BT candidates face “Crystal Maze” challenges as part of firm’s 1,300 new job push March 21, 2018 BT is to use a virtual reality version of “Crystal Maze” challenges to separate the wheat from the chaff as part of a new hiring spree. The telecoms giant is to create more than 1,300 graduate and apprenticeship jobs in the UK. It claims to be one the first companies in Britain to use such [...]
How artificial intelligence is re-coding the way we manage our money March 14, 2018 It was 1950 when Alan Turing developed a test which looked at a machine’s ability to generate responses that were so human-like that you wouldn’t be able to tell it was a computer. Fast forward almost seven decades, and we are now at a tipping point in tech, as artificial intelligence (AI) nudges us [...]
Spring Statement: Spring is finally in the air, but the chancellor is right to play it safe March 14, 2018 The Spring Budget may have been downgraded to a mere Statement – with all fiscal announcements reserved for the November Budget – but yesterday’s speech by the chancellor still gave some useful insights into what to expect during 2018. So too did the revised forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) that accompanied the [...]
Sir Nick Clegg has become chairman at on-demand social care startup Cera March 10, 2018 Sir Nick Clegg has been appointed chairman of the advisory board of a homecare startup founded by a former NHS doctor. Clegg joins the board of Cera, which was started by Mahiben Maruthappu in an effort to help tackle the social care crisis. Read more: Nick Clegg admits "soft Brexit" hopes are dead The startup, [...]
Startup tackling fake news with artificial intelligence Factmata nets funding to expand March 8, 2018 A startup using artificial intelligence (AI) to tackle the proliferation of fake news and extremist content online will expand after closing a $1m (£720,000) seed funding round that attracted major US backers. London-based Factmata’s funding round was led by tech entrepreneur Mark Cuban, but also attracted high-profile investors such as Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, internet [...]
Big fish: The seven largest types of institutional investors March 7, 2018 Say whatever you want about the world, but there’s never been a better time to be an end investor. Many things investment professionals fear — fee compression, automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain — benefit clients through higher account balances and lower fees. Asset owners are the largest of those clients. Though they are frequently [...]
Beware the real Beast from the East: Chinese tech giants March 5, 2018 The last week has seen the UK battered by the worst snow we’ve seen in years, thanks to freezing temperatures coming from the east. But cold weather and heavy snow is not the only thing that is making the move from east to west. Chinese tech giants Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and JD.com have started to [...]
Blockchain and artificial intelligence to cause a flurry of tech M&A, but private equity’s bubble could burst warns new report from Hampleton Partners March 5, 2018 A flurry of technology mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are set to happen before 2020, a new report predicts. However private equity firms – which have recently been elbowing trade buyers out of the way to splash the cash on tech targets, such as in the $5.3bn (£3.8bn) buyout of Nets – could soon see their [...]
Keeping the little guys in the loop: How Funding Circle hopes to fix the financial system March 1, 2018 Let's be honest, financial institutions can be bleak places. Pretentious, impenetrable, and determined to make you feel conscious of your own tiny existence. So when I step into the bustling hive that is Funding Circle’s office, it’s a breath of fresh air. There’s not a suit in sight, the place is immersed in a babble [...]
Harnessing tech can help break the glass ceiling March 1, 2018 While issues around diversity and inclusion have been well and truly thrust into the spotlight following a year of sexual harassment and gender pay inequality scandals, the numbers still paint a bleak picture. In the UK, there is still no single sector where women make up more than 33 per cent of total senior management [...]