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Techday NZ
23-05-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
Looking ahead: The future of AI-driven workflows
As a society, we have undergone a major transformation in just a few short years in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI). AI has moved from being a niche technological advantage to becoming a mainstream pillar of modern business operation. The question has transitioned from should we implement AI, to how we should implement AI in our businesses. This poses the question, how do modern businesses harness the benefits of AI efficiently, securely and with optimal integration into existing digital infrastructure? As we contemplate the future of business and where the evolution will take us, it's becoming clear that AI is poised to automate not only mundane, repetitive tasks but how we communicate, collaborate and add value. The transformation is set to be led by AI tools like chatbots, designed to integrate into existing workflows, streamlining operations and evaluating customer experience. The evolution of automation to workflow intelligence Legacy automation was marked by rigid systems that required intensive setup and ongoing maintenance. By contrast, today's AI technology brings with it contextual awareness that can interpret language patterns, anticipate user needs in real time and automatically adapt as needed. Businesses can now deploy sophisticated AI tools in minutes that support both internal functions and customer facing interactions seamlessly. Intuitive AI is democratising automation. Only a few short years ago, automation and AI was a luxury only afforded to large enterprises with similarly large budgets but now the benefits of AI can be extended to small and medium sized businesses at minimal costs. Failure to embrace the AI revolution means falling behind and losing your competitive edge. The emerging role of chatbots in businesses today It's becoming evident that the role of chatbots goes beyond simple digital assistance. Chatbots are becoming a business-critical workflow engine that reduces customer service loads, manages internal process compliance and facilitates employee training and onboarding. Looking to the next decade, we can expect to see chatbots take on more strategic roles. Even now, businesses are increasingly embedding automation into daily operations. Integration into common platforms like Microsoft OneDrive means that users can easily retrieve documents, trigger new workflows and even gain surface insights, all without leaving the chatbot interface. Imagine a sales team that can source product specification documents from OneDrive automatically, using a single chatbot. Or perhaps a customer support team member who can order a return of an item and have the logistics record updated, all with a single command. This might seem impressive now, but this degree of automation is soon to be the standard. Looking to the next decade Given the rapid advancement of AI since its inception, we can expect to see five key trends that will shape the next decade of AI deployment: 1. Hyper-personalisation at scale AI will increasingly create bespoke responses and actions to individual users, informed by contextual data and preferences. Chatbots will "learn" the working styles of each team member or customer, improving relevance and efficiency. 2. Cross-platform interoperability No single tool operates in a silo. The most valuable AI solutions will integrate with workplace ecosystems like Microsoft 365, Slack, and CRMs, becoming the connective tissue across different departments. 3. Voice activation and multimodal interaction The future isn't just text. Voice-enabled workflows, visual dashboards, and multimedia support will make AI interactions more natural and user friendly. 4. AI for compliance and governance We can expect AI tools to proactively guide employees through processes, flag risks, and ensure documentation is handled according to specific policies. AI will be a silent compliance partner, keeping teams on track. 5. More emphasis on ease of use and security While capabilities will steadily become more powerful, the user experience must stay simple and intuitive. Chatbots will lead the way with effortless, secure, and no-code deployment, ensuring the technology supports daily operations. Accessibility matters The future of AI hinges on widespread accessibility and simplicity. Small to medium sized businesses need tools that are intuitive, easy to integrate, require little training and provide immediate value. The next chapter of digital transformation will see AI working alongside humans to provide even greater value to business processes. Automating the mundane allows for humans to focus on more high value and creative activities. The next decade will be marked by smarter workflows that result in smarter outcomes. AI will no longer be an accessory to modern business; it will be the invisible engine that powers successful workflows. AI will pave the way for secure, scalable and intuitive solutions ready to power us into the AI driven future.
The Hindu
20-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Salesforce introduces Agentforce in Slack
Salesforce has introduced a way to build task-specific digital teammates directly in Slack called Agentforce in Slack. Using these AI agents, employees can look for company data, access team conversations and move tasks ahead. On June 12, Salesforce will release Slack Employee Agent Templates to make the process easier. Agentforce is powered by role permissions and has access to your connected Salesforce Data Cloud Library, conversational Slack history and is integrated with the full Salesforce 360. The templates include Slack Customer Insights to summarises opportunities, updates CRM records and collects data using Salesforce Data Library, Slack Onboarding for helping new hires get answers on policies, look for experts and share their introductions while Slack Employee Help is a guide for support in HR, IT, legal and sales. To enable these agents, Salesforce has rolled out Enterprise Search that can search across third-party apps like Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive etc as well as Slack context based on user permissions so that the agent offers relevant context and asks for user permissions when prompted. Users can also make their prompts for certain tasks shareable for general awareness within the company.
The Star
11-05-2025
- The Star
Opinion: How about some love for Android phone users?
About a month ago, I wrote a column about a few ways to transfer photos from an iPhone to your computer. Well as it happens, sometimes when I write about a specific topic, I often hear from readers who feel a bit left out. One reader wrote, 'This week's column about moving pics from phone to PC was 100% iPhone-centric. What about us Android users? Don't you like us?' (He did include a laughing emoji.) Actually, I've got no beef with Android phone users. Sometimes when I get a specific question, I'll flesh out the answer in a column and by the time I'm done, I've written enough to fill the space I have. I have infinite space online, but these columns appear in newspapers as well, and editors expect them to be a specific length (within reason). When I'm finished answering the question, I must decide if I have enough room left to expand on it to include 'the other side,' which might be Android users if I'm writing about iPhones or Mac users if I'm writing about Windows, or vice versa. Now, getting back to the question, the best/fastest way to move photos from an Android phone to a computer would be with a USB cable. Connect the phone to the computer via USB and the phone should appear as a storage device like a flash drive. You'll need to make sure the phone is unlocked or the computer won't find it. When you connect them for the first time, watch the phone screen and/or the computer screen for pop-up messages about trusting the new device and allowing the transfer of data. You can navigate the phone's storage to open the folder with the photos, or you can open the Photos app on the PC or Mac and import the photos from inside the app. Another way to get pictures and videos from the phone to a computer is via cloud upload. If you use Google Photos or Microsoft OneDrive you can use your phone to upload your files to the cloud, then you can log into the same service on your computer to view and download them. – Tribune News Service
WIRED
31-03-2025
- WIRED
ChatGPT's Projects Feature Brings Order to Your AI Chaos
Mar 31, 2025 7:00 AM Subscribers can now organize their conversations with the AI assistant into neat little folders. Photo-Illustration:OpenAI isn't slowing down when it comes to building extra functions and add-ons into its ChatGPT AI bot, and one of the newest features to roll out—exclusive to paying users, for now—is ChatGPT Projects. This is a major step forward for keeping conversations and data organized in ChatGPT: It gives you the ability to put your discussions with ChatGPT in separate spaces, like folders in a filing cabinet, complete with uploaded documents, web searches, custom instructions, and whatever else you've added. You can have one project for researching birthday present ideas, for example, and one for analyzing the current state of the movie industry. (Bear in mind, as always, that generative AI can get things wrong.) It's up to you how you use them, but Projects can make a genuine difference to workflows in ChatGPT. Get Started With ChatGPT Projects Projects can include conversations, files, and instructions. David Nield The instructions here are for the ChatGPT web app, though projects are also available through the navigation pane in the ChatGPT mobile app too. Click New project in the navigation pane on the left. (If you can't see the navigation pane, click the icon in the very top-left corner to reveal it.) If you already have projects in place, click the + (plus) icon to create a new one. Straightaway you'll be prompted to give your project a name to identify it. Note that existing chats can be moved in and out of projects, and between them, if needed—just click on the three dots next to a chat in the navigation pane to find these options. It means you can decide to start some conversations first, then move them into a project later, rather than starting with the project. Once ChatGPT puts you in your clean, new project, you get several options onscreen: You can start a new chat, Add files to the project, or Add instructions. Any files or instructions you add (such as "respond to me as if I'm a novice in this subject") will be carried over across all the project chats, saving you from having to repeat yourself or keep on uploading the same files each time. And that's just about all there is to getting started with ChatGPT Projects. There are no real options to speak of for individual projects, but if you click the three dots in the top-right corner of any project's front page, you can rename it or delete it. (Deleting it will also delete all the conversations inside it.) Your projects and chats stack up on the left of the screen as you create them, with individual conversations nested inside projects. There are a few limitations to bear in mind: You don't get the option to add files from Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive in projects, like you can in normal ChatGPT conversations, and projects can't be shared with other users (at least for now). How to Make Use of ChatGPT Projects You can write out instructions that persist across the project. David Nield There aren't really right or wrong ways to use ChatGPT Projects. Just like labels in Gmail, it's up to you how you make use of the feature. You could build a project to help you complete a novel or to plan a switch in career or to store a collection of strategies for mindfulness and meditation. Say you're planning a weekend away with the kids. You can use the instructions part of the project to explain where and when you're going and how old your kids are, to save you having to repeat this each time. As far as files go, you could upload any existing plans you've made or any information you've got about your destination, which ChatGPT can use alongside its own training data and web searches. Or maybe you want to use a project to create a finely tuned music recommendation engine. You can type in your preferences and tastes in the instructions part of the project, then upload files cataloging all the music you've listened to. (Yes, we know you're out there.) Each individual chat could then dive deep for playlist recommendations based on a theme or artist. You can make changes to the files you've uploaded and the instructions you've given at any time, though these modifications won't retroactively affect any of the conversations you've already had with ChatGPT. Every time you submit a prompt, the AI bot will use the information available at that time. If needed, you can attach specific files for specific chats inside projects using the paperclip icon—and you can access other tools (such as the image generator) by clicking the toolbox icon underneath the text prompt box. This gives you access to the ChatGPT Canvas interface, which is more similar to Google Docs than Google Chat.
Forbes
25-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Best All-In-One Printers, According To Extensive Testing
All-in-one printers, as the name suggests, do more than just print. They can scan, copy and fax documents big and small, both for home offices and small business. If you're looking for a do-it-all machine, we can help. After extensive research and testing, we found that the best all-in-one printer is the HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e thanks to its versatile design, fast output and the ability to automatically print—and scan—double-sided. If the long-term cost of maintaining your next all-in-one printer is a priority, the budget-friendly Brother INKvestment Tank MFC-J4335DW should be your go-to choice. Whether you're seeking a speedy double-sided printer or a monochrome device like the HP LaserJet Tank MFP2604sdw, the best all-in-one printers can help streamline your office needs. And, if you're looking for one specifically for a home office, check out our guide to the best home printer, too. Forbes Vetted Forbes Vetted ratings are based on thorough evaluations by our editorial team to help you choose the best products with confidence. Type: Inkjet | Features: Print/Copy/Scan/Fax | Color: Yes | Two-sided printing: Automatic | Tray capacity: 250 sheets | Wireless: Yes Best for: Skip if: The HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e is easy to set up and, based on our testing, offers speedy print speeds. For the average single-sided six-page job, the printer took around 35.6 seconds. It has a slew of features, from copying, scanning and mobile connectivity via the HP Smart App. The app is available for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS, so you can print and scan so long as you have an internet connection. The HP Smart App comes in handy for another reason: It can connect to Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and HP's Scan Cloud, so you can scan, upload and send documents hassle-free. Our tester noted that the 2.7-inch touchscreen display felt a little claustrophobic. Those with larger hands may prefer a device with a larger touchscreen so you're not accidentally pressing buttons. The tank uses a set of four EvoMore cartridges: black, cyan, magenta and yellow. If you find yourself needing to replace all four, expect to pay $239. They deliver 2,500 monochrome pages and 1,650 color pages, so they last a while before it's time to invest in more. But chances are slim they'll run out simultaneously, and if you just need one, you can get a black cartridge for around $80 and a color for around $53. You can opt into the HP Instant Ink subscription which automatically orders ink for you when you're low. It starts at $1.49 per month, though we recommend against it unless you plan to print heaps of paper. Our tester also noted that every so often, the printed pages came out in a different order than printed. If you're printing massive jobs, that may be an issue. But if most of your print jobs are 10 pages or less, it's something to keep in mind before you staple them together. We also named this printer our best home printer after rigorous testing. Forbes Vetted Forbes Vetted ratings are based on thorough evaluations by our editorial team to help you choose the best products with confidence. Type: Inkjet | Features: Print/copy/scan/mobile fax | Color: Yes | Two-sided printing: Automatic | Tray Capacity: 60 sheets | Wireless: Yes Best for: Skip if: For a supposedly 'no frills' printer, the HP Envy 6555E comes with printing, scanning, copying and faxing, so it can do everything that the HP OfficeJet 9125e can. There are a few differences between the two models—and one of them is price. It usually costs around $160, but you can find it on sale for around $100 pretty frequently. As such, it nabs our budget moniker for this blend of features and cost. It's pretty large, which surprised our tester; still, compared to the other options on the market, it still has a lower profile and would fit nicely in a cramped office space. To get the cartridges installed correctly, 'you have to push upward instead of downward,' which our tester felt was confusing and prolonged the setup just a bit. Outside of that glitch, setup was straightforward. While it can complete the major tasks most printers on this list can, the price means there are some caveats to consider. For one, its print speed feels glacial. Our tester timed a 10-page double sided test, and it took 70 seconds for the first page to hit the paper tray and three minutes to complete the job. The tray capacity is also the smallest we tested, holding only 60 sheets. Still, if you're a student, for example, who only prints occasional papers, this printer is more than enough for your needs. But if you're a business owner or someone who's printing more than 10 pages per day, you may want to look elsewhere. Forbes Vetted Forbes Vetted ratings are based on thorough evaluations by our editorial team to help you choose the best products with confidence. Type: Inkjet | Features: Print/Copy/Scan/Fax | Color: Yes | Two-sided printing: Automatic | Tray capacity: 250 sheets | Wireless: Yes Best for: Skip if: The Brother MFCJ5855DW can print on documents up to 11 x 17 inches, a unique feature on our list that makes it useful for school projects or business fliers. On average, our testing showed this model can print up to 30 pages per minute, which is slightly faster compared to the HP OfficeJet Pro 9125e. In addition to printing, scanning, copying and faxing, it has a USB-C port to print documents from a flash drive. It also has an Ethernet port so you can get a wired connection, though most will just use the dual-band wireless capabilities to set it up and print documents. It also gives you access to a host of cloud storage services, including Google Drive, OneDrive, Evernote, OneNote and more. This printer features a 3.5-inch color touchscreen with menu icons that can help you navigate it for commands, updates and more. It comes with a one-year supply of ink when you order it, too, and can print 3,000 monochrome pages and 1,500 color pages, which can last for months if you don't frequently print. As a heads up, it doesn't offer auto duplex scanning. Unfortunately, we've seen reports of internet connection issues, particularly with the Wi-Fi Direct feature. Thankfully, we didn't have this issue during our testing, but your mileage may vary. Forbes Vetted Forbes Vetted ratings are based on thorough evaluations by our editorial team to help you choose the best products with confidence. Type: Inkjet | Features: Print/Copy/Scan/Fax | Color: Yes | Two-sided printing: Automatic | Tray capacity: 250 sheets | Wireless: Yes Best for: Skip if: Most of the all-in-one printers on this list are laser printers. These kinds of printers can deliver sharper text and be more cost-efficient long-term since you don't have to worry about ink drying out. However, colors on inkjets tend to be more accurate and vivid compared to their laser counterparts, which may sway you toward an inkjet printer. If you plan to print a lot of color pages, the HP Smart Tank 7301 is our top pick for an inkjet all-in-one printer. Our tester felt the display was small and wasn't intended to be especially user friendly, but that's where the HP Smart app came in. The app made it easy for our tester to, 'initiate controls, diagnose issues and check printer levels.' Our tester also felt that, 'the ability to control all of its functions from your phone" made it specially user friendly. HP claims that the printer can print up to 15 pages per minute in black and 9 pages in color, though it was actually slightly faster during our testing. A ten-page color print job took our tester 57 seconds from start to finish, and our tester commented that it was, 'the fasted printer I've ever tested.' Our tester also noted that photo prints looked lovely and rich. The automatic document feeder is smaller and can only hold 35 pages. One of our tester's biggest gripes was the connectivity issues, too. When she had an internet outage, the printer disconnected and didn't automatically reconnect when service was restored. If you have spotty internet, be prepared to keep an eye on the printer's connection. Forbes Vetted Forbes Vetted ratings are based on thorough evaluations by our editorial team to help you choose the best products with confidence. Type: Laser | Features: Print/Copy/Scan | Color: No | Two-sided printing: Automatic | Tray capacity: 250 sheets | Wireless: Yes Best for: Skip if: Sometimes, you just don't need or care to print in color—and when it comes to monochrome printing, the HP LaserJet-Tank MFP 2604SDW, is a great economical option. It's easy to refill the tank with a hassle-free, mess-free design, but odds are you won't have to worry about that for some time since the tanks can last up to two years. During testing, our tester calculated we could get up to 5,000 pages from a single fill. Toner cartridges are $17 for 2,500 pages and $30 for 5,000 pages, making this one of the most affordable cost-per-page ratios we tested. We also noted that it can print up to 23 pages per minute, so while it's slower than our top pick, it's still pretty speedy. It has a small LCD display with even smaller buttons that we didn't find very useful during testing. For copying and scanning, we recommend using the accompanying HP Smart App to make changes before starting the job. And while it can scan both sides of a document, it's not automatic full-duplex; you need to scan the first side, feed it through, and then scan the flip side. Our editorial team consists of tech experts who live to research, test and write about all things digital. Seriously: Some staffers on our team, including executive editor Dave Johnson, have authored multiple books on the subject. We've also built a robust library of tech guides for building your home office, including the best laptops for working from home and the best modem-router combos. To find the best all-in-one printers, we narrowed our choices to the top, most reliable brands, including Canon, HP and more. From there, we reviewed real customer reviews and each printer's features. We took into account: Based on our testing and research, we found the HP OfficeJet Pro 9125E to be the best all-in-one printer. The printer is easy to set up and prints, scans and copies quickly via the HP Smart App. We also like that the HP Smart App connects to Google Drive, making it easy to scan, upload and send documents. Inkjet and laser printers both have their advantages and disadvantages. 'Inkjet printers are cheaper upfront and excel at color printing, but ink can dry out and be costly. Laser printers cost more initially but are faster, more efficient for high-volume printing and deliver sharper text,' says John Yensen, President of Revotech Networks Ltd. If you plan on printing in color or only need a printer for occasional use, consider an inkjet model like the Canon MegaTank GX7120, otherwise a laser printer is more suitable for high-volume printing and black and white documents. While a dedicated printer may not be able to scan or copy, there are some disadvantages to all-in-one printers you should be aware of. 'Most all-in-one printers lack special features you might find in a standalone printer. You miss out on options like high resolution photo printing and high quality scans,' says Shelby Nicholas, owner of SNF Web Design Services. She also says that all-in-one printers tend to be high maintenance and costly to fix, and because so many functions are packed into one machine, they tend to be lower quality than their standalone counterparts.
