Latest news with #Gualtieri
West Australian
03-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Wesfarmers appoints Kmart and Target boss John Gualtieri as new Officeworks CEO
WA conglomerate Wesfarmers has switched Kmart and Target boss John Gualtieri into the top job at Officeworks, where he will succeed Sarah Hunter. Ms Hunter hands over to Mr Gualtieri in August after 15 years with the group — including the past six years at the helm of Officeworks — saying 'now is the right time for me to take on a new challenge'. As CEO of Kmart and Target, Mr Gualtieri currently reports to new Kmart Group managing director Aleks Spaseska. He joined Kmart in 2008 as the divisional merchandise manager for the home division and has held a number of senior roles in the business. In 2016, Mr Gualtieri was appointed as Kmart chief operating officer and in 2021, was promoted as CEO. Two years later, when Target was folded into Kmart, he became the CEO of both businesses. Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott said Mr Gualtieri was a retailer with proven capabilities and experience leading large teams and delivering strong commercial outcomes. Before joining Kmart, Mr Gualtieri spent 20 years at department store Myer in various operational roles. 'John has been an outstanding leader at Kmart Group, helping drive the transformation of Kmart since he joined the business in 2008,' Mr Scott said. 'John's deep retail and commercial experience, coupled with his leadership skills, will take Officeworks into its next phase of growth. 'John joins Officeworks at an exciting time, with the business focused on strengthening its omnichannel customer experience, transforming its technology offer and scaling its business-to-business operations.' Mr Scott also acknowledged Ms Hunter's significant contribution to the group. 'For more than six years, Sarah has played a pivotal role in driving Officeworks' evolution and growth,' he said. 'Under her leadership, Officeworks has continued to grow and diversify the customer offer.' Ms Hunter was appointed to the top job in 2019. She was previously the director of the demerger program at supermarket Coles, where she oversaw its separation from Wesfarmers in 2018. 'It has been a privilege to lead Officeworks. Since 2019, we have grown revenue by over 8 per cent per annum and made good progress on our strategic agenda,' Ms Hunter said. Mr Gualtieri's appointment is the latest reshuffle for Wesfarmers. In December, it announced Ms Spaseska — then Kmart Group's chief financial officer — would take over from long-serving Kmart Group managing director Ian Bailey. Mr Bailey was credited with rescuing the brand from a near-death experience and turning its house brand Anko into an Australian retail success story. The West Australian last year revealed Anko was trialling standalone stores in the Philippines as part of the group's push into international markets. Wesfarmers shares were up 0.8 per cent to $84.06 just before 10am on Tuesday.
Business Mayor
05-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
AI Tools for Small Business Are Helping SMBs Compete on a Larger Scale
How Small Businesses Are Using AI Tools What kinds of AI tools are SMBs using, and which ones are best? ChatGPT is popular with consumers, and its functionality is simple for SMBs to adopt, Gualtieri suggests. 'While people are learning, the AI is getting smarter as well, so that means you won't have to be quite the expert at entering a prompt as, say, you do now,' Gualtieri explains. In an ideal situation, AI models don't run on AI experts, just good software developers. A safe bet are suites such as Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, which incorporate AI capabilities. The AI tools are included automatically with the cloud and software subscription, Gualtieri notes. 'This is really just an extension of software features that every vendor has been trying to add to provide more value,' Gualtieri says. 'If you're already using Adobe, if you're already using the Google apps for your business, you're in those worlds already.' For McCabe, there's an added simplicity when AI is embedded into everyday workforce tools that SMBs use, such as customer relationship management software. 'For most SMBs, the easiest way to use AI — and probably the safest and most productive way — is as part of the applications you already use every day, so that it's a seamless experience,' she says. LEARN MORE: Adopt a winning AI strategy for your business. According to experts, here are some of the best tools SMBs can use: AWS AI/machine learning tools: Amazon Web Services offers tools like Amazon SageMakerfor building, training and deploying ML models. AWS also offers AI services that include image recognition and natural language processing (NLP). Cisco Webex AI: Cisco's web conferencing tool now offers AI-assisted summaries, real-time transcription and noise cancellation. In addition, an AI agent delivers humanlike interactions that customer service reps can use. Google Workspace AI: Google's cloud productivity suite incorporates Gemini, which acts as a research analyst, sales associate, productivity partner, creative assistant and note taker. Other AI features include automated email drafting, advanced search in Gmail and data insights in Sheets. IBM watsonx: IBM watsonx uses AI to power chatbots, virtual assistants and data insights for stronger customer engagement. It's an easy way for SMBs to build custom solutions for tasks such as customer support. 'The idea of a chatbot has been around for a long time, but what's new is how good it is now with generative AI,' Gualtieri says. Microsoft 365 Copilot: Microsoft's AI tool integrates into 365 apps such as Word, Excel and Teams. Copilot automates repetitive tasks, generates content and allows SMBs to analyze trends and reduce manual work. Proofpoint AI: Proofpoint uses behavioral AI to detect phishing and other email threats. It analyzes data points in email using deep learning, large language models and NLP. 'The great thing about AI and security is scale and speed. These AI tools can look at what's going on in your systems and flag problems, so they can help you with everything from threat detection to strengthening your security posture,' McCabe says. Splunk AI-powered security and observability: Splunk uses AI to analyze logs, metrics and traces for proactive threat detection and performance monitoring. It also strengthens cybersecurity measures for organizations. 'Any type of product like Splunk, which essentially ingests a lot of data like log data and event data, it already has algorithms looking for problems,' Gualtieri explains. 'And those problems could be security issues, but they could also be infrastructure issues.' VMware's Private AI Foundation with NVIDIA: VMware by Broadcom incorporates NIM Agent Blueprints, which includes a digital human workflow for customer service and tools to build customized AI applications. DIVE DEEPER: Data governance strategies help foster responsible AI usage. How Small Businesses Can Stay Ahead of the Curve With AI to Compete After SMBs master text, images and video in generative AI models, the next phase is agentic AI, notes Gualtieri. While some SMBs may use agentic AI already, most will turn to partners such as CDW ServiceNow Managed Services or Salesforce to implement it, he says. 'As the models get better, the ways to use those models also change, and so people are going to have to be up to speed on what those changes are and how they do them,' Gualtieri says. He says some companies will make adoption of AI simple because of how they keep their products up to date; Microsoft Office 365 is an example. 'I don't think small and medium-sized businesses are going to have trouble keeping up with what's new, but they might have trouble keeping up with implementing it or making that build-versus-buy decision,' Gualtieri says. A small manufacturer of 300 to 500 employees may already have a custom manufacturing system, he explains. 'So, a good rule for a company to think of is, if I have custom software now that I develop, it's likely that I'm also going to need to incorporate AI in that,' Gualtieri says. That's why experts advise building a set of use cases for how IT leaders will use AI. 'Companies should understand the AI roadmap of all their vendors, because that's going to help them decide if they're going to continue with a vendor, if they have to build it themselves,' Gualtieri says. 'And it's also going to help them understand what expectations they should set with their employees in terms of using these products.'
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Yahoo
Flight to Ohio forced to deplane after bomb threat
Passengers on a flight bound for Cincinnati had to deplane from their Allegiant flight after an alleged bomb threat on Friday. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the passengers safely deplaned on the taxiway at St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport in Florida due to a 'security threat.' Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said the flight from Cincinnati had just landed at the airport and was supposed to turn around quickly and return to the city, WTSP, a CBS affiliate in Tampa Bay, reported. TRENDING STORIES: Semi crashes into 3 vehicles before bursting into flames on I-70 Local sergeant found under the influence of alcohol while on duty Check your tickets! Someone won the $1.68 M Powerball Jackpot After passengers boarded the flight and the plane had taxied away from the gate onto the runway, a flight attendant opened the bathroom door and saw a 'very explicit' bomb threat written on the back of the door, Gualtieri said. The pilot was immediately notified, causing the plane to be stopped and the evacuation of the nearly 170 passengers. While the exact threat was not released, the sheriff told media outlets it affected all Allegiant planes at the airport. Bomb dogs were brought out to search at least six Allegiant planes. No evidence of explosive devices was found. No one has been taken into custody, but the sheriff told WTSP that there's a person they were focusing on. The incident caused the airport to close, but it was later reopened. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Time of India
26-04-2025
- General
- Time of India
Florida's St Pete-Clearwater International Airport receives bomb threat, forces evacuation of Allegiant flight
Representative image (Picture credit: X/@LindsayH4) Florida's St Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE) received a bomb threat, after a note was discovered inside an Allegiant Air flight , prompting an evacuation and a temporary airport shutdown. After a thorough investigation, the airport returned to normal operations by Friday night. According to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office (PCSO), the Allegiant plane had landed from Cincinnati around 5:30 pm (local time) and was scheduled to return to the same destination. As the aircraft taxied from the gate, a flight attendant opened the rear lavatory door and found a written bomb threat, prompting the pilot to stop the plane and evacuate the passengers immediately. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Google Brain Co-Founder Andrew Ng, Recommends: Read These 5 Books And Turn Your Life Around Blinkist: Andrew Ng's Reading List Undo 'Everyone was safely deplaned and there were no injuries,' Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said during a news briefing. The PCSO confirmed that the threat was "very broad" and appeared to extend beyond a single aircraft. 'It wasn't limited to the particular plane and included all Allegiant planes at the airport,' Gualtieri added, as reported by Fox 13. Authorities subsequently grounded all six Allegiant aircraft at the airport. Bomb-sniffing dogs were deployed to sweep the planes while passengers from each were safely disembarked. No explosives were found on any of the aircraft, and the airport reopened around 8 pm (local time), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed. The incident occurred shortly before Allegiant Flight 2006 was set to depart for Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport at 3:59 pm (local time), according to a statement released by Allegiant Air. 'The safety of our passengers and crew is always our priority,' the airline said, adding that it is cooperating with law enforcement during the ongoing investigation. As per ABC Action News, all passengers aboard the affected flight are being interviewed, and investigators reportedly have some suspects. However, Sheriff Gualtieri did not elaborate on who might be responsible for the written threat. As per the news agency Associated Press, the threat has emerged at a time when fewer Americans report feeling safe about flying, based on recent polling by the AP-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research. Travellers were advised to check with their airlines for updates regarding specific flights impacted during the closure.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Yahoo
Allegiant flight attendant finds bomb threat just before St. Pete-Clearwater International departure: Sheriff
The Brief Allegiant passengers were deplaned at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport after a written bomb threat was found on a flight departing for Cincinnati. A flight attendant found the bomb threat written on a lavatory door and immediately notified the pilot, who stopped the plane on the runway. Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said no evidence of explosive devices was found during their search of planes at the airport. CLEARWATER, Fla. - Allegiant passengers onboard a flight that was supposed to head out of St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport Friday evening was quickly deplaned after the crew found a written bomb threat. The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office quickly swarmed the airport after the threat was reported by crew members on that Allegiant Air flight. They said the flight landed at the airport about two hours prior to the incident from Cincinnati and was scheduled to depart PIE to head back to Cincinnati that same evening with about 70 passengers. READ:Scammer pretending to be Keanu Reeves bilks Bay Area woman out of $160K: Documents Timeline As the flight was taxiing to the runway, preparing for its departure, a flight attendant onboard opened the plane's rear lavatory door and found a written bomb threat. That's when the flight attendant notified the pilot, who immediately stopped the plane and helped work to evacuate passengers, according to investigators. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said during a news conference after the incident on Friday that the threat was "very broad" and wasn't limited to the particular plane, and included all Allegiant planes at the airport. Because of that, authorities said they secured all six aircrafts and began getting all passengers off the planes and clearing them. PCSO's bomb dogs were also out and searching all the planes. Follow FOX 13 on YouTube Big picture view Gualtieri said that deputies did not find any evidence of explosive devices on any of the planes. Gualtieri said detectives are interviewing passengers that were on the plane with a written threat. The sheriff didn't go into detail about any suspect they may have or who may be responsible for the threat. PCSO is still in the early stages of their investigation, but no injuries were reported during the security incident, according to officials. CRIME: Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty to federal murder charge What they're saying A spokesperson for Allegiant Air released the following statement about the incident: "On 4/25/2025, Flight 2006, scheduled to depart St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE) at 3:59 p.m. local time bound for Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), was delayed due to a possible security issue. The safety of our passengers and crew is always our priority. Because this is an active investigation, we must defer to law enforcement for additional information." All planes were grounded for several hours, but the airport has since resumed normal operations. The Source The information in this story was gathered during a news conference held Friday evening. It also includes details from Allegiant Air and the FAA. WATCH FOX 13 NEWS: STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV Download FOX Local mobile app: Apple | Android Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines Download the SkyTower Radar app Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter Follow FOX 13 on YouTube
