About this content About Emily Jarvie Emily began her career as a political journalist for Australian Community Media in Hobart, Tasmania. After she relocated to Toronto, Canada, she reported on business, legal, and scientific developments in the emerging psychedelics sector before joining Proactive in 2022. She brings a strong journalism background with her work featured in newspapers, magazines, and digital publications across Australia, Europe, and North America, including The Examiner, The Advocate, ...

Microsoft stock (NASDAQ: MSFT) dropped sharply on Wednesday amid investor concerns about whether the company's commanding position in enterprise AI is genuinely unassailable. While the company has pou... ...

Group 1 - National Grid Partners conducted its second annual "utility innovation survey" with responses from 166 utility industry leaders, revealing a significant shift in innovation priorities [3][4] - 71% of utility leaders identified grid modernization as a top priority, while 45% ranked digital transformation among their top three priorities [3][4] - Last year's survey indicated that digital transformation was the top priority with 57% of leaders ranking it in their top three, followed by efficiency at 48% [4] Group 2 - AI is seen as particularly beneficial for grid applications, including predictive maintenance, wildfire risk reduction, and improved forecasting of supply and demand as renewable energy generation increases [5] - A slim majority of utility leaders believe AI will have a greater impact on innovation over the next two years compared to other technologies [6] - 80% of leaders plan to evaluate AI's impact based on fiscal metrics like return on investment and cost savings, while 71% will consider operational efficiency gains [6] Group 3 - 42% of utilities plan targeted AI deployments within the next two years, recognizing its potential in areas such as regulatory compliance and remote equipment monitoring [7] - Despite the recognition of AI's value, most utilities lack the internal expertise to implement it effectively and may need to collaborate with startups [7]

This story was originally published on CIO Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CIO Dive newsletter. ORLANDO, Fla. — Enterprises are overflowing with potential AI use cases, but CIOs are working to weed out the duds and accelerate time to value for the standouts.  The process isn’t easy. Nearly half of AI decision-makers admit their organization struggles to estimate and demonstrate the value of AI, according to Gartner research. IT leaders who fail to connect AI projects t ...

Group 1 - Proactive provides fast, accessible, informative, and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience [2] - The news team covers medium and small-cap markets, as well as blue-chip companies, commodities, and broader investment stories [3] - Proactive's content includes insights across various sectors such as biotech, pharma, mining, natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto, and emerging technologies [3] Group 2 - Proactive is committed to adopting technology to enhance workflows and content production [4] - The company utilizes automation and software tools, including generative AI, while ensuring all content is edited and authored by humans [5]

Core Insights - Five9, Inc. (FIVN) reported second-quarter 2025 earnings of 76 cents per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 16.9% and reflecting a 46.2% year-over-year increase from 52 cents [1][10] - Revenues for the second quarter increased by 12.4% year over year to $283.27 million, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.98%, driven by a 16% growth in subscription revenues, particularly in Enterprise AI [2][10] Financial Performance - FIVN's adjusted non-GAAP gross profit for Q2 was $175.55 million, up from $152.4 million in the same quarter last year, with a gross margin of 63%, an increase of 250 basis points year over year [4] - Non-GAAP operating income rose to $54.45 million from $31 million year over year, resulting in a non-GAAP operating margin of 19.2% [4] - The company generated an operating cash flow of $83.45 million and reported a free cash flow of $21.57 million with a free cash flow margin of 8% [6] Revenue Breakdown - U.S. revenues accounted for $251.4 million, representing 88.7% of total revenues and a 12% increase year over year [3] - International revenues reached $31.88 million, making up 11.3% of total revenues, with a year-over-year growth of 15.7% [3] Balance Sheet and Cash Flow - As of June 30, 2025, FIVN had cash and cash equivalents of $635.88 million, down from $1.04 billion in the previous quarter, with total debt at $733.6 million [5] - Total capital expenditure for the second quarter was $17.22 million [6] Guidance - For 2025, Five9 expects revenues between $1.1435 billion and $1.1495 billion, indicating a year-over-year growth of 9.6% [7] - The company anticipates GAAP net income per share between 23 cents and 30 cents, and non-GAAP net income per share in the range of $2.86-$2.90 [8] - For Q3 2025, revenues are projected between $283.0 million and $286.0 million, with a year-over-year growth of 8.1% [9]

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - The company reported a sequential revenue growth of 2.6% and a year-on-year growth of 3.8% in constant currency terms [3][5] - The guidance for revenue growth for the financial year 2026 has been revised from 0% to 3% to a new range of 1% to 3% in constant currency terms [5][10] - The margin guidance remains unchanged at 20% to 22% [5] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - Large deals amounted to $3.8 billion, driven by leadership in enterprise AI and client consolidations [4] - The company has built 300 AI agents across various business areas, which are now deployed within client operations [4] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - The U.S. market has shown flat growth, while Europe has experienced strong growth, attributed to prior investments in that region [17][19] - The company noted that Europe remains a strong market due to investments made in previous years [19] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company is focusing on enterprise AI and has seen good traction with AI agents, which are helping clients improve decision-making and operational efficiency [4][14] - There is a strong emphasis on consolidation as clients increasingly select Infosys for their needs [14][28] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management acknowledged ongoing economic changes but noted a stable outlook, with increased demand for AI and consolidation services [10][13] - The company is optimistic about future growth driven by enterprise AI and new revenue streams from deeper analytics and optimization efforts [41] Other Important Information - The company has maintained a constant headcount, with utilization at a peak of 85% [15] - A wage hike was implemented in January and April, impacting margins by 100 basis points this quarter [20][27] Q&A Session Summary Question: Why has the upper end of guidance not been raised despite strong performance? - Management explained that while performance was strong, the economic environment remains uncertain, leading to a cautious approach in guidance adjustments [10][11] Question: How much of the growth is attributed to acquisitions? - Inorganic growth contributed approximately 40 basis points to the reported 2.6% growth [12] Question: What is the outlook for hiring and productivity with AI? - Management indicated that while headcount remains flat, productivity is expected to increase due to AI, potentially reducing the need for significant hiring in the future [18][64] Question: Is there any revenue cannibalization observed? - Management noted that productivity benefits from AI are being shared with clients, but did not confirm any significant revenue cannibalization [22][23] Question: What is the impact of wage hikes on margins? - The wage hikes and higher variable pay have negatively impacted margins by 100 basis points, but pricing benefits and productivity improvements have helped offset some of this decline [27][54]