Author: Lucas Bennett

UK organizations are racing to modernize customer experience. AI-powered chatbots, agent assistants, workflow automation, and self-service tools are rapidly becoming standard across customer operations as businesses look to improve responsiveness, reduce pressure on frontline teams, and meet rising customer expectations.But many organizations are discovering that deploying new technology is the easy part. The harder challenge is making those systems work reliably in the real world. Ajay Awatramani Social Links Navigation Too often, businesses are layering AI tools onto disconnected data, siloed systems, and infrastructure that was never designed for real-time customer engagement. On paper, the technology stack looks modern. In…

More than 100 people died after a powerful earthquake struck western Colombia, collapsing and severely damaging scores of buildings in major cities including Cali and Pereira.The US and Colombian geological surveys reported that a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck at 7.34am local time on Monday, with its epicentre in the western department of Chocó. It was felt in neighbouring Venezuela, still reeling from a deadly double earthquake on 24 June.The quake killed at least 132 people and more than 570 were injured as of Monday afternoon, according to the Colombian Association of Capital Cities, a group coordinating cities across the country.Rescue workers…

Roku’s recently announced 24/7 AI channel has drawn criticism from people on social media, with many threatening to boycott the streaming platform entirely. The company, which is the US’ largest streaming hardware distributor, recently launched a channel that streams AI created content 24/7, with ads that are also created using generative AI. The channel was designed by tech startup Fairground Entertainment and has been described by the company as “a major milestone”. Social media users are less enthused, however, reacting to the news with derision on X (formerly Twitter). “Legit horrific,” wrote one person. “Society is quickly turning into a…

“I just seen another opponent standing in front of me,” said Teremoana, following their face-off. “We train six days a week twice a day to prepare for this and I’m about to put all the training to work… Someone’s going to get put down.”

UK retail spending increased 2.1% year-on-year in July as consumer confidence in the UK economy reached its highest level in 21 months, according to the latest Barclays Consumer Spend report. Overall card spending rose 2.0% compared with the same period last year, marking the highest level of growth in 12 months, while confidence in the UK economy climbed six percentage points to 30%, its highest reading since October 2024. Barclays said the combination of England’s Women’s World Cup run, continued warm weather and recovering consumer confidence helped lift both essential and discretionary spending during the month. Story Stream More on…

Dr Martha Newson and Shula Rael have. But each year as the sun comes up on Monday morning, the answers drift away from Boomtown like dandelion puffballs in the breeze. Enter: The Observatory – the big, bulging brain of the annual, Hampshire-based festival. Boomtown runs 12–16 August and has come to be known as the UK’s wildest thanks to its enveloping story world and epic infrastructure. Nestled up in the woods, The Observatory is a cornerstone of its Chapter Five: Radical Redesign, whose ambitious green energy policies and welfare initiatives mark a watershed moment for festivals everywhere. “We’ve got 77,000…

As AI continues to help the world of work evolve, more and more roles are increasingly embracing the technology in a bid to improve efficiency and value for money.Perhaps nowhere is that more important than procurement – often a neglected area of interest, it plays a vital role for businesses across all industries, and has proved ripe for AI innovation so far.We spoke to Amy Worth, Director Amazon Business UK and Public Sector Customers EU, to find out more.Latest Videos FromTechRadarAI is becoming increasingly embedded in procurement. Where are you seeing AI-powered purchasing insights deliver the greatest value for organisations…

(Bangladesh has the law, the prohibition and an existing enforcement framework. What is now needed is a faster, clearer and more accountable system capable of acting when violations actually occur.) Smoking on public transport is prohibited in Bangladesh, and the law provides for fines for violations. Yet despite these legal provisions, smoking continues to occur on buses, minibuses and other forms of public transport. The problem is particularly difficult when a violation takes place on a moving vehicle. A passenger or transport worker may smoke for only a few minutes, making it difficult for conventional enforcement mechanisms to respond in…

One of the greatest challenges in modern genetics is schizophrenia. Unlike diseases caused by a single mutation, this disorder appears to arise from a combination of hundreds of genetic variants, each with small effects on different brain processes. Some influence neural development, while others alter communication between neurons or the organization of brain connections. Together, they contribute to the risk of developing the disease.Understanding this complex genetic architecture requires more than just identifying a single root cause of the problem. Scientists also need to understand how genes interact with one another and whether they form biological networks capable of amplifying…

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsIncreased booking demand linked to the World Cup has helped Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) counter downturns caused by the war in Iran across its Middle Eastern operations.The group stated that revenue per available room (RevPAR)—a key performance metric for the hotel industry—grew 4.8 per cent in the Americas during the first half, with growth reaching 5.4 per cent in the second quarter. This was driven…