technologyreseller.co.uk 33 TECHDIGEST continued... respondents said they would only use AI services if they had absolute certainty over the ownership of their data inputs and outputs. In addition to UK-only hosting, the relaxAI API includes end-toend encryption; multi-factor authentication; full compliance with GDPR, SOC 2, CyberEssentials Plus and ISO-27001 standards; and a choice of cloud-based, on-premises or hybrid deployments. The API is available to relaxAI Free and Plus users in General Availability, with UK-based deployments starting at £0.10 per million input tokens and £0.60 per million output tokens. relax.ai/api … Learning technology company Thrive is aiming to create the industry’s first fully integrated learning and mentoring platform with the multimillionpound acquisition of Guider, which uses AI to match and connect colleagues with experienced leaders, mentors and coaches. The company’s first acquisition since its launch in 2019 will extend Thrive’s reach into the coaching and mentoring sector and enable it to integrate skills, mentoring, communications and knowledge management into a single all-in-one AI platform, while also running Guider as a standalone solution and continuing to develop its capabilities. To this end, it is introducing a new suite of Guider Mentoring Programmes, designed to cut mentoring preparation time by 50%. Each one comes with a complete set of pre- and post-session resources for mentors and mentees, including preparation guides, conversation prompts and follow-ups. With 54% year-on-year growth since it was founded in 2019 contributing to a £150 million valuation, Thrive provides all-in-one learning solutions to clients such as ASOS, Volvo, Vodafone, Avon and Burger King and has 3 million users worldwide. www.thrivelearning.com … Following the launch earlier this year of Illuminate, which is claimed to revolutionise API security by finding and eliminating vulnerable APIs, automatically enforcing compliance and using AI to stop behavioural attacks in real-time, Salt Security has released survey findings showing that just 17% of CISOs have implemented a comprehensive API security strategy, even though 73% rank API security as a high or critical priority for the next 12 months. Based on an international survey of 300 CISOs in enterprises with more than 1,000 employees, the 2025 Salt Security CISO Report, API Blindspots and Breakthroughs: How CISOs are Approaching API Risk, reveals that only 19% of CISOs have full visibility of APIs across their organisation at a time when 25% of CISOs have seen API numbers grow by more than 100%, with a further 30% of respondents reporting a rise of 51-100%. https://salt.security/ … Totalmobile, a UK leader in field service management (FSM) technology, has launched a first-of-its-kind SaaS platform dedicated exclusively to FSM. With advanced AI and automation at its core, Field First brings together a modular suite of vertically tailored solutions, including proactive asset management, dynamic scheduling, mobile workforce enablement, smarter rostering, lone worker protection, streamlined job management and real-time field intelligence. By joining the dots between systems, processes and people, it helps customers in housing, health, utilities, infrastructure, FM and government streamline their operations, scale faster, improve outcomes and prove ROI. Totalmobile Chief Product Officer Chrissi Jackson said: “Field First represents our commitment to providing multi-capability solutions that allow our customers to adopt a more holistic approach to service operations. Regardless of whether organisations adopt a single capability or the entire platform, they will gain a seamless, connected experience that adapts as their needs evolve.” www.totalmobile.com Huddersfield-headquartered software-as-a-service (SaaS) business Adventoris is celebrating a major milestone for SwiftCloud, after processing more than £2bn worth of orders through the B2B ecommerce solution for wholesalers and B2B retailers. Launched in 2012, SwiftCloud has grown strongly in the last three years, increasing registered users by 129% since March 2022 (to 110,000) and growing monthly order volumes by 87% over the same period. SwiftCloud clients report up to 50% bigger basket sizes and average monthly sales increases of over 25%, while their customers enjoy a 50% faster ordering process. www.adventoris.com www.swiftcloud.co.uk … SonicWall, a cybersecurity provider for MSPs, is taking its partner engagement to a new level with the launch of a global roadshow visiting 25 cities across four continents. The London leg of Elevate 2025, taking place on September 25th at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, will give Embedded AI essential for high company valuations Artis Partners has identified a shift in AI-focused acquisitions, with strategic buyers targeting enterprise software companies specifically for their domain-embedded AI capability, even if they don’t present as AI-native businesses. Managing Partner Victor Basta points out that while technology giants such as Meta and Google will occasionally pursue AI-native targets in deals of $10-30 billion, such instances are rare. Instead, as AI adoption becomes use-case driven rather than infrastructure-led, most strategic buyers, particularly mid-market public companies and larger private equitybacked platforms, are acquiring businesses that have successfully embedded AI into their product functionality and operational delivery. He said: “These companies don’t manifest as AI businesses; they’re not on a Gartner AI list. But that capability ‘under the hood’ is exactly what buyers are chasing. It’s about acquiring businesses with customers, product and domain strength, but with AI capability already built in.” Basta points out that this shift has implications for exit strategies and the prices software companies can expect, as buyers increasingly base valuations on perceived differences in how deeply companies have embraced AI. “In a year or two, there will be no software that isn’t AI, so the current distinctions driving exit values will no longer apply, but for the moment it is making the difference between prices of 100 and 200 for similar businesses. Buyers understand this and are acting now to build capability from within,” he said. “Without a deeply embedded AI story, soon it will probably become impossible for any digital-first business to succeed in terms of getting an exit.” https://artis.partners/ Victor Basta
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