Microsoft wants partners to put more focus into delivering the artificial-intelligence (AI) capabilities offered in its data platform and cloud portfolios. The company doesn't feel enough of its partners currently offer AI holistically to enable customers to transform their businesses. Setting the stage for how Microsoft might help enable partners to do that, the company recently announced a partnership with Accenture and its Avanade subsidiary. Collectively, they are creating preconfigured solutions geared toward helping clients in specific industries such as consumer-packaged goods, retail and telecommunications using AI to automate their business processes. Avanade's latest research found that 88 percent of global business and IT decision-makers say they don't know how to use AI -- and 79 percent encounter resistance.

Early adopters are already creating competitive advantages, and the gap with the laggards looks set to grow," is how McKinsey Global Institute puts it in their report Artificial Intelligence, The Next Digital Frontier?. They add: "In our survey of 3,000 AI-aware C-level executives, across 10 countries and 14 sectors, only 20% said they currently use any AI-related technology at scale or in a core part of their businesses. Many firms say they are uncertain of the business case or return on investment." However, investments in AI for the enterprise are ever-increasing and industry case studies are demonstrating the disruptive potential of AI. What is certain is that, whatever the industry, there's no longer any guarantee it will remain unaffected by the next Uber-like app. The IoT is real and ever-expanding.

General Electric (GE) was born when several electrical companies owned by Thomas Edison were merged under a single name - Edison General Electric Company - in 1889. Fast forward to 1892 when Edison General Electric Company merged with Thomson-Houston Electric Company, and both became united under a single name - General Electric. Today, GE is a multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in New York with its headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. The company has hundreds of interests, which cater to the needs of the financial services, medical devices, life sciences, pharmaceutical, automotive, software development and engineering industries. GE has revenues of $126,661 million, which places it at #13 on the Fortune 500 list.

With little fanfare, smart speaker company Sonos has just announced it plans to go public. Sonos plans to raise $100 million in its IPO, but noted that amount was "estimated as a placeholder." Along with the announcement, the company released the requisite S-1 form through the SEC, and that contains a host of other info about the state of the company. In it, the company starts by making it clear why it thinks it can be a long-term success: "The proliferation of streaming services and the rapid adoption of voice assistants are significantly changing audio consumption habits and how consumers interact with the internet. As the leading home sound system for consumers, content partners and developers, Sonos is poised to capitalize on the large market opportunity created by these dynamics."

According to a recent survey, shopping by voice is expected to grow from $2 billion to $40 billion in the next four years. How far along are smart speakers right now? USA TODAY Sonos' smart speakers are a good fit for audiophiles with a penchant for technology. Speaker company Sonos has filed to go public. The company plans to list shares on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "SONO," according to filings. It didn't specify how many shares would be up for sale or list an estimated offering price.

With little fanfare, smart speaker company Sonos has just announced it plans to go public. Sonos plans to raise $100 million in its IPO, but noted that amount was "estimated as a placeholder." Along with the announcement, the company released the requisite S-1 form through the SEC, and that contains a host of other info about the state of the company. In it, the company starts by making it clear why it thinks it can be a long-term success: "The proliferation of streaming services and the rapid adoption of voice assistants are significantly changing audio consumption habits and how consumers interact with the internet. As the leading home sound system for consumers, content partners and developers, Sonos is poised to capitalize on the large market opportunity created by these dynamics."

Deal will add pricing optimization and forecasting replenishment to supply chain software suite, JDA says. Supply chain technology firm JDA Software Group Inc. today said it has acquired the German artificial intelligence provider Blue Yonder GmbH, in a move it said would allow its Luminate platform of software products to generate more automated decisions and forecasts. Scottsdale, Ariz.-based JDA launched its Luminate platform in May, saying the platform would extend existing JDA applications by using artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics to improve users' ability to predict consumer demand and deliver faster fulfillment. Adding additional AI and machine learning capabilities from the new acquisition will allow JDA users to generate autonomous, profitable business decisions and use their supply chains as a competitive advantage, particularly in the areas of pricing optimization and forecasting replenishment, JDA said. JDA did not disclose the terms of the deal, saying the acquisition had not yet closed.

Inc. Echo Spot, from left, Echo, Echo Plus, and Fire TV devices sit on display during the company's product reveal launch event in downtown Seattle, Washington, U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017. Amazon unveiled a smaller, cheaper version of its popular Alexa-powered Echo speaker that the e-commerce giant said has better sound. Lennar, the nation's largest homebuilder, is now building model homes with Alexa-integrated technologies such as smart doorbells, locks, thermostats, lights and integrated Wifi. Amazon and Lennar announced the partnership in May to launch "Amazon Experience Centers" around the country. In these smart homes, customers would be able to ask Alexa to do anything from turning down the lights and starting a party music playlist to turning on the doorbell video feed when someone rings.

Tessian announced today that it has raised $13 million in venture capital as the U.K.-based company seeks to address the problem of enterprise email security through automation. Formerly known by the more literal name CheckRecipient, Tessian uses machine learning to discover and fix misaddressed emails, a seemingly mundane hiccup that in fact causes big security headaches when sensitive information falls into the wrong hands. Tessian notes that the U.K.'s Information Commissioner's Office receives more security incident reports about misaddressed emails than about any other type of security issue. And new European privacy rules could result in hefty fines for such mistakes. "With the recent report from the ICO that misaddressed emails are now the number one data security incident reported to them, and GDPR now in full swing, companies should make addressing this risk a top security priority," said Tessian CEO and cofounder Tim Sadler, in a statement.

I've never been quite as fond of Japan's Fanuc (OTCPK:FANUY) (6954.T) as many readers seem to be, and over the last five years you could have done better with other automation names like Yaskawa (OTCPK:YASKY), Rockwell (ROK), Keyence (OTCPK:KYCCF), or HollySys (HOLI) (though the two-year comps are more forgiving to Fanuc). While Fanuc has done better than I'd expected over the last two years in terms of revenue growth, leveraging a strong rebound in machine tool and robomachinery orders, margins and FCF generation haven't been all that impressive as business has skewed to lower-margin products. Now there are macro clouds on the horizon. Weaker smartphone capex demands seem likely to pressure results in 2018 and we may be nearing the point of peak machine tool orders, setting the stage for what could be a nasty decline over the next few years. I do expect Fanuc to continue to see strong growth in robots and robotic components, but I'm just not excited about the valuation today given those challenges and potential risks.