Core Insights - UBS analysts anticipate that artificial intelligence (AI) will significantly benefit the aviation sector, with airlines already leveraging the technology for pricing, operations, and maintenance despite regulatory and cyber risks [1][6]. Group 1: AI Applications in Airlines - AI is enhancing the customer journey through targeted marketing, fare discovery, and revenue management, while "agentic" tools are expected to transform distribution and discovery processes [1]. - AI-led network design is optimizing flight paths and managing disruptions, with predictive maintenance being highlighted as a key area, utilizing sensors on aircraft like the A380 to identify patterns and reduce maintenance-related cancellations [2][4]. Group 2: Historical Context and Future Expectations - European airlines are not starting from scratch, as they have been employing machine learning for over a decade to aid decision-making, with expected benefits emerging in the medium term [3]. - Lufthansa Group plans to utilize AI and automation to eliminate approximately 4,000 finance and administration roles by 2030, while IAG and easyJet are also implementing AI to enhance operational efficiency and marketing strategies [4]. Group 3: Strategic Implications of AI - The rise of agentic AI presents a strategic dynamic, where AI agents could facilitate direct bookings, but concerns exist regarding potential monetization of booking flows by dominant agents, as noted by Ryanair's CEO [5]. - Larger airlines are positioned to capitalize on AI advancements due to their scale, resources, and established barriers such as fleets, brands, loyalty programs, and airport slots, leading UBS to maintain a Buy rating on Lufthansa ahead of European flag carrier results [5].

UiPath has acquired WorkFusion, a company focused on AI agents for financial crime compliance, for an undisclosed sum. The deal aims to expand UiPath’s offerings for the banking and financial services sectors. The acquisition is aimed at enhancing UiPath workflows designed to assist with financial crime compliance, including anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) operations. WorkFusion’s pre-built library of AI agents is designed to automate some of the most labour-intensive aspects o ...

Core Insights - The emergence of "agentic AI" suggests that financial activities may increasingly be initiated by software rather than humans, potentially benefiting the software itself [1][2] - AI agents currently do not require money in the traditional sense but are designed to perform specific financial tasks such as identifying market patterns and managing liquidity [2][3] Group 1: AI Agents and Financial Operations - AI agents will likely focus on narrow and controlled workflows rather than widespread automation across the financial industry [4] - For AI agents to function effectively, they need a financial system with low operational costs and clear integration points for essential functions like identity verification [3] Group 2: Bitcoin's Role in the AI Landscape - Bitcoin may not serve as a spendable asset for AI agents due to its slow transaction speed and high costs, but it could become a reserve store of value for agents [5][6] - The fixed supply schedule and slow governance changes of Bitcoin make it a suitable long-term store of value, although other cryptocurrencies could also fulfill this role [6]

Great businesses win by solving problems, and the $2.5 trillion global payments market is a goldmine for companies that can make money move effortlessly. Two of the firms competing in that space are Block Inc. (NYSE: XYZ) and PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL). Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » Image source: Getty Images ...

Top information technology (IT) services companies are racing to deploy artificial intelligence agents from specialist firms across their domains, at a time when the debut of advanced AI tools threatens to eat their lunch. Four of the country’s largest IT outsourcers—Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp, Infosys Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, and Wipro Ltd—are partnering with smaller firms and adopting their AI agents for software development, data analysis and marketing, highlighting the business transformation ...

A new wave of agentic AI tools is hitting software stocks where it hurts: per-seat economics. Investors are pricing a scenario where companies don’t need 1,000 SaaS licenses if a handful of AI agents can handle the workflows, and the market is reacting fast.The iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (NASDAQ:IGV) is coming off a 15% January drop, its worst month since 2008, as fears spread that AI agents may compress the subscription model that powered the last decade of growth.What Lit The FuseAnthropic’s Claud ...

DeepSeek is looking to broaden its AI offerings with new artificial intelligence search features and more emphasis on agents, ramping up competition with US firms like OpenAI and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.The Chinese AI startup is hiring specialists to build an AI search engine capable of supporting different languages, according to multiple job postings from the company this month. The planned search options are meant to be multimodal, meaning they can process a range of inputs from text to images and audio f ...

This story was originally published on CFO Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CFO Dive newsletter. Dive Brief: Only 14% of CFOs completely trust artificial intelligence technology to deliver accurate accounting data on its own, according to a Wakefield Research study released Wednesday. The vast majority (97%) of survey respondents said human oversight is critical for ensuring data accuracy in accounting when AI is deployed. “While most finance teams are already usin ...

For the full year, revenue totaled $1.08 billion , up 4% on an as-reported basis. CFO Dennis Story noted that excluding license and maintenance revenue—removing the “revenue compression” associated with the company’s cloud transition—full-year revenue growth was 5% . Full-year cloud revenue rose 21% to $408 million , while services revenue declined 4% to $503 million .RPO ended the quarter at $2.2 billion , up 25% year over year and 7% sequentially. CEO Eric Clark said competitive win rates remained above 7 ...

Company Overview - British startup Synthesia has raised a $200 million Series E round of funding, increasing its valuation to $4 billion from $2.1 billion in the past year [1] - The company specializes in creating interactive training videos using AI-generated avatars, targeting corporate training [2] Financial Performance - Synthesia has achieved over $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) as of April 2025 [2] Investment Details - The Series E funding round was led by existing investor GV (Google Ventures) and included participation from other notable investors such as Kleiner Perkins, Accel, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), NVentures, Air Street Capital, and PSP Growth [3] - New investors, including Evantic and Hedosophia, are joining the funding round, while an employee secondary sale will be facilitated in partnership with Nasdaq [4] Employee Engagement - The secondary sale aims to provide employees with liquidity and allow them to share in the company's value, while Synthesia remains a private company focused on long-term growth [5][6] Future Developments - Synthesia plans to expand its offerings beyond expressive videos by developing AI agents that enable employees to interact with company knowledge in a more intuitive manner [6]