Latest news with #AIfirst
New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
The C.E.O. of Duolingo Wants to Have a Conversation About A.I.
Duolingo's office in Pittsburgh is playful and bright, like the language-learning app itself. Inside a production studio, half a dozen social media managers were giddily filming videos featuring the app's green owl mascot that users know for its many nudges and prompts to complete their lessons. Duolingo's cheerful social media platforms are replete with videos of young people (and owls) performing the latest viral dance moves. But lately, those pages haven't been as lighthearted. A few months ago, Luis von Ahn, the chief executive and a founder of Duolingo, sent a memo proclaiming that the company would become 'A.I.-first.' That meant there would be new hires only if managers could prove that artificial intelligence could not do the job. Many Duolingo users pushed back. How could a company built on helping people communicate rely on a technology lacking a human touch? And why not just ask a chatbot directly for language lessons instead of paying for an app that's powered by A.I.? In an interview at Duolingo's headquarters, Mr. von Ahn said he took responsibility for the confusion about the use of A.I. at his company. 'In fact, we're hiring at the same speed as we were hiring before,' Mr. von Ahn, 46, said. 'You saw a lot of the interns. We have employees!' (The company employs 1,000 people, including nearly 50 summer interns.) He was confident that Duolingo, which both uses A.I. and is threatened by it, could keep people at the center of its mission. The company had 130 million monthly active users at the end of June, up more than 20 percent from the previous year. Founded in 2011, Duolingo now has a market value around $15 billion. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Forbes
18-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Exactly What Is An AI-First Company?
Becoming AI-first is a leadership transformation before it's a technology transformation. In the last year, AI-native companies such as Anthropic, Databricks, Jasper AI, and OpenAI have quietly been rewriting the rules of business. A nine-person firm reached $10 million in annual revenue in just two years. Another posted $100 million in annual recurring revenue in 12 months, with a team small enough to fit around a boardroom table. These aren't outliers—they're early indicators of a profound shift. You've heard of digital-first. You've heard of tech-enabled. But AI-first? It's more than a buzzword. It's a fundamentally different way of organizing people, resources, and decisions around the capabilities of artificial intelligence. And companies that get this right aren't just getting faster. They're getting fundamentally better. So, what is an AI-first company, exactly? Many companies today are 'AI-interested.' They're running pilots, dabbling with chatbots, issuing executive memos on experimentation. But these efforts are often bolted onto old ways of working. An AI-first company doesn't attach AI to an existing structure. It places AI at its core and builds from it, using AI as the central nervous system of the organization. In practice, that means rethinking how decisions are made, how workflows are designed, and how teams are structured. AI isn't simply automating tasks—it's doing the work, recommending the strategy, and triggering execution. The role of humans shifts accordingly—from task executors to AI collaborators, judgment-callers, sense-makers, and, when necessary, czar. In AI-first firms, the center of gravity shifts. Traditional IT becomes the enabler of scalable, secure AI foundations, while the business units take the wheel. Why? Because the speed and specificity of AI advantage lie in domain expertise—knowing exactly what insight matters in underwriting, what phrasing converts in marketing, or what signal counts in a supply chain. 'AI-first transformation doesn't live in labs. It lives in the business,' says Amanda Luther, an expert in technology and digital transformation. 'You only get exponential value when AI is directly embedded in how teams operate, every day, across every function.' That's why in AI-native organizations you won't find monolithic AI teams isolated from the action, you'll find them embedded in every function—building, deploying, and improving tools close to where value is created. The result: faster innovation, fewer handoffs, and AI that actually works in the wild. In an AI-first company, your balance sheet also starts to look different. Tech spending will increase significantly—perhaps by as much as 45% or more—but labor costs drop. That's not just due to automation; it's because teams are smaller, sharper, and higher-performing. Value isn't in headcount; it's in the velocity of insight and action. Operating margins rise not by squeezing people harder, but by letting machines do what they do best and giving humans more time for what we do best: critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration. Here's the big shift: AI erodes traditional moats and deepens new ones. Operational scale? That becomes less relevant when AI can scale you overnight. Massive content libraries? Less impressive when generative AI can create new content instantly. A global customer service team? Redundant when most inquiries can be resolved by AI alone. 'The brands that win in an AI-first world aren't necessarily the biggest—they're the ones that earn trust, move fast, and leverage their proprietary data with precision,' says Nicolas de Bellefonds, an expert in consumer strategy and AI-enabled transformation. Echoing Bellefonds, Paula Goldman, chief ethical officer at Salesforce, also cites the importance of trust, calling it 'as central to the AI conversation as the technology itself.' As a result, the new sources of advantage look different. Trusted brands matter more, because trust is scarce in a world of synthetic content. Proprietary data matters more, because good AI depends on unique, high-quality inputs. And top talent matters more—more than ever—and not just data scientists, but leaders and teams who can think strategically with AI. In an AI-first organization, the work feels different. Processes are no longer linear and manual—they're looped, adaptive, and AI-led. Hierarchies are flatter because AI levels the playing field. Performance improves across the board, but especially for lower performers, who see the biggest productivity gains. Meanwhile, top performers—those who can leverage AI most effectively—create exponential value. Culture shifts too. It's not just about efficiency. It's about boldness, learning velocity, and trust in AI as a collaborator, not just a tool. Here's the uncomfortable truth: You can have the best models, the cleanest data, and the biggest budget, and still not be AI-first. Why? Because becoming AI-first is a leadership transformation before it's a technology transformation. It starts with a mindset shift: from seeing AI as an add-on to seeing it as the organizing principle. From asking, 'How can we use AI here?' to 'If AI can do this, what should we focus on instead?' The companies that thrive in this new era won't be the ones with the flashiest demos. They'll be the ones that reshape their operating models, their workforces, and their ways of thinking—starting now. Because AI is not coming for your company. It's coming for your category. And the companies that reimagine themselves first will win.
Globe and Mail
17-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
AI adoption is upending the job market for entry-level workers
In a call with investors last month, Open Text Corp. OTEX-T CEO Mark J. Barrenechea outlined a sweeping corporate realignment that will eliminate hundreds of jobs and redefine the roles the Canadian tech company is willing to fill. The software company is fully committed to an 'AI-first strategy' that will change staffing, spending and product development, Mr. Barrenechea said. Roles that can be handled by artificial intelligence will no longer be backfilled, and future hires will be required to bring AI fluency to the table. 'Our digital worker approach is, let AI and machines do the work. This is a low-cost and limited workforce that will benefit all organizations in all industries,' he said. 'We can take human tasks that require dozens of screens and days of work and reduce that down to a dialogue box in minutes.' The move follows a similar announcement in April from Shopify Inc. SHOP-T chief executive officer CEO Tobi Lütke. In a memo to employees, he said using AI effectively 'is now a fundamental expectation of everyone at Shopify,' and it should be the first consideration before turning to new hires. 'Before asking for more Headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI,' he wrote. 'What would this area look like if autonomous AI agents were already part of the team? This question can lead to really fun discussions and projects.' Is AI dulling critical-thinking skills? As tech companies court students, educators weigh the risks The two tech companies, which did not respond to requests for comment about their AI strategies, represent the most high-profile examples of Canadian firms scaling back junior hiring amid a broader corporate shift. Around the world, major employers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to perform a growing share of work – eliminating some positions while raising the bar for new recruits. In Canada, the shift is adding pressure to one of the most challenging youth labour markets in decades. Statistics Canada recently reported that 14.6 per cent of people in their late twenties were not in employment, education or training in the 2023/24 academic year, an increase of 1.8 percentage points from the previous year that may signal 'higher risks of social disconnection and exclusion among youth.' And among postsecondary graduates under the age of 25, the unemployment rate was 11.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2025 – the worst start to a year since at least 2005, excluding the pandemic. For recent graduates and early-career professionals, the spread of AI can mean fewer stepping-stone jobs and higher-level responsibilities, experts say. Travis O'Rourke, president of recruitment firm Hays Canada, said the growing role of AI adds new complexity to a youth labour market being shaped by steep budget cuts and immigration-driven competition. And amid a disruptive trade war with the United States, many employers are delaying hiring at all levels. Mr. O'Rourke said companies are focused on cutting repeatable or administrative roles while raising expectations for incoming workers. But that comes with long-term risks, he said. 'What happens when junior developers don't get trained? How do you become intermediate if you were never junior?' Mr. O'Rourke said AI's effects on junior-level labour are prompting both recruiters and educators to reassess how young people gain experience and enter the work force. For young Canadians, the toughest job market in decades is threatening their financial futures How AI is infiltrating the hiring process for recruiters and job seekers Fabian Braesemann, a researcher at the University of Oxford, said the loss of junior roles means losing the hands-on experience needed to build 'judgment and fluency.' 'Many entry-level workers are no longer asked to produce first drafts – they're asked to orchestrate the tools that do it,' said Dr. Braesemann, who studies the effects of generative AI on global labour markets. 'That may sound empowering, but it removes a key stage of learning.' Skipping that foundational phase could leave workers without the mental rigour or domain knowledge needed to advance, he said. 'You might get good at judging outputs,' he said in an interview, 'but not at structured thinking.' That could also hinder organizations if entire cohorts of workers rise through the ranks without ever building a baseline understanding of how things are done. History is filled with examples of technologies rendering human labour obsolete or redundant, he said. But the speed with which AI is improving and spreading threatens workers' ability to withstand and thrive in a period of rapid disruption. 'Critically thinking about information you receive and being able to produce something that is of value – taking the latest technologies into consideration – I think it's a skill that needs to be put to the surface even more,' he said. At the University of Waterloo, which places more than 25,000 co-op students annually, administrators have a clear view of how AI is reshaping entry-level work. The school's employer network spans startups to multinationals, offering a broad glimpse into evolving job expectations. 'We are seeing that there is a softening in the market for what might have been traditional entry-level jobs,' said Vivek Goel, the university's president. 'But the roles aren't vanishing – they're changing.' Co-op students are being hired to review AI-generated content – a shift from producing work to verifying it. Dr. Goel said many employers now expect students to be comfortable with generative tools and able to intervene when the output isn't right. 'What we're really preparing students for now is working in teams that include both people and AI agents,' he said. 'And someone has to manage that.' For universities, that means doubling down on the human skills AI can't easily replicate, such as critical thinking, context awareness, and the ability to work with ambiguity. 'I think it's less about adapting our programs and more about returning to what postsecondary education was always meant to do,' Dr. Goel said. 'Because you can't prepare graduates for specific roles – those are changing too fast. But you can prepare them to be ready for change.'
Associated Press
11-06-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Zoom completes rollout of Zoom Phone in six telecom circles, with plans for further expansion in India
SAN JOSE, Calif., June 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zoom Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) today announced the further expansion of its industry-leading Zoom Phone service to four major metro telecom circles in India — Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Karnataka (Bengaluru), and Andhra Pradesh & Telangana (Hyderabad). The Delhi NCR Telecom Circle includes the Union Territory of Delhi, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, NOIDA, and Gurgaon. Licensed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) India, Zoom Phone is now available in six telecom circles in India, including Maharashtra (October 2024) and Tamil Nadu (Chennai) Telecom Circles (February 2025), thereby covering key business and technology hubs in the country. Zoom also plans to bring Zoom Phone to additional telecom circles across India, accelerating its commitment to make AI-first modern telephony available to more organizations across key states in India. 'Zoom Phone addresses the growing demand for cloud telephony by offering simplicity and modern functionality for distributed workforces. India is an important market for us, and our expansion plans beyond the six key telecom circles demonstrate our commitment to providing customers with a unified work platform. This expansion also reflects the growing traction Zoom Phone is receiving, especially from multinational companies, as businesses in India move away from legacy PBX systems toward more flexible, AI-first collaboration solutions that enhance employee productivity,' said Velchamy Sankarlingam, president of Product and Engineering, Zoom. Zoom Phone offers businesses simplicity and modern functionality, empowering dynamic workstyles and hybrid teams. Available as an add-on for existing paid Zoom customers, it supports inbound and outbound calling through the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), enabling enterprises to replace legacy private branch exchange (PBX) systems and consolidate communication needs onto a single AI-first platform in Zoom Workplace. Zoom Phone also integrates seamlessly with Zoom Contact Center to offer a unified experience with features like call transfer, call forwarding, and call recording accessible within the Zoom Contact Center environment. Zoom Contact Center can access Zoom Phone user details like extensions, Direct Inward Dialing (DID) numbers, and usernames, enabling caller identification and routing. In addition to services in the six active telecom circles, Zoom Phone enables businesses to maintain seamless collaboration across India, even in regions where Zoom Phone service is not yet available. Through Zoom's self-service web portal, customers can acquire native phone numbers based on specific telecom circles, such as Karnataka, Delhi NCR, and Mumbai, enabling them to establish a local presence in those regions. These native numbers operate over the PSTN, allowing customers to place outbound calls and receive inbound calls nationwide, regardless of their physical location. This allows organizations to maintain continuity and flexibility in their collaboration strategy, even in telecom circles where Zoom Phone is not directly available. Enhanced by Zoom AI Companion, which is included at no additional cost with eligible Zoom paid accounts, Zoom Phone offers powerful AI features to boost productivity. These include post-call summaries so users can focus on conversations instead of taking notes, voicemail task extraction to easily identify next steps, and voicemail prioritization to better manage time and attention. Zoom Phone also integrates seamlessly with Zoom Workplace, leading business applications, and hardware providers, offering robust security, scalability, and an intuitive user interface. 'We are thrilled that Zoom Phone is now available in six of India's most prominent business and technology hubs. Each of these cities is home to thriving ecosystems of local enterprises and multinational corporations that will benefit from Zoom Phone's flexibility and seamless integration into their existing workflows. Bringing Zoom Phone to additional telecom circles is a natural next step in our commitment to empower more organizations with access to reliable, modern AI-first telephony,' said Sameer Raje, general manager and head of India & SAARC region at Zoom. 'Zoom Phone and Zoom Contact Center are purpose-built to work seamlessly together to empower organizations to deliver unified communications and superior customer and employee engagement. With this launch, we are excited to help businesses streamline collaboration, support flexible workforces, and enhance employee and customer experiences.' To learn more about Zoom Phone, please visit the Zoom Phone page. About Zoom Zoom's mission is to provide an AI-first work platform for human connection. Reimagine teamwork with Zoom Workplace — Zoom's open collaboration platform with AI Companion that empowers teams to be more productive. Together with Zoom Workplace, Zoom's Business Services for sales, marketing, and customer experience teams, including Zoom Contact Center, strengthen customer relationships throughout the customer lifecycle. Founded in 2011, Zoom is publicly traded (NASDAQ:ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. Get more information at Zoom Press Contact Hayley Yap APAC Communications Lead [email protected]
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
"AI-First" Hype Gives Way to Reality: New Speechmatics Report Reveals What's Actually Working in AI
CAMBRIDGE, UK, June 03, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--After a wave of bold "AI-first" announcements from major tech players, many are now scaling back. As the AI gold rush slows, a new report from Speechmatics explores what's actually working — and where the real value lies. Titled The Voice AI Reality Check: Frontline Perspectives for Enterprise in 2025, the report zeroes in on one of the fastest-evolving areas of AI: Voice AI. Built on interviews with leaders across healthcare, compliance, media, public services, and research, it reveals a clear shift from flashy demos to embedded, operational AI — where tools assist humans, deliver measurable ROI, and quietly power core infrastructure. Report highlights include: Assistive over autonomous: The most effective deployments augment people rather than replace them. Assistive agents are driving real ROI. Multilingual as standard: Real-time code-switching is now a baseline requirement, not a bonus. Accuracy is make-or-break: With growing global concerns over AI hallucinations, precision is essential — especially in compliance-heavy environments. Voice as infrastructure: Quietly embedded tools are outperforming headline-grabbing features. Rather than betting on speculative demos, successful enterprises are treating Voice AI as critical infrastructure. It's being embedded into workflows that demand speed, accuracy, and trust — from noisy control rooms to multilingual contact centres. The report closes with future-looking predictions, outlining the rise of emotionally intelligent, adaptive, and natively multilingual voice systems — and offers guidance on what enterprises must prioritise next. Download the full report now. View source version on Contacts For interviews, images, quotes or media access, contact: Mieke Kyra, Content Lead
