AI announcements have become almost daily occurrences, yet Telstra’s recent joint venture with Accenture stands out as particularly noteworthy. This partnership signals a significant shift in how large enterprises are approaching AI adoption to create an AI advantage. Telstra understands that the only path to sustainable business advantage using AI lies in capturing and putting its organization’s unique and proprietary knowledge, expertise, and capabilities to work through AI models, apps, and agents. From Copilots To Agentic Workflows What’s the main purpose of this announcement? Telstra’s approach represents a fundamental departure from a more piecemeal AI implementation strategy. Rather than simply automating isolated tasks along existing business processes, the company aims to embrace agentic workflows to reinvent business processes. This isn’t just about making existing processes faster or more efficient; it’s about reimagining how work gets done in the first place. The telecommunications giant understands that creating an AI advantage requires more than just sprinkling AI capabilities across various departments. It demands a ground-up rethinking of how tasks are accomplished, putting Telstra’s proprietary knowledge to work but with AI serving as a collaborative partner rather than a mere tool. This approach bridges what Forrester calls the “process chasm” — the gap between a focus on productivity optimization and genuine business reinvention.   Where’s The ROI? Two years into the generative AI era, most enterprises are struggling to deliver meaningful returns on their AI investments. Telstra’s approach is different: Rather than treating AI as a cost center, it is building a revenue-generating platform. By developing and refining AI solutions through internal implementation first, Telstra positions itself to offer battle-tested, industry-specific AI capabilities to clients globally. The strategy is clever: Leverage deep telecommunications expertise to create unique AI solutions for process optimization and customer experience enhancement. This “build, then sell” approach amortizes the initial AI investment across a broader revenue base while creating new revenue streams to justify the substantial up-front costs. By combining its domain expertise with Accenture’s global delivery capabilities, Telstra is creating scalable enterprise AI solutions. Navigating The Expertise Gap This joint venture is also about securing access to increasingly scarce AI talent and expertise. Telstra is consolidating its AI partnerships down to just two primary relationships, including the Accenture joint venture. Talent and co-innovation partnerships are what it takes to succeed in the AI era. The global demand for AI specialists far outstrips supply, and Telstra’s strategic partnership ensures that it has priority access to the specialized skills needed to execute its ambitious vision, including deep expertise in business process and domains. Driving Adoption Through Empowerment Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Telstra’s strategy is its commitment to developing “data and AI fluency” across the workforce. This approach recognizes that the greatest productivity gains come not from automation alone but from empowering employees and customers to work differently. This internal transformation raises important questions about workforce dynamics, however. The joint venture’s stated goal of becoming “more efficient and streamlined” over time could potentially create tension with labor unions. The success of this initiative will likely depend on how well Telstra manages this transition, balancing efficiency gains with workforce concerns. AI FOMO: Strategic Imperative Or Market Pressure? While it’s tempting to view Telstra’s moves through the lens of “AI FOMO,” the structured and comprehensive nature of its approach suggests something more strategic at play. Yes, market pressures and competitive dynamics certainly influence the timing of such announcements, but the depth of Telstra’s commitment — evidenced by the joint venture structure, focus on workforce development, and holistic implementation approach — indicates a well-thought-out strategy rather than a reactive response to market trends. Looking Ahead As this partnership unfolds, several key questions emerge: How will Telstra measure success beyond traditional metrics? Can a telco successfully transition to an enterprise AI solutions provider? Can it achieve the sales velocity needed to justify the investment? How will it balance the drive for efficiency with workforce transformation? And perhaps most importantly, will this comprehensive approach to AI integration serve as a model for other enterprises? What’s clear is that Telstra’s initiative represents more than just another AI partnership announcement. It signals a maturing approach to AI adoption, one that recognizes the need for deep expertise, a focus on delivering business value, workforce development, and systematic transformation leading to business reinvention. Whether we’ve reached “peak AI FOMO” may be debatable, but what’s certain is that we’re entering a new phase of AI implementation — one that demands more thoughtful, comprehensive approaches to business transformation. source

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More DeepSeek, the fast-growing Chinese AI company, is shaking up global technology yet again. Just as the rapid rise of the company’s frontier AI models triggered a selloff of U.S. artificial intelligence stocks, the company launched a brand-new product: Janus Pro 7B, an open-source vision-based AI model. (You can try a demo right here.) This unexpected release from DeepSeek intensifies investor worries about China’s growing power in AI and further pressures American tech companies. The company released Janus Pro 7B today as U.S. AI stocks plunged, a timing that appears to be deliberate and designed to highlight the Beijing-based firm’s challenge to Silicon Valley. DeepSeek’s latest launch follows its release last week of the frontier R1 large language model. Industry experts were largely impressed by DeepSeek-R1’s efficient and strong performance. The R1 model immediately raised concerns that China is quickly advancing in AI and could disrupt the current leaders in the field. Markets reacted quickly. Nvidia, a key maker of AI chips, saw its stock price fall sharply. Other major AI companies also experienced stock drops as investors reassessed the competitive landscape with DeepSeek emerging as a strong new player. NEWS: DeepSeek just dropped ANOTHER open-source AI model, Janus-Pro-7B. It’s multimodal (can generate images) and beats OpenAI’s DALL-E 3 and Stable Diffusion across GenEval and DPG-Bench benchmarks. This comes on top of all the R1 hype. The ? is cookin’ pic.twitter.com/yCmDQoke0f — Rowan Cheung (@rowancheung) January 27, 2025 Efficiency is the new king: Why Janus Pro 7B changes everything With Janus Pro 7B DeepSeek is now extending its reach beyond language processing into the critical domain of computer vision. According to the technical paper released with the model, Janus Pro 7B is engineered for efficiency and versatility, excelling in a range of visual tasks from generating photorealistic images to performing complex visual reasoning. “Janus [Pro] is a series of efficient vision models,” the DeepSeek research team states in their paper, “aiming to achieve a balance between performance and computational cost. We present Janus-Pro-7B, a 7 billion parameter vision model…achieving state-of-the-art performance on a wide range of vision tasks.” This emphasis on efficiency is a crucial differentiator for enterprise customers. Unlike some of the largest and most resource-intensive AI models, Janus Pro 7B, with its 7 billion parameters, is designed to deliver high-level performance without demanding vast computational resources. This efficiency could significantly lower the barrier to entry for businesses looking to integrate advanced vision AI into their operations. For companies ranging from startups to multinational corporations, the prospect of deploying sophisticated visual intelligence without incurring exorbitant infrastructure costs is increasingly attractive. The research paper further details the breadth of the model’s capabilities, stating, “Janus-Pro-7B demonstrates strong performance in various vision tasks, including image generation, visual question answering, and image captioning.” This multi-faceted functionality is particularly appealing for businesses seeking to leverage AI across diverse applications. Imagine a global retailer utilizing Janus Pro 7B to automate the creation of marketing visuals, respond to customer inquiries about product appearance, and generate detailed and visually rich descriptions for online product listings — all powered by a single, streamlined AI model. The potential for streamlining workflows, enhancing customer engagement, and improving operational efficiency is substantial.  Charts released by DeepSeek show performance metrics for its new Janus Pro 7B vision AI. (Left) Janus Pro 7B achieves high average performance with fewer parameters than many other multimodal models. (Right) The model also scores top accuracy on text-to-image generation benchmarks, outperforming competitors. (Credit: DeepSeek) DeepSeek’s one-two punch: R1 language model followed by vision AI intensifies market anxiety and competitive pressure The timing of the Janus Pro 7B launch amplifies its impact. Coming on the heels of the R1 model and the ensuing market turbulence, it reinforces the narrative of DeepSeek as an innovator capable of disrupting the established order in AI. Last week’s initial market jitters, triggered by R1’s release on a holiday Monday, escalated into full-blown panic over the weekend as leaked benchmarks and online demonstrations highlighted the model’s impressive capabilities. And today, as the tech stock sell-off intensified, DeepSeek introduced Janus Pro 7B, further amplifying the sense of urgency and competitive pressure felt by U.S. AI companies. Markets are reacting viscerally to DeepSeek, not just to another AI competitor. They sense a rule change. For too long, AI’s story was relentless scaling: bigger models, more parameters, higher costs. This favored giants, mostly in the West. DeepSeek, with Janus Pro 7B and R1, breaks this mold. They show that nimble, efficient models can overperform. It’s an architectural shift. The advantage in AI may shift from server farm size to smart innovation and broad distribution. Janus Pro 7B’s open-source nature amplifies this disruption. Like open-source movements before, unlike closed proprietary models it increases access to advanced AI. Enterprises outside Big Tech gain cutting-edge AI without vendor lock-in or high fees. And for AI powerhouses, DeepSeek poses a direct threat: Can their proprietary, premium models survive free, high-quality alternatives? The market selloff suggests investors doubt it. For enterprise technology decision-makers, the message is increasingly clear: The AI landscape is undergoing a rapid transformation, and DeepSeek represents a significant new force. Ignoring the implications of Janus Pro 7B, and DeepSeek’s broader strategic approach, would be a critical oversight. Businesses must now assess the opportunities and challenges presented by this new wave of AI innovation, even amidst ongoing market volatility and geopolitical uncertainties. The era of unchallenged U.S. AI leadership may be drawing to a close, and the global economy is entering a more dynamic and potentially disruptive phase of AI-driven competition. source

Jason Richardson is the chief digital officer of Serco Asia Pacific, which provides a wide array of services — including IT systems integration and management, engineering, and facilities management — to governments and private organizations throughout the region. In a recent interview, he described why his group is embracing a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI)–powered management platform and discussed its strategy for transitioning to a modern, agile environment. Q: What IT issues did your organization want to address? A: We deliver technology services at a hospital in Australia’s western state, which Serco Asia Pacific manages. We used to work in a traditional way. For example, we’d get a request to build a service, take inputs, and ensure we understood the requirements, and then we’d build. However, the waterfall method can be prone to failure, not through ill-intent but because it’s not a modern process. So, three years ago, we revamped our technology strategy under the principles of honoring our past achievements while transitioning to a modernized environment that can adapt to rapidly changing technology ecosystems. Our strategy focused on four key pillars: Embracing cloud technology without compromising our security posture Transitioning to a product-driven model that fosters cross-company collaboration Opting for a hybrid delivery model that emphasizes career opportunities for staff and cost-effectiveness Accelerating innovation through AI and automation Q: In what ways did you collaborate with BMC Software to modernize? A: BMC Helix goes well beyond just capturing tickets and monitoring volumes and availability. The platform employs predictive AI to predict potential issues before they happen and provides outcome-based solutions while enhancing interaction experiences with technology teams. The Serco technology team, in collaboration with BMC, has carefully crafted a “module” transition. Currently the teams are utilizing the core modules for operations and application monitoring. We’re already seeing the expected cloud benefits of increased reliability, and there are far fewer concerns about the solution’s availability compared to the previous on-premises managed solution’s. Our teams have more time to focus on delivering best-in-class technology service outcomes for clients at the hospital. And now that the core modules are in place, the team’s focus will shift to exploring the transformational benefits of AI. Q: How do you envision the future role of AI within your organization? A: Exploring and embracing AI is a cornerstone of our strategy. With our cloud foundation and product-oriented ways of working, Serco’s cross-company teams are actively engaging in AI trials. We’re assessing various generative AI platforms to enhance outcomes and productivity for government services and Serco teams. Successful AI adoption hinges on collaboration with different departments and stakeholders to ensure that our digital initiatives align with Serco’s overall strategic goals. The future of IT service and operations management relies on a solid foundation of cloud and AI. Discover how the BMC Helix platform powers this modernization, and contact BMC today for more information. source

TL;DR: Get the grade-A refurbished Apple MacBook Pro 16″ (2019) for $539.99 (reg. $2,399) and enjoy powerful specs for less. Who says you need to spend a fortune to own a top-tier laptop? With this incredible offer, you can buy a grade-A refurbished 16-inch MacBook Pro (2019) for just $539.99, a jaw-dropping 77% discount from its original price of $2,399. Packed with pro-level features like a blazing-fast Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and a stunning Retina display, this MacBook Pro can become your favorite productivity companion. The MacBook Pro perfectly blends performance, design, and innovation. Built to handle intensive workloads, this powerhouse has a 2.6GHz Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB of RAM, ensuring smooth multitasking, fast performance, and the capability to handle demanding software. Whether you’re editing videos, designing graphics, or managing large data sets, this MacBook Pro is up to the task. With a 16-inch Retina display, you get an immersive viewing experience with stunning clarity and vibrant colors. Paired with AMD Radeon Pro 5300M graphics, it’s a dream machine for creative professionals who demand top-tier visuals. The Magic Keyboard adds comfort and precision, making extended work sessions more productive and enjoyable. Storage is no concern either; the 512GB SSD offers lightning-fast read and write speeds, ensuring your files, apps, and operating system load instantly. And with a battery life of up to 11 hours, you can keep working or streaming without worrying about finding an outlet. The six-speaker sound system with force-canceling woofers produces studio-quality audio, turning your laptop into a portable entertainment hub. The Touch Bar provides intuitive shortcuts tailored to your apps, while Touch ID offers secure, instant logins. This Grade-A refurbished MacBook Pro offers exceptional value at a fraction of the original price. Inspected and cleaned to near-mint condition, it performs like new while saving you a significant amount of money. Get this grade-A refurbished 16-inch MacBook Pro for just $539.99 (reg. $2,399). Prices and availability are subject to change. source

Right now, there’s at least one nuclear-power, nuclear-armed submarine stealthily patrolling the waters off the UK. The sub is powered by a nuclear reactor, so it can cruise undetected for over 20 years without refuelling. Oh, and it’s also armed with eight nuclear warheads — each six times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.  Since 1969, the Royal Navy has kept at least one of these fission-powered submarines in the water at all times. The vessels are the backbone of Britain’s nuclear deterrent and send a giant warning to other nations who might get funny ideas.  Rolls-Royce today announced that it has secured a whopping £9bn contract to maintain and upgrade the Navy’s submarine nuclear reactors. Under the deal, the British engineering firm will also build reactors for the UK’s new class of nuclear-powered subs.   The Royal Navy’s submarine fleet is split between Astute-class attack submarines (SSNs) and Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs). The Astute-class are nuclear-powered but conventionally armed. Six of seven planned vessels are already operational. The Navy eventually plans to replace the Astutes with SSN-AUKUS submarines, the result of a collaboration with the US and Australia.  The 💜 of EU tech The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol’ founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now! Meanwhile, the Vanguard class, which first entered service in 1994, forms the backbone of the UK’s nuclear deterrent, carrying Trident II D5 nuclear missiles. The Navy plans to replace the Vanguards with the Dreadnought-class SSBNs in the early 2030s.  Under the so-called Unity contract, Rolls-Royce will design, manufacture, and support the new subs’ pressurised water reactors (PWRs). These machines use uranium to generate heat, turning water into steam that spins a turbine to generate electricity. The steam then cools, and the process repeats. The Unity deal is the largest Ministry of Defence deal Rolls-Royce has landed in its 121-year history. Predictably, the UK government is celebrating the new contract as a win for national security and job creation.   “National security is a foundation of our government’s plan for change, and this is a clear demonstration of our commitment to the UK’s nuclear deterrent, which is our ultimate insurance policy in a more dangerous world,” said the defence secretary, John Healey.  The contract is expected to create more than 1,000 UK jobs and safeguard 4,000 other roles. source

以百萬美金真倉奪冠 實現逾 353%驚人年回報 刷新全球紀錄! 香港再次在國際投資界嶄露鋒芒!近日本地交易員 J Law 憑藉其獨創的交易策略，在全球矚目的美國投資錦標賽中勇奪冠軍，成為 歷史上首位贏得該比賽的香港人。他在 100 萬美金倉位的評級認證資金經理組別中(MoneyManagerVerifiedRatings)，( 以驚人的353.9%年回報率，成功打破2021年由股票投資專家 Mark Minervini 創下的世界紀錄，為香港金融界寫下新一頁。 40 年權威投資賽事孕育多位投資傳奇人物 首次迎來港人封王「美國投資錦標賽」(US Investing Championship，( 稱 ( 全美投資大賽)，( 為為全 球最具影響力的投資比賽之一，始創於 1983 年，由史丹佛大學數學客座教授 Norman Zadeh 博士創立，該比賽以真倉操為和嚴謹的規範著 ，參賽者須事先定立一個指定交易帳戶，然後定時交出帳戶結單以供審核，賽事為期一年。40 多年來，這項賽事孕育出多位投資界傳奇人物，包括著名對沖基金經理 Paul Tudor Jones、Louis Bacon 及 David Ryan 等。而如今，J Law 憑藉其卓越表現，讓香港再次在國際舞台上大放異彩，並向全球投資界展現香港交易員的非凡實力。 從教師到投資冠軍 J Law 憑自創交易策略實現人生華麗逆襲JLaw的成功故事堪現實版的勵志傳奇。他原本是一名中學教師，但因對股票市場的濃厚興趣毅然決定轉型投資。他通過自學全球投資大師的經典著為，並結合多年實戰經驗，逐步形成了自己獨特的交易策略，最終在比賽中脫穎而出。他的出色表現甚至吸引了國際股票交易大師 Mark Minervini 的親自祝賀，在社交平台高度讚賞他的成就。 香港的獨特優勢助力交易員登上國際舞台J Law 認為，香港為為國際金融中心，提供了完善的交易基礎設施、多元化的投資選擇以及濃厚的金融氛圍，這些要素為他的成功奠定了堅實的基礎。他表示 「香港是一個充滿機遇的地方，只要肯付出、走對路，總能取得成果。」 J Law 「香港交易氛圍推動投資表現，期盼更多傳奇人物誕生。」 投資雖然是一條孤獨的旅程，需要冷靜和獨立判斷，但 J Law 認為，香港為為國際金融中心，擁有完善的金融體系、低稅制、多元化金融資訊及投資選項，( 這些資源為交易員提供了極大的便利和支持。濃厚的金融投資氛圍，讓他能夠捕捉到 更多投資機遇，並將這些機會轉化為實際成績，成為香港的驕傲。他在國際舞台上取得的卓越成績，不僅激勵了本地投資者，也證明了付出與堅持終會帶來回報。 最後，J Law 感慨道 「不要輕看香港這個彈丸之地，香港人絕對有能力在國際舞 台上發熱發亮。」 關於 J Law有 15 年投資經驗的香港全職投資人，2024 年美國投資錦標大賽 100 萬美元真倉 組別冠軍，年回報率達 353.9%，創出比賽最新世界紀錄。J Law 亦於 2019 年創 辦粵語 Youtube 免費投資教學分享平台，目前擁有超過 24 萬追蹤。 LinkedIn Email Facebook Twitter WhatsApp source

Leadership and governance  Leadership is crucial in ensuring that AI initiatives align with business goals. CIOs and senior leaders must provide strong leadership, direction and, most importantly, supporting the roadmap. This is especially critical during the execution phase of the journey in order to navigate the bumps that are bound to arise at the business process, people and culture pillars. Effective leadership involves strategic planning and active engagement with AI initiatives, championing AI efforts, communicating their strategic importance, building a culture of alignment and ensuring they are integrated into the business strategy.  Most importantly investing in the right team of people to bring this vision to reality. For most of the 22% of AI leaders who have emerged, the time since ChatGPT went live in November of 2022 has been a period of AI incubation, investment, and focused effort. Much of that energy has been spent assembling the right team and fully backing them with robust leadership and change management. The dynamic nature of both AI and business environments warrants this approach because it requires continuous evaluation and adjustments of AI initiatives. That’s just the nature of this beast.  Governance starts with data and is then integrated into AI. Data-driven decision-making is at the heart of any successful AI implementation. Ensuring that data is used responsibly and compliantly is a prerequisite. As AI becomes more embedded in data processes, governance in AI encompasses data integrity and quality.  source

Stunning AI advances from Chinese startup DeepSeek have sent tech stocks tumbling across the US and Europe. DeepSeek released a free chatbot and new open-source AI models last week. Within days, the chatbot had overtaken ChatGPT to reach the top spot on the Apple App Store’s free app rankings. The new R1 models sent further shockwaves through the AI world. R1 promised performance to rival OpenAI top’s reasoning model — at just a fraction of the cost. Marc Andreessen, one of the world’s most powerful VCs, called the release “AI’s Sputnik moment.” The markets were also astounded. Shaken by the threat of a powerful, low-cost AI challenger from China, shares in US tech titans plummeted on Monday. Chip designer Nvidia set an alarming example. The chip designer suffered the largest rout in stock market history. European semiconductor firms were also hit hard. Shares in Dutch chip leader ASML — the continent’s most valuable public tech company — slumped by as much as 12%. The next big thing? It might be you… TNW Conference is here to support startups & scaleups to become the next big thing. Be part of the journey. Semiconductor firms Besi and Asm International also endured double-digit drops. Yet chip companies were not the only European businesses to feel a painful impacts. The continent’s power equipment makers were also clobbered. Stocks plummeted particularly sharply at Germany’s Siemens Energy and France’s Schneider Electric. Amid the market torment, DeepSeek has also sparked excitement. By offering powerful yet affordable open-source models, the startup could accelerate the spread of AI’s benefits across the world. For the sector’s established leaders, however, the landscape has been shaken. source

By Dorothy Atkins ( January 27, 2025, 6:15 PM EST) — A Nevada federal judge has preliminarily approved MGM Resorts International’s $45 million deal — with class counsel seeking up to $13.5 million in fees — to settle consolidated proposed class action litigation alleging that MGM failed to protect 37 million customers’ personal information from multiple data breaches in 2019 and 2023…. Law360 is on it, so you are, too. A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions. A Law360 subscription includes features such as Daily newsletters Expert analysis Mobile app Advanced search Judge information Real-time alerts 450K+ searchable archived articles And more! Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial. source