SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) – It is this industry that is expected to contribute to the revitalization of San Francisco by attracting the major players in artificial intelligence to the city center.

But on Monday, Replit, an AI company valued at over $1 billion, announced its withdrawal from the city.

Despite the move, Replit says it won’t go far.

They just move down the peninsula to Foster City.

“A single company is not a trend. That is my opinion,” said Ahmed Banafa.

MORE: San Francisco currently has 35% office vacancy rate, highest ever: Data

Banafa is a technology expert at San Jose State University.

He says the move doesn't change the fact that San Francisco remains the undisputed AI capital – not just here in the Bay Area, but around the world.

It's not clear how many employees Replit has, but Banafa says he would be concerned if larger companies like OpenAI decided to leave.

“They're called anchor companies that everyone cares about. But when you have companies that are just starting out or new to the field, there are thousands of AI companies,” Banafa said.

Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council, shared this view.

MORE: Experts explain how OpenAI's leadership shakeup could impact San Francisco

Because the Bay Area economy largely functions as a single unit, San Francisco will still benefit from Replit's proximity, Wunderman says.

“The fact that a company is in the middle of the action in San Francisco itself, in Silicon Valley, in San Jose or in San Mateo County, each has its own clear advantages. But the company's location also benefits those outside of that region,” Wunderman said.

But leaving San Francisco is only part of the story, said the company's CEO, who explained his reasons in a thread on X.

It states, among other things:

“The 'why' we're leaving is boring, sad, and predictable (crime, dysfunction, etc.), so instead let me tell you why we chose Foster City.”

MORE: Biden's executive order sets new rules for AI. Here they are.

In the rest of his article, he describes what he finds attractive about the city on the peninsula.

Namely the safe environment, the ideal location and the high standard of living.

Foster City officials say they are happy about this and hope that more companies will follow in Replit's footsteps.

“We are a prime location for offices and we have this technology center, this biotechnology center, all coupled with the beautiful residential and recreational amenities that the city has to offer,” said Marlene Subhashini, deputy city manager of Foster City.

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Raised $3M to Design and Engineer Platform; Customers Realizing Benefits Today

Our PLG motion produces thousands of signups. We use the FunnelStory Intelligence Platform to get a complete picture of our funnel and see how users are progressing or getting stuck.”

— Rishi Bhargava

SAN FRANCISCO, UNITED STATES, October 17, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — FunnelStory, a provider of product analytics for Go-to-Market (GTM) teams, announces the launch of the AI-powered Product Funnel Intelligence Platform for Revenue Teams, transforming how these teams can prioritize leads and deals with the highest probability of winning.

FunnelStory ingests structured and unstructured customer activity data to develop revenue intelligence to:
• Enable sales teams to prioritize PoCs/trials/renewals that matter and introduce predictability in sales forecasts
• Enrich/prioritize leads for sales outreach and marketing retargeting campaigns.

In the last decade, Enterprise B2B sales have been transformed. According to research conducted by Trust Radius, more than 60% of all B2B tech buyers are now millennials, a generation that prefers engaging with sellers after research has been conducted. They have a bias to first-hand experience with products before making any purchase.

Still, revenue intelligence infrastructure in most B2B companies lacks product-based intent data, crucial for revenue teams. In a few cases where it does exist partially, it is often painfully excruciating, time-consuming engineering work that an organization requires to make it a reality.

Consequently, B2B firms struggle with wasted efforts on bad opportunities, incorrect sales forecasts, and missed engagement opportunities on customer activities.

“Most internal systems are designed by engineering teams for their own needs and requirements, rendering them useless from day 1 for sales and marketing teams,” says Alok Shukla, Co-Founder and CEO of FunnelStory. “We started FunnelStory to deliver revenue teams the exact product revenue intelligence they need. In fact, most of our customers are able to set up their data sources and extract value in less than 45 minutes.”

How FunnelStory solves this intent problem

Customer Activity Model: With a powerful data ingestion platform and proprietary data models, a revenue team can connect product data sources and gain sales focused account visibility in less than 45 minutes. Optionally, FunnelStory can directly connect with product databases/data warehouses and conversation apps directly, eliminating the need of expensive plumbing through reverse ETL/CDP tools

Product Funnel Intelligence: FunnelStory enables a sales executive to track how accounts progress through the trial/PoC/adoption funnel, allowing the identification of risks and opportunities in real time. This information is delivered to a company’s CRM for a sales team to focus on these leads.

Data Activation: With FunnelStory, a marketing team can build audiences based on product funnel data. The marketing team can create automated lifecycle nudges, build retargeting campaigns, and enrich the CRM to achieve customer adoption, engagement, and retention.

“Our PLG (Product-Led Growth) motion produces thousands of signups,” shares Rishi Bhargava, Co-founder of Descope. “We use the FunnelStory Intelligence Platform to get a complete picture of our funnel and see how users are progressing or getting stuck. This way we can prioritize the top opportunities and optimize our customer journeys.”

For more information about FunnelStory and its transformative capabilities, please visit www.FunnelStory.ai.

About FunnelStory
FunnelStory is a Funnel Intelligence Platform that empowers go-to-market (GTM) teams to leverage product and conversational data for revenue growth. With a focus on providing revenue visibility and intelligence for sales, success, growth, and marketing teams, FunnelStory simplifies data consumption and makes it accessible and actionable across the entire GTM function.

Amy Foschetti
FunnelStory
[email protected]
Visit us on social media:
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube

The post FunnelStory Introduces AI-Powered Product Funnel Intelligence Platform for Income Groups appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

LONDON (AP) — Wildfires fueled by climate change have ravaged communities from Maui to the Mediterranean this summer, killing many people, exhausting firefighters and fueling demand for new solutions. Enter artificial intelligence.

Firefighters and startups are using AI-enabled cameras to scan the horizon for signs of smoke. A German company is building a constellation of satellites to detect fires from space. And Microsoft is using AI models to predict where the next blaze could be sparked.

With wildfires becoming larger and more intense as the world warms, firefighters, utilities and governments are scrambling to get ahead of the flames by tapping into the latest AI technology — which has stirred both fear and excitement for its potential to transform life. While increasingly stretched first responders hope AI offers them a leg up, humans are still needed to check that the tech is accurate.

California’s main firefighting agency this summer started testing an AI system that looks for smoke from more than 1,000 mountaintop camera feeds and is now expanding it statewide.

The system is designed to find “abnormalities” and alert emergency command centers, where staffers will confirm whether it’s indeed smoke or something else in the air.

“The beauty of this is that it immediately pops up on the screen and those dispatchers or call takers are able to interrogate that screen” and determine whether to send a crew, said Phillip SeLegue, staff chief of intelligence for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The cameras, part of a network that workers previously had to watch, provide billions of bytes of data for the AI system to digest. While humans still need to confirm any smoke sightings, the system helps reduce fatigue among staffers typically monitoring multiple screens and cameras, alerting them to look only when there’s possible fire or smoke, SeLegue said.

It’s already helped. A battalion chief got a smoke alert in the middle of the night, confirmed it on his cellphone and called a command center in San Diego to scramble first responders to the remote area.

The dispatchers said that if they hadn’t been alerted, the fire would have been much larger because it likely wouldn’t have been noticed until the next morning, SeLegue said.

San Francisco startup Pano AI takes a similar approach, mounting cameras on cell towers that scan for smoke and alert customers, including fire departments, utility companies and ski resorts.

The cameras use computer vision machine learning, a type of AI.

“They’re trained very specifically to detect smoke or not, and we train them with images of smoke and images of not smoke,” CEO Sonia Kastner said.

The images are combined with feeds from government weather satellites that scan for hotspots, along with other data sources, such as social media posts.

The technology gets around one of the main problems in the traditional way of detecting wildfires — relying on 911 calls from passers-by that need confirmation from staffers before crews and water-dropping planes can be deployed.

“Generally, only one in 20 of these 911 calls are actually a wildfire. Even during fire season, it might be a cloud or fog or a barbecue,” Kastner said.

Pano AI’s systems do still rely on final confirmation, with managers playing a time lapse of the camera feed to ensure it’s smoke rising.

For fighting forest fires, “technology is becoming really essential,” said Larry Bekkedahl, senior vice president of energy delivery at Portland General Electric, Oregon’s largest utility and a Pano AI customer.

Utility companies sometimes play a role in sparking wildfires, when their power lines are knocked down by wind or struck by falling trees. Hawaii’s electric utility acknowledged that its power lines started a devastating blaze in Maui this summer after apparently being downed by high winds.

PGE, which provides electricity to 51 cities in Oregon, has deployed 26 Pano AI cameras, and Bekkedahl said they have helped speed up response and coordination with emergency services.

Previously, fire departments were “running around looking for stuff and not even really knowing exactly where it’s at,” he said. The cameras help detect fires quicker and get teams on the ground faster, shaving up to two hours off response times.

“That’s significant in terms of how fast that fire can can spread and grow,” Bekkedahl said.

Using AI to detect smoke from fires “is relatively easy,” said Juan Lavista Ferres, chief data scientist at Microsoft.

“What is not easy is to have enough cameras that cover enough places,” he said, pointing to vast, remote areas in northern Canada that have burned this summer.

Ferres’ team at Microsoft has been developing AI models to predict where fires are likely to start. They have fed the model with maps of areas that burned previously, along with climate and geospatial data.

The system has its limitations — it can’t predict random events like a lightning strike. But it can sift through historical weather and climate data to identify patterns, such as areas that are typically drier. Even a road, which indicates people are nearby, is a risk factor, Ferres said.

“It’s not going to get it all perfectly right,” he said. “But what it can do is it can build a probability map (based on) what happened in the past.”

The technology, which Microsoft plans to offer as an open source tool, can help first responders trying to figure out where to focus their limited resources, Ferres said.

Another company is looking to the heavens for a solution. German startup OroraTech analyzes satellite images with artificial intelligence.

Taking advantage of advances in camera, satellite and AI technology, OroraTech has launched two mini satellites about the size of a shoebox into low orbit, about 550 kilometers (340 miles) above Earth’s surface. The Munich-based company has ambitions to send up eight more next year and eventually put 100 into space.

As wildfires swept central Chile this year, OroraTech said it provided thermal images at night when aerial drones are used less frequently.

Weeks after OroraTech launched its second satellite, it detected a fire near the community of Keg River in northern Alberta, where flames burned remote stretches of boreal forest repeatedly this summer.

“There are algorithms on the satellite, very efficient ones to detect fires even faster,” CEO Thomas Gruebler said.

The AI also takes into account vegetation and humidity levels to identify flare-ups that could spawn devastating megafires. The technology could help thinly stretched firefighting agencies direct resources to blazes with the potential to cause the most damage.

“Because we know exactly where the fires are, we can see how the fires will propagate,” Gruebler said. “So, which fire will be the big fire in one day and which will stop on their own.”

___

AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay in San Francisco contributed.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

The post The specter of wildfires is rising. So is new synthetic intelligence options to struggle them appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

• San Francisco’s commercial real estate market has seen a recent peak in demand. 
• The city may have the recent AI boom to thank for the boost, experts say.
• For the last few years, the once-hot market has been struggling to keep pace with the rest of the US. 

San Francisco’s commercial real estate market has been struggling in recent years. Storefronts, hotels, and office buildings have been moving out of the city at such a rate some have dubbed it a “doom loop.” 

It has also seen tech companies drastically reduce their presence. Meta, PayPal, and Snap have all slashed office space in the city in recent years. Meanwhile, the city is facing a devastating homelessness problem and a concerning shift in crime patterns. 

“San Francisco used to have the lowest office vacancy in the US of any major market,” Alexander Quinn, director of research at real estate company Jones Lang LaSalle, told Insider. “Vacancy is now at around 28% which would put it at the highest of any major market in the US,” he added. 

The pandemic was the major culprit behind this decline, Nick Romito – CEO of commercial real estate leasing and asset management platform VTS – told Insider. 

“San Francisco was a white-hot market driven mostly by technology. To go from that to quite literally the worst market in the country over the course of two years is kind of unprecedented,” he said.

But things are starting to turn around for San Francisco’s faltering commercial real estate market and the city may have artificial intelligence to thank for it. 

The excitement around generative AI since the launch of Open AI’s ChatGPT in November has spurred a flood of investor interest in major companies and start-ups alike. Now, some appear to be hunting for more office space.

According to data from VTS, San Francisco saw a recent boom in demand, experiencing a 10.2% demand increase in the most recent quarter. Romito links a lot of this increase to the recent AI boom. OpenAI, for example, is headquartered in San Francisco’s Mission District. 

“There’s certainly enough capital to cause a nice leap in demand,” he said, pointing to the estimated $11 billion worth of funding poured into San Francisco-based AI companies this year. The figure accounts for nearly half of all funding for AI startups worldwide, according to data from PitchBook.

“Pretty much all the data points to this demand coming from companies that are tangentially connected to AI,” Romito said.

It’s perhaps unsurprising that AI companies seem to have San Francisco in their sights. The city is home to 11 of the top-funded companies in the sector, according to data from VC firm NFX, which was shared with Insider by San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development. These companies include OpenAI, Anthropic, and Adept AI.

“Specifically in San Francisco we are at the epicenter of artificial intelligence,” Quinn said, “as a result that’s pushing us into growth in that sector and we are seeing growing requirements.”

Quinn said JLL had 10 AI clients eyeing around 750,000 to one million square feet of San Francisco real estate. One AI company, Hive, recently announced it was subleasing three floors of a downtown San Francisco office — taking over space previously occupied by software company Okta, Bloomberg reported. 

“They have a pretty strong remit to be in the office,” Quinn said of AI companies. “It’s driving demand which was really muted just three quarters ago — now we’re seeing a rise in our tenant requirements in San Francisco.”

VTS’s Romito said the vast majority of demand in the city in the last quarter was for smaller spaces, signaling recently-funded companies with fresh capital. 

He’s also optimistic about this demand keeping up for the rest of the year.

“I would assume for the remainder of this year AI is going to be the most active segment of technology,” he said. “You’re going to continue to see a lot of these AI deals carry a lot of capital.”

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The post Synthetic Intelligence Corporations Are Flocking to San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

• San Francisco’s commercial real estate market has seen a recent peak in demand. 
• The city may have the recent AI boom to thank for the boost, experts say.
• For the last few years, the once-hot market has been struggling to keep pace with the rest of the US. 

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San Francisco’s commercial real estate market has been struggling in recent years. Storefronts, hotels, and office buildings have been moving out of the city at such a rate some have dubbed it a “doom loop.” 

It has also seen tech companies drastically reduce their presence. Meta, PayPal, and Snap have all slashed office space in the city in recent years. Meanwhile, the city is facing a devastating homelessness problem and a concerning shift in crime patterns. 

“San Francisco used to have the lowest office vacancy in the US of any major market,” Alexander Quinn, director of research at real estate company Jones Lang LaSalle, told Insider. “Vacancy is now at around 28% which would put it at the highest of any major market in the US,” he added. 

The pandemic was the major culprit behind this decline, Nick Romito – CEO of commercial real estate leasing and asset management platform VTS – told Insider. 

“San Francisco was a white-hot market driven mostly by technology. To go from that to quite literally the worst market in the country over the course of two years is kind of unprecedented,” he said.

But things are starting to turn around for San Francisco’s faltering commercial real estate market and the city may have artificial intelligence to thank for it. 

The excitement around generative AI since the launch of Open AI’s ChatGPT in November has spurred a flood of investor interest in major companies and start-ups alike. Now, some appear to be hunting for more office space.

According to data from VTS, San Francisco saw a recent boom in demand, experiencing a 10.2% demand increase in the most recent quarter. Romito links a lot of this increase to the recent AI boom. OpenAI, for example, is headquartered in San Francisco’s Mission District. 

“There’s certainly enough capital to cause a nice leap in demand,” he said, pointing to the estimated $11 billion worth of funding poured into San Francisco-based AI companies this year. The figure accounts for nearly half of all funding for AI startups worldwide, according to data from PitchBook.

“Pretty much all the data points to this demand coming from companies that are tangentially connected to AI,” Romito said.

It’s perhaps unsurprising that AI companies seem to have San Francisco in their sights. The city is home to 11 of the top-funded companies in the sector, according to data from VC firm NFX, which was shared with Insider by San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development. These companies include OpenAI, Anthropic, and Adept AI.

“Specifically in San Francisco we are at the epicenter of artificial intelligence,” Quinn said, “as a result that’s pushing us into growth in that sector and we are seeing growing requirements.”

Quinn said JLL had 10 AI clients eyeing around 750,000 to one million square feet of San Francisco real estate. One AI company, Hive, recently announced it was subleasing three floors of a downtown San Francisco office — taking over space previously occupied by software company Okta, Bloomberg reported. 

“They have a pretty strong remit to be in the office,” Quinn said of AI companies. “It’s driving demand which was really muted just three quarters ago — now we’re seeing a rise in our tenant requirements in San Francisco.”

VTS’s Romito said the vast majority of demand in the city in the last quarter was for smaller spaces, signaling recently-funded companies with fresh capital. 

He’s also optimistic about this demand keeping up for the rest of the year.

“I would assume for the remainder of this year AI is going to be the most active segment of technology,” he said. “You’re going to continue to see a lot of these AI deals carry a lot of capital.”

The post Synthetic Intelligence Corporations Are Flocking to San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

When saying the term “artificial intelligence,” some people think of human-looking robots learning to take over the world.

We are a long way from such a Hollywood catastrophe. But concern is rising about the potential of artificial intelligence devices, whether they look like us or not, to become too intelligent for their own good and to cause numerous disruptions in the world of work.

No one can see the future clearly enough to know for sure, although it’s fairly easy to predict that technology will continue to improve over the years. A good example is television – both the devices people use to watch shows and the way the people who produce the shows distribute them. Since the introduction of the medium around 1950, there have been constant innovations.

As for AI, keep in mind that elemental forms of it have been around for a while. Numerous computer programs, used in fields ranging from car assembly to accounting, have enabled companies to get their jobs done faster – and with fewer staff.

The next level of artificial intelligence builds on this track record. An article on the Washington Post website states that technology “has been used to automate dirty and repetitive work.” But now, it goes on to say, it is about jobs that should actually be protected from the threat of automation.

The story tells of a 25-year-old copywriter at a San Francisco tech startup who was fired in April when managers decided that using ChatGPT software to write assignments was cheaper than hiring someone to do the work pay.

Another interview was with a 34-year-old Illinois man who ran a content writing business for 10 years for $60 an hour. But in March, its largest client switched its writing jobs to ChatGPT, and its other nine contract clients soon followed.

The author claimed that artificial intelligence, with its level of creativity and originality, could not produce text. Customers agreed but said Chat GPT was far more affordable.

With this knowledge, a career change was imminent and the former writer enrolled in an apprenticeship as a heating and air conditioning technician. Next year he would also like to complete an apprenticeship as a plumber, as he assumes that “a profession is more future-proof”.

As the artificial intelligence debate heats up, remember: there are still certain things computers and robots can’t do, and jobs like air conditioning repairs, plumbing, and construction are among them. The people who thrive in fields like these may be the last to laugh at others who have studied – only to find that technology reduces or eliminates the need for their specialty.

Goldman Sachs predicted in March that artificial intelligence could do up to 18% of the world’s work. However, it was pointed out that activities that involve spending a lot of time outdoors or doing manual labor cannot be automated.

And one more thing: With these AI advancements, there are still many bugs that need to be fixed. Evidence of this comes from the National Eating Disorders Association, which fired its hotline staff and reportedly replaced it with a chatbot. The technology promptly delivered “insensitive and harmful advice” to callers and was shut down.

Of course, such bugs can be fixed, and the world is kidding itself if it thinks artificial intelligence isn’t going to keep improving – probably fast. When employers are tempted to choose between a good-paying workforce and computer programs that can do similar work at a lower cost, it’s pretty clear what the choice will often be.

— Jack Ryan, McComb Enterprise Journal

The post Opinion: Competing for jobs with synthetic intelligence appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Photo credit: Bloomberg/Contributor/Getty Images

With global digital payments revenue expected to reach $14.79 trillion by 2027, payments infrastructure has arguably never been more critical. But at the same time, the technology is becoming more important, and the associated costs and complexities are increasing. A recent survey shows that merchant satisfaction with their payment processors has plummeted, especially when major technical hurdles are encountered.

In search of solutions to these problems, Klas Bäck, Albert Drouart and Dan Blomberg formed Pagos, a payment intelligence infrastructure startup. Comprised of payment experts with Braintree, PayPal and Stripe backgrounds, Pagos transforms disparate digital payment data into actionable insights without requiring customers to switch payment processors.

CEO Bäck and Drouart have held senior leadership positions at Braintree/Venmo and PayPal for the past eight to nine years; Braintree/Venmo was acquired by PayPal in September 2013. For his part, Blomberg has founded seven startups and sold five over the past two decades.

“Payment processing is fundamental to customer relationships, revenue and a company’s bottom line, but managing it well is becoming increasingly complex,” Back told TechCrunch via email. “Most businesses don’t have the tools, data, or knowledge to design or implement an effective payment strategy; Even those who do often leave significant opportunities open. Pagos was founded on the premise that almost all businesses need help to make their payment execution more data-centric.”

Payment infrastructure providers are not exactly a dime a dozen, but there are a growing number of providers chasing the massive market opportunity. Headquartered in San Francisco, Streamline recently raised $4 million for its business-to-business focused payments product suite. Kushki is a much bigger player — the Ecuadorian payments infrastructure startup landed $100 million last year at a $1.5 billion valuation.

So what does Pagos bring to the table? Bäck claims it uniquely enables businesses to stream and store their payment data — including trade and fraud data — in one place. From a single dashboard, clients can visualize the data and track metrics including transaction, payment authorization and risk performance.

The Pagos financial monitoring dashboard. Photo credit: Paid

Pagos offers connections to payment processors like Adyen, Chase, Braintree, PayPal, Stripe, and WorldPay, as well as data collection APIs to allow businesses to stream payment data and custom metadata into the platform.

“Our promotional products bring together an organization’s data and expose APIs to enable developers and business stakeholders within an organization to refine their payment stack to address issues such as churn, risk and cost – ask Pagos for credential recommendations , where and how to send your transactions for maximum upside,” said Bäck. “Pagos is different because we are not trying to offer new sanitary facilities; We want them to make better use of the collection of vendors and partners they have, which might involve changing processes and systems to resolve issues.”

In terms of customers, Bäck says Pagos, whose platform has processed over a billion transaction events, focuses on companies that sell or bill their customers online and companies that serve them, such as fraud providers, payment orchestration platforms, acquirers and payment service providers , software-as-a-service verticals and marketplaces. Current clients include Adobe, Eventbrite, GoFundMe, Peek, and Warner Bros Discover.

“With Pagos, companies can see what’s going on in a batch of payments,” said Bäck. “Use cases include adding new payment partners and payment methods, identifying optimal payment methods and routes, tracking payments and chargeback metrics, and optimizing recurring bills to reduce churn.

Some investors see the value proposition. Pagos today closed a $34 million Series A round led by Arbor Ventures with participation from Infinity Ventures, Underscore VC and Point 72 Ventures. The company’s total revenue is $44 million, which Bäck says will be used to fund new hires in engineering, product development and “accelerating customer implementation.”

“Actually, we weren’t looking for additional capital. However, we were inundated with incoming investor interest and recognized a unique opportunity to grow our client base even faster, especially in today’s volatile economic climate,” said Bäck. “This opportunistic Series A round was significantly oversubscribed.”

As for the future, Bäck says he’s not overly concerned about the challenging macroeconomic climate for startups. He actually claims that the pandemic triggered a rush into e-commerce that, although it has since declined, has had a lasting impact.

According to Bäck, the pandemic has led to a measurable increase in the use of digital payments. The World Bank’s Global Findex 2021 database found that – in low- and middle-income economies excluding China – over 40% of adults who have made payments by card, phone or internet to merchants in-store or online did so for the first time times have done since the beginning of the pandemic.

“The backend financial infrastructure remains critical. Helping companies sell more and reduce their costs is gaining traction now more than ever,” said Bäck. “Over the last 9-12 months, many companies have put a special focus on reducing their operating costs. This is where Pagos is particularly well positioned to help – most companies can even get started without any integration work, making the return on investment extremely fast.”

Over the next year, Pagos plans to “greatly expand” the remote software, product, sales and account management teams within its 41-strong workforce, says Bäck.

The post Pagos raises $34M because the demand for ‘cost intelligence’ rises appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

In this article, FARO Technologies examines the value of artificial intelligence and 3D laser scanning for MEP applications

In 2011, artificial intelligence had a big “aha” moment when IBM’s question-and-answer computer Watson stunned the world by comfortably defeating its human challengers on popular American quiz show Jeopardy!

Part publicity stunt, part proving ground, Watson remains a proper noun synonymous with artificial intelligence in 2023 — even if some of the supercomputer’s shine has faded.

Today, other companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Boston Dynamics, and Google are ahead in the AI ​​race. And in November, San Francisco-based OpenAI, an AI research and deployment company, garnered global attention with ChatGPT, the company’s natural-language online chatbot.

That said, while AI is by no means omniscient, it is clear that the technology is advancing rapidly. And it’s a technology that’s catching on in everyday life. This is especially true when AI systems are combined in the near future with already established technologies such as 3D laser scanning for mechanical, electrical and plumbing applications, the indispensable innards of every building, new or retrofitted.

Intelligent entrance, intelligent exit

What many, of course, fail to appreciate is that artificial intelligence is still largely only as good as the quality of the data being fed into the system, either by human operators or by some other technology collecting and organizing the data, such as 3D laser scanners and cloud-based SaaS data platforms.

In other words, artificial intelligence has yet to fully master what computing pioneer JCR Licklider called “formulative thinking,” or the technology’s ability to think beyond strict programming. But this is where humans and 3D laser scanning can help.

For MEP professionals, whether building something new or completing a building transformation for repurposing, improvement or maintenance, the success and timing of an entire project depends on accurate and comprehensive site data. Any inaccuracies or conflicts in MEP installation can lead to unnecessary rework, higher costs and a subpar end result.

3D capture technology ensures MEP designs are accurate and that HVAC piping and tubing easily fit into tight spaces with tight tolerances. Even in more open spaces such as technical rooms, the same advantages apply. It is only when this data is collected and shared that sophisticated AI software as it is currently being developed can do its job.

The advantages of 3D laser scanning

Working with 3D laser scanning hardware and software solutions as a necessary first step for MEP applications offers many benefits including:

• Faster Installation Verification: Rather than relying on cumbersome manual measurements, 3D reality capture devices verify the built environment (including MEP) with greater accuracy and in a fraction of the time, while the accompanying software makes it easy to convert raw point cloud data into tangible, actionable information.
• Improved comparison between as-built and BIM: With 3D laser scanning and design software, you can compare the installation of the above MEP components with the BIM output and identify the exact MEP placement.
• Simplify data organization and project collaboration: Reduce the risk of miscommunication or misunderstandings with more advanced collaboration tools. The technology increasingly enables the secure exchange of all data with project participants from anywhere in the world. Instead of explaining critical details through multiple communication channels, a centralized exchange of information is crucial.
• More Accurate Retrofit/Rebuild Projects: Most retrofits start the same way: you determine how much you can actually trust the original design documentation. Today’s modern point cloud and data processing eliminates this potential weak point. With an accuracy of 2mm to 5mm, the latest scan-to-BIM technology ensures a 3D rendering of what is actually there.

All in for AI

Once you’ve collected, organized, and shared all that accurate 3D data, what’s next? Where does AI fit in?

AI for MEP can be useful in two ways. The first serves as a means of data sorting and pattern recognition. Every MEP system is inevitably structured differently. But what if a design or set of designs is superior: more energy efficient, for example, since less piping is required? AI has the potential to review thousands of MEP projects in near real time and identify the best/most energy efficient solutions. Beyond environmental friendliness, AI can also be used to determine other considerations such as economics and strategic execution.

The second way to use AI for MEP applications is in project management. AI can monitor, collect, control, rate, and manage energy consumption in relation to MEP requirements across an entire building or set of buildings. AI can also be useful in the long-term planning of energy management systems, of which MEP is an integral part. According to at least one New York-based engineering firm, it can also “analyze processes that drive decision-making about what changes to make to the MEP design and predict problems only to provide tailored solutions to them.” .

The end result is that a successful MEP installation will benefit from the near-term unification of AI, 3D laser scanning and the all-important human component working together: 3D scanning and human operators to input/provide data and AI to assist in the Identify improved efficiencies and inform long-term energy system management.

In the not too distant future, however, when artificial intelligence enters new avenues of analysis and communication, natural language computers like Watson and online bots like ChatGPT and other AI algorithms currently under development will seem increasingly antiquated. The AI ​​of tomorrow could far exceed our wildest expectations.

Or as ChatGPT explains it: “AI will evolve as technology advances and becomes more widespread. Therefore, it is important to actively consider and address possible impacts through research, regulation and ethical guidelines.”

In this point, humans and AI are perfectly matched.

Amanda Hidalgo

Corporate Communications Office

FARO Technologies

Tel: +1 700 161 1036

amanda.hidalgo@faro.com

https://www.faro.com/

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*Please note: This is a commercial profile.

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Digital Intelligence Solutions Market Leader Empowers Customers to Protect and Save Lives,
Accelerate Justice and Preserve Privacy

Transaction Implies Pro Forma Equity Value of Approximately $2.4 Billion; Expected to Provide up to $480 Million of Gross Cash Proceeds to the Company; Includes a Fully Committed $300 Million PIPE for the Purchase of Shares from Early Investors in the Company, Oversubscribed with Commitments from Strategic Investor Axon Enterprise, Inc. and Leading Institutional Investors Including Light Street Capital and Makena Capital

Transaction Seeks to Accelerate Cellebrite’s Ability to Execute on Significant Near-Term Growth Opportunities in the Public Sector, Develop New Customer Solutions and Expand its Private Sector and End-Market Reach

Cellebrite Generated Revenues of Approximately $195 Million and Gross Margins of Approximately 80% in Fiscal 2020 and Projects Revenues of Approximately $283 Million and Gross Margins of Approximately 81% in Fiscal 2022

SAN FRANCISCO and PETAH TIKVA, Israel, April 8, 2021 /CNW/ — Cellebrite DI Ltd. (“Cellebrite” or the “Company”), the global leader in Digital Intelligence (“DI”) solutions for the public and private sectors, and TWC Tech Holdings II Corp. (“TWC Tech Holdings”) (Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”): TWCT), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, today announced they have entered into a definitive business combination agreement and plan of merger (“Merger Agreement”). As a result of the transaction, Cellebrite will become a publicly listed company on the Nasdaq under the new ticker symbol, “CLBT”, and the pro forma implied equity value of Cellebrite post-merger is expected to be approximately $2.4 billion.

Cellebrite Logo (PRNewsfoto/Cellebrite)

Cellebrite’s mission is to enable its customers to protect and save lives, accelerate justice and preserve privacy in communities around the world. Cellebrite empowers public and private sector customers, including federal, state and local public safety agencies and private sector enterprises, to manage Digital Intelligence in legally sanctioned investigations. With Cellebrite’s end-to-end integrated Digital Intelligence investigative platform, customers can solve cases faster and more efficiently than ever before, digitizing the entire investigative lifecycle and accelerating outcomes within the justice system. The Company is deeply committed to data privacy and to the ethical use of its technology. Cellebrite’s solutions have been purchased by 6,700 public safety agencies and private sector enterprises in over 140 countries and have helped millions of investigations globally. The Company’s rapidly deployable technology solutions position it for long-term growth in a total addressable market that is estimated to reach $12 billion by 2023.

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Company Highlights

Cellebrite’s solutions are based on its unique, purpose-built technology for the investigative lifecycle and have become the standard in investigations and legal processes. The Company has diverse revenue streams across its offerings and customer segments and a high annual recurring revenue net retention rate.

Cellebrite has a highly experienced management team, an elite research and development team that includes personnel from top Israeli intelligence units, and a talented workforce that includes former members of global law enforcement agencies. Following completion of the transaction, Cellebrite’s management team will continue to operate the business with Yossi Carmil serving as Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Carmil said: “Cellebrite’s vision is to provide industry-leading technology and a holistic DI solution that enables our customers to transform and digitize their entire investigative process. Today marks an exciting step for our company and team, and will put us in an even better position to capture the opportunities ahead. As a result of the transaction, we will seek to build upon our leadership position by making strategic, targeted investments to expand our capabilities, deepen our position in the public sector and attract new customers in the growing private sector market. At Cellebrite, we are most passionate about the positive, meaningful outcomes our work enables for the powerless, threatened and underserved. Importantly, we recognize the immense responsibility that comes with operating a business that partners with law enforcement agencies but protects the privacy of citizens. To that end, Cellebrite and our Board have a deep commitment to creating a safer world and to operating in a lawful and ethical manner that is unwavering.”

Adam Clammer, Chief Executive Officer of TWC Tech Holdings, said: “At True Wind Capital we are focused on investing in leading technology companies, and the Cellebrite opportunity ticks all the boxes on our wish list for a long-term investment in a public company. Cellebrite empowers public and private sector customers to drive digital transformation of the investigative workflow through its advanced technology. Importantly, Cellebrite’s technology helps bring justice to victims of crimes, including cases of child exploitation, violent crimes such as homicide and sexual assault, drug and human trafficking, fraud and financial crime. We are proud to be partnering with a company that is having a real impact on these issues.”

Transaction Overview

The total cash that will be available to Cellebrite upon closing is expected to be $580 million, comprised of TWC Tech Holdings’ cash held in trust, assuming no redemptions by public stockholders. Upon closing, TWC Tech Holdings’ shareholders will receive a combination of cash and stock in Cellebrite. The transaction includes a private investment of approximately $300 million in Cellebrite ordinary shares that will be purchased directly from existing shareholders of Cellebrite who are primarily from early investors in the Company and which is expected to close concurrently with the merger of TWC Tech Holdings with a subsidiary of the Company. Leading institutional investors, including Light Street Capital and Makena Capital, and strategic investor Axon Enterprise, Inc., participated in the private investment.

The cash proceeds from the transaction will be used to accelerate Cellebrite’s ability to execute on its significant near-term growth opportunities, develop new customer solutions and expand its end-market reach.

The Board of Directors of both Cellebrite and TWC Tech Holdings have unanimously approved the transaction, which is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2021. At closing, the Chairman of the Board of Directors at Cellebrite, Mr. Ryusuke Utsumi, will be stepping down from his position, and Mr. Haim Shani, Co-Founder & General Partner of Israel Growth Partners and a current Director of Cellebrite, will assume the Board’s Chairmanship. Mr. Utsumi will remain a member of the Board of Directors.

The transaction is subject to approval by the stockholders of Cellebrite and TWC Tech Holdings, respectively, and the satisfaction of the closing conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement.

Additional information about the transaction, including a copy of the Merger Agreement and the investor presentation, will be filed by TWC Tech Holdings in a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and will be available at www.sec.gov.

Investor Webcast Information

Cellebrite will post a pre-recorded video to its website that discusses the transaction and reviews an investor presentation. The investor presentation can be found on Cellebrite’s website at https://www.cellebrite.com/en/investors.

Advisors

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is serving as financial advisor to Cellebrite, and White & Case LLP and Meitar Law Offices are serving as legal advisors to Cellebrite.

BofA Securities and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are acting as placement agents to Cellebrite and TWC Tech Holdings, BofA Securities is also serving as capital markets advisor to TWC Tech Holdings and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Herzog, Fox & Ne’eman are acting as legal advisors to TWC Tech Holdings.

Shearman & Sterling LLP is acting as legal advisor to the placement agents.

About Cellebrite

Cellebrite’s mission is to enable its customers to protect and save lives, accelerate justice and preserve privacy in communities around the world. Cellebrite is the global leader in Digital Intelligence solutions for the public and private sectors, empowering organizations to master the complexities of legally sanctioned digital investigations by streamlining intelligence processes. Trusted by thousands of leading agencies and companies in more than 140 countries, Cellebrite’s Digital Intelligence platform and solutions transform how customers collect, review, analyze and manage data in legally sanctioned investigations. To learn more visit us at www.cellebrite.com and https://www.cellebrite.com/en/investors/.

About TWC Tech Holdings II Corp

TWC Tech Holdings II Corp is a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination. TWC Tech Holdings raised $600 million in its initial public offering in September 2020. TWC Tech Holdings securities are listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbols TWCT, TWCTU and TWCTW.

About True Wind Capital

True Wind Capital is a San Francisco-based private equity firm focused on investing in leading technology companies. True Wind has a broad investing mandate, with deep industry expertise across software, tech-enabled services, and hardware.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This document includes “forward looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “forecast,” “intend,” “seek,” “target,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “continue,” “expect,” “estimate,” “may,” “plan,” “outlook,” “future” and “project” and other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. Such forward looking statements include estimated financial information. Such forward looking statements with respect to revenues, earnings, performance, strategies, prospects and other aspects of the businesses of TWC Tech Holdings, Cellebrite or the combined company after completion of the proposed business combination contemplated by the Merger Agreement (the “business combination”) are based on current expectations that are subject to risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those indicated by such forward looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: (1) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Merger Agreement and the proposed business combination contemplated thereby; (2) the inability to complete the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement due to the failure to obtain approval of the stockholders of TWC Tech Holdings or other conditions to closing in the Merger Agreement; (3) the ability to meet Nasdaq’s listing standards following the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement; (4) the risk that the proposed transaction disrupts current plans and operations of Cellebrite as a result of the announcement and consummation of the transactions described herein; (5) the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the proposed business combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, the ability of the combined company to grow and manage growth profitably, maintain relationships with customers and suppliers and retain its management and key employees; (6) costs related to the proposed business combination; (7) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (8) the possibility that Cellebrite may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; and (9) other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in other documents filed or to be filed with the SEC by TWC Tech Holdings. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. TWC Tech Holdings and Cellebrite undertake no commitment to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

Additional Information

In connection with the proposed business combination between Cellebrite and TWC Tech Holdings, Cellebrite intends to file a registration statement on Form F-4 that will include a preliminary proxy statement to be distributed to stockholders of TWC Tech Holdings II Corp. in connection with TWC Tech Holdings’ solicitation of proxies for the vote by its stockholders with respect to the proposed business combination. After the registration statement has been filed and declared effective by the SEC, TWC Tech Holdings will mail a definitive proxy statement / prospectus to its stockholders as of the record date established for voting on the proposed business combination and the other proposals regarding the proposed business combination set forth in the proxy statement. Cellebrite or TWC Tech Holdings may also file other documents with the SEC regarding the proposed business combination. Before making any investment or voting decision, stockholders and other interested persons are advised to read, when available, the registration statement and preliminary proxy statement / prospectus and any amendments thereto, and the definitive proxy statement / prospectus in connection with TWC Tech Holdings’ solicitation of proxies for the special meeting to be held to approve the transactions contemplated by the proposed business combination because these materials will contain important information about Cellebrite, TWC Tech Holdings and the proposed transaction. Stockholders will also be able to obtain a copy of the preliminary proxy statement / prospectus and the definitive proxy statement / prospectus once they are available, without charge, at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, or at Cellebrite’s website at www.cellebrite.com, or by directing a request to: TWC Tech Holdings II Corp., Four Embarcadero Center, Suite 2100, San Francisco, CA 94111.

No Offer or Solicitation

This document is not a proxy statement or solicitation or a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the proposed business combination and shall not constitute an offer to sell or exchange, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or exchange, the securities of Cellebrite, TWC Tech Holdings or the combined company, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, sale or exchange would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

Participants in the Solicitation

Cellebrite and TWC Tech Holdings and their respective directors and officers may be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies of TWC Tech Holdings stockholders in connection with the proposed business combination. TWC Tech Holdings stockholders, Cellebrite’s shareholders and other interested persons may obtain, without charge, more detailed information regarding the directors and officers of Cellebrite and TWC Tech Holdings at Cellebrite’s website at www.cellebrite.com, or in TWC Tech Holdings’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, respectively.

Information regarding the persons who may, under SEC rules, be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies to TWC Tech Holdings’ stockholders in connection with the proposed transaction will be set forth in the proxy statement / prospectus for the transaction when available. Additional information regarding the interests of participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed transaction will be included in the proxy statement / prospectus filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed business combination.

Contacts

For Cellebrite:

Media
Adam Jaffe
VP of Global Communications
+1 973 206 7643
adam.jaffe@cellebrite.com
– or –
RapidResponse@cellebrite.com

Investors
Anat Earon-Heilborn
VP Investor Relations
+972 73 394 8440
investors@cellebrite.com

For TWC Tech Holdings II Corp.:
Jonathan Gasthalter/Nathaniel Garnick
Gasthalter & Co.
+1 (212) 257-4170
TWCT@gasthalter.com

TWC Tech Holdings II Corp.

Cision

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SOURCE Cellebrite

Cision

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