Latest news with #Enablement
The Herald Scotland
03-06-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Former Skyscanner chief raises $25m for Edinburgh start-up
Ross McNairn, a former head of product at Edinburgh-based Skyscanner, has secured the backing from Index Ventures to scale Wordsmith AI, an artificial intelligence tool that is rapidly gaining traction within in-house legal departments. The Edinburgh-based company, which counts Trustpilot, Deliveroo, Multiverse, and Docplanner among its growing customer base, is planning to open offices in London and New York later this year. Its growth comes as AI technology is transforming processes across the legal sector. Mr McNairn, chief executive and co-founder of Wordsmith, said: 'For the first time, AI infrastructure can be embedded across companies, with fleets of agents that you can train to support every corporate function - cutting deal cycles, answering queries, and processing complex workflows. Our Legal Enablement Platform is like air traffic control for GCs and in-house teams, helping them guide teams to the right decisions faster.' Read more: Mr McNairn launched Wordsmith after being involved in the development of three unicorns – companies that achieve a valuation of $1 billion. As well as Skyscanner, which was sold by founders, including chief executive Gareth Williams, to Ctrip of China for £1.4bn in 2016, Mr McNair helped to scale TravelPerk and letgo to that status. It is understood that Wordsmith achieved a valuation of $100m faster than any other Scottish start-up, underlining the potential of the Scottish technology sector. Mr McNairn, a lawyer turned engineer who has previously secured backing for Wordsmith from Scottish Enterprise, added: 'While we are the fastest-ever Scottish start-up to reach a valuation of over $100m, what's more important is that we're scaling a technology company from a base in Scotland that will in itself help to build an AI ecosystem here.' Hannah Seal, partner at Index Ventures, said: 'AI is revolutionising the legal profession, and Wordsmith is leading that charge. They are not just building a co-pilot, they are creating the foundational infrastructure for how entire organisations interact with legal. This is about reshaping enterprise operations, not just supporting legal teams. We are excited to back Ross and the Wordsmith team as they define a new category at the intersection of law, technology, and AI.' Kate Forbes, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic, said: 'Private investment is an essential building block of a strong and growing economy – and fundamental to ensuring businesses can grow and succeed. Scottish companies bucked the UK trend last year by attracting more than £700m of investment – up by a fifth on 2023 - and it is fantastic news that Wordsmith AI, a Techscaler member, has secured its $25m Series A funding round in such a short space of time. 'There can, must and will be many more success stories like this. From the Techscaler programme and our wider pipeline of support for entrepreneurs, to continuing to position Scotland as an investment destination, the Scottish Government will continue to help our start-up companies grow and prosper.'
Mid East Info
17-03-2025
- Business
- Mid East Info
Global Telecom Leaders Address AI-Driven B2B Transformation at MWC 2025 - Middle East Business News and Information
GSMA Intelligence and Industry Representatives Jointly Release a White Paper to Accelerate Operator Transformation. Barcelona, Spain, The AI Beyond Boundaries Summit was successfully held during Mobile World Congress 2025, bringing together global telecom leaders to explore new B2B opportunities in the AI era. The summit focused on transforming traditional telecommunications companies (Telcos) into technology-driven companies (Techcos), highlighting the role of AI, 5G, big data, cloud computing, and advanced computing capabilities in driving innovation and efficiency across vertical industries. A key milestone of the summit was the joint release of the Carrier Techco Transformation White Paper by GSMA Intelligence and industry representatives. Titled 'Taking the Plunge: Moving to Tech-co to Win with AI in B2B,' the white paper was presented by Allen Tang, President of ICT Marketing & Solution Sales, Huawei Middle East and Central Asia, and Wang Yongde, General Manager of Huawei Carrier XtoB Solutions Development, in attendance to celebrate this significant step toward industry transformation. The white paper emphasizes that as enterprise demand for AI-driven computing services surges, telecom operators must undergo a 'triple transition' to remain competitive: Capability Upgrade: Deploy next-generation infrastructures such as AI factories and GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) to transform network resources into orchestrated intelligent assets. Service Innovation: Develop differentiated 5G-powered services in games, streaming media, and fintech, creating a closed-loop value chain of 'connection + computing power + algorithm.' Ecosystem Reconstruction: Leverage digital platforms to integrate enterprise services and 5G capabilities, shifting from being a 'connectivity provider' to an 'ecosystem enabler.' The white paper explores Huawei's 'Techco 1.0' benchmark model, highlighting a structured, three-layer transformation approach that helps telecom operators transform into techcos through 'business servitization,' 'service platformization,' and 'platform intelligentization.' These concepts provide telecom operators with core growth areas and new market entry points, all built upon advanced networks to drive business growth in the intelligent era. The paper showcases several success cases where telecom operators have already adopted AI-driven strategies to enhance operational efficiency and enterprise services: Intelligent O&M Center: AI-powered automation has improved network fault prediction accuracy by over 98%. Industry Enablement Platform: Digital twin solutions in manufacturing have boosted enterprise O&M efficiency by 40%. Computing Trading Market: AI-based GPU resource scheduling has reduced high-frequency transaction latency in financial markets to mere milliseconds. Peter Jarich, Head of GSMA Intelligence, highlighted that Techco transformation is not just about technology upgrades but a fundamental shift in business strategy. 'To lead in the trillion-dollar enterprise AI market, carriers must adopt a platform-driven mindset, streamlining the entire value chain from demand insight to capability packaging and value realization.' The Carrier Techco Transformation White Paper is now available globally on the GSMA official website, offering insights, practical frameworks, case studies, and actionable toolkits for telecom operators navigating their AI-driven transformation journey.
Associated Press
11-02-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Luster AI Names Stephanie Middaugh First Customer Success Manager Amid Growing Demand
INDIANAPOLIS, IN, UNITED STATES, February 11, 2025 / / -- Luster, an AI-powered sales practice and upskilling solution that is revolutionizing how go-to-market teams learn and practice, has named Stephanie Middaugh as its first Customer Success Manager. In this role, she will lead customer education, implementation and retention for Luster's rapidly growing customer base. Middaugh is an award-winning Sales Enablement expert with nearly a decade of experience helping go-to-market (GTM) teams succeed. Previously, she was part of award-winning Enablement teams at Alteryx, Datasax and Zoom as well as building and leading the Enablement functions from the ground-up at hypergrowth start-ups such as Divvy, WorkRamp. Most recently, Middaugh worked at Pinecone where she experienced and implemented Luster's product firsthand. Middaugh also founded her own GTM consulting firm where she focuses on helping companies implement and develop successful Enablement teams, strategies and initiatives. 'I experienced and implemented Luster firsthand in my previous role and absolutely fell in love with it. My reps were genuinely excited to get access, and I even had sellers follow up weeks after a demo, asking when they could get started. Luster is a game changer for how GTM teams function and I knew I had to be part of it,' said Middaugh. 'I can't wait to combine my years of experience in Enablement with Luster's product to help our customers be successful.' Middaugh is the author of Elevate and Optimize, which explores her pioneering 'Enablement Maturity Model,' offering frameworks and resources to help Enablement teams assess their current state, identify growth goals, and implement the necessary steps to mature their function. A trusted leader in the Enablement industry, Middaugh is the co-founder of The Enablement Squad, an online community of more than 5,000 Enablement professionals. She has received multiple distinctions, including 'Top Enablement Leader to Follow' by GTMBuddy, one of Sales Enablement Collectives' 'Top 20 Enablement Influencers,' LinkedIn's Top Voice in Sales and Alteryx's 'Sales Support MVP.' 'It's a challenging time for Enablement teams, and we know that it's more important than ever to have a true partner who can help our customers maximize their potential. Stephanie is the epitome of this,' said Christina Brady, CEO and Co-Founder of Luster. 'Stephanie is an Enablement legend who brings expertise in cutting-edge technology and a proven track record of helping teams optimize their processes. She is uniquely positioned to support our customers and help them get the most out of Luster—and their entire tech stack. We're thrilled to welcome her to the team' Middaugh joins Lusters' founding team, CEO Christina Brady, Chief Product & Technical Officer Jodi Mesa and Chief Customer Officer Wes Craig. With continued success throughout its first year, Luster is building a team of top talent to meet the growing demand for an AI-powered Enablement solution capable of keeping up with the dynamic demands of modern sales teams. As part of this demand-driven expansion effort, Luster also welcomes two new team members in its engineering and revenue teams. # # # About Luster Luster is a cutting-edge AI sales practice and upskilling solution that is revolutionizing how go-to-market teams learn and practice. Powered by proprietary Predictive Enablement™ technology, Luster is the first and only solution capable of predicting and closing individual skill gaps before they impact sales performance and revenue. Unlike traditional sales practice tools and basic AI role-play, Luster analyzes real customer interactions, identifies skill gaps in real-time, and predicts challenges in upcoming sales conversations. It then provides personalized coaching and practice, featuring hyper-realistic simulations with tailored customer personas that accurately reflect sales scenarios in a safe, engaging environment. Luster also offers targeted skill drills and data-driven insights, all customized to each user's learning style. This innovative approach helps organizations track Enablement ROI through real-time data, showing both individual and team-level impact, and enables sales professionals to sell smarter and faster. NB Publicity Legal Disclaimer:
