Latest news with #AIO
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
From SEO to AIO: Building the Business Blueprint for OnlineAdvantages.digital's AI Search Era
MOORESVILLE, N.C., Aug. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Online Advantages today released Part 2 of its 60-day public case study documenting the transformation from a traditional SEO agency into an AIO-first, AI-powered, automation-driven marketing firm. Titled From SEO to AIO: Building the Business Blueprint for AI Search Era, this installment focuses on defining the agency's updated service lineup, integrating automation tools, and setting measurable goals for the 60-day reinvention journey. "This stage is all about clarity," said Matt Maglodi, founder of Online Advantages. "Before we touch the new website, we need to know exactly what we're offering, which services we're keeping from traditional SEO, and what new capabilities we'll bring into the AI search era." In Part 2, Online Advantages outlines: Core services for the AI search landscape, including AI Overviews optimization, semantic search content, automation workflows, and advanced analytics. Legacy SEO tactics that still deliver ROI in 2025. Key performance goals to hit before the 60-day transformation is complete. Part 2 of the series is live now: About Online AdvantagesFounded in 2012, Online Advantages helps businesses grow through innovative SEO, content marketing, and marketing automation strategies. Now entering a new era as the agency is committed to helping clients dominate both traditional search and AI-driven search results. View original content: SOURCE Online Advantages
Business Wire
04-08-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Semrush Announces Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Semrush Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SEMR), a leading online visibility management SaaS platform, today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2025. 'We posted strong revenue growth in the second quarter and were especially pleased by the accelerated adoption of our AI and Enterprise products,' said Bill Wagner, CEO. 'We are very excited about our leadership position in the market and our long-term growth opportunities. To underscore this conviction, we are announcing a $150 million share repurchase program.' Second Quarter 2025 Financial Highlights Second quarter revenue of $108.9 million, up 20% year-over-year. Loss from operations of ($4.3) million for the second quarter, compared to income from operations of $3.4 million in the prior year's quarter. Second quarter operating margin of (4.0%), compared to 3.7% in the prior year period. Non-GAAP income from operations of $12.0 million for the second quarter for a non-GAAP operating margin of 11.0%, compared to non-GAAP income from operations of $12.2 million in the prior year period for a non-GAAP operating margin of 13.4%. Cash flow from operations was $0.7 million in the second quarter, representing a cash flow from operations margin of 0.6%. ARR of $435.3 million as of June 30, 2025, up 15% year-over-year. Approximately 116,000 paying customers as of June 30, 2025. Dollar-based net revenue retention of 105%, as of June 30, 2025. See 'Non-GAAP Financial Measures & Definitions of Key Metrics' below for how Semrush defines ARR, dollar-based net revenue retention, non-GAAP income from operations, non-GAAP operating margin, free cash flow, and free cash flow margin, and the financial tables that accompany this release for reconciliations of each non-GAAP financial measure to its closest comparable GAAP financial measure. Second Quarter 2025 Business Highlights We are committed to empowering our customers with a best-in-class platform designed to boost their online presence and gain an edge in the market. We advanced and expanded many of our offerings and continued investments in Generative AI to provide enhanced, more efficient content creation and marketing capabilities through Semrush's platform: Announced general availability of AI Optimization (AIO), a Semrush Enterprise Solution, providing businesses with tools to track, control, and optimize brand presence across AI-powered search platforms. Introduced Toolkits, an AI-powered, all-in-one platform that provides businesses with streamlined workflows, centralized marketing tools, and the ability to drive measurable performance. Added SearchGPT as a search engine option within the Position Tracking tool, enabling users to monitor domain visibility on leading AI conversational platforms alongside traditional search engines. Released the AI Traffic dashboard inside the Traffic & Market Toolkit, allowing businesses to track brand visibility across AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, and Perplexity. Launched a new algorithm update in Semrush .Trends, offering sharper insights, broader domain coverage, and faster delivery of fresh traffic data. Semrush customers who pay more than $10,000 annually grew by 35% year-over-year. Forrester named Semrush as a Leader in SEO Solutions and recognized Semrush's competitive intelligence, robust analytics, and vision for SEO as the 'engine of digital discoverability.' Company strengthens leadership with appointment of Caroline Tsay to Board of Directors. 'Looking ahead, I am energized about our ability to drive durable growth, profitability, and strong cash flow,' said Brian Mulroy, CFO. 'Our share repurchase program demonstrates our strong conviction in the business, reflects the strength of our balance sheet and free cash flow generation, highlights the attractive valuation opportunity and reinforces our commitment to delivering shareholder value.' Share Repurchase Program Today, the Company announces that a special committee composed of independent members of our Board of Directors authorized an inaugural share repurchase program. Share repurchases of our Class A common stock under the $150 million program may be made from time to time on the open market (including pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 trading plans), through privately negotiated transactions, or other legally permissible means. The share repurchase program has no time limit, does not obligate Semrush to acquire a specified number of shares, and may be suspended, modified, or terminated at any time, without prior notice. The number of shares to be repurchased will depend on market conditions and other factors. Based on information as of today, August 4, 2025, we are issuing the following financial guidance: Third Quarter 2025 Financial Outlook For the third quarter, we expect revenue in a range of $111.1 million to $112.1 million, which at the mid-point would represent growth of approximately 15% year-over-year. We expect third quarter non-GAAP operating margin to be approximately 11.5%. Full-Year 2025 Financial Outlook The company is revising its annual revenue outlook to reflect softer demand at the lower end of the market, impacted by an increase in paid-search cost per click. For the full year, we expect revenue in a range of $443.0 to $446.0 million, which at the mid-point would represent growth of approximately 18% year-over-year. We expect full year non-GAAP operating margin to be approximately 12%. We expect the full year free cash flow margin to be approximately 12%. Reconciliations of non-GAAP operating margin and free cash flow margin guidance to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are not available without unreasonable efforts on a forward-looking basis due to the high variability, complexity and low visibility with respect to the charges excluded from these non-GAAP measures, in particular the measures and effects of share-based compensation expense, employer taxes and tax deductions specific to equity compensation awards that are directly impacted by future hiring, turnover and retention needs. We expect the variability of the above charges to have a significant, and potentially unpredictable, impact on our future GAAP financial results. Conference Call and Webcast Details Semrush will host a conference call and webcast to discuss its financial results, business highlights, outlook and other matters, the details for which are provided below. Date: Tuesday, August 5th, 2025 Time: 8:30 a.m. ET Hosts: Bill Wagner, CEO, and Brian Mulroy, CFO Conference ID: 978610 Participant Toll Free Dial-In Number: +1 833 470 1428 Participant International Dial-In Number: +1 929 526 1599 The live webcast of the conference call as well as the replay can be accessed for a limited time from the Semrush investor relations website at About Semrush Semrush is a leading online visibility management SaaS platform that enables businesses globally to run search engine optimization, advertising, content, social media and competitive research campaigns and get measurable results from online marketing. Semrush offers insights and solutions for companies to build, manage, and measure campaigns across various marketing channels. Semrush is headquartered in Boston and has offices in Austin, Dallas, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belgrade, Berlin, Munich, Limassol, Prague, Warsaw, and Yerevan. Forward-looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, which are statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as 'may,' 'will,' 'shall,' 'should,' 'expects,' 'plans,' 'positioning,' 'anticipates,' 'could,' 'intends,' 'target,' 'projects,' 'contemplates,' 'believes,' 'estimates,' 'predicts,' 'potential' or 'continue' or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans or intentions. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, guidance on financial results for the third quarter and full fiscal year of 2025 (including revenue, non-GAAP operating margin, and free cash flow margin); statements regarding the expectations of demand for our products and cash flow generation; statements about improvements to and expansion of our products and platform, and launching new products; statements about future operating results, including revenue, growth opportunities, variability of expenses, ability to realize efficiencies, future spending and incremental investments, business trends, our ability to deliver profits, and growth and value for shareholders; assumptions regarding foreign exchange rates; and plans, expectations and statements regarding our share repurchase program. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ('SEC'), including in the sections entitled 'Risk Factors' and 'Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations'' in our filings with the SEC, including our most recent annual report on form 10-K, and our subsequently filed quarterly reports and other SEC filings. Although we believe that our plans, intentions, expectations, strategies and prospects as reflected in or suggested by those forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that the plans, intentions, expectations or strategies will be attained or achieved. The forward-looking statements in this release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Additional information regarding these and other factors that could affect our results is included in our SEC filings, which may be obtained by visiting our Investor Relations page on its website at or the SEC's website at Non-GAAP Financial Measures & Definitions of Key Metrics We believe that providing non-GAAP information to investors, in addition to the GAAP presentation, allows investors to view the financial results in the way management views the operating results. We further believe that providing this information allows investors to not only better understand our financial performance, but also to evaluate the efficacy of the methodology and information used by management to evaluate and measure such performance. We also believe that the use of non-GAAP financial measures provides an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing our financial results with other companies in our industry, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures to investors. We also believe free cash flow margin is useful to investors as we monitor it as a measure of our overall business performance, which enables us to analyze our future performance without the effects of non-cash items and allows us to better understand the cash needs of our business. The non-GAAP information included in this press release should not be considered superior to, or a substitute for, financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP financial measures presented by other companies. Investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures provided in the financial statement tables included below in this press release. Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is defined as the total subscription revenue as of a given date that we expect to contractually receive over the subsequent 12 months from customers on an annualized basis, assuming no increases, reductions or cancellations. This ARR definition was updated in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2024 to simplify the explanation of our calculation around the treatment of monthly and longer-term contracts, and to be more consistent with other SaaS businesses, which we believe improves the ability for investors to compare our metric against other businesses. Additionally, our definition was updated to note that we do not assume there will be any increases, reductions, or cancellations. Given our efforts to retain and win back customers, and our belief that we will be successful in many of those retention efforts, we believe the updated definition is more accurate. We did not recast ARR results to conform ARR under the prior definition to the updated definition as there is no variance between the two definitions for the periods presented. Dollar-based net revenue retention is defined as (a) the revenue from our customers during the twelve-month period ending one year prior to such period as the denominator and (b) the revenue from those same customers during the twelve months ending as of the end of such period as the numerator. This calculation excludes revenue from new customers and any non-recurring revenue. Free cash flow and free cash flow margin. We define free cash flow, a non-GAAP financial measure, as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities less purchases of property and equipment and capitalized software development costs. We define free cash flow margin as free cash flow divided by GAAP revenue. Non-GAAP income (loss) from operations, and non-GAAP operating margin. We define non-GAAP income (loss) from operations as GAAP income (loss) from operations, excluding Stock Based Compensation, Amortization of Acquired Intangible Assets, Acquisition Related Costs, Restructuring Costs and other one-time expenses outside the ordinary course of business (for example, our Exit Costs incurred primarily in 2022). We define non-GAAP operating margin as non-GAAP income (loss) from operations divided by GAAP revenue. We believe investors may want to consider our results with and without the effects of these items in order to compare our financial performance with that of other companies that exclude such items and to compare our results to prior periods. Stock-based compensation. Stock-based compensation is a non-cash expense accounted for in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718. We believe that the exclusion of stock-based compensation expense allows for financial results that are more indicative of our operational performance and provide for a useful comparison of our operating results to prior periods and to our peer companies because stock-based compensation expense varies from period to period and company to company due to such things as differing valuation methodologies, timing of awards and changes in stock price. Amortization of acquired intangible assets. Excluding amortization of acquired intangible assets from non-GAAP expense and income measures allows management and investors to evaluate results 'as-if' the acquired intangible assets had been developed internally rather than acquired and, therefore, provides a supplemental measure of performance in which our acquired intellectual property is treated in a comparable manner to our internally developed intellectual property. These amounts are inconsistent in amount and frequency and are significantly impacted by the timing and size of acquisitions. Although we exclude amortization of acquired intangible assets from our non-GAAP expenses, we believe that it is important for investors to understand that such intangible assets contribute to revenue generation. Restructuring and other costs. Restructuring and other costs include restructuring expenses as well as other charges that are unusual in nature, are the result of unplanned events, and arise outside the ordinary course of our business. Restructuring expenses consist of employee severance costs, charges for the closure of excess facilities and other contract termination costs. Other costs include litigation contingency reserves, asset impairment charges, relocation expenses associated with the migration of employees in 2022 that occurred throughout 2022 and early 2023, and gains or losses on the sale or disposition of certain non-strategic assets or product lines. Acquisition-related costs. In recent years, we have completed a number of acquisitions, which result in transition, integration and other acquisition-related expense which would not otherwise have been incurred, are unpredictable and dependent on a significant number of factors that are deal-specific or outside of our control, are not indicative of our operational performance (or that of the acquired businesses or assets) and are likely to fluctuate as our acquisition activity increases or decreases in future periods. By excluding acquisition-related costs and adjustments from our non-GAAP measures, management is better able to evaluate our ability to utilize our existing assets and estimate the long-term value that acquired assets will generate for us. ¹ includes stock-based compensation expense as follows: Three Months Ended June 30, Six Months Ended June 30, 2025 2024 2025 2024 Cost of revenue $ 116 $ 59 $ 160 $ 98 Sales and marketing 2,260 1,209 3,887 1,979 Research and development 3,917 1,371 6,383 2,007 General and administrative 7,143 4,527 12,118 8,197 Total stock-based compensation $ 13,436 $ 7,166 $ 22,548 $ 12,281 Expand The following table sets forth a reconciliation of our (loss) income from operations and operating margin to non-GAAP income from operations and non-GAAP operating margin, respectively (percentage amounts may not sum due to rounding): The following table sets forth a reconciliation of our net cash provided by operating activities and net cash provided by operating activities (as a percentage of revenue) to free cash flow and free cash flow margin, respectively (percentage amounts may not sum due to rounding): Semrush Holdings, Inc. UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (in thousands) As of December 31, 2024 Assets Current assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 54,322 $ 48,875 Short-term investments 204,225 186,693 Accounts receivable 14,243 8,955 Deferred contract costs, current portion 10,178 10,044 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 18,138 21,617 Total current assets 301,106 276,184 Property and equipment, net 6,673 6,534 Operating lease right-of-use assets 11,551 11,126 Intangible assets, net 35,317 32,055 Goodwill 59,924 56,139 Deferred contract costs, net of current portion 3,495 3,080 Other long-term assets 6,883 5,825 Total assets $ 424,949 $ 390,943 Liabilities, noncontrolling interest, and stockholders' equity Current liabilities Accounts payable $ 13,505 $ 10,463 Accrued expenses 20,627 20,216 Deferred revenue 81,730 71,827 Current portion of operating lease liabilities 4,966 4,669 Other current liabilities 4,853 6,913 Total current liabilities 125,681 114,088 Deferred revenue, net of current portion 235 235 Deferred tax liability 1,798 1,621 Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion 7,852 7,602 Other long-term liabilities 1,216 1,045 Total liabilities 136,782 124,591 Commitments and contingencies Stockholders' equity Class A common stock 1 1 Class B common stock — — Additional paid-in capital 345,664 322,586 Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) 2,862 (2,221 ) Accumulated deficit (69,480 ) (63,762 ) Total stockholders' equity attributable to Semrush Holdings, Inc. 279,047 256,604 Noncontrolling interest in consolidated subsidiaries 9,120 9,748 Total stockholders' equity 288,167 266,352 Total liabilities, noncontrolling interest and stockholders' equity $ 424,949 $ 390,943 Expand Semrush Holdings, Inc. UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (in thousands) Six Months Ended June 30, 2025 2024 Operating Activities Net (loss) income $ (6,122 ) $ 3,364 Adjustments to reconcile net (loss) income to net cash provided by operating activities Depreciation and amortization expense 6,313 4,269 Amortization of deferred contract costs 7,043 6,054 Amortization (accretion) of premiums and discounts on investments (1,400 ) (2,023 ) Non-cash lease expense 2,451 2,233 Stock-based compensation expense 22,548 12,281 Change in fair value included in other income, net (1,271 ) — Deferred taxes 39 (217 ) Other non-cash items 1,255 1,400 Changes in operating assets and liabilities Accounts receivable (5,427 ) (774 ) Deferred contract costs (7,591 ) (6,129 ) Prepaid expenses and other current assets (4,166 ) (4,017 ) Accounts payable 2,630 1,906 Accrued expenses 104 2,917 Other current liabilities (233 ) 360 Deferred revenue 9,358 7,353 Other long-term liabilities 162 92 Change in operating lease liability (2,900 ) (2,147 ) Net cash provided by operating activities 22,793 26,922 Investing Activities Purchases of property and equipment (1,329 ) (2,906 ) Capitalization of internal-use software costs (6,532 ) (4,369 ) Purchases of short-term investments (61,524 ) (83,605 ) Proceeds from sales and maturities of short-term investments 46,000 102,500 Purchases of convertible debt securities — (650 ) Funding of investment loan receivables — (7,000 ) Proceeds from repayment of investment loan receivables 7,676 — Cash paid for acquisition of assets and businesses, net of cash acquired (1,097 ) (10,026 ) Purchases of noncontrolling interest (223 ) — Purchases of other investments — (131 ) Net cash used in investing activities (17,029 ) (6,187 ) Financing Activities Proceeds from exercise of stock options 648 3,053 Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards (426 ) — Repayment of acquired debt (1,088 ) — Payment of finance leases (211 ) (493 ) Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities (1,077 ) 2,560 Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 760 (614 ) Increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash 5,447 22,681 Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, beginning of period 49,060 58,848 Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, end of period $ 54,507 $ 81,529 Expand
Forbes
11-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
20 ‘Old Role/New Role' Transitions For An AI-Dominated Work World
As AI continues to reshape industries, many professionals are wondering what their current roles will look like in the years ahead—or if their roles will even exist. The emergence of generative AI, intelligent agents and automation is not only changing how we work, but also redefining what work means. As a result, familiar job titles are evolving into hybrid roles that combine human expertise with AI-powered capabilities. Below, members of Forbes Technology Council share examples of 'old role/new role' transitions that could take shape in the workplace of the future. With creative thinking and adaptability, professionals can forge new paths and thrive in a work world increasingly shaped by AI. 1. SEO Specialist/AIO Specialist AI is enabling teams to do more with less, but they are finding that existing roles are actually expanding. We will see a shift from SEO to AIO. With GenAI increasingly driving discovery and serving as the primary source for vendor shortlists, existing content marketers have to reevaluate their processes and tools. Focus on the augmentation and acceleration of existing roles and tasks right now. - Domenic Ravita, Plotly 2. Graphic Or Digital Designer/Story Architect In the AI-powered workplace, the designer becomes the story architect. We'll see a shift from marketers and designers spending time building presentations to refining narratives instead. Those who once acted as presentation designers or PowerPoint troubleshooters will become facilitators of strategic alignment. There will be less formatting and more framing; less deck-building and more decision-driving. - Jason Lapp, Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify? 3. Supply ChainRisk Analyst/Resilience Intelligence Strategist Today's supply chain risk analyst could evolve into a 'resilience intelligence strategist'—someone who trains AI models, interprets AI-driven insights and guides real-time risk management decisions across global supplier networks. While this role increasingly requires AI expertise, human oversight is a critical aspect of validating data quality and properly calculating risk. - Theodore Krantz Jr., 4. Clinical Insight Lead/Life Sciences AI Trainer And Researcher We are starting to see the shift already on the healthcare data side, where companies are using experts to start making their models better. Previously, clinical insights leads and analytic consultants were the ones who did complex analytics; now, their role is evolving into making use-case-specific prompts and reviewing outputs from LLMs as life sciences AI trainers and researchers. - Rohit Mishra, Komodo Health 5. Content Project Manager/AI Orchestrator One change happening is that the project manager is now the AI orchestrator for content production. As AI generates content at scale, this new role manages prompts, models and workflows, overseeing both AI and human creators. It's no longer about crafting one perfect video, but producing 50 smart, targeted variations fast—each optimized for different audiences, platforms or times of day. - William Li, FancyTech 6. Customer Service Agent/Conversational AI Trainer An old role to new role scenario would be a customer service agent becoming a conversational AI trainer. Instead of handling every inquiry directly, former agents will fine-tune AI agents—training them on tone, response quality and escalation logic to ensure consistent and empathetic customer experiences. - Giridhar Raj Singh Chowhan, Microsoft 7. Individual Contributor/AI Agent Portfolio Manager Today's individual contributors will become 'AI agent portfolio managers'—much like hedge fund managers directing capital, they'll orchestrate AI 'teams' to execute their vision. Engineers will each manage 10 AI agents that handle different tasks while focusing on strategy. Success won't require deep tech skills, but strategic thinking about deploying AI resources, making everyone a mini-CEO of their domain. - Krish Ramineni, 8. Dispatcher/AI Data Strategist Dispatchers are evolving into AI data strategists, training and validating routing models that once relied on manual input. Recruiters may shift into talent workflow designers, curating prompts and refining hiring algorithms. These transitions retain institutional knowledge while empowering teams to work alongside AI, not beneath it. - Gaurav Sharda, Beacon Mobility 9. Financial Analyst/AI-Augmented BI Strategist The transition from financial analyst to AI-augmented business intelligence strategist exemplifies tomorrow's workplace evolution. Instead of manually building spreadsheet models, these professionals will architect AI systems that continuously monitor markets and generate insights, shifting focus from data manipulation to strategic interpretation and decision-making. - Hrishikesh Joshi, Okta Inc. 10. Insurance Underwriter/Custom Insurance Solutions Creator Insurance underwriters used to spend weeks manually collecting data, reviewing claims histories and assessing risk across disparate datasets and dozens of manual hand-offs. AI has made it possible to streamline the grunt work involved in that process, freeing up underwriters to spend less time extracting data and more time assessing risk and creating custom solutions for customers. - Vivek Jetley, EXL 11. Data Analyst/Insights Curator In a tech-forward workplace, AI can process massive datasets in seconds, but human interpretation is still gold. The traditional data analyst role will evolve into that of an insights curator—someone who doesn't just run reports, but who also crafts stories from AI outputs, aligns findings with business context, and asks better questions to unlock competitive advantage. - Alexander Kwapis, FusionPKG, an Aptar Beauty Company 12. SOC Analyst/AI-Augmented Security Operations Specialist A traditional SOC analyst focused on manual alert triage could transition to an AI-augmented security operations specialist. Instead of sifting through raw alerts, they'd train, validate and tune AI models, shifting from reactive incident response to proactive, strategic oversight of automated defense systems. - Michael Roytman, Empirical Security 13. Program Manager/Delivery Process Engineer Program manager roles will evolve from manual bookkeeping and grindwork, maintaining and driving processes, to playing a significant role in shaping the delivery machinery. Program managers are well-positioned to uncover bottlenecks at the intersection of product management and engineering/delivery execution. A single PgM will be able to oversee larger, more complex programs in a more high-impact role. - Krishnan Narayan, Palo Alto Networks 14. Instructional Designer/AI Learning Architect As AI reshapes education, instructional designers will evolve into AI learning architects—curating data, shaping adaptive learning paths and ensuring systems align with human development. It's not just about content design anymore, but governing intelligent, equitable learning ecosystems. - Timothy Kang, Fayston Preparatory School 15. Report Writer/AI-Powered Business Analyst AI is transforming roles by enhancing, not replacing, human expertise. For example, report writers can evolve into AI-powered business analysts, leveraging advanced tools to uncover insights and craft recommendations. Similarly, factory operators may become scenario planners, using AI simulations to optimize processes. Core skills remain crucial, but AI amplifies impact and accelerates results. - Daniel Kearney, Firmus Technologies 16. Marketing Content Creator/AI Content Strategist From a marketing perspective, I imagine marketing content creators evolving into AI content strategists. Instead of just writing copy, they'll be skillfully guiding AI tools, ensuring that the unique brand voice shines through and optimizing content performance with their strategic insights. The benefit is that it will allow them to leverage multiple media, boosting ROI, open rates and conversions. - Charles Yeomans, Atombeam 17. Data Analyst/AI-Assisted Evidence Builder Data analysts will quickly become 'AI-assisted evidence builders.' Instead of manual processing, they will craft questions, ensure data quality and interpret AI insights within policy contexts. Because of these changes, human expertise becomes more valuable in the years ahead—humans will make judgments about which patterns matter and how findings influence decisions while AI handles the computational work. - Nick Hart, Data Foundation 18. System Architect/Intelligent Systems Designer System architects focus on connecting tools and data. As AI becomes part of the core stack, that role is shifting into an intelligent systems designer—someone who decides where automation fits, when to loop in people and how to keep systems accurate as they evolve. It's a move from building stable systems to building systems that can adapt on their own. - Jēnna Reese, Connect Centric 19. Business Analyst/Multiagent AI System Designer Business analysts who currently map workflows and gather requirements will transition into designing multiagent AI systems. They'll architect how AI agents collaborate, defining which agent handles customer inquiries, which processes invoices and how they hand off tasks. Their process-mapping skills become crucial for orchestrating intelligent automation across entire business ecosystems. - Vinod Bijlani, HPE 20. Software Developer/AI Code Overseer As AI becomes more prevalent, entry-level developers will likely evolve into AI code overseers. Instead of just writing code, these individuals will manage AI-driven development. They'll need to understand why AI writes code in certain ways, ensuring accuracy and security. Rather than focusing on execution, the role will transition into intelligent oversight. - Steve Carter, Nucleus Security
Forbes
11-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
From Search Engines To AI Assistants: A New Era Of Digital Visibility
Murad Salikhov – serial investor and visionary | Founder of Schwarzwald Capital, empowering fintech and creator economy projects. For the past two decades, Google has been the kingmaker when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO) and online visibility. For some people, if you weren't on the first page of search results, you basically didn't exist. But now there's a new game in town, and the dynamic is shifting faster than many expected. The big disruptor? Artificial intelligence (AI). ChatGPT, Perplexity, Brave, Gemini—AI assistants are rapidly changing how people find and consume information online. And with that shift, we're entering a new era of SEO, one that has already received a popular name—AIO or AI optimization. What does this transformation mean for creators and digital entrepreneurs? I am a venture capitalist and fintech entrepreneur with over two decades of experience investing in emerging technologies, including payments, AI and the creator economy. Here's what I think: How People Search Is Changing In order to better understand the shift we're talking about here, let's first look back to what traditional SEO is. SEO is the practice of making your content more comprehensible to search engines like Google. It involves keyword research, meta tags, backlinks, website performance and a number of other technical elements. The end goal is to get your site to rank as high as possible in search results when someone types in a relevant query. But here's what's happening now: Instead of sifting through 10-plus links, users just want one good answer straight away. This is where AI enters the stage. Ask an AI tool like ChatGPT a question, and voila—it gives you a concise, straightforward reply without making you scroll through pages of search results. That's a vastly different experience compared to before. According to Gartner, by 2026, traditional search engine traffic is expected to drop by 25%, due to the rise of AI assistants. That's a massive shift in user behavior. In late 2024, Google's market share fell below 90% for the first time in over a decade. Meanwhile, OpenAI reported 400 million weekly active users for ChatGPT in February 2025—a 33% jump in just three months. And let's not forget hybrid platforms like Perplexity and Brave, which combine traditional search results with AI-generated summaries. AI tools are changing the way we find information, blending search accuracy with the convenience of a personal assistant. With this in mind, here's a simple check that creators can run to assess their visibility. Ask an AI tool a question about your niche: Does your name or brand show up in the answer? If not, it's probably a good time to rethink your strategy. What Digital Entrepreneurs Need To Know Now So if traditional SEO is no longer the only (or even the main) path to being seen, what should creators and digital businesses be focusing on? The name of the game now is AI optimization. Instead of optimizing just for search engines, the goal now is to shape your digital presence credibly and compellingly for AI models. And these models don't operate like search engines. They don't crawl the web looking for exact keyword matches. Many AI tools can interpret meaning and context, drawing on information from trustworthy sources. As such, here are a few tactics that could help you adapt: The way people ask things from AI is very different from how they use search engines. With traditional search engines, we tend to type short, tag-like queries—'best digital wallet 2025,' for example. But when using AI platforms, it often feels more natural to ask a full, detailed question, like we would with a physical person: 'I'm looking for this or that—what do you recommend?' That means the content you create needs to match that tone, 'explaining' things clearly, with natural language. It's not about stuffing keywords in your headlines. Think along the lines of: 'Would this sound helpful if someone read it aloud?' If yes, you're doing it right, and I've found your chances of being noticed by the AI could go up. As I already mentioned above, AI tools can pull information from high-quality, credible sources. That's why building authority in your niche now matters more than ever before. It's not just about having a well-optimized website anymore—it's about having a reputation and a recognizable digital footprint. Collaborate with target media for interviews and podcasts. Contribute to reputable blogs. Show up in newsletters. In my experience, the more your name appears in relevant places, the higher the chance AI models will recognize you as a legitimate source worth citing. Traditional SEO was built around the idea of giving search engine algorithms clear, structured signals to interpret—things like keywords, backlinks and metadata. These elements served as clues, helping the algorithm connect a user's query to the most relevant pages. It was a system based on indexing and matching patterns. AI, on the other hand, doesn't work like that. It's not just looking for clues—it's looking at meaning, context and intent behind a user's request. Less 'robot scanner,' more 'researcher.' AI models can analyze tone, coherence, credibility and how well information answers a question. They synthesize information from multiple sources to generate a useful response. That means your content strategy should focus on depth, clarity and authenticity. Make your positioning clear. Publish regularly, say things that matter and be intentional with your tone. When AI looks for a useful answer, it should find you because you are associated with coherent, high-quality content. Final Thoughts In the creator economy, AI is often talked about as a tool to help us make content. But AIO is all about a different take: that AI is now evaluating us. And if you want to stay relevant in the coming days, your job is to be worthy of being picked in its eyes. Be visible, be vocal and be trusted. Because in the AI era, visibility isn't just about search rankings anymore—it's about becoming the go-to answer when the machines are asked, 'Who's the best in this space?' Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Daily Maverick
10-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
SA leads charge against Google AIO via pioneering, world-first antitrust action
The past decade and a half have not been kind to the news industry. The near-total capture of advertising revenue by Big Tech has devastated newsrooms around the world, forcing some papers to close and others to cut reporting teams to the bone. As always, there are tough, daring and determined reporters doing their best to expose the stories powerful people don't want us to know about. But they do so in an ever-more-difficult and financially precarious environment. However, a threat has now emerged that threatens the survival of the news as it has existed for hundreds of years. And while the general source of that threat may not be novel (spoiler: it's American Big Tech again), the specific tool is new and insidious: Google's AI Overviews (AIO). When you ask Google a question now, the familiar list of blue links is often shoved out of sight and replaced with an autogenerated summary – the AIO. Stealing In news-related searches, AIO are based on reporting scraped from news pages written by human journalists. To be crystal clear: Google is effectively stealing the reporting done by professional reporters without paying them for it, nor the news publishers they work for. Crucially, AIO also shoves the links to the source articles from publishers down 'below the fold' on the search results page, meaning that, in many cases, they simply won't be clicked through to at all. If users don't click through to the news websites that were scraped to create the AIO, that means Google hasn't just nicked the stories; it has also stolen the advertising revenue that helped pay for the reporters who wrote them. Lose-lose situation That leaves news publishers with a lose-lose situation: either allow their work to be taken for no fee and probably eventually go out of business, or opt out of AIO. But opting out of AIO also means opting out of Google's search indexing. And given Google's 90% share of the global search market, that is broadly equivalent to removing themselves from the internet entirely – and probably eventually going out of business. It's a desperate situation. But the fightback is under way – and South Africa is leading the charge, via a pioneering, world-first antitrust action. South Africa's Competition Commission has issued the most impressive response to this problem of any competition regulator in the world so far. In its provisional report setting out its response, the Competition Commission would order Google to allow news publishers to opt out of having their work stolen, but crucially also allow them to remain on Search, so they don't disappear from the web. Condescension The action by Competition Commission is strong, serious and world-leading – while Google's response smacks of neo-colonial condescension. It says the Competition Commission's plan would 'break' AIO, which has been 'helping people in South Africa more easily learn about complex topics'. We would suggest that if Google is so interested in helping South Africans understand 'complex topics', then perhaps it should stop stealing the work of South African journalists already doing exactly that. Instead, the tech giant has chosen to enter into a cynical embrace of Donald Trump in a naked attempt to gain presidential protection from exactly this kind of action by lawmakers outside the US. That's why it has to be defended. My organisation, Foxglove, is calling on governments, lawmakers, journalists and anybody who cares about the value of good information around the world to speak up for the Competition Commission and to defend it against the attacks it will soon face from some of the world's most powerful people. International fightback Establishing partnerships with other regulators around the world that are taking on this fight, including Australia, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada, is a crucial next step. International partnerships enable joint regulatory investigations into how AIO is hitting news organisations across the globe; prevents any one regulator from being scapegoated by Google; and, through collective action, gives regulators the bargaining power to force Google to accept meaningful changes to its operations. One final point: while Google AIO has the potential to put all non-government press out of business, it is unlikely to wipe them out at the same speed. The biggest publishers may try to cut deals to avoid the worst impacts in the medium term. But small, new, independent and specialist newspapers – often the ones who tell the most important and under-reported stories – won't have the power to make those kinds of deals, even if they wanted to. So they will die first. If we want a world where access to information is not dependent on the benevolence of our rulers, nor the agendas of the owners of the most powerful media companies – or Google's auto-generated slop – then we're going to have to fight for it.
