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Iconic British designer Sir Jony Ive, the man behind Apple’s most celebrated products, is joining forces with OpenAI in a bold bid to reshape the future of AI hardware. The ChatGPT maker has acquired ‘io’, a design-focused startup founded by Ive, in what is reportedly its largest acquisition yet, valued at a staggering $6.5bn (£4.7bn). OpenAI already had a 23% stake in the startup prior to yesterday’s announcement.
The deal will see OpenAI integrating ‘io’ into its operations, with Ive taking on broad creative and design responsibilities. Ive left Apple in 2019 to found his own creative company LoveFrom (which remains separate), and although he won't be joining OpenAI as an employee, his company will steer design across the firm’s products, including software. Ive’s return to hardware design comes after years of quiet collaboration with OpenAI and a decade-defining tenure at Apple, where he helped launch the iMac, iPhone, and Apple Watch.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has revealed his ambitions to create a “family of devices” purpose-built for AI, describing the opportunity as a chance to “completely re-imagine what it means to use a computer.” The first device, according to media reports, won’t be wearable but a screenless, compact AI companion, small enough for a pocket, yet powerful enough to become a third pillar alongside a laptop and smartphone.
But can Ive really create the next ‘Apple’? So many firms have tried to develop AI-infused hardware in the past few years, but nearly all have failed to gain any significant traction. For example, both Google and Meta have attempted to push AI smart glasses, we also have the $700 Humane AI pin, which it claims is the beginning of a post-smartphone future, but really is just a flop. We can add in the pocket-sized assistant Rabbit R1 device into that bucket as well, another AI-powered wearable launched with bold claims but no future. Apple of course has been investing in its Vision Pro headset (See here), but unsurprisingly at £3,500 few are jumping off the shelves.
We also have to address the absurd amount of money ‘io’ is being valued at, especially for a firm with little to show for it other than Ive's reputation. Just to put that valuation in perspective, here are some companies at a similar valuation, all with much more substance; RPA supplier UiPath ($6.55bn), global investment firm Invesco ($6.55bn), Cybersecurity firm SentinelOne ($6.4bn), e-commerce site Etsy ($4.85bn), retailer JD Sports (£4.88bn) and UK hospitality firm Whitbread (£4.9bn).
Are these organisations going to be the next Apple, of course not, but they are significant business, some which have run successfully for decades. You really have to ask the question, given all the failures we have seen from AI-hardware so far, is this really a smart move? OpenAI has firmly established itself as one of the leading LLM suppliers, but it is moving away from its close relationship with Microsoft (See here), and toying with changing its profit structure (See here). Amidst a market that few can predict more than a year or so ahead, is betting such a big sum of its recent funding on a risky endeavour goign to pay off? I guess we will all have to wait and see (I wouldn’t hold your breath though, I have a feeling it might be a while).
Posted by: Simon Baxter at 09:56
Big Technologies, the AIM-listed specialist in electronic monitoring for criminal justice and remote care sectors (best known by its brand name Buddi), has reported a 9% revenue decline to £50.3m for the year ended 31st December 2024, down from £55.2m in FY23. The company attributed the drop primarily to the loss of a significant criminal justice contract in Colombia (as we reported at the halfway point – see Big Technologies dips in H1).
Despite the revenue setback, the firm maintained robust profitability with adjusted EBITDA of £27.0m, representing a healthy margin of 53.7%, though down from 59.8% in the previous year. The company strengthened its balance sheet, increasing net cash to £93.9m from £85.9m in FY23.
The results come amidst significant corporate upheaval, with the company dismissing founder and former CEO Sara Murray in March 2025 and subsequently initiating legal proceedings against her. A new executive leadership team is now in place, with Ian Johnson appointed as CEO and Mike Johns as CFO earlier this month.
The company has already shown signs of recovery, reporting 11% underlying revenue growth in Q1 2025 (excluding the Colombia contract), and last month the company secured a 5+3+2 year contract (worth up to £10m) to provide electronic monitoring services to the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland.
Big Technologies’ latest version of its Smart Tag device (v5.1) has now been rolled out across its client base, and its Eagle monitoring system now includes multiple AI features (with work on further analysis and prediction tools ongoing). The company has identified the US market as a significant growth opportunity, which could help offset the revenue lost from Colombia.
Despite the challenges of 2024, Big Technologies remains well-positioned in the electronic monitoring market with strong cash reserves and renewed leadership focus.
Posted by: Craig Wentworth at 09:50
Tags:
results
criminal justice
Posted by: HotViews Editor at 09:00
BT Group saw its revenue for FY25 (the twelve months ended 31st March) dip by 2% yoy to £20.4bn. The reduction was driven mainly by softer international sales and weaker demand for handsets. Tight cost control, however, helped to deliver a small improvement in adjusted EBITDA for the period. This metric rose by 1% yoy to £8.2bn as the transformation programme announced last May (see here) delivered ahead of plan with £913m of gross annualised savings during FY25.
Among the group’s divisions its was BT Open Reach which delivered the strongest performance last year. The unit’s FY25 turnover and adjusted EBITDA up by 1% to £6.16bn and 5% to £4bn respectively. BT Business, which houses the company’s SITS activities, saw its annual sales decline by 4% yoy to £7.84bn, albeit its domestic services revenue shrank at only half this rate to £4.86bn as the division continued to refocus its energies on the UK market. As we noted in our recent public sector supplier prospects report (see here), this strategy has yielded results, with BT securing several significant UK critical national infrastructure contracts in recent years. Despite a strong win rate, particularly in central government, however, the company continues to face challenges from the runoff of legacy contracts.
Looking ahead, BT Group is not anticipating material changes in either its top or bottom line fortunes for the current financial year. Mid-term guidance from the company, however, projects sustained group and UK services revenue growth from FY27 accompanied by EBITDA increases ahead of turnover supported by enhanced by cost transformation.
Posted by: Duncan Aitchison at 08:30
Tags:
results
telecommunications
BioNTech has announced it will establish an artificial intelligence (AI) hub in London as part of its plans to invest up to £1bn in the UK over the next 10 years.
In a joint statement with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), the German biotechnology company stated it will broaden its R&D activities in a deal that will build on the strategic partnership with the UK government that commenced in 2023.
The new deal will be supported by a UK government grant of up to £129m over 10 years, which will be used to establish two new R&D centres in the country. The first of these centres will be in Cambridge and the location of the second is currently being planned. The Cambridge R&D centre will focus on genomics, oncology, structural biology, and regenerative medicine.
The company has also announced it will strengthen its footprint in its London-based UK headquarters, which will accommodate BioNTech’s AI hub. This hub, which will be led by its wholly owned subsidiary InstaDeep, will advance the company’s AI-powered medical research.
BioNTech acquired UK-headquartered InstaDeep in 2023 (see AI provider InstaDeep to be acquired by BioNTech) following earlier collaboration and investment in the business (see InstaDeep raises $100m to expand AI decision making business). AI is a key component in BioNTech’s business strategy and has been deployed across its preclinical and clinical operations. The acquisition of InstaDeep has expanded its capabilities in AI-driven drug research and the development of immunotherapies and vaccines.
The new investment from the UK government follows last month’s announcement that the UK government and the Wellcome Trust will invest up to £600m to create a new health data research service intended to accelerate clinical trials and drug development. The life science sector is a key driver for economic growth in the UK and AI will be an increasingly important tool in accelerating that growth.
Posted by: Dale Peters at 10:09
Tags:
investment
research
government
AI
R&D
life+sciences
DSIT
Cybersecurity platform supplier Palo Alto Networks reported Q3 revenue of $2.29bn, marking a 15% yoy increase, as client demand for consolidating security products and a desire to implement AI securely helped drive growth.
Product revenue rose 16%, while services revenue, including subscriptions and support, climbed 15%. Software now accounts for nearly 40% of product revenue, boosted by growth in virtual form factors and SD-WAN. Regional performance was strong, with EMEA up 20%, JAPAC up 23%, and the Americas up 12%.
The standout figure was in next-generation security (NGS), with annual recurring revenue (ARR) reaching $5.09bn, up 34% yoy. AI-led offerings such as Cortex and XSIAM drove momentum, with AI-specific ARR hitting $400m, more than 2.5x higher yoy. XSIAM, hailed by CEO Nikesh Arora as a “game changer,” now has over 270 customers and over $1m in ARR per customer. Its ARR grew over 200% yoy, making it the fastest-growing product in the company’s history.
In network security, product revenue rose 16% and software firewall ARR grew 20%, fuelled by cloud adoption. SASE was another highlight, with ARR up 36% and 40% of new customers net new to the company. The firm also announced plans last month to acquire Protect.ai to bolster AI security capabilities (See - AI security focus of new solutions from Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike)
Palo Alto Networks highlighted customers continue to make significant commitments through platformisation deals, particularly when adopting XSIAM to transform their security operations centre. CEO Nikesh Arora said, “It is becoming increasingly clear that as organisations aspire to simplify and modernise their security architectures in the age of AI with data at the centre, our strategy is resonating, resulting in larger deals.”
He also highlighted how the volume and complexity of threats are not slowing down. Bad actors are using AI to move faster than ever. Recently, its threat intelligence ‘Unit 42’ team was able to simulate an entire ransomware attack in under 25 minutes using AI at every stage of the attack chain.
The business closed over 90 net new deals in Q3, including a $90m deal with a global consultancy and major wins with financial firms, consolidating multiple products and displacing legacy vendors. Large customers are expanding rapidly with 130 clients now generating over $5m in NGS ARR, up 40% yoy. Looking ahead, Palo Alto expects FY25 NGS ARR to grow 31–32% with total revenue expected to grow 14%.
Posted by: Simon Baxter at 09:40
Builder.ai has confirmed it is entering into insolvency proceedings, stating the “business has been unable to recover from historic challenges and past decisions that placed significant strain on its financial position”.
The company, which was founded in 2016, announced last month it was lowering previous revenue estimates. At the same time, it appointed auditors to examine its 2023 and 2024 finances. It has raised over $450m, including $100m led by Insight Partners in April 2022 and $250m led by Qatar Investment Authority in May 2023. It also announced a strategic collaboration with Microsoft in 2023, which resulted in product connections with Azure services.
Builder.ai’s statement said its immediate priority is to “support our employees, customers, and partners through this difficult time.” Administrators have been appointed to manage the company’s affairs and to explore options for parts of the business.
Builder.ai's collapse serves as a warning for tech investors amid the AI gold rush. Even with significant funding and strategic partnerships, its insolvency highlights how these ventures can falter. As the sector continues to be the focus of start-up investment, it is critically important to conduct the requisite technological and financial due diligence with realistic market expectations, rather than chasing the next AI breakthrough.
Posted by: Dale Peters at 09:28
Tags:
funding
startup
administration
AI
Long-time partners Accenture and SAP are extending their relationship to target organisations with annual revenue of up to $5bn. The joint ADVANCE preconfigured offerings are focused on finance, procurement, supply chain and workforce management.
Available in what are described as “ready-to-consume, right-sized packages”, the new solutions are tailored
by industry and function. They bring together SAP Business Suite software with the IT services supplier’s design, implementation, delivery and operations capabilities. Accenture will invest in a dedicated practice of go-to-market and SAP-certified SaaS professionals to support the drive into the mid-market by the two companies.
The ADVANCE initiative marks a step up in SAP’s efforts to extend its appeal beyond the large corporate arena. Two years ago, the software provider unveiled Grow with SAP which is designed to make the selection and implementation of a cloud-based ERP system easier and less costly for smaller organisations.
With overall IT services growth in the enterprise space proving tepid during the last couple of years, Accenture too is no doubt hoping that this move will broaden its market reach to provide an additional avenue for expansion. It is, however, by no means the only major player to now be taking a greater interest in joint platform plays targeting the mid-market opportunity. Eight weeks ago, for example, Cognizant and ServiceNow unveiled a collaborative push aimed mid-tier banks (see here).
Posted by: Duncan Aitchison at 08:47
Tags:
erp
mid-market
partnership
In a major breach of public sector cybersecurity, the UK’s Legal Aid Agency (LAA) has confirmed a wide-reaching cyber attack that has exposed the sensitive data from hundreds of thousands of legal aid applicants dating back to 2010. The breach, first discovered on 23rd April, was initially believed to have affected only legal aid providers. However, by the 16th May, officials uncovered the far more serious scope of the intrusion, revealing that extensive personal data of applicants had been accessed and downloaded.
The compromised information includes names, contact details, national ID numbers, dates of birth, criminal history, employment status, and detailed financial records such as contribution amounts, debts and payments, raising significant concerns over potential identity theft and blackmail. While the identity of the hackers remains unknown, the attack is not believed to have been state-sponsored, with authorities suspecting a financially motivated criminal group. The group has reportedly claimed to have stolen 2.1m records, though this figure remains unverified.
In response, the LAA has taken its digital platform offline and is working with the National Cyber Security Centre, the National Crime Agency, and the Information Commissioner’s Office. Legal aid providers have been instructed to use alternative methods to claim payments while an upgraded system is developed.
The Ministry of Justice has attributed the breach to longstanding vulnerabilities in the LAA’s digital infrastructure, blaming “neglect and mismanagement” under previous governments. Legal professionals have also voiced frustration, citing years of complaints over the LAA’s outdated IT systems. This is unfortunately becoming a message we are hearing far too often, with organisations not heeding the constant warnings to improve cyber resilience. It also underscores the urgent need for building robust cybersecurity across critical government services, and a proactive rather than reactive approach to cybersecurity investment.
Jane Harbottle, LAA’s CEO, expressed deep regret over the incident and pledged to bolster security, but this all comes a little too late for those who may face years of potential fraud attacks or identity theft.
This latest breach follows the recent bout of cyber-attacks on UK retailers (See - Retailers in crosshairs of cyber hackers), with M&S still recovering from the massive ransomware attack that brought down its systems, whilst the Co-op only avoided a similar fate through quickly taking its own systems offline when it noticed the attack taking place, though it still faced significant disruption to supply chains and food delivery’s.
Posted by: Simon Baxter at 10:17
At its Build 2025 conference, Microsoft laid out its vision for the future of AI-powered development, introducing a host of tools and partnerships that aim to position the company as a central and increasingly supplier-agnostic platform for building enterprise AI. Announcements ranged from autonomous coding agents, to new support for third-party AI models, with Microsoft signalling a strategic shift away from its exclusive alignment with OpenAI.
One of the big announcements was Microsoft expanding its Azure AI Foundry to include new AI models including xAI’s Grok 3, Meta’s Llama, and models from European startups Mistral and Black Forest Labs, bringing the total number of models it offers to Azure customers to more than 1,900. Notably, these models will run directly within Microsoft’s own data centres, allowing it to provide high availability guarantees amid growing concerns over service reliability in AI infrastructure.
Another major development is the evolution of GitHub Copilot into a fully-fledged “coding agent”. Unlike its predecessor, which simply assisted with code snippets, the new agent can complete complex development tasks with minimal human input, from diagnosing bugs to executing full fixes. The move arrives just days after OpenAI previewed its own competing ‘Codex agent’.
Microsoft is also deepening its enterprise focus with services like ‘Copilot Tuning’, which allows businesses to create domain-specific agents using their own workflows and data. It also introduced ‘Windows AI Foundry’, which offers a unified platform supporting the AI developer lifecycle across training and inference, with simple model APIs for vision and language tasks. Another new platform, ‘Discovery’ has been built to empower researchers to transform the R&D discovery process with agentic AI, accelerating the time to market for new products and expanding the discovery process for scientists.
Lastly, Microsoft is betting on a future defined by what it terms the “open agentic web.” Through initiatives like Model Context Protocol (MCP) and the new NLWeb project (a standard likened to HTML for AI), the company envisions a decentralised, conversational internet where AI agents perform tasks on behalf of users across services and platforms.
The rapid adoption of AI tools and services has already been a massive boon for Microsoft, with its AI run rate now $13bn as of Q3, up 175% yoy. (See - Microsoft reports solid Q3 and strengthens European digital commitments). 15 million developers are already using GitHub Copilot, whilst enterprise adoption is surging. Over 230k organisations, including 90% of Fortune 500 companies are using Copilot Studio to build customised AI agents and automations, with both Fujitsu and NTT DATA highlighted as examples of organisations leveraging Azure AI Foundry to build apps that prioritise leads and surface client insights.
Posted by: Simon Baxter at 10:05
Last night, with over 200 past employees, I attended Hoskyns’ 60th Birthday Party. John Hoskyns & Co was formed by Sir John Hoskyns and John Pearce in 1964.
I joined Hoskyns aged 21 in 1968 and (with a break when I setup SystemSolve) stayed to 1984 by which time I was Group Marketing Director.
Amazing to look back on the Hoskyns’ ‘firsts’ in those 20 years. See 1984 FT advert below.
- 1st multi user, real time commercial system in Europe with CentreFile in 1965
- 1st standard application packages for ICL in 1968
- In 1978 invents Segmented Level Programming
- 1st FM (now outsourcing) contract at Leyland Paints in Chorley in 1970
- Builds Europe’s largest real-time system at the Police National Computer Unit in 1970
- 1st provider of turnkey systems for DEC and HP ‘minis’ in 1974 and 1976 respectively. Becomes largest UK reseller for both
- Develops 1st micro based system for hotels in 1979 and became market leader
- Launches Hoskyns Business Centres in 1983 and becomes largest reseller of PCs to the corporate market.
In the first Holway Report in 1988, Hoskyns was the second largest provider of Software & IT Services (SITS) to the UK market – Logica was #1.
Hoskyns was also a ‘trailblazer’ for what was to befall the UK SITS sector. US Martin Marietta (MMDS) had acquired Hoskyns in 1975 when John left to join Margaret Thatcher’s think tank.
In December 1986, Hoskyns was listed on the London Stock Exchange. Geoff Unwin, who had been appointed CEO in 1984, had insisted that every single Hoskyns employee was listed in the prospectus.
In 1988, Plessey acquired the MMDS stake. So I was able to claim in the 1988 Holway Report that nine out of the top ten suppliers of SITS to the UK market were ‘UK owned and HQed’. Now it is the opposite way around. Only one is UK owned.
In 1989, GEC-Siemens acquired Plessey’s stake which, in 1990 was acquired by Cap Gemini and Hoskyns delisted in 1993.
Geoff Unwin was appointed as the first ever non-French person in charge of all their regional operations. The Hoskyns name was dropped in 1996. Geoff became CEO of Capgemini on the acquisition of E&Y’s consulting operations in 2000.
In the six years that Hoskyns was listed, its share price increased from 64p to 469p. Indeed, if they had retained their listing they would have got a Holway Boring Award for 10 years of uninterrupted EPS growth – a CAGR of 34%.
TechMarketView’s analysis shows that Capgemini is still the fifth largest supplier of SITS to the UK market, and other sources show it remains one of the largest suppliers in Europe.
Why has France managed to produce several top SITS companies but all the UK HQed leaders of the 1970/80s have ‘sold out’? Whether it matters is the subject of fierce debate. Personally, I think it does!
60 years on and Hoskyns can indeed look back on some fantastic ‘firsts’ but also perhaps a moment of reflection on what might have been.
Posted by: Richard Holway at 08:12
Tags:
techhistory
Posted by: HotViews Editor at 07:00
A tough FY25 ended on a more positive note for Kainos with the company recording low single-digit sequential revenue growth in the final quarter. This improved momentum is reported to have continued into the early weeks of the new fiscal to make Kainos positive, if cautiously so, on its prospects for the year ahead.
In line with the trading update issued a month ago (see here), the Belfast-HQ’d provider of software and services saw its turnover for the twelve months ended 31st March decrease by 3% yoy at constant currency to £367.2m. Adjusted pre-tax profit for the period fell sharply by 14% yoy to £65.6m, albeit this number was weighed down by both £8.4m of one-off restructuring costs incurred in Q4 and the impact of a £5.2 million investment made by the company last year to support its extended Workday partnership (see here). The former expense related to the now completed 7% reduction in Kainos’s global workforce.
The FY25 fortunes of the company’s three divisions - Digital Services, Workday Services and Workday Products – were mixed. Boosted by the aforementioned new strategic partnership, the latter saw its revenue jump by 26% yoy to £71.3m. Kainos remains squarely on track to achieve its annualised recurring revenue targets for Workday Products of £100m by 2026 and £200m by 2030.
The firm’s Workday Services unit, conversely, found the going considerably tougher last year with FY25 sales decline by 8% yoy on a like for like basis to £98.7m. This downturn was in a part as the result of intensifying competition with the number of accredited Workday partners increasing from approximately 60 to over 100 during the period.
Digital Services also struggled last year in the face of stiff market headwinds experiencing a 7% yoy top line reduction to £197.2m. This division, which accounted for 85% of Kainos’s UK revenue of £217.4m (FY24: £232.6m), was hit hard by the Public Sector spending hiatus caused by the General Election here last May. There was, however, positive progress made by the unit in Canada where the company was able to leverage expertise developed in the UK to drive a 71% increase in turnover to c.£9m.
Talking with Kainos CEO, Bendan Mooney this morning, he pointed to a number of factors beyond the strength of the Workday Products business that underpin his measured optimism regarding the outlook for the firm. Despite what promises to be a tough, soon to complete Government Spending Review round, he believes that UK Public Sector investment in digital transformation will hold up reasonably well. Furthermore, the company is making rapid progress in the AI-led projects arena with revenue from these activities up 61% yoy to £41.1m in FY25. This success also helped fuel the 80% increase in net new customer numbers last year which has created an expanded platform for growth in the months ahead.
The confidence in the firm’s prospects and management’s view that Kainos’s stock remains significantly undervalued has led the company to announce its intention the launch a buyback of an additional £30m of its ordinary shares. Market reaction to both this initiative and the FY25 results has, however, so far been muted. At the time of writing, the firm’s share price was down almost 5% on last night’s close.
Posted by: Duncan Aitchison at 09:55
Tags:
results
software
digital
public sector
ProFinda, a UK-based AI-driven expertise finding platform, has secured a £3m facility from Palatine's Growth Credit Fund, underscoring the growing interest in AI-powered talent allocation. The London based company, which specialises in matching professional services staff to client projects based on skills and availability, will use the funding to accelerate international expansion and product development.
The firm was launched way back in 2011 and we first covered the business a few years later when it raised £4.8m in funding. This investment reflects the growing importance of workforce optimisation in the professional services sector, where efficient resource allocation directly impacts profitability. With the Big 4 accounting firms already among its clients, ProFinda is well-positioned in a market increasingly focused on maximising billable talent utilisation.
The deal marks Palatine Growth Credit's fifth transaction since its 2024 launch and positions ProFinda to capitalise on growing enterprise demand for AI-driven workforce solutions amid heightened competition for specialised skills. The funding structure, part of a larger equity round, provides ProFinda with flexible capital for scaling its go-to-market capabilities.
Posted by: Marc Hardwick at 08:46
Tags:
funding
hr
talent
In a move to shore up the UK’s health system against escalating cyber threats, senior NHS officials have issued an open letter to all current and prospective suppliers. The letter calls for alignment with a new voluntary Cyber Security Charter designed to harden the NHS’s digital defences.
Signed by Phil Huggins, National CISO for Health and Care, alongside NHS England’s Mike Fell (Director of Cyber Operations) and Vin Diwakar (National Director of Transformation), the letter warns of a “step change” in cyber threats. It follows a number of disruptive cyber-attacks on the NHS and its suppliers over the past year including the ransomware attack on pathology supplier Synnovis that led to the cancellation of thousands of appointments (See - London hospitals hit by ransomware attack) and data theft and ransom at NHS Dumfries and Galloway (See - NHS Scotland receives ransom demand to prevent data leak).
The Cyber Security Charter outlines robust best practices suppliers are urged to adopt, including multi-factor authentication, 24/7 monitoring, immutable backups, board-level cyber risk exercises, and compliance with the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT). Software vendors are expected to conform to the National Cyber Security Centre’s secure development code.
The charter remains non-binding, offering no procurement advantage, but is an important element of the effort to ‘defend as one’ in the NHS. The letter also points to the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, to be submitted to Parliament this year, which aims to expand the remit of cyber regulation (See - Government outlines new Cyber Security and Resilience Bill). The Charter is due to launch officially later this year with a self-assessment mechanism. In the meantime, NHS England is laying groundwork for a national supplier management platform and a cyber supplier forum, aiming to unify security expectations across its ecosystem.
While signing the charter itself will be a matter of course for technology suppliers, what the letter really highlights is the focus the NHS is placing on cyber security. The opportunity to showcase how NHS technology suppliers not only meet, but exceed, the security requirements set out, will be an opportunity and highlights that alongside AI, cyber security remains a crucial area for differentiation and growth.
Posted by: Simon Baxter at 08:21
It’s onwards for Shoreham-headquartered, and Hg-backed, Focus Group, which has made yet another acquisition.
This time it is Leicestershire-based Voice Connect, a specialist in telecommunications, NHS systems integration, and self-serve automation. The pair have been partnering for 18 months taking their complementary technologies to the health and care markets. Together, the firms believe they have the capability to excel, not least in the rapidly evolving arena of AI-driven healthcare solutions.
Focus Group has recently expanded further into the sectors with its Think Healthcare division, designed to support the NHS as it digitally transforms. Voice Connect's flagship Patient Partner solution will slot into this division and work nicely alongside the existing cloud telephony and contact centre solutions.
It’s not uncommon for acquisitions to start out as partnerships, and we see the benefits to be had for both firms by bringing Voice Connect into the fold – not least in creating closer strategic development ties and sustaining investments.
Last month, Focus acquired Lancashire-based Matrix247, which has a portfolio of services covering Managed IT, Managed Print, and Communications (e.g., cloud telephony and managed Wi-Fi).
Posted by: Kate Hanaghan at 10:00
Tags:
acquisition
London-HQ’d medical healthcare technology specialist, TORTUS AI has joined forces with X-on Health, the largest primary care telephony
provider in the UK, with the aim of significantly easing workload pressures on GPs. The new strategic partnership, which comes after several years of collaboration between the two companies, will see the AI provider’s Ambient Voice Technology (AVT) harnessed to make a sophisticated clinical assistant, Surgery Intellect available to all GP practices across the UK, regardless of their existing telephony provider.
Surgery Intellect listens to face to face and telephone consultations and automatically generates accurate clinical notes, referral letters, clinical coding, and administrative tasks in real-time. The completion of paperwork takes up around 30% of a UK GP’s day and a material reduction in this overhead will be important as the Government strives to deliver against its commitment to provide an additional 100,000 GP appointments. TORTUS estimates that use of its technology cuts average consultation times by 25%, saving about three minutes per standard 12-minute session.
For users of X-on Health’s Surgery Connect cloud-based phone system, which currently serves over 3,500 GP surgeries in the UK, there will also be the ability to deploy Surgery Intellect anywhere in the call flow. This, for example, will enable automated transcription of incoming telephone calls at reception or voicemails.
AVT has a lot of potential in terms of increasing efficiency within healthcare settings. Indeed, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has gone as far as to call this technology a “game changer” for the NHS. TORTUS’s partnership X-on Health is certainly timely.
There remains, unsurprisingly, a number of data protection, regulatory and security related concerns regarding the deployment of AVT which require addressing. Last month, the NHS issued new guidance on the use of AI-enabled ambient scribing products in health and care settings (see here). This includes the view that a Gen AI driven ambient scribing product which goes beyond solely producing text transcriptions to conduct further processing, such as summarisation, would qualify as a medical device. TORTUS currently holds UK MHRA Class I Medical Device registration and is in the advanced stages of filing a Class IIa application.
Posted by: Duncan Aitchison at 09:58
Tags:
nhs
partnership
healtcare
genAI
UK-based energy services company eEnergy has partnered with US-based Energy-as-a-Service and data solutions provider Redaptive, with the latter providing funding up to £100m to support Redaptive-approved eEnergy customer projects across the UK. The move establishes eEnergy as one of Redaptive’s dedicated delivery partners for Redaptive-initiated projects in the UK.
Founded in 2015, Redaptive funds and installs energy-saving and energy-generating equipment across its clients’ real estate portfolios. To date, projects have mainly been US-based (though it does count a number of UK clients on its roster). However, the company looking to expand coverage – hence the deal with eEnergy (which has a significant market presence in large-scale LED and solar installations, and provides customers with energy analytics services via its MY ZeERO portal).
eEnergy already has a funding facility with NatWest, but that’s restricted to solely public sector projects; the Redaptive partnership opens up opportunities across both private and public sector clients.
Energy is the third-placed sector globally, in terms of activity logged in the latest Sustainability Technology Activity Index (one of which being the launch of Redaptive’s partner programme in January 2024) – with 21.6% of the 914 activities worldwide impacting the sector. It represents something of a ramp-up in activity (the pilot Index for Q4 2022 ranked Energy supply, Energy generation, and Energy storage as three of the bottom four ranked use case areas); with investment and interest in the area increasing somewhat since 2023’s COP28 commitment to triple renewables capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030 (see COP28’s Call to Arms for the Tech Industry).
Look out for the latest Sustainability Technology Activity Index reports, coming soon – with in-depth analysis of the global picture (segmented by sector, use case area, and technology) and what the activity trends are telling us in uncertain times, plus deep dives into the UK market specifically. This research is available only to subscribers of SustainabilityViews. If you are not yet a subscriber, or are unsure if your company has a subscription, please contact Belinda Tewson to find out how you can gain access.
Posted by: Craig Wentworth at 09:57
Tags:
investment
Roc has launched Coria – a Roc company, focused on developing intelligent automation solutions that address pervasive industry problems at scale. The name itself—a re-arrangement of Roc AI —reflects the company's commitment to embedding artificial intelligence within its solutions while maintaining a distinct yet complementary brand identity to its parent.
The inaugural product from Coria is a Digital Cost Assurance platform, developed over three years in close collaboration with National Highways and other key players within the UKs major infrastructure and construction industries. This solution targets the endemic cost control and transparency issues plaguing major government-commissioned infrastructure projects in the UK, spanning road, rail, energy, defence and health, but the list goes on.
What distinguishes this platform is its ability to establish standardised rule sets and processes for continuous cost submission and supply chain payment acceleration. This approach delivers benefits across the construction ecosystem, including complete audit trails, with the ability to audit 100% of project data rather than the current estimate of 20%.
Coria has implemented a pragmatic two-phase commercial strategy. Initial engagement begins with a low-code platform that can be rapidly deployed for proof-of-value projects, allowing clients to trial the solution using their own data within specific workstreams. Once value is established, clients can transition to the high-code SaaS platform for full programme deployment, ensuring minimal disruption to existing processes.
The company has identified three primary market segments: government infrastructure buyers or ‘client advocates’ seeking better fiscal control, global consultancy firms (such as Mott MacDonald and Mace, and tier-one construction suppliers such as Balfour Beatty and Skanska who stand to benefit from better use of limited resources reduced overheads and improved cash management capabilities.
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Posted by: Marc Hardwick at 09:47
Tags:
construction
costmanagement
Salesforce has acquired London-based startup Convergence.ai, a company specialising in general purpose AI agents capable of performing complex, adaptive tasks in digital environments. The acquisition is expected to close in Q2 of Salesforce’s FY26.
Convergence was founded just a year ago by Marvin Purtorab and Andy Toulis, both veterans of Shopify and AI firm Cohere. The startup has quickly garnered attention for its technical sophistication and talent pool, which includes former employees from DeepMind, Meta, and PolyAI. While financial terms have not been disclosed, the startup has previously raised $12m in a pre-seed round led by Balderton Capital, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and Shopify Ventures. (See - Convergence raises $12m for personal AI agents)
Convergence AI’s solution is called Proxy, a generalist AI agent that doesn’t just process information, but will acquire new skills and improve over time. This is possible through a new type of AI model it is pioneering called Large Meta Learning Models (LMLMs). The big difference to other AI agent platforms is it integrates memory as a core component of the model architecture. Multiple instances of Proxy can all run at the same time, working across different departments and tasks, trained and directed by users.
Salesforce intends for Convergence to serve as the foundation of a new R&D centre in London, with the Convergence team playing a pivotal role in advancing Agentforce, Salesforce’s flagship AI agent platform, by contributing expertise in autonomous task execution and adaptive systems.
In parallel with the acquisition, Salesforce has introduced new pricing models for Agentforce. These include a consumption-based system using “Flex Credits”, where each AI agent action, such as updating a record or resolving a support case, costs 20 credits (equivalent to $0.10). A new “Flex Agreement” also allows organisations to shift spending dynamically between user licences and usage-based credits, with new simplified per-user pricing tiers also being released.
On the enterprise front, Salesforce unveiled a set of trust, security, and governance features designed to support secure deployment of AI agents at scale. These enhancements include integrated tools for data security, data governance in Data Cloud (featuring AI-based tagging and dynamic masking), and secure API management through MuleSoft. Agentforce also gains new safeguards, such as instruction adherence checks, sandbox testing with synthetic data, and a “Trust Layer” that moderates LLM interactions using data masking and toxicity filters.
Posted by: Simon Baxter at 09:38
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