that could be automated, indicating a workforce ready to embrace technological assistance.

Implementation challenges in AI-powered warehouse modernisation

Despite the clear benefits, implementing new technologies comes with significant challenges. Warehouse leaders report difficulties in determining ROI, securing adequate technical support, and integrating new systems with legacy infrastructure. “Although warehousing leaders surveyed plan to implement the latest technologies in AI and real-time analytics, the adoption rate is not fast enough,” Tay explained. “Challenges like missing orders in service level agreements and ensuring order accuracy can significantly impact profit & output, leading to negative business outcomes.”

The study found that 45% of APAC warehouse leaders admit they find it challenging to maintain fill rates and 51% struggle to prepare orders outlined in their service level agreements. Order accuracy (43%) and outbound processes (40%) were cited as the top two operational challenges. “Moreover, the ongoing shortage of qualified workers remains a significant concern for APAC warehouse operators, with 73% of decision-makers reporting difficulty in attracting skilled labour,” Tay added.

Real-world success through AI-powered warehouse modernisation

A compelling example of successful warehouse transformation comes from PT Dunia Express Transindo (Dunex), an Indonesian logistics provider. The company deployed Zebra’s mobile computers to allow workers to scan boxes stackedup to 5 metres high, eliminating the need for dangerous climbing.

“Dunex faced a challenge in their warehouse where the cargo was stored on a racking system with boxes stacked vertically. The setup made barcode scanning difficult, as barcodes were often out of reach or could only be scanned using short-range scanners. Workers had to climb or bring boxes down to scan them, which was time-consuming and inefficient,” Tay explained.

The implementation nearly doubled Dunex’s daily outbound delivery capacity from 5 tons to 10 tons, demonstrating the significant productivity gains possible through thoughtful technology deployment. “Zebra’s solutions helped streamline the warehouse operations, enabling Dunex to be more responsive to the demands of the on-demand economy and better support its customers as their businesses grow,” Tay said.

Prioritising automation in warehouse operations

When asked how companies should prioritise which processes to automate first, Tay provided clear guidance: “Companies should prioritise automating high-volume and repetitive processes. Tasks like data entry, inventory tracking, and standard administrative work often consume significant time and resources, making them ideal candidates for automation.”

She emphasised that this strategic approach delivers multiple benefits: “By automating these routine tasks, companies can free up employees’ time to focus on higher-value work, improving overall productivity and job satisfaction. And, processes that are error-prone or require precision, like data transcription or calculations, should be automated early to reduce mistakes and enhance efficiency.”

Safety-focused automation should also be prioritised: “Equally important is automating tasks that directly impact safety, like monitoring equipment conditions or managing hazard identification systems. Intelligent automation in these areas can help ensure consistent adherence to safety standards and reduce human error, preventing accidents and injuries.”

Sustainability through AI-powered warehouse modernisation

Sustainability emerges as another important factor, with 60% of warehouse leaders planning to increase investments in sustainable technologies over the next five years. Zebra facilitates this through initiatives like its Take Back Program, which reduces e-waste while providing operational and cost advantages.

“Sustainability is emerging as a key driver of business success, prompting warehouses to balance environmental priorities with operational efficiency,” Tay explained. “With 78% of decision-makers prioritising the reduction of emissions and waste, and 60% planning to increase investments in sustainable technologies over the next five years, the industry is at an important turning point.” She highlighted specific sustainability solutions:

“Zebra enables customers to meet environmental goals while improving efficiency through a robust Take Back Programme and a suite of sustainably designed products. The initiatives are aimed at reducing e-waste, extending product life cycles, and providing operational and cost advantages to businesses.”

The future of AI-powered warehouse modernisation

As warehouse square footage is projected to increase by 27% globally by 2030 and labour spending continues to rise at a 7% compound annual growth rate, the pressure to modernise operations will only intensify. “The study anticipates a significant shift toward intelligent automation to enhance operational efficiency and worker safety. The includes the adoption of AI, machine learning, and augmented reality to optimise workflows and improve safety,” Tay explained when discussing the future outlook. Specifically, Zebra is investing in emerging technologies beyond AI and AR:

“We are expanding IoT connectivity to enable real-time decision-making and predictive maintenance, supporting more agile resource management. Zebra is also assessing opportunities to apply blockchain technologies to enhance supply chain transparency, traceability, and security.”

The company’s ambitious roadmap also includes collaborative robotics: “Meanwhile, our investments in robotics and autonomous systems, including collaborative robots, aim to improve productivity and workplace safety.” For warehouse operators looking to thrive in this rapidly evolving landscape, the formula appears straightforward: invest in AI-powered warehouse modernisation that enhances visibility, improves safety, and empowers workers or risk becoming obsolete in an increasingly demanding market environment.

The post AI-powered warehouse modernisation: The make-or-break solution for APAC supply chains? appeared first on TechWire Asia.

AI has the ability to transform the way companies hire, develop talent, and engage with candidates. Tech Wire Asia spoke with Hari Srinivasan, Vice President of Product at LinkedIn, about how AI is transforming recruitment and professional development.

AI’s role in enhancing recruitment efficiency

Recruiters typically spend more time on administrative work than connecting with candidates. According to Srinivasan, nearly half (47%) of recruiters in Asia-Pacific spend one to three hours a day analysing applications, a time-consuming task that AI could streamline.

LinkedIn’s new Hiring Assistant is designed to handle repetitive tasks, letting recruiters focus on more strategic work like advising hiring managers and improving candidate engagement. “Every recruiter I talk to always tells me there’s this ‘magic moment’ that comes together when they get the perfect person to the perfect job. But most of the day isn’t spent doing that. It’s spent following up with hiring managers, filling out paperwork, or reviewing job descriptions,” Srinivasan said.

Hiring Assistant, currently in beta testing with select customers – including some in Singapore – automates key recruitment tasks. It allows recruiters to concentrate on high-value activities like creating relationships with candidates and providing improved hiring experiences.

Overcoming challenges in AI-driven upskilling

AI plays a growing role in professional development, but companies face challenges to implement effective upskilling programs. According to Srinivasan, 63.7% of APAC HR professionals struggle to find tailored learning resources, 50.8% of HR professionals are uncertain about which skills will be most valuable in the future, while 55% report a lack of mentorship and career coaching.

“Employees are eager to learn,” Srinivasan said. “Global learning content consumption on LinkedIn has grown by 13% year-over-year, with countries like India (37%) and Indonesia (59%) leading the way in skill development.” Companies are starting to respond by making AI training more accessible and relevant. LG Electronics, for example, uses LinkedIn Learning to provide tailored and flexible training programs, with 67% of its employees taking part in training each month.

Preparing for an AI-driven job market

AI adoption is creating new demands on the workforce, notably in soft skills. While technical skills remain important, HR professionals in APAC report that the hardest-to-find skills include technical fluency (36%), leadership (35%), and communication and problem-solving (34.5%).

“As AI adoption accelerates, professionals have a significant opportunity to invest in their growth – not just in AI skills, but also in human capabilities,” Srinivasan said. He highlighted LinkedIn Learning’s AI-powered coaching tool as one method firms use to help employees build these skills. It allows users to practise real-world scenarios like delivering performance reviews and giving feedback.

HR teams are responding by balancing AI training with soft skills development. In APAC, 78.3% of HR leaders are prioritising AI upskilling while also investing in important collaboration and communication skills.

How candidates can stand out to recruiters

With hiring expected to become more selective in 2025, job seekers will need to demonstrate their value beyond meeting basic qualifications. According to Srinivasan, candidates should keep their LinkedIn profiles updated with relevant skills and certifications to reflect their continuous learning. “Pro tip: people who list five or more skills on their profile receive up to 5.6x more profile views from recruiters,” Srinivasan said

He advises job seekers to highlight their core skills and achievements to stand out. Building a strong professional network and engaging with industry content can also improve visibility and increase the chances of being noticed by recruiters.

Ensuring fairness and reducing bias in AI-powered hiring

AI-driven recruitment tools offer efficiency, but fairness and transparency remain important challenges. Srinivasan said LinkedIn’s Hiring Assistant evaluates explicit and implicit capabilities listed on a candidate’s profile, helping guide hiring decisions so they’re based on verifiable qualifications rather than traditional markers like educational background or firm affiliations.

“With AI paired with our platform insights, we can help recruiters find professionals based on their skills rather than where they worked or went to school,” he said.

LinkedIn reviews its algorithms continuously to detect and eliminate unintended biases in hiring processes. This includes identifying factors that may accidentally exclude certain candidates and adjusting models to ensure a more inclusive and balanced evaluation process. “If harmful biases are identified, we take immediate steps to address them, ensuring that the recruitment process remains inclusive, fair, and aligned with human values,” Srinivasan said.

Expanding AI’s reach across Microsoft’s ecosystem

LinkedIn’s AI initiatives reflect broader changes in the Microsoft (LinkedIn’s owner) ecosystem. The MAI models Microsoft has been developing could improve LinkedIn’s recruitment and upskilling tools, in addition to its other software, such as Teams and Azure. AI models could offer real-time transcription, language translation, and meeting summaries in Teams, while for Azure, AI-driven automation could help enterprise clients.

For LinkedIn, AI-based job matching and recruitment insights are strengthening professional networking and users’ career development. Srinivasan understands that while AI can handle repetitive tasks and provide insight, the human element remains essential to make hiring decisions and build meaningful connections between the network’s users.

The post How AI is changing recruitment and upskilling: Insights from LinkedIn appeared first on TechWire Asia.

Third party cookies have been an important data source for businesses hoping to understand their customers better. Over the years, third party cookies have often been used by advertisers and marketers to track online activity and preferences across different sites.

Some users may consider this a risk to their privacy and security, as third party cookies can collect their personal information and expose them to unwanted ads and content. As such, some users may want to use browsers without cookies for privacy and security reasons, as cookies can also track online activity and collect personal information.

Most browsers give users the option to manage cookie settings and choose which websites to trust to store cookies on their devices. Some tools can enhance this. Here are three ways to browse the internet without cookies:

• Using a VPN: A VPN, or virtual private network, allows you to connect to the internet more securely. It helps to prevent others on the same network from seeing what you’re doing. You can think of it as surfing the web through a steel tube, where your data is much harder to see and collect.
• Using incognito mode: Incognito mode prevents your browser from saving any data from the websites you visit, including cookies, history, or the data you might enter into a website. You can usually access it by clicking the three dots on the top right of your browser and choosing the New Incognito Window option.
• Using a private browser: A private browser is a browser that prioritizes your privacy and anonymity. It usually has features such as blocking third party cookies, encrypting your traffic, hiding your IP address, and others. Some examples of private browsers are Tor, Epic, Brave, and DuckDuckGo.

Towards a cookieless future

Increasing demand for privacy and security has led to web browsers moving towards a cookieless future. A cookieless future is a scenario where third party cookies, which are used to track and target users across different websites, are no longer supported by major web browsers.

In 2020, Google announced that it intends to ban third party cookies. Safari and Firefox already block third party cookies by default. However, this can also be a problem for businesses as marketers and advertisers will then have to find alternative ways to understand their consumers better.

In that case, businesses would need to rely on first party cookies, device IDs, IP addresses, or even email-based identifiers to collect and use data for online advertising and personalization.

According to an article by Adobe, first party data will now be foundational to customer targeting in the cookieless future, as will social media platforms. The latter have evolved into mainstream marketing and sales tools that can help fill the gap created by the cookie ban.

Google finally phases out third party cookies

For Google, disabling third party cookies on the Chrome browser is focused mainly on improving privacy on the web. According to Anthony Chavez, VP for Privacy Sandbox, Google will begin testing Tracking Protection, a new feature that limits cross-site tracking by restricting website access to third-party cookies by default.

“We’ll roll this out to 1% of Chrome users globally, a key milestone in our Privacy Sandbox initiative to phase out third party cookies for everyone in the second half of 2024, subject to addressing any remaining competition concerns from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority,” said Chavez in a blog post.

The Privacy Sandbox initiative aims to create technologies that both protect people’s privacy online and give companies and developers tools to build thriving digital businesses. The Privacy Sandbox reduces cross-site and cross-app tracking while helping to keep online content and services free for all.

When it comes to the Chrome browser, the Privacy Sandbox for the web will phase out third party cookies by using the latest privacy techniques, like differential privacy, k-anonymity, and on-device processing. Privacy Sandbox also helps to limit other forms of tracking, like fingerprinting, by restricting the amount of information sites can access, so that information stays private, safe, and secure.

Google Chrome is the world’s most popular browser. But it’s also the browser that continues to be targeted by cybercriminals. CloudSEK, a cybersecurity firm, recently reported that hackers are using cookies on the Chrome browser to log into user emails without the need for passwords or authentication.

The Independent reported that analysis from CloudSEK found that a dangerous form of malware uses third party cookies to gain unauthorized access to people’s private data, and is already being actively tested by hacking groups. The exploit was first revealed in October 2023 when a hacker posted about it in a channel on the messaging platform Telegram.

Apparently, hackers have found a way to retrieve cookies by exploiting Google authentication cookies. This bypasses the two-factor authentication as well.

“This exploit enables continuous access to Google services, even after a user’s password is reset,” Pavan Karthick M, a threat intelligence researcher at CloudSEK, wrote in a blog post detailing the issue.

In a statement, Google said that it has taken action to secure any compromised accounts detected. It’s for reasons like this that third party cookies will eventually be phased out by all browsers in the near future.

“As we work to make the web more private, we’ll provide businesses with tools to succeed online so that high-quality content remains freely accessible — whether that’s news articles, videos, educational information, community sites, or other forms of web content. With Tracking Protection, Privacy Sandbox and all of the features we launch in Chrome, we’ll continue to work to create a web that’s more private than ever, and universally accessible to everyone,” Chavez said.

The post Google Chrome starts phasing out third party cookies  appeared first on TechWire Asia.

Living and working abroad is one of those rites of passage that many people undertake at some stage of their lives. For previous generations, that meant going through various visa and right-to-work applications and getting a local job offer. That often took a significant investment of time and money, and foreign workers were always in danger of exploitation by local organizations seeking a cheap labor pool.

But today, a new generation of digital nomads exists, people with sellable skills who can work almost entirely digitally. The DE Rantau program in Malaysia is the latest national scheme to attract digital nomads to the country, joining trailblazer Estonia and several others since, including Spain, Croatia, Hungary, and Italy. Typically, digital nomad schemes offer a fast-tracked application process and grant successful workers up to a year-long visa to come and live in the host country and work digitally – either for a local company or, more often, for a company located anywhere in the world.

The DE Rantau program is modeled on the Greek system after its organizers examined several extant programs for Chiang Mai, Bali, Estonia, and Portugal. The Greek program was launched in 2019 and approved over 3,000 visas in 2021 alone. Since its launch around 13 months ago, 800 applicants have been granted digital nomad status in Malaysia.

Most nomads coming to Malaysia work in technology, with around a third being software developers. Others focus on AI, content creation, or ancillary software roles like technical writers of documentation or front-end UX design. Elsewhere, the emphasis is on attracting skilled IT workers.

In purely economic terms, participating countries are encouraging the flow of money from abroad for a worker’s wages rather than local currency going to a foreign worker who happens to be a temporary resident. Talented individuals may well also want to stay in their host country, and apply for full citizenship, thus bringing value to the economy in the long term.

Overwhelming response

Speaking in Seoul at the K Travel Tech Summit, Arifah Sharifuddin, head of digital tourism at MDEC (Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation ), said, “When we first announced the visa, we received all kinds of applications, and the rejection rate was very high. But now things have stabilized.”

DE Rantau vets the accommodation that nomads propose to use during their time in Malaysia, ensuring suitable internet connectivity and working environments. Hosting digital nomads is also proving popular among locals: “We have a lot of applications, everyone sees value in hosting,” Arifah said.

Malaysia’s culture, food, climate, and its having English as a common language works in its favor, compared to Estonia, for example. But wherever digital nomads may roam, most participating countries have stipulations around minimum income, health insurance, and proof of employment (or verifiable freelance history). Applicants have to have a valid passport, of course, and there is usually a fee for the visa application.

There are specific rules, too, that might apply to where the worker’s main source of income comes from. In Spain, for example, only 20% of work can be from Spanish companies, while Estonia needs all digital workers in the digital nomad scheme to be employed (or have clients) outside the country.

For anyone wishing to head to the APAC, Malaysia needs its immigrants on the DE Rantau scheme to have a clean criminal record and have proof of earnings of at least $24,000 a year. Visas are granted for three months to a year.

At a time when many workers around the world have transitioned to an at least partly remote model, the pool of prospective digital nomads looking for their next destination has increased massively in size. Malaysia’s first Digital Nomad Conference took place as part of the six-week MDX event this year, where one speaker said, “Malaysia’s superpower is diversity and inclusivity.” MDEC’s Arifah Sharifuddin put it in broader terms: “First we have fantastic food. Then we have a high quality of life that is affordable. Everybody speaks English, so there’s no language barrier. And we are warm people.”

The post Malaysia’s digital nomad scheme a year old appeared first on TechWire Asia.

As businesses increase their use of generative AI tools in their organization, some need to be more concerned about data control within their AI tools.

Most generative AI tools work with available data, and must properly acknowledge its source.

But fresh use cases arise as organizations strive to exploit generative AI to enhance customer service, boost developer productivity, refine operational efficiency, and perform any number of other critical tasks, including automated transcription of internal documents, rapid multimedia content searches, and automated analysis.

Despite recognizing the potential benefits of AI, many organizations are wrestling with escalating apprehensions related to data control, especially when it comes to safeguarding intellectual property, ensuring compliance, and preserving privacy.

Moreover, organizations that are trying to construct an AI-ready stack often struggle with the task of developing optimal support for machine learning (ML) administrators and data scientists. This challenge – and the potential high costs associated with AI investments – have led several enterprises to stall in their AI and ML strategic pursuits.

The common questions on data control with which organizations must grapple include to whom the source code belongs. Whose data is being used to generate an algorithm? How was the data compiled? Was it aggregated from multiple sources securely?

These are just some of the questions businesses have on data control when using generative AI tools.

Generative AI in Asia Pacific

Statistics from IDC show that Asia Pacific organizations currently lead the way in prioritizing generative AI investments, due to their proactive stance on new technologies and government support. IDC Survey data shows that two-thirds of Asia Pacific organizations are exploring potential use cases or are already investing in generative AI technologies in 2023.

IDC also highlights that the ongoing evolution of generative AI technology and data management presents challenges for governments developing regulatory frameworks that provide guardrails without creating obstacles to innovation. These challenges include data quality, ethical issues, deepfakes, copyright and IP complexities, talent shortages, and high technology costs.

As such, governments in several countries in the Asia Pacific have already initiated guidelines that will likely shape the direction of future policy and regulatory frameworks. These guidelines include adopting fundamental principles such as transparency, data protection, safety, IP protection, open data access, and ethical standards to address the immediate challenges.

Data control with Nutanix GPT-in-a-Box

To address these concerns, Nutanix introduced the Nutanix GPT-in-a-Box. The solution helps businesses looking to speed up their ventures into AI and machine learning (ML) advancement, but also retain authority over their data. The solution centers on a comprehensive software-defined AI-prepared platform and corresponding services to help organizations gauge and configure their hardware and software infrastructure, so they can deploy a curated selection of large language models (LLMs).

Using open-source AI and MLOps frameworks on the Nutanix Cloud Platform delivers customers a seamless way to obtain AI-ready infrastructure. That infrastructure is intended for fine-tuning and executing generative pre-trained transformers (GPT), encompassing LLMs at the edge or within their data center.

The Nutanix GPT-in-a-Box solution gives organizaions a readily deployable AI infrastructure that lets them exercise authority over their data, whether at the edge or within the core data center. It allows for the operation and refinement of AI and GPT models, while crucially maintaining data control.

Greg Macatee, Senior Research Analyst in the Infrastructure Systems, Platforms, and Technologies Group at IDC said “As customers look to design and deploy generative AI solutions, they find themselves struggling with balancing the deep expertise required to install, configure, and run these workloads with concerns around their data security and protecting company IP – all while controlling costs.

With GPT-in-a-Box, Nutanix offers customers a turnkey, easy-to-use solution for their AI use cases. It provides enterprises struggling with generative AI adoption an easier on-ramp to deployment.”

This new solution includes:

• The Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure platform, with both file storage and object storage solutions, the Nutanix AHV hypervisor, and Kubernetes, along with NVIDIA GPU acceleration.
• Nutanix services to help customers size their cluster and deploy an opinionated stack with open-source deep learning and MLOps frameworks, an inference server, and a curated set of large language models such as Llama2, Falcon, and MPT.
• The ability for data scientists and ML administrators to immediately use these models with their choice of applications.

The platform can also be used to run other GPT models and fine-tune these models with internal data.

“Helping customers tackle the biggest challenges they face in IT is at the core of what we do, from managing increasing multi-cloud complexity to data protection challenges, and now the adoption of generative AI solutions while keeping control over data privacy and compliance,” said Thomas Cornely, SVP, Product Management at Nutanix.

“GPT-in-a-Box is an opinionated AI-ready stack that aims to solve the key challenges with generative AI adoption and help jump-start AI innovation.”

Nutanix – bringing data control to your generative AI.

The post Here’s how Nutanix is giving businesses data control in AI appeared first on TechWire Asia.

Communication methods at work can vary depending on a company’s size, industry, culture, and specific communication needs. While most companies rely solely on emails to communicate with their employees, others have evolved to using instant messaging platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams.

There are also video conferencing communication methods like Zoom, and social media apps like WhatsApp, which some companies prefer to use. Other popular communication methods at work include project management tools like Trello and collaboration tools like Google Docs and Dropbox. Each of these methods has its own unique offerings to meet a company’s communication needs.

When delving deeper into emails, instant messaging, and collaboration tools, employees are reducing the amount of time they spend typing out replies and emails. Instead, there is increased use of emojis to reply to messages at work.

An emoji can be a pictogram, logogram, ideogram, or smiley that is embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. Emojis primarily function as a cue to emotional replies in conversations.

Digital emojis originated on Japanese mobile phones some 25 years ago and became increasingly popular in the 2000s as more mobile phone operating systems and chat platforms included them.

Today, emojis are found in almost every communication tool. Emails, instant messaging platforms, and even video conferencing tools allow users to use emojis to reply to communicate.

According to a 2021 study by Adobe, 55% of global emoji users are more comfortable expressing emotions through emojis instead of phone conversations or facial expressions. Emojis give people the chance to pause and choose an appropriate image to convey how they are feeling and how they hope the other party will feel.

Interesting facts about emojis

Statistics from Emojipedia show that there are currently 3,664 emojis in the Unicode Standard as of September 2022. This includes sequences for gender or skin tone, flags, and the components that are used to create keycaps, flags, and other sequences. The latest emoji release is Emoji 15.0. The next expected release is Emoji 15.1, currently scheduled for September 2023.

Social media apps have unveiled similar emoji-style icons to boost social engagement as well. For example, the Facebook “Like” icon was soon complemented with other icons for users to show how they felt towards posts. LinkedIn added similar icons for users to react to posts instead of commenting. Zoom has several emojis and icons for users to use during calls, such as “Like”, “Celebrate” and “Raising a hand”.

Today, one in five tweets includes an emoji. There are also five billion emojis sent daily on Facebook Messenger. Half of all comments on Instagram include an emoji, and only 7% of users use the peach emoji to represent a fruit.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the relative use of positive smiley face emojis was on the decline (down 5.63%). However, there was an increase in the use of the syringe emoji, likely due to the promotion of vaccinations. The tears of joy and loudly crying faces were the most popular emojis in 2022.

Emojis as communication methods

While the premise of emojis being used to express emotions can be accepted for non-work messaging, is it a proper tool for workplace communication? For example, when replying to a supervisor or having business conversations, is a thumbs-up emoji or smiley face emoji sufficient?

In a Forbes report, a study recently published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science suggests that including a smiley emoticon or an emoji in a work email may make people think the sender is less competent.

For example, a manager or C-level executive sending an email with a smiley face emoji or even replying to a Teams message with an emoji might be interpreted as not being serious enough in their request. Similarly, an angry emoji used by a leader in a reply could cause undue concern for the recipient.

Interestingly, emoji replies are becoming more accepted in workplaces. A recent report by the BBC noted a judge ruled that a thumbs-up emoji can serve as a digital signature. The case involved a farmer who accidentally replied with a thumbs-up emoji to a contract and disputed it stating that there was no formal agreement. However, in a landmark ruling, the judge stated that the thumbs-up emoji is valid and the farmer would need to meet the requirements of the contract.

A study by Harvard Business Review found that emojis can be an intergenerational and cultural minefield as a communication method. For instance, many Gen Z’s are reportedly offended by their colleagues’ use of the smiley face emoji, which they see as patronizing. The study also emphasized that cultural and geographical nuances can cause misunderstandings; a friendly gesture for one might be offensive to another.

“Offense usually stems from a misinterpretation of a sent emoji or when someone uses an emoji that they think means one thing but really means another. For example, if a manager sends an emoji that features two hands pressed together, does it send a message of gratitude? A request for a favor? Or is it hands clasped in prayer? And is the emoji with the smiling face and two hands signaling a friendly wave “hello” or giving a hug? If you’re not sure, better to avoid using the emoji and to stick with something that is more straightforward and less open to interpretation,” suggested the article.

On the other hand, an Adobe study revealed that 70% of participants believe inclusive emojis can foster positive discussions on significant societal issues. Respondents love using emojis, citing them as aids in overcoming language barriers and fostering connections. Many have initiated meaningful relationships online and made acquaintances with people who speak a different language.

The video below showcases appropriate emojis to enhance workplace communication.

The dark side of emojis

With the rise of emojis in professional communication, cybercriminals may exploit them. Emojis, though seemingly harmless, might be more dangerous than they appear.

According to Satnam Narang, senior staff research engineer at Tenable, in 2022, researchers found a way to deliver exploits to victims through a series of innocent-looking emojis. The researchers found that some software has a hard time processing emojis. This doesn’t mean this software can be hacked with emojis, but it indicates that emojis are novel enough that not all computers and programs support them.

While the circumstances in which this exploit can take place are extremely specific and unlikely to happen in real life, there is no denying that malware could potentially be delivered through innocent-looking emojis.

Another concern highlighted by Narang when it comes to using emojis is how scammers can use them to scam victims. This may not happen a lot at work, but employees communicating with suppliers or those outside their office could easily fall for such scams if they are not careful.

As emojis can be interpreted differently by users, some scammers are using them in romance scams as well as pig butchering scams. Pig butchering scams are a type of fraud in which criminals lure victims into digital relationships to build trust before convincing them to invest in cryptocurrency platforms. However, the fraudsters control the platforms and will eventually take all the money and vanish.

“These conversations utilize familiar emojis, as the language of the modern internet to express feelings of playfulness, love and romance. However, what lies behind those emojis are users that aren’t who they say they are. These scammers have one goal in mind and that is to convince users through the promise of fake investments or pleas for financial assistance in order to steal money from victims. Pig butchering scammers and romance scammers thrive on interaction through social media and dating apps. Users of both types of platforms should be wary of investment offers or requests for financial aid,” mentioned Narang.

He highlighted that emojis imbue the text with emotional richness and foster better expressivity in virtual interactions, be it for work or outside work, and they are not devoid of pitfalls. The most immediate concern is the use of emojis as part of romance scams, which can have the most impact on everyday users online.

A simpler communication method?

In conclusion, while some may feel it is alright to use emojis for workplace communication, it ultimately comes down to the company culture. There is definitely a generation gap between those that prefer using emojis as replies and those that prefer replying to work emails in full sentences.

However, the reality is, emojis are indeed part of the modern communication method at work. Smiley faces and thumbs up will continue to appear in communication tools and employees will have to be sure they are using emojis properly to avoid any misinterpretation among teams.

At the end of the day, having some imagery in workplace communication could help employees connect with concepts and ideas more deeply compared to words alone.

The post Are emojis changing communication methods? appeared first on TechWire Asia.

According to Slack’s State of Work report, AI and automation hold the keys to employee productivity. However, many companies have not adopted these tools yet. The report states that almost one in two employees in Singapore felt that their company has not incorporated AI tools to support their productivity. One-third also say that their team has not used automation to make their work processes more efficient.

Despite this, 35% of companies in Singapore are using AI to help improve productivity. In fact, Singapore is second in the world in terms of AI adoption at work, globally. India ranks first with a total adoption of 75%, while Australia is ranked sixth with 21% AI adoption. The report surveyed 1,341 desk workers in Singapore.

What’s more interesting is that despite the high adoption of AI productivity tools at work, 44% of workers still believe they spend too much time on meetings and emails. Another interesting finding is that an average of just 64% of workers’ time is spent on “real work” while 36% of their time is spent on “performative work”.

“We’ve already seen hints of the incredible productivity that generative AI (trained on public data) can unlock at work. The real power of this technology will be realized when companies’ AI tools can also analyze and act on the valuable knowledge they’ve curated internally about their own
customers, people and projects,” stated Lidiane Jones, CEO of Slack in the report.

Real work vs Performative work

One of the biggest challenges most organizations around the world face today is measuring productivity at work. Generally, an organization measures productivity by the amount of work completed by an employee in their workplace. This was also one of the reasons why most companies began requesting their employees to return to work in the office.

In reality, workplace productivity can’t be determined just by the number of hours one spends at work. In Singapore for example, employees spend about 36% of their working time grappling with business formalities such as meetings and emails, which they feel don’t contribute to company and team goals but are done to appear productive. 29% of Singapore executives are also tracking activity metrics (e.g. hours worked, emails sent) among their employees, but only 15% of employees believe doing so helps their productivity.

An interesting statistic from the report showed that 54% of Singaporeans make an effort to keep their status green or active online, even if they’re not working. This phenomenon is referred to as performative work or productivity theatre which is not desirable behavior but occurs because of the way employee work is measured.

“The research shows us that employees, to be happy and engaged at work, want to be productive. And they find these AI tools are able to make them productive, as long as they’re being measured based on their productivity, as in their outputs, and not their visible activity, their inputs. This means they can get the value of this improved productivity, such as improved compensation or just get time back in their lives.

I think, more so than any other market in Singapore, that’s a real concern. We see that Singaporeans are more likely to be checking their emails on weekends and more likely attending to work after hours. There is a culture of always-on because I think Singaporeans work across so many time zones and that they feel like they always need to be present. It’s a real challenge,” explained Derek Laney, Slack Technology Evangelist, in APAC for Salesforce.

Implementation of AI productivity tools

AI and automation capabilities have the potential to streamline and optimize repetitive, time-consuming tasks, allowing Singapore employees to focus on higher-value, strategic work:

• Those who have adopted AI at their company are 63% more likely to report higher levels of productivity than those who have not adopted
• Most (81%) employees say that being able to automate routine tasks, such as getting expense report approvals, would improve their productivity.
• Those who use automation at work estimate saving an average of 3.6 hours a week – this equates to at minimum one working month a year* given back to each employee to focus on meaningful

However, 53% of employees in Singapore say their company has not incorporated AI tools to support their productivity. And 32% say that their team has not created automation to make their work processes easier or more efficient.

The majority (82%) of employees in Singapore say that feeling happy and engaged with their organization would improve their productivity. Employers need to also prioritize wellness, as 58% of employees in Singapore say that they feel pressure to respond to messages quickly, even if they’re sent after standard working hours.

“The reason why Singaporean workers are one of the highest adopters of automation and AI is because they are so hard working and want to produce the output. I hope that if we can measure workers differently, they can get their time back. What’s concerning is that now, some are using AI to pretend like they’re working when they’re not working, because they feel like that’s required. This behavior is not useful,” added Laney.

In the age of hybrid work, employees in Singapore are looking for flexibility and an environment that fosters collaboration and inclusivity:

• More than half (54%) say that flexible work schedules are one of the best ways for their employer to support their
• Employees say flexible location (43%), unique workplace benefits, such as providing lunch or recreational activities (32%), and making improvements to the workplace, such as having more meeting rooms and quiet areas (29%), also enhance
• 41% of employees in Singapore cited coordinating or collaborating with other teams as a key challenge faced by their immediate In fact, a majority (82%) say that having the right technology to collaborate from anywhere (share knowledge, drive projects forward, etc.) would improve their productivity.

However, only a few executives in Singapore are using modern strategies to improve how employees work with each other – wherever they are:

• Just 21% of Singapore executives are making changes to the physical office, such as quiet libraries, collaboration spaces, and larger social
• Only 18% are encouraging asynchronous work, for example when sharing status
• 44% of employees in Singapore cite spending too much time in meetings as a top productivity challenge. In fact, employees say that 44% of their meetings could be eliminated with no real adverse

Productivity measurement

Highlighting companies in Singapore like ShopBack, Laney mentioned their methodology of working in the open working as a transparent company means everyone uses collaborative platforms like Slack. Work is completed in shared channels so that productivity can be seen and easily measured.

“This type of transparency creates a culture of trust. For ShopBack, it saves them 20 to 45 minutes a day, just converting some of those unnecessary meetings that were largely performative into sort of different digital methods in Slack. That’s good as it gives time back to employees to reinvest in what’s useful for them, whether that’s time with their family, or whether that’s more productive work,” said Laney.

Managers play a key role in shaping work culture and need to be armed with people development skills, tools to drive efficiency and manage teams, and team wellness support. However, they face challenges in creating a healthy and productive environment:

• 42% of people managers in Singapore cite helping their team stay motivated as a top This is compounded by the fact that one-third (34%) of employees say that staying aligned on overall company goals and direction is a hurdle to productivity.
• Also, more than a third (39%) of people managers identify spending too much time on tasks like meetings and emails, and helping their team stay motivated (42%), as additional challenges they

This is also where tools like Slack GPT can make a difference. Slack GPT aims to provide intelligence across automation, shared knowledge, and conversations in Slack. More importantly, the AI can be tailored to a company’s specific requirements, whether they want to integrate a preferred language model, create their own AI-driven no-code workflows, or seamlessly incorporate AI into the Slack experience.

“My hope for the future is work becomes not only more productive but more enjoyable. The mission of Slack is to make work more productive, but also more pleasant. We find in the research that nine in 10 workers link happiness to their productivity. AI is not about replacing humans with a robotic alternative. It’s about finding ways to take the things that we don’t like to do to free up time for us to work on the things that were most useful so that we gain pleasure from work,” concluded Laney.

The post Are AI productivity tools really improving the workforce? appeared first on TechWire Asia.

As customer expectations for high-quality experiences continue to increase, businesses must adopt a creative mindset and use problem-solving skills to remain relevant and find effective solutions to their business and customer challenges. Businesses must also find imaginative ways to motivate their teams, improve efficiency, and streamline their work processes by aligning their personnel, procedures, and technology. As the future approaches, it is evident that the digital economy is poised for expansion, and Adobe is fully committed to participating in this growth.

In light of this, Adobe has unveiled its 13th annual Digital Trends Report, offering insights into brand marketing, IT priorities, and strategies for the coming year. The report was based on a worldwide survey of over 9,000 executives, practitioners, and agency employees, with 800 respondents from the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.

The report highlights the efforts made by leading brands to prioritize investments in improving the speed, scale, and efficiency of their content creation and workflows. By doing so, they aim to establish stronger customer relationships and achieve success in 2023. They are also enhancing their marketing processes and technologies to maximize their investments and seize every opportunity.

Duncan Egan, Vice President of Digital Experience Marketing at Adobe Asia Pacific and Japan, stated that customers now demand personalized and content-rich experiences. “To meet this, business leaders need to prioritize a content supply chain backed by workflow automation, built on a customer-centric strategy and streamlined for the entire content lifecycle,” he explained.

Content creation at scale

The research findings show that 79% of senior executives in the Asia Pacific region have noted a substantial increase in demand for content. However, only 25% of brands consider themselves competent in producing and distributing content, despite customers’ growing need for engaging digital experiences across multiple channels.

As a result, prominent companies in the industry are reviewing and streamlining their content supply chains, encompassing the entire process of content planning, creation, distribution, and analysis. These companies focus on enhancing efficiency and reducing costs, with 43% of senior APAC executives claiming to have made their content processes more streamlined.

Streamlining workflow management

According to the research, a significant challenge faced by APAC marketing practitioners is a lack of time to be creative, with 41% citing it as a barrier to delivering exceptional customer experiences. Only 25% of APAC practitioners view their organizations as competent in planning, prioritizing, and assigning content to achieve desired outcomes, compared to 33% globally. Additionally, 41% see workflow issues as a significant challenge holding back their marketing efforts.

To overcome these challenges and enhance their content production capabilities in 2023, leading APAC brands have emphasized streamlining workflow management and improving digital collaboration among their content teams. 37% have made streamlining or automating collaboration processes a priority, while 43% have focused on using workflow automation to enhance the efficiency of their marketing and customer experience processes. This is a higher percentage than the global average of 38%.

Pioneering in the digital world – Adobe

Investments in content and creative workflows have become a priority for leaders as they aim to improve processes and technologies in the current economic climate. APAC leaders are focusing on maximizing the value of their technologies, with 45% planning to invest in new marketing and data technologies in 2023 and 33% seeking to maximize their existing technologies.

As the digital economy grows, companies are preparing themselves for new possibilities. Some brands are testing new methods to create customer value, such as Starbucks and its Starbucks Odyssey platform, where users can earn, buy, and trade digital collectibles. Disney is exploring accelerator program initiatives and experimenting with NFTs in partnership with the digital collectible marketplace, Veve. Meanwhile, Nike has embarked on a long, messy, and experimental journey with its SWOOSH initiative. This platform allows customers to co-create new products and trade physical and virtual products.

However, not all organizations can focus on long-term planning and strategy due to economic concerns. 65% of senior brand executives in APAC reported that their emphasis on immediate needs has resulted in a decrease in longer-term planning and strategy. On the other hand, 41% of APAC respondents are looking ahead and learning about marketing in the metaverse.

These early pioneers are experimenting and learning as they navigate new customer relationships and revenue streams. Brands that hope to be successful in 2023 should keep in mind that customer experience expectations will continue to rise in this new space.

The post Adobe: Leading APAC brands to prioritize content creation and workflow enhancements in the digital era appeared first on TechWire Asia.

Quiet quitting emerged as a hot-button talking point on TikTok in mid-2022, and very quickly resonated with young people who have become accustomed to a demanding working culture in a prolonged period of economic uncertainty and a global pandemic.

Even in Asian economic hotspots like Singapore and Hong Kong, long used to a culture of overwork such as working longer hours and doing extra tasks without expectation of overtime or extra compensation, expectations of remote working and more flexible working hours are increasingly in-demand especially amongst the younger working set – failing which, employees are more likely to consider quiet quitting.

Many workers are still planning to resign for greater job satisfaction and better compensation over the next year, but quiet quitting actually involves employees staying with their firm – but doing the bare minimum expected at work, as opposed to trying to please the management by doing as much as possible.

The Exhausted by Work – The Employer Opportunity report by Cigna International pointed out that while hybrid and flexible work is highly sought after by younger workers, a worrying 97% of 18-34-year-olds surveyed in countries like Australia, Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, and Singapore report being burned out.

Over 70% of both 25–34-year-old Millennials (73%) and 18–24-year-old Gen Zs (71%) are spending more time reconsidering their life priorities and nearly half (48%) are looking for new jobs despite the fragile economic climate. This demonstrates how overwhelmed the younger working generations are now, and for those who resigning is not an immediate option, quiet quitting is fast catching fire as an alternative.

Managers in fast-moving working cultures like Singapore’s, in fact, are lamenting this change in employee mindset. “But quiet quitting is not about avoiding work, it is about not avoiding a meaningful life outside of work,” according to Nilufar Ahmed, senior lecturer in Social Sciences at the University of Bristol.

For Singaporean workers, Indeed Singapore’s survey research found that while nearly half (45%) of workers on the island-state report financial compensation as the main reason they want to ‘quiet quit’, Gen Zs were the age group least interested in money as the reason. Exactly half say salary is the most critical reason, compared to 61% of Millennials and 70% of Gen Xers.

“Our survey identifies how workers in Singapore want to limit the pressure from work in their lives,” said Nishita Lalvani, Marketing Director for Indeed in India and Southeast Asia. “But it is important to note that they are not saying they don’t want to work hard. They are just stressing the limits and the desire to have a better life-work balance.”

“Quiet quitting aims to restore balance where work has crept into your personal time”, wrote Ahmed, and can help to separate an individual’s self-worth from their work identity. In work-first work environments like Singapore’s, this can include distancing perceived work failures – like not getting recognition for work achievements or not getting a deserved raise or promotion – from being internalised as personal failures, causing performance anxieties, and leading to a damaging cycle of low self-esteem and working even harder to compensate – inevitably, leading to burnout.

“Burnout is difficult and costly for individuals and employers. Many people with burnout end up taking time off work, or at least working at less than full capacity,” explained the University of Bristol’s Ahmed. “Quiet quitting can create a better balance of work and personal life and so could protect against burnout before it happens.”

Flexible work and digital-led innovations have stretched out worker resilience in post-pandemic Singapore, but many companies are still not offering flexible work arrangements as a long-term fixture. Only slightly more than half (52%) of Singaporeans surveyed by HR specialist Randstad claimed that their employers provided remote working options.

But the same survey found that around two in five Singapore workers will no longer accept jobs that do not offer work-from-home or flexible work-hour arrangements. This is indicative of a shifting mindset in traditionally employer-friendly Singapore, where trends like quiet quitting have made employees more conscious of being happier in their jobs, seeking fulfilment as much as (if not more) than seeking higher salaries and recognition.

52% in the Randstad study say they would resign from their jobs if it restricted their outside-of-work lifestyles, a sea change in Singaporean employee thinking, particularly among the Gen Zs and Millennials (more than half would leave their present positions if it did not allow them to enjoy life, at 56% and 57%, respectively).

Perhaps most tellingly in this ‘new normal’, 41% of Singaporean respondents would rather be unemployed than unfulfilled in their employment. This is well above the global average of 33%, as per Randstad, and a whopping 94% of respondents say that work-life balance is as critical as ever.

While employees, especially the younger generations, are in agreement with the importance of work-life balance, will these flexibility demands impair productivity? As studies have shown time and time again, the vast majority actually report productivity increases after implementing work-life balance programs along with flexible jobs and workdays.

The post ‘Quiet quitting’ a tradeoff between productivity & work-life balance? appeared first on TechWire Asia.

There was also the introduction of MySQL HeatWave Lakehouse, which helps customers process and query hundreds of terabytes of data and combines transaction processing with data-driven analytics and intelligent automation within a single MySQL database.

Not to be left out were the collection of Oracle Cloud, Database, and partner ecosystem launches and enhancements, such as the digital transformation pact with HSBC to migrate business-critical databases and systems to Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer, a cloud platform delivered as a managed infrastructure service within the financial services provider’s own data centers – powering cloud automation to manage HSBC’s legacy applications, while providing the robust facilities to more easily scale services according to customer and market demands.

Not to be outdone, two AI-centric platforms were also revealed, both running massive, scale-out NVIDIA H100-based data centre systems, which promise better energy efficiency and improved performance for running large AI models. Built collaboratively with Nvidia, social media juggernaut Meta revealed Grand Teton, an AI platform that builds on the company’s previous generation Zion EX platform with more memory, more network bandwidth, and more compute capacity.

Grand Teton leverages Nvidia’s H100 Tensor Core GPUs to train and process AI models at data center scales, providing greater computing capacities to enable the AI to grow rapidly in size and capabilities. The announcement came not long after Nvidia’s partnership with Oracle itself was declared to be expanded, by harnessing tens of thousands of Nvidia H100 GPUs to power Oracle Cloud Infrastructure – bringing a high-intensity, AI-enabled performance platform for enterprises.

According to Nvidia founder-CEO Jensen Huang and Oracle CEO Safra Catz, the growing partnership between the two digital leaders will make AI-centric cloud infrastructure more accessible and encourage innovative collaboration in key sectors, including smart manufacturing and telecommunications to the healthcare and financial services industries.

Thanks to the Nvidia Hopper AI architecture and the powerful new Transformer Engine, H100 will allow enterprises to significantly reduce the cost of delivering AI applications, while providing the reliable high level of performance that business AI use cases require. With the Oracle partnership, AI workflows harnessing the Nvidia AI Enterprise software suite can be developed and deployed specifically on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

In fact with the full Nvidia AI stack being introduced to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, data processing for end-to-end AI workflows can be greatly accelerated by leveraging NVIDIA Accelerated Apache Spark in OCI Data Flow, with alterations easily made with no-code– optimizing data processing resources, and managing unnecessary additional costs that used to be incurred for the enterprise customer.

The additional processing power from the added-on GPU clusters (with up to 512 Nvidia GPUs per cluster) will be necessary to handle the high-performance AI file systems on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure such as WEKA, Lustre, GlusterFS or IBM Spectrum Scale – producing up to 2 terabytes of throughput per second, and capable of processing a variety of preconfigured or cost-optimized requirements.

With the Nvidia AI Enterprise suite enabling key abilities, including cloud-native management and AI and accelerated data science development tools on top of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, ready-made AI frameworks and applications equipped with deployment capabilities for enterprises will be made available.

The range of business-ready AI applications would include conversational AI chatbots, recommender engine systems, and computer vision capabilities. And with a broad, certified partner ecosystem to integrate with, both development times and complexities can be dramatically cut down – always a major concern for companies. Additionally, the efficiency savings can then translate towards quicker turnaround on actual usage and data insights on performance that can be studied, and improved upon.

Along with the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Data Flow layer accelerated with Apache Spark for more rapid data processing, Nvidia GPUs will also speed up TensorFlow acceleration for Spark natural language processing, machine learning and deep learning applications. Over those, a dedicated AI framework for healthcare and life sciences, Nvidia Clara on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, has also been developed to advance AI research into medical devices, genomics analyses, medical imaging advancements, and advanced drug discovery studies.

“To drive long-term success in today’s business environment, organizations need answers and insight faster than ever,” commented Oracle CEO Safra Catz. “Our expanded alliance with NVIDIA will deliver the best of both companies’ expertise to help customers across industries — from healthcare and manufacturing to telecommunications and financial services — overcome the multitude of challenges they face.”

“Accelerated computing and AI are key to tackling rising costs in every aspect of operating businesses,” added Jensen Huang, the CEO and founder of Nvidia. “Enterprises are increasingly turning to cloud-first AI strategies that enable fast development and scalable deployment. Our partnership with Oracle will put NVIDIA AI within easy reach for thousands of companies.”

The post Oracle CloudWorld 2022 unleashes major cloud, AI efficiencies for enterprise appeared first on TechWire Asia.

For McLaren, working fast and collecting loads of data points are nothing new as an elite racing unit, comprising not just the drivers but the hordes of technicians, engineers, mechanics, data scientists, as well as all the race-day entourage a top-level race crew tends to accrue at a major event like the Singapore Grand Prix, the curtain closing final race of the 2022 Formula One calendar.

Motorsports, unlike perhaps a lot of human-only sports, have been highly technical and technologically focused for decades. Performance gains and competitive advantage are measured in tiny fractions; such is the gap between the top teams. And thanks to VMware Workspace, McLaren can now wholly embrace edge computing to transmit the sort of data performance that matches up to their high expectations on race weekend.

VMware became an Official Partner of McLaren earlier this year, just before the 2022 French Grand Prix in July, and unlike a lot of sponsors who might receive brand visibility on the McLaren Formula 1 car and the race suits of drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris, the multi-cloud services provider brings as much to the racetrack as it takes away – perhaps more so.

VMware technology powers McLaren with its SD-WAN (software-defined wireless area network), allowing the team to grasp bonded networks and use smart traffic shaping so that connectivity is guaranteed wherever the users are located – on the paddock, in the garage, and even on the track.

Running highly advanced applications and crunching streams of data requires powerful support and data storage, and McLaren needs it live and in real-time for optimum performance. With apps in the public cloud, out of their own data centers, and even at the edge trackside, McLaren can tap into VMware’s Workspace multi-cloud architecture to get a better understanding of the data and optimize its use to peak efficiencies, all while maintaining a secure cloud footprint so that sensitive team data does not get exposed and is securely maintained for future analysis, as befits a race team on the cutting edge of its field.

Workspace is a ‘VMware Anywhere Workspace’ SaaS solution, meaning it can be deployed anywhere to the edge to deliver a seamless user experience to all stakeholders who need such accessibility and connectivity, integrating access control, application management and multi-platform endpoint management across all devices – including for guests who show up on race day, and need to be able to interact with the stats and analysis on their tablets and phones.

With the applications and data streams delivered via Workspace, “you can look at the same weather charts the strategists look at. You can watch the race. You can look inside the garage and even see some of the telemetry coming from the cars,” said Ed Green, McLaren Racing’s head of commercial technology, while speaking at the VMware Explore conference last month.

Green demonstrated an instance at VMware Explore where a specialized tire technician accessed real-time information from trackside. “He’ll be analyzing all of the data coming from the car to predict what tire we should move to next,” Green said. “That’s critical in this modern era of Formula One racing.”

And guests can get to partake in that real-time info sharing too, heightening the intuitive interactivity with their favorite motorsport team. After all, “it’s no good saying we’re one of the most technically advanced sports on the planet when all you can do in our hospitality area is just look down on the garage,” Green pointed out.

VMware’s Workspace platform performance has been so critical for delivering and managing applications across multiple devices and form factors that McLaren is harnessing it for a new fleet of Android devices that McLaren provides to employees in the field.

“We put Android phones into people’s pockets, all running Workspace ONE, allowing us to deliver secure access right to the edge. So the engineers can look at trackside data on their phones in a secure way,” Green explained, but highlighted that VMware cloud security kept the devices safe. “If those devices leave the circuit, we know we can shut them down and keep them secure.”

Ultimately, the powerful, speedy edge computing performance of VMware is what makes the difference – for a team like McLaren, the difference between pole position and losing. “Once these two cars make their way around the track – and Lando [Norris] and Daniel [Ricciardo] do it at 200 miles an hour – 300 sensors are producing a terabyte-and-a-half worth of information that we have to analyze to try and find the edge. And when I talk about edge, it’s milliseconds,” Green concluded.

The post VMware Workspace at the edge of the Singapore F1 GP with McLaren appeared first on TechWire Asia.

As one of the more advanced economies in Asia Pacific, Singapore has been aware of its environmental shortcomings as the effects of climate change become increasingly noticeable. Between 2008 and 2010, significant policy change took place with the release of the National Climate Change Strategy as part of the establishment of the National Climate Change Secretariat in 2010 under the Prime Minister’s Office.

As a business capital, organizations will play a crucial role in helping Singapore achieve its net zero emissions goals “by or around mid-century.” A big pillar of this carbon transformation will be the progressive raising of carbon tax levels beginning in 2024 – alerting businesses and individuals alike that carbon spending will be incrementally unwanted as time goes on.

At its first full-fledged Dreamforce conference since 2019, and at the same time as the release of its Trail to Net Zero for Singapore report, leading CRM provider Salesforce announced the launch of its Net Zero Marketplace, a unique carbon credit marketplace that allows organisations to transparently and directly purchase carbon credits from ecopreneurs, AKA sustainable technology startup entrepreneurs, in a seamless e-commerce experience by perusing a virtual catalogue of independently curated carbon credits. After starting in the US next month, the Net Zero Marketplace will expand internationally in 2023.

YouGov surveyed 1,000 managers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Salesforce report, with the majority (81%) supporting Singapore in setting net zero emissions target for 2050. Despite strong awareness among Singaporean businesses, there has been a massive move toward mass digitization in recent years, and no industry is exempt. This has seen surging demand for data storage and computing power, prompting energy efficiency concerns and the expanding carbon footprint of tech products.

One of the clearest technological adoptions during this global digital transformation drive has been the overnight take-up of cloud computing services. Salesforce encourages the Singapore government to push the adoption of cloud, citing an Accenture study that cloud migrations helped to achieve a monumental 84% reduction in carbon emissions in contrast to legacy infrastructure like on-premises storage.

The report went on to highlight how important a role technology will play to shore up an unpredictable “climate crisis”, highlighting the development of environmental AI, such as for detecting the pollution of levels in Singapore’s water supply. A shared digital platform between the public and private sectors can help track emissions and predict emission patterns, ensuring “better decision making, and a single source of truth” for measuring emissions both within the SME and in its supply chain.

And as digital innovations continue to evolve while renewable energy remains a limited option for the country, Salesforce is encouraging the Singapore government to invest heavily in emerging low-carbon technologies such as Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration (CCUS) and hydrogen. But research also highlights that while many workers are ready to embrace this change, most feel their organizations do not supply enough sustainability roles, tools, and training to effectively make a difference.

Speaking of digital transformations, one of the big talking points of Dreamforce 2022 was the release of Salesforce Genie, a hyperscale real-time data platform that will be the underlying architecture of the Salesforce Customer 360 ecosystem. Genie itself has the foundation of a data lake, capable of turning data into highly personalized customer experiences across a series of verticals including sales, service, marketing, and commerce – continuously adapting to changing data flows and ingestion needs in real time.

Alongside Genie and Customer 360, Dreamforce witnessed a slew of big-time partnership announcements with the likes of AWS, WhatsApp, McKinsey and Snowflake. Digital transformation and sustainability initiatives like the Salesforce research into Singapore were major conversation fodder this year, but the biggest talking point was Slack. Specifically, Slack canvas.

Slack saw major adoption gains in recent times as digital collaboration and communication platforms took off in the wake of imposed distances between colleagues. Slack canvas was built from the ashes  of shareable document software Quip, to more competitively take on leader Microsoft Teams and emergent players Zoom and Google Meet. Slack canvas will essentially be collaborative documents, or ‘canvasses’, with shared files, checklists, integrate with data from the Salesforce Sales Cloud so that Customer 360 data can be interacted with directly in Slack.

The post Digital transformation, sustainability the driving (Sales)force for Singapore appeared first on TechWire Asia.