(This column originally appeared in Forbes)
Let’s Recap:
- Google is warning of fake IT workers
- Payables management company Ramp unveils a new product
- Slack has more workflow capabilities
- Anthropic puts Mythos on a leash
- Microsoft re-prices Copilot
Google Warns That Fake IT Workers are Stealing Financial Data—And Things Are Only Going To Get Worse
As if there wasn’t enough to worry about with cybercrime, Google is now warning that nefarious groups are pretending to be IT professionals to steal financial data. According to a June 5th Google post, these people are targeting businesses — remotely and in person — that operate in the legal, financial, and professional services sectors. With remote attacks, employees receive emails concerning invoices or data migrations. The criminals then follow up by phone, pretending to be IT support and ask employees to join screen-sharing sessions or install remote-access software. They’ll even show up on site to infiltrate systems using USB devices or other hardware to gain access to sensitive info such as financial records; tax documents; and legal agreements. (Source: PYMNTS)
Why this is important for your small business:
Showing up onsite? That’s pretty bold. Thanks to AI and deepfakes you never know who you’re talking to and who’s trying to steal from your business. And the problem is only getting worse. Google recommends that organizations verify IT support requests and to be wary of any unsolicited calls or emails requesting screen-sharing sessions. That’s pretty generalized advice. It’s not enough to have cyber-insurance or security software. People need training from IT security experts.
Ramp Debuts An Accounting Product, Raises Additional $750M And Makes A Case For Automating Your Back Office
Financial operations platform Ramp recently announced two major developments: “Ramp Stack” — a new AI-powered accounting platform — and $750 million in new funding. Ramp plans to invest the capital in AI to expand its capabilities and product offerings. Ramp Stack is an AI operating system built for accounting firms. Rather than acting as a chatbot or assistant, the platform is designed to automate workflows, including month-end close processes; cash reconciliation; transaction coding and others. Now valued at $44 billion, Ramp is looking to transform into an AI-powered finance platform that can automate accounting, procurement, bookkeeping, and other back-office functions. (Source: Payments Dive)
Why this is important for your small business:
If you’re processing more than a few dozen accounts payable transactions a week then you’ve got good reason to look at Ramp (and their competitors). These automation platforms are heavily leaning into AI to allow these mundane and repetitive transactions flow through your accounting system with minimal or no human involvement, freeing up your accounting staff to perform other functions. And, as we’re seeing with Ramp’s new and planned offerings, their financial automation capabilities continues to expand.
Slack Unveils AI-Powered Workflow Tool to Boost Team Efficiency
Collaboration platform Slack has introduced its next AI-powered tool as part of its Workflow Builder. “Generate AI Response” is designed to help businesses automate communication and information-gathering tasks without needing technical expertise. The tool summarizes conversations across Slack channels, extracting insights from messages, documents and files. Users can also schedule AI Response to summarize project updates (e.g., each week) and produce an executive summary. This time-saving feature helps teams focus on other work and allows non-technical employees to create automations using plain-language prompts. (Source: Small Business Trends)
Why this is important for your small business:
Most of my clients using Slack are barely taking advantage of the platform’s capabilities. I get it — you want shared messaging and collaboration and it’s doing that job and you’ve got plenty of other things to worry about. But given Slack’s AI investments and a slew of capabilities they’ve launched in just the past two years it would be well worth your while to hire a consultant expert in the platform to train your people on all the capabilities they’re not using.
Anthropic’s New Model is Mythos On A Leash. Sure It Is.
When Anthropic first introduced Mythos in April the company proclaimed it was “too dangerous to release to the public” because of its hacking capabilities among other concerns. Now Anthropic has announced Claude Fable 5 described as a “Mythos-class model” with enhanced safeguards. According to Anthropic, Fable 5 delivers Mythos-level performance for most tasks with extensive safety controls designed to prevent misuse. The model uses the same underlying architecture but includes guardrails that monitor for high-risk requests on topics such as cybersecurity. For example, if a user asks how to hack into someone’s bank account, the system may automatically route the request to the less capable Claude Opus 4.8. “Because we have prioritized safety, we’ve deliberately tuned the safeguards to be cautious, and they are still stricter than would be ideal …” an Anthropic spokesperson explained. (Source: Cyberscoop)
Why this is important for your small business:
Sorry, but despite the company’s best efforts, once the cat is out of the bag, well…
Microsoft streamlines SMB AI Adoption With New Microsoft 365 Copilot Bundles But They’re Trying To Fix The Wrong Problem.
On July 1, Microsoft will be releasing a Copilot bundle to simplify AI adoption for small and medium-sized businesses. This new offering includes Copilot in its Microsoft 365 Business Standard for $23.50 per user/month and Microsoft 365 Business Premium for $32 per user/month. The idea is to make AI adoption a simpler process reducing the reliance on IT teams and helps businesses that don’t have IT budgets. Microsoft execs have been vocal about increasing AI usage in the business environment and this latest announcement reflects that initiative. (Source: Cloud Wars)
Why this is important for your small business:
I think Microsoft is focusing on the wrong problem. I don’t believe my clients have a pricing problem with Copilot. They have a performance, accuracy and reliability problem. Selling bundles and decreasing prices isn’t the answer. Making a killer application that people will want to use regardless of the price is.
Note: Have a technology story that small business owners should know about? Don’t mind me sharing my opinion? Share it with me on X @genemarks.
