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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Business leaders are speaking out on Election Day — including Starbucks founder Howard Schultz.</li><li>Schultz and JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon called for unity. Neither has endorsed a candidate.</li></ul>Election Day has finally come, and executives at some of the biggest companies are speaking out — with former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz urging a peaceful transition of power and Elon Musk reiterating his support for Donald Trump to the end.Major players like Musk and Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman have <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/which-billionaires-support-donald-trump-campaign#steve-schwarzman-2">previously endorsed former President Trump</a>. On the other side, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-billionaires-investors-kamala-harris-mark-cuban-reid-hoffman-2024-8#michael-bloomberg-4">business heavyweights</a> like billionaire Shark Tank star <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-mark-cuban-campaign-swing-states-sec-chair-2024-10">Mark Cuban</a> and LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman have been campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris.While some business leaders have been voicing their political opinions ahead of Election Day, others have been reluctant: As Business Insider's Bryan Metzger recently wrote, some of that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jamie-dimon-bill-gates-ceo-avoid-criticizing-trump-2024-10">hesitancy could be driven by fears of retribution from Trump</a> if he's reelected — or could simply be based on the belief that wading into politics is bad for business.Here's what some of the biggest business leaders in the US are saying Tuesday ahead of the election results:<h2 id="2def0177-407a-4684-b191-b59992c8a4c0">Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz</h2><div type="image" title="Howard Schultz" height="2000" width="3000" msid="114994483" hostid="261" sizebytes="90930"></div><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-coffee-howard-schultz-steve-jobs-bill-gates-acquired-podcast-2024-6">Howard Schultz</a>, who served several tenures as CEO of Starbucks over the course of four decades, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/howardschultz_we-do-not-know-yet-the-path-america-will-activity-7259321042072936451-SONT?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop">took to LinkedIn</a> on Tuesday to emphasize the gravity of this election and urge a peaceful transition of power."Make no mistake, this election is the most consequential decision our citizenry will take," Schultz wrote in his post."Once every vote is counted and certified, we must accept the results of the election and ensure the peaceful transition of power," he said. "In an age of rapid information distribution infecting so many of us with false narratives and lies, we have to remind each other of our founding ethos as a country."While the former CEO has not announced his support of a presidential candidate this election cycle, he previously <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-billionaire-howard-schultz-endorses-biden-for-president-2020-9">endorsed Joe Biden in 2020</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-ceo-howard-schultz-endorses-hillary-clinton-2016-9">Hillary Clinton in 2016.</a><h2 id="c7bb2462-e280-4964-84de-5af18eb3cdd0">LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman</h2><div type="image" title="reid hoffman" height="2784" width="4176" msid="114994464" hostid="261" sizebytes="523510"></div><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reid-hoffman">Reid Hoffman</a>, who cofounded LinkedIn and is now a partner at VC firm Greylock Partners, posted a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/reidhoffman/status/1853590670218506599">video message on X</a> on Tuesday to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/reidhoffman/status/1815103690912723274">reiterate his support</a> of Harris."My message for American voters and Russian bots: don't vote for the guy too busy selling you a scamcoin," Hoffman wrote on X above his video message. Trump launched his <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1846326266011762820">own crypto coin, $WLFI</a>, in October, following <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-going-for-crypto-bro-vote-world-liberty-financial-2024-9?utm_campaign=business-sf&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social">his foray into the decentralized finance market</a> with the crypto exchange platform, World Liberty Financial."Vote for Vice President Harris, who knows how to put business —and the American people — first," Hoffman's post said."She understands the importance of founders," Hoffman said of Harris in his video, adding, "She wants founders to succeed. And just for the country, not for her."<h2 id="60b847de-6405-451a-8d80-80908abc8781">Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk</h2><div type="image" title="Elon Musk smirking" height="2001" width="3000" msid="114994470" hostid="261" sizebytes="314740"></div>One of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-trump-superpac-donations-politics-2024-10">Trump's most outspoken supporters</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-trump-america-super-pac-2024-10">biggest donors</a>, billionaire SpaceX and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-ceo-elon-musk">Tesla CEO Elon Musk</a> continued his steady stream of posts on X on Tuesday.In addition to re-posting several pro-Trump messages from other X users, Musk wrote a few election-related posts of his own.In response to a video of MSNBC's Joe Scarborough criticizing Trump supporters and listing a number of Trump's more extreme statements, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1853820794083647548">Musk wrote</a>, "The legacy media hope that a hoax a day keeps DJT away. It won't work."The billionaire <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1853691543007137814">wrote another post</a> speculating that Trump will win Pennsylvania in a landslide if the same number of the state's Republicans vote in person for Trump this year as they did in 2020.<h2 id="2edf3c98-1b95-4c92-af6c-1f0adcf75720">Billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla</h2><div type="image" title="Vinod Khosla." height="2020" width="3030" msid="114994462" hostid="261" sizebytes="340034"></div><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-vinod-khosla-fixing-ai-image-2024-10">Vinod Khosla</a>, an OpenAI investor and founder of Sun Microsystems, has <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-billionaires-investors-kamala-harris-mark-cuban-reid-hoffman-2024-8#vinod-khosla-7">pledged his support for Harris</a>. His name is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.vcsforkamala.org/signatories">one of hundreds</a> on the list of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-investors-raise-money-for-kamala-harris-over-zoom-2024-8">VCs for Kamala</a>.On Monday, Khosla made his opinions about Trump clear on X, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/vkhosla/status/1853476975169732827">criticizing the former president</a> for suggesting he may support Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s call to ban some vaccines.Khosla, who has <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/vkhosla/status/1815096257867923740">previously tussled with Musk</a>, responded on Monday to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1853329249614131365">a post from the X owner</a> that suggested all independent and swing voters are siding with Trump."Plain wrong," Khosla <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/vkhosla/status/1853584790609633640">wrote in response to Musk</a>. "I am an independent that isn't voting for Trump."<h2 id="b0378ce8-c632-491e-bde9-e9905a3ec8a3">Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick</h2><div type="image" title="A man stands at a Trump/Vance podium" height="2769" width="4300" msid="114994465" hostid="261" sizebytes="238422"></div>Howard Lutnick, the CEO of financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald and cochair of Trump's transition team, reaffirmed his support of the former president in identical Election Day posts on X and Truth Social."Today is the day. I am proud to vote for President <a target="_blank" class="css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3 r-1loqt21" href="https://x.com/realDonaldTrump">@realDonaldTrump</a>," Lutnick <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/howardlutnick/status/1853792377086828718">wrote</a>. "He will protect the American workforce, unleash our country's ingenuity, and strengthen our economy. Join me in going to the polls and we will Make America Great Again."Lutnick has suggested to <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" class="" href="https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania/howard-lutnick-donald-trump-transition-committee-20241023.html">The Philadelphia Inquirer</a> and to the <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" class="" href="https://www.ft.com/content/8a8a470d-4bf6-4ac5-9f25-ad546eee31af">Financial Times</a> that loyalty to Trump will be one of the most important factors in deciding possible appointees for a second Trump administration.And the Wall Street financier's name has been floated as a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-will-be-in-trump-cabinet-billionaires-buiness-leaders-2024-5#howard-lutnick-4">potential member of Trump's Cabinet</a> for roles including Treasury Secretary or US ambassador in Jerusalem, according to <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" class="" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-05/howard-lutnick-emerges-as-trump-s-no-1-salesman-on-wall-street?embedded-checkout=true">Bloomberg</a>.<h2 id="dc2eb88c-c930-44c2-9d96-aa9959bb918b">JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon</h2><div type="image" title="Jamie Dimon" height="562" width="1000" msid="114994476" hostid="261" sizebytes="23796"></div>JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon hasn't publicly endorsed a candidate this year, but he called in a statement for all Americans to rally behind whoever's elected next."Our country is now concluding one of the hardest fought and at times divisive elections in our recent history," Dimon said."Soon it will be time for all of us to unite behind our president-elect and all of our national leaders. We must begin the work of bringing our nation together and focusing on the pressing economic and global issues before us." Dimon's wife, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/judith-dimon-door-to-door-michigan-canvassing-votes-kamala-harris-2024-11">Judith Kent, was on the campaign trail for Kamala Harris</a> over the weekend.<h2 id="40098c61-dfdc-420a-b85d-2cfc49e9516b">Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey</h2><div type="image" title="Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus and Anduril Industries, speaks during The Wall Street Journal's WSJ Tech Live conference in Laguna Beach, California on October 16, 2023." height="2009" width="3013" msid="114994478" hostid="261" sizebytes="346272"></div><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-palmer-luckey">Palmer Luckey</a> — who founded defense tech company Anduril as well as VR company Oculus, which he later sold to Meta for $2 billion — urged people to get out and vote on Tuesday."Pokemon Go to the Polls!" Luckey <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/PalmerLuckey/status/1853833958313873758">wrote on X</a>.Luckey was <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-palmer-luckey-profile-trump-facebook-meta-ten-takeaways-2024-8">one of few tech executives to support Trump</a> during his first presidential campaign, and has <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.tabletmag.com/feature/american-vulcan-palmer-luckey-anduril">criticized other Big Tech leaders</a> for only jumping on the Trump bandwagon later in the game.The sometimes controversial billionaire, who has said that his <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/PalmerLuckey/status/1791264464135942354">"big league support for Donald Trump is no secret,"</a> has also been criticizing the Harris-Walz campaign's Fortnite Map <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/PalmerLuckey/status/1853195620506652898">on X</a> in recent days.<h2 id="d29c4181-4a9e-44c5-84dc-5b7d5a1ca15d">Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth</h2><div type="image" title="Meta' CTO Andrew Bosworth" height="2691" width="3969" msid="114994487" hostid="261" sizebytes="670952"></div><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-meta-executive-andrew-boz-bosworth-metaverse-2021-11">Andrew Bosworth</a>, Meta's chief technology officer, posted on Threads Tuesday about his excitement that the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/political-text-message-spam-election-stop-2024-11">political texting spree is coming to an end</a>."Happy no more political text messages day, to those who celebrate!" Bosworth <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.threads.net/@boztank/post/DB_waAiPa4K">wrote on Threads</a>, adding in a follow-up message, "(I voted weeks ago by mail. Go vote, if you haven't already)."<h2 id="1513d187-6021-4c9a-99fa-8953a7d997f3">Manufacturing and business leaders weigh in</h2>The National Association of Manufacturers and more than 600 business leaders from across the manufacturing sector <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://nam.org/600-manufacturing-and-business-leaders-pledge-to-work-with-next-president-urge-national-unity-ahead-of-americas-250th-anniversary-32528/?stream=series-press-releases">released a letter</a> on Tuesday addressed to the "president-elect," whoever that may be.In it, the leaders pledge to work with the incoming president, while stressing the importance of national unity and a peaceful transition of power."The days following a hard-fought election have always been a time for healing, finding common ground and renewing our focus on what unites us as a people," the letter said. "The peaceful transition of power is a hallmark of our democracy and is essential to ensuring continued confidence in the rule of law—a commitment that has made America exceptional."The letter's signatories include executives at major companies, including General Motors, Eli Lilly, Lockheed Martin, General Mills, Johnson &amp; Johnson, Penske, and Panasonic.

Company executives are speaking out on Election Day: Starbucks' Howard Schultz calls for a peaceful transition of power

<keyword id="19923700" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tata-Power" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Tata Power" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Tata Power">Tata Power</keyword> on Tuesday said it has logged 31 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,189 crore, compared to the year-ago period, on back of operational efficiency. "At Rs 1,189 crore, growing 31 per cent YoY (year-on-year), the company reported its highest ever and 19th consecutive quarter of PAT growth on the back of strong operational performance and execution excellence across all its businesses of generation, transmission &amp; distribution, and renewables," Tata Power said in a statement. According to the statement, these businesses contributed 84 per cent of the PAT (net profit) in Q1FY25, compared to 72 per cent in the same period in FY24. The statement showed that the consolidated net profit before exceptional items was Rs 906 crore in the quarter ended June 30, 2023. The company's revenue rose 12 per cent YoY to a record high of Rs 16,810 crore (from Rs 15,003 crore in Q1 FY24), and EBITDA grew 11 per cent to Rs 3,350 crore in the reported quarter (from Rs 3,005 crore in Q1 FY24). EBITDA refers to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. "All our businesses have grown profitably on the back of operational efficiency, execution excellence, and sustained business momentum," said Praveer Sinha, CEO and Managing Director, Tata Power. He informed that the planned capex for this financial year is Rs 20,000 crore and the company is committed to adopting and leading the new and emerging clean energy technologies, including pumped hydro projects, hydropower projects in Bhutan, and opportunities to develop small modular nuclear reactors as the government policy evolves. The company has recorded a capex investment of Rs 4,000 crore in Q1FY25. It has a clean and green installed capacity of 6.1 GW as of Q1FY25, accounting for 41 per cent of the capacity, with another 5.3 GW under execution. The combined order pipeline for utility-scale EPC and solar rooftop, including group captive, is Rs 15,500 crore. Tata Power is poised to garner 20 per cent market share in the residential rooftop segment on the back of its new solar manufacturing facility and strong pan-India channel partner network, it said. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/webstories/unicommerce-esolutions-ipo-price-band-to-risk-factors-all-you-need-to-know/slidelist/112307438.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/webstories/unicommerce-esolutions-ipo-price-band-to-risk-factors-all-you-need-to-know/slidelist/112307438.cms" target="_blank">Unicommerce eSolutions IPO – Price band to risk factors, all you need to know</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/electric-two-wheeler-sales-cross-the-1-lakh-mark-after-four-months-ola-electric-leads-the-market/articleshow/112288793.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/electric-two-wheeler-sales-cross-the-1-lakh-mark-after-four-months-ola-electric-leads-the-market/articleshow/112288793.cms" target="_blank">Electric two-wheeler sales cross the 1 lakh mark after four months, Ola Electric leads the market</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/news/neeraj-chopras-paris-olympics-journey-to-begin-with-qualification-round-today-top-rivals-to-look-out-for/articleshow/112311760.cms">Neeraj Chopra qualifies for finals with a first throw of 89.34m – top rivals to look out for</a>

Tata Power net profit up 31% to ₹1,189 crore in June quarter

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Google is ready to go nuclear in the name of AI.</li><li>The search giant has struck a deal to bring new nuclear plants online to power its AI data centers.</li></ul>The energy demands of the data centers behind the generative AI boom are proving so great that they're pushing Big Tech firms into an unfamiliar position: becoming long-term customers to the nuclear industry.Google became the first tech giant to broker a deal for entirely new nuclear power plants after it <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/sustainability/google-kairos-power-nuclear-energy-agreement/?utm_source=tw&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=og&amp;utm_content=&amp;utm_term=">unveiled a partnership with industry firm Kairos Power</a> on Monday. The deal will see the startup build "multiple" small modular nuclear reactors for the search giant.The first of these reactors — which includes the one Kairos began constructing in East Tennessee in July — is set to be online by 2030. The others should be ready by 2035 and will enable up to 500 megawatts of "new 24/7 carbon-free power" to US electricity grids. Assuming continuous operation and average consumption levels, that's enough to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.carboncollective.co/sustainable-investing/gigawatt-gw">power about 438,000 US households</a> for one year.Google CEO Sundar Pichai hinted earlier this month that this was coming after <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-considering-nuclear-power-energy-hungry-ai-data-centers-2024-10">he said in an interview</a> that his company was "evaluating technologies like small modular nuclear reactors."<div type="image" title="Sundar Pichai speaking." height="2824" width="4071" msid="114258507" hostid="261" sizebytes="346004"></div>While deal terms have not been disclosed, the significance of the arrangement is hard to overstate — and not just because the US has brought only three nuclear reactors online over the past two decades.AI is pivoting Google and its rivals toward nuclear power as they signal the need for a new solution to the tech world's growing energy problem.<h2 id="cf443968-561f-498c-b239-87db8db26b6d">Generative AI strains the energy sector</h2>Big Tech companies are racing to build smarter AI, but this requires a lot of energy.Announcing the Kairos deal, Michael Terrell, senior director of energy and climate operations at Google, noted that the grid "needs new electricity sources" to support the energy needs of AI technologies the search giant is now heavily invested in.Google revealed just how energy-intensive its AI push has been earlier this year. Its <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.gstatic.com/gumdrop/sustainability/google-2024-environmental-report.pdf">annual environmental report</a>, published in July, showed its emissions had risen 13% year-on-year in 2023, driven by "increased data center energy consumption and supply chain emissions."That 86-page report didn't mention nuclear power, bar a single endnote. It shows that Google's Kairos deal is a sign that it is now ready to consider all options in its search for a supply of clean electricity to its data centers.That's particularly important as it looks to build smarter versions of its AI model, Gemini. Ethan Mollick, a professor at Wharton, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/emollick/status/1846172006376419691">noted on X</a> that the Google-Kairos deal "increases the odds that we will see AI models scale through at least 3 more generations/orders of magnitude (post GPT-5) to 2030." Others have recognized this, too. Since OpenAI <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chat-gpt-2023-1">launched ChatGPT</a> in late 2022, the world's biggest tech companies have been forced to confront the fact that staying competitive in generative AI will require vast supplies of clean energy.By one estimate, a search request on OpenAI's buzzy chatbot <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/AI-poised-to-drive-160-increase-in-power-demand">demands around 10 times as much electricity</a> as a general Google search. The large language models behind it make the computing power in data centers buzz and whirr intensively to produce cogent responses.While solar and wind power offer clean means of electricity generation, some in the tech industry have suggested that they are not enough to meet the demands of AI.For instance, Meta's chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, said <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/ylecun/status/1837875035270263014">last month</a> that AI data centers would have to be built next to nuclear power plants as, in his view, they can produce the continuous "gigawatt-scale, low-cost, low-emission electricity" needed."The advantage is that there is no need for expensive and wasteful long-distance distribution infrastructure," he wrote on X while suggesting solar and wind are "nice" but neither simple nor cheap.<h2 id="5a41f8b3-f715-466a-9f86-890e9c5348b6">Microsoft's nuclear moves </h2>Google rival Microsoft signaled interest in nuclear power in September after it struck a 20-year power supply agreement with Constellation — an agreement that would see the Baltimore-based energy company <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/three-mile-island-nuclear-plant-reopens-power-microsoft-ai-push-2024-9">reopen the nuclear plant on Three Mile Island.</a>The Island's second unit was shut down in 1979 after it became the site of the most serious nuclear meltdown on US soil, so the move from Microsoft to turn to the site is significant — even if it is reviving the island's first unit as opposed to the first one. It is expected to come online by 2028 and provide over 800 megawatts of power, about enough to keep a small-to-mid-sized city running.In March, Amazon bought a data center in Pennsylvania from Talen Energy for $650 million, which is powered by the nuclear Susquehanna Steam Electric Station.Meanwhile, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-scope-of-sam-altmans-future-ai-empire-open-ai-2024-3">OpenAI boss Sam Altman said at Davos</a> earlier this year that an energy "breakthrough" driven by greater investment in nuclear fusion would be needed to accelerate future AI developments. Altman invested $375 million in a personal capacity into fusion power company Helion Energy in 2021.The prospect of the energy source taking on a greater role in Big Tech's operations becomes even more significant when considering the nuclear industry's decades of stagnation due to delayed projects.That doesn't seem like a deterrent, however. Big Tech firms look all in on AI. Expect them to be all in on energy sources that keep the technology ticking.

Google is taking the nuclear option to power soaring demand for AI. Here's why it's such a big deal.

This article is part of "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/workforce-innovation">Workforce Innovation</a>," a series exploring the forces shaping enterprise transformation.Since the launch of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chat-gpt-2023-1">ChatGPT</a> in 2022, artificial intelligence has been hailed as the answer to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-tools-reality-vs-hype-letdown-big-tech-2024-8">technical challenges</a> such as optimizing systems and machinery and managing vast amounts of data. Now some companies are turning to AI to tackle the human side of business: <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/employee-wellbeing-programs-help-companies-perform-better-and-manage-cost-2024-7">employee well-being</a>.Employers including Navistar, Adidas, and Cisco are experimenting with AI to monitor employee sentiment, strengthen relationships, and provide opportunities for personal and professional growth. The goal is to help managers respond to emerging trends within their teams while making sure employees get timely access to support.The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-high-earners-moved-office-work-from-home-remote-work-2024-3">rise of remote work</a> and a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-lazy-hiring-jobs-careers-hr-training-pandemic-2024-8">new generation of workers</a> with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-work-talking-about-mental-health-anxiety-depression-hr-2024-6">different needs and expectations</a> have forced companies to rethink the employee experience. With distributed teams and fewer face-to-face interactions, staffers are experiencing more <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/work-friends-spouses-loneliness-remote-hybrid-benefits-of-work-connections-2024-6">loneliness</a> and disconnection. AI offers a way for some employers to bridge the gap.To be clear: As companies and investors channel <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-big-tech-spending-on-ai-investments-2024-7">billions of dollars into AI</a>, applications to boost employee well-being are a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/flexibility-can-increase-worker-well-being-2024-8">small fraction</a> of the focus. But while few companies are pursuing this now, more could follow, said Matt Beane, an assistant professor of technology management at the University of California, Santa Barbara."Companies might experiment because engagement is so important and the pain is significant — especially since talent today is mobile," he said.Beane said he found these efforts "genuinely exciting" but described many drawbacks. "When new technology rolls out, the first 10 to 40 years are often filled with waste, confusion, and sometimes even harm," he said.<h2 id="d1678e8e-7cbc-4f85-ab59-004f883505fe">Helping managers get a vibe check</h2><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/workplace-well-being/index.html">Employee well-being</a> is a somewhat squishy term that encompasses workers' mental, physical, emotional, and economic health. But despite its seemingly nebulous nature, a workforce's well-being has real <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/employee-wellbeing-programs-help-companies-perform-better-and-manage-cost-2024-7">bottom-line implications</a>. Studies suggest that improving employee well-being can <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3870481/">increase engagement and productivity</a>. And Gallup's research indicates that organizations with higher engagement have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236927/employee-engagement-drives-growth.aspx">greater profitability, retention, and performance</a>.Still, employers have long struggled to grasp how employees feel about their jobs, colleagues, and workload. Some have relied on annual engagement surveys, which can be slow to analyze and interpret.Mike Conover, the head of learning consultation and delivery at Navistar, a manufacturer of trucks and diesel engines, is familiar with this problem: His seven-member team is spread across the US. "When you don't see someone in the office and you can't pick up on their demeanor or facial expressions, it's hard to gauge," he said.For the past several months, Conover's team has piloted Rapport, an AI tool designed to support employees and managers. Rapport, which is integrated with email, Slack, and Teams, asks employees to rate their energy level and workload using emojis daily. It follows up with tailored questions to dig deeper into their responses, which are shared with managers only with the employee's permission.The tool alerts Conover about important changes or times he needs to step in, along with tips on how to handle the situation based on <a target="_blank" href="https://people.climate.columbia.edu/projects/view/1912">research from Columbia University</a>. The tool helps Conover connect employees with Navistar's internal resources, whether they need HR support or help with a work-related problem."It breaks down the walls of management," he said. "As a newer leader, sometimes you don't know how to handle things."<h2>From feedback to action items</h2>Many of these AI tools can also spot potential issues and make recommendations.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bjorn-gulden-is-trying-to-save-adidas-after-yeezy-controversy-2024-3">Adidas</a>, the sportswear giant, uses Qualtrics Assist, an AI agent that looks at pulse-survey data along with unstructured data like public reviews or anonymized conversations on internal communication platforms. Combining this with details like work hours, location, and tenure can help managers better understand employee engagement.Managers can use the tool to get advice on their engagement results. For instance, a manager might ask "How well is my team working together?" or "How can I improve my team's overall experience?" Qualtrics Assist analyzes the data and offers insights and suggestions based on industry benchmarks and best practices.The company says the aim is to let "managers have a conversation with the data to understand the lived experience of their team members.""We leveraged AI to democratize insights, reduce bias, and save time," Sebastian Projahn, a senior director of people insights at Adidas, said in May at a summit in Salt Lake City. "Managers can focus on driving impact rather than interpreting data and reading lots of comments."Trevor Keavney, a director in Gartner's HR advisory practice, said these AI tools could be helpful for new leaders, but he mentioned a few concerns. "There's still a lot of uncertainty about AI, and some employees may have reservations," he said. "They might wonder how their data is being collected and used, and whether they're comfortable with their manager having access to this information."Another challenge arises if managers take time to collect feedback but don't act on it. "When employees see no changes based on their feedback, they may lose trust in the process," Keavney said.<h2 id="aadc4eb1-83f2-4e35-a6a8-1d265c922a86">Practical support and help with HR</h2>Other companies are using AI to help employees make use of their benefits.This year, Cisco <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cisco-is-using-ai-to-help-with-recruitment-2024-5">launched</a> an internal bot called WellNest on Webex. Employees fill out a brief intake survey and then receive daily personalized questions related to their financial health, physical fitness, focus, or social connections. Based on their responses, the bot offers two recommendations: a practical "<a target="_blank" href="https://thriveglobal.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044471974-What-s-a-Microstep">Thrive Microstep</a>" and a relevant Cisco resource. The bot's suggestions are designed to become more personalized over time as it learns from employee conversations.In August, meQuilibrium launched an AI-powered dashboard focused on mental health and resilience. In a feature called Ask meQ, employees select prompts like "I want to boost my emotional intelligence" or "I want to be more present," and the dashboard provides relevant activities and articles.The tool's employee assessment is designed to help identify an employee's risk of anxiety, depression, and burnout and recommend relevant resources. If it detects a risk of depression, for instance, the dashboard might highlight employee-assistance-program resources or suggest virtual therapy. If it identifies a need for more physical activity, it might recommend a gym-membership benefit.The engineering company KBR is piloting this technology. "Most of the time employees approach us knowing that we have a lot of resources for them, but they don't know where to start," Ashley Owens, a senior specialist in global mental health and fitness at KBR, said in an email. "This dashboard gives us the ability to identify needs in a region or in a demographic and allows us to maximize our time, resources, and funding."Beane, the researcher at UCSB, suggested that companies with strong engagement and positive manager-employee relations are better positioned to benefit from these AI applications. In other words, AI reinforces existing strengths.But if AI is seen as replacing meaningful human interactions, it could face resistance. "If a company is struggling in these areas, investing in robots might be seen as problematic," he said.

Can AI help companies boost employee well-being?

A unit of <keyword id="6437412" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Qatar-Investment-Authority" source="Orion">Qatar Investment Authority</keyword>, <keyword id="119583" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="SBI-Mutual-Fund" source="Orion">SBI Mutual Fund</keyword>, and foreign investment funds <keyword id="6354527" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nomura" source="Orion">Nomura</keyword> and <keyword id="44473" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Citigroup" source="Orion">Citigroup</keyword> were the biggest buyers of shares in <keyword id="19955648" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Adani-Group" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Adani Group" meta.hostid="267" meta.entityid="Adani Group">Adani group</keyword>'s <keyword id="22661797" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="power-transmission-unit" source="Orion">power transmission unit</keyword>'s USD <keyword id="22661798" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="1-billion-QIP" source="Orion">1 billion QIP</keyword>, according to a stock exchange filing by the company. The Rs 8,373.10 crore (USD 1 billion) qualified institutional placement (QIP) of <keyword id="19964750" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Adani-Energy-Solutions" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Adani Energy Solutions" meta.hostid="267" meta.entityid="Adani Energy Solutions">Adani Energy Solutions</keyword> Ltd (AESL), which closed last week, saw over 120 investors seek shares in the firm that is into power transmission, distribution and smart metering business. Billionaire <keyword id="22623487" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Stanley-Druckenmiller" source="keywords">Stanley Druckenmiller</keyword>'s family office-led investment firms were among the companies that sought shares of AESL in the QIP. AESL in the filing said its board has approved allocation of over 8.57 crore shares to eligible qualified institutional buyers at the issue price of Rs 976 per share, reflecting a discount of Rs 51.11 (4.98 per cent) to the floor price of Rs 1,027. Giving details of allottees who got more than 5 per cent of shares, it said INQ Holdings LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of QIA, cornered 15 per cent of the shares sold. Two Mauritius funds of Citigroup bought 8.88 per cent of the shares sold while four SBI funds - SBI Infrastructure Fund, SBI Large &amp; Midcap Fund, SBI Long term Advantage Fund Series IV and SBI Magnum Children's Benefit Fund - together took home 7.93 per cent of the shares. Nomura Singapore Ltd ODI cornered 7.5 per cent of the shares, the filing showed. INQ had in August last year acquired nearly 2.7 per cent in Adani Green Energy Ltd - the renewable energy firm of the conglomerate run by billionaire Gautam Adani. In 2020, it had acquired a stake in Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd, a subsidiary of AESL. The AESL QIP last week was oversubscribed six times and fetched demand of over Rs 50,000 crore against an issue size of USD 1 billion. <keyword id="22636516" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Duquesne-Family-Office" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Duquesne Family Office" meta.hostid="267" meta.entityid="Duquesne Family Office">Duquesne Family Office</keyword> and two other US-based long-only funds - Driehaus Capital Management and Jennison Associates - bought shares but AESL did not disclose the exact number of shares they bought since these were less than 5 per cent of the issue size, sources said. The QIP issue marked the debut of highly prestigious long-only investors Duquesne Family Office, Driehaus Capital Management and Jennison Associates which are known for their strong performance. These investors are known for investing only in companies with high governance and are known for staying invested for decades. The QIP was the first public equity raise by the conglomerate since a damning Hindenburg report last year wiped away billions in shareholder value. The demand generated made the AESL QIP the largest in the energy space. Duquesne was founded by billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller, who along with George Soros in 1992 broke the Bank of England by shorting the British pound, leading to its crash and earnings over a billion dollars. Adani Group has a history of introducing several long-only investors in the market. In the past years, it has brought large investors including GQG Partners and International Holding Company (IHC) besides QIA. Other major global names that participated in the QIP include Blackrock, Jupiter Asset Management, and Eastspring. Domestic mutual funds that have participated included HDFC Mutual Fund, Axis Mutual Fund, Bandhan Mutual Fund, LIC, WhiteOak, 360One among others. Insurance companies including SBI Insurance, SBI Pension and ASK Asset Management have also participated, according to sources. QIP is an instrument used by listed companies to raise funds from large institutions. The fundraise is the first after Adani group's flagship firm scrapped a Rs 20,000 crore issue in February last year, following the Hindenburg report alleging accounting fraud and stock manipulation. Though the group vehemently and repeatedly denied all allegations, listed companies of the conglomerate at one point saw over USD 150 billion of their market value being wiped out. While the group has largely recovered, a successful QIP is being seen as a powerful vote of investor confidence in the tycoon. Separately, Adani Enterprises Ltd, the flagship firm of the group, is looking to revive its first-ever public sale of bonds. It plans to raise as much as Rs 600 crore. The company has hired Trust Investment Advisors, AK Capital Services and Nuvama Wealth Management as lead managers for the issuances. The group had tapped the dollar bond market in March this year - the first time since the Hindenburg report - when its solar energy unit Adani Green Energy Ltd and associated firms got bids of about USD 2.9 billion.

Qatar Investment Authority unit, SBI funds, Citigroup biggest buyers in Adani Energy's USD 1 billion QIP

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A power pendulum of sorts is constantly swinging back and forth between employees and employers.</li><li>The businesses are back on top these days as employees lose much of the pandemic power they held.</li></ul>Gone are the days of a plethora of work-from-home jobs and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/quiet-quitting-hustle-culture-coasting-viral-work-debate-2022-9">quiet quitting</a>. These days, most American workers may be more worried about being laid off than having to choose between <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/great-resignation-still-going-layoffs-low-job-openings-quits-high-2022-11">dueling job offers</a> — that is if they even have a job.The businesses are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/employers-still-have-power-in-job-market-great-resignation-2022-6">back on top.</a>Amazon dealt a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-ceo-return-to-office-mandate-5-days-week-2024-9">death knell to its hybrid work model</a> this week, eliminating one more mode of flexibility its workers gained amid a national reckoning over work in recent years.The force of the US economy has slowly <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ravin-jesuthasan-why-companies-enforce-rto-mandates-future-of-work-2024-8">stripped employees of the power</a> they briefly amassed in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic (or, depending on who you ask, continued to deprive them of a power they never truly had. More on that later).A power pendulum is constantly swinging back and forth between employers and employees, guided by market forces and an ever-changing economy. Sometimes, workers have an outsize influence over their employers, using their <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salary-raise-controversial-tactic-job-interview-counteroffer-employer-2022-11">leverage to score better working conditions</a> and increased pay. Other times, employers have the power to set workplace norms, and workers are better off keeping their heads down."When one side — capital vs. labor, for example — gets too much power or becomes too dominant, there tends to be pressure to eliminate or equalize that power," said Arne Kalleberg, professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of "Good jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States."While individuals are powerless to control the whims of the market, there are steps employees can take to stay ahead of the swing and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tips-score-raise-even-in-economic-downturn-recession-ceo-2024-8">remain desirable</a> regardless of who holds the workplace power.<h2 id="e88933ec-7368-4791-9f6c-8386fb6e3537">The pendulum of power</h2>While an effective visual metaphor, the pendulum comparison is admittedly imperfect. The cyclical nature of shifting workplace power does swing back and forth between employers and employees, but not automatically. Historical, economic, and social factors all help determine who has control at any moment.Think of it as a supply-demand phenomenon: Whenever the labor market gets tight, and employer demand for workers exceeds the number of available workers, employees gain greater choice and, thus, power. Conversely, during a loose market, when the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-job-market-unemployment-rising-federal-reserve-interest-rate-cut-2024-7">number of workers exceeds</a> the number of available positions, employers have the upper hand.The pattern dates back to at least the late 1800s, Kalleberg said, citing <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gilded-age-mansions-photos-wealth-2024-9">The Gilded Age</a> as a pivotal turning point in American employment norms. From the late 1870s through the early 1900s, the country experienced a period of rampant markets and unprecedented employer power, leaving workers disadvantaged and exploited.<div type="image" title="Black and white photo of men standing outside an employment agency during the great depression" height="1875" width="2500" msid="113549863" hostid="261" sizebytes="278826"></div>A mere three decades later, however, the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/investing/what-caused-the-great-depression">power pendulum swung back</a> toward workers with The New Deal, which included unemployment relief and minimum wage legislation, among other worker rights. The pendulum swung on and on through the neoliberal markets of the 1970s and the 1990s employment boom.Which more or less brings us to the post-pandemic <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/quitting-job-big-stay-great-resignation-labor-market-economic-outlook-2024-1">present</a>."COVID arrived like a meteor killing the dinosaurs," said Gerald Davis, a professor of business administration at the University of Michigan and author of "The Vanishing American Corporation: Navigating the Hazards of a New Economy." "It changed the way that companies think about the nature of the employment relationship."But while academics and experts agree that the pandemic was an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/work-from-home-remote-work-changed-economy-pandemic-2023-4">inflection point for American employment</a>, there's much less concurrence about who actually got the power.<h2 id="b5427f5e-40de-4289-bc57-012bceeb8632">COVID changes</h2>The pandemic era gave us <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/great-resignation-what-to-know-who-is-quitting-2021-9">The Great Resignation</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jobs-great-resignation-reshuffle-gen-z-millennials-quitting-switching-careers-2021-10">The Great Reshuffle</a>, workplace trends that saw a certain type of white-collar worker gain the freedom to quit their job and score higher-paying positions at other companies with relative ease. Millions of US workers quit their jobs during the pandemic market boom, leading to a two-decade-high resignation rate.Cat Ward, vice president of employer mobilization at employment nonprofit Jobs for the Future, attributed the reshuffling to employers being forced to reckon with a number of sudden changes, including COVID, shifting generational workplace demographics, the rise of artificial intelligence, and diversity, equity, and inclusion <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dei-programs-america-diversity-equity-inclusion-pushback-how-to-fix-2024-2">(DEI) measures</a>."We've seen this moment over the last four years where there's been a pretty incredible <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/workforce-innovation-series-c-suite-worker-well-being-dei-2024-6">amount of innovation and change</a>," Ward said. "Employers have been on their heels to try and adapt to all this change, and that has put more power in the hands of workers."Kalleberg, however, suggested the narrative of a pandemic boom in employee power was largely overblown. Sure, some employees were able to work from home. Some employees transitioned into higher-paying roles. But much of the COVID-era shifts in workplace norms were <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/essential-workers-coronavirus-hazard-pay-layoff-protection-ppe-2020-5">unequally distributed</a>, he said."For a moment there, it looked like essential workers were going to get a better break, but that seems to have dissipated," Kalleberg said.<div type="image" title="People holding signs that say &quot;Make them pay!&quot; alongside other people" height="1333" width="1777" msid="113549865" hostid="261" sizebytes="139660"></div>While there have been some mini-wins for workers in recent years — Kalleberg pointed to the recent <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2023-year-of-the-strike-unions-sag-aftra-uaw-2023-12">rejuvenation of union activity</a> as one example — the pandemic ultimately cemented an already-existing pattern of increasing employment polarization, he said. The country has steadily seen a rise in high-wage jobs and low-wage jobs, alongside the hollowing out of middle-tier, semi-skilled positions, Kalleberg said.And with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-will-change-most-jobs-employers-help-workers-keep-up-2024-8">generative AI already knocking at the door</a> of many industries, more workplace change is all but guaranteed, experts said. But whether the burgeoning technology will help put power in employer or employee hands remains to be seen.<h2 id="3de5911d-bafe-41ef-ad9c-b27ec471af8a">How to avoid the pendulum's swing</h2>As <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/layoffs-sweeping-us-these-are-companies-making-cuts-2024">layoffs mount</a> across sectors and qualified job seekers <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/applied-hundreds-jobs-struggling-get-hired-bridge-job-2024-6">rack up rejections</a>, employees are facing a dearth of workplace power.While workers can't avoid the power pendulum's effects entirely, there are steps they can take to prioritize resiliency and ensure they remain employable even during a downturn, experts said.One of the most important things workers can do during good times and bad is to build and maintain a flexible mindset, especially when it comes to where they're looking for jobs, according to Ward."Step No. 1 is to always look at where there are more <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-top-20-recession-proof-jobs-by-salary-growth-payscale-2022-12">recession-proof </a>career opportunities," she said.Healthcare, government, technology, nonprofits, education, and accounting are all areas that typically experience stability even during tough economic times, experts said. Meanwhile, industries like tech, media, real estate, and entertainment <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-2023-safest-jobs-at-risks-economists-2022-11#:~:text=Professionals%20who%20have%20the%20most,disabled%2C%20Bartosz%20Sawicki%20told%20Insider.">tend to downsize during a recession.</a>Employees should invest in their <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-gen-z-can-build-social-capital-at-work-2021-9">professional social capital</a> as well, Ward said. She encouraged workers to seek out a mentor or get involved in community professional groups, many of which help people rebound after a layoff.Workers will be best-served during difficult times if they adopt a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-learning-mindset-is-critical-for-success-says-haleons-us-cmo-katie-williams-2024-6">learning mindset</a> and invest in continual skills development regardless of what the markets are doing, experts said. Holding credentials with market value and relevance can pay off big-time when companies are looking to make cuts.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/community-college-becoming-popular-for-gen-z-to-avoid-debt-2023-5">Community colleges</a> are a great place for people to start, Kalleberg said. The local institutions often offer an array of classes on various subject matters at an affordable price."We can't depend on employers to teach those skills because they won't," he added. "They stopped doing it because they feared they would lose workers."In addition to acquiring technical skills, employees should focus on developing durable human skills, like communication and leadership, Ward said, especially as <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-ai-in-business-industry-leaders-panel-2024-4">AI becomes more prevalent</a> in the workplace.<div type="image" title="ChatGPT" height="1667" width="2500" msid="113549861" hostid="261" sizebytes="155226"></div>"People should really be thinking about what it is that humans can uniquely do in the workplace," Ward said.But even as <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-job-market-replacing-workers-competition-job-losses-artificial-intelligence-2024-7">machines become ubiquitous</a>, the professional outlook for humans isn't entirely doom and gloom."I'm very impressed by the potential of AI," Kalleberg said. "It's going to eliminate jobs, but it's also going to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-jobs-al-will-create-no-collegee-degree-chatgpt-2023-11">create many more."</a>Artificial intelligence will offer workers endless information at their fingertips, which could eventually <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-use-ai-save-time-work-best-ways-use-chatgpt-2024-9">give them a leg up</a> in terms of skill-building, he said. Workers who have previously lacked solid skillsets will suddenly be able to use technology to enhance the skills they do have or acquire new ones, according to Kalleberg, who suggested the invention could even be one way of rebuilding the middle class.If that turns out to be true, it's only a matter of time before the pendulum swings yet again, and employees take back the power, experts said.And for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-employees-disengaged-work-meaningless-fake-email-jobs-2024-6">America's millions of workers</a>, that day can't come soon enough."Employers have had their way for a long time," Kalleberg said.

The employment power pendulum is always swinging. Here's how workers can stay ahead.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Businesses should enhance 5G with complementary tech, like WiFi, and other infrastructure.</li><li>The full value of 5G may lie in its integration with established tech, not just speed and bandwidth.</li></ul>Businesses typically adopt 5G for its speed, expanded bandwidth, and reliability. But to get the most value out of it, organizations should focus on how it interacts with the complementary technologies surrounding it, Dan Crawford, a strategy manager at Cisco, said."It's time to rethink our definition of connectivity," Crawford said. "Rather than viewing it merely through the lens of speed and bandwidth, let's start considering connectivity as a holistic experience."He said companies should focus on enhancing 5G's capabilities with other technologies, such as WiFi, and combine them with hardware and other infrastructure rather than relying solely on 5G to solve every business problem. "This approach makes the network more accessible for innovative applications to shape user experiences," he added.Crawford told Business Insider that this could be complex for some businesses. They often need to decide whether the cost and time needed to upgrade infrastructure and equipment to make it 5G-compatible is worth it.BI spoke with Crawford about these challenges, the types of complementary technologies that can help companies boost connectivity, and how they could unlock 5G's full potential.The following has been edited for length and clarity.What types of complementary technologies should companies focus on to enhance 5G's capabilities?WiFi is the most universal technology. We have computers, laptops, and other devices connected to WiFi, or if you're not relying on WiFi, they use some protocol that's cellularly connected. All these things will need to work together, but the one common factor is their touchpoints to the network.There's an entire ecosystem of devices and tool sets and general employee knowledge that is necessary to be built up to support something that is centered on a single technology like 5G.While the complexity of 5G might seem daunting for companies, especially with the added challenges of existing technologies, we have a responsibility to simplify connectivity for service providers, enterprises, and, ultimately, the end users.We're also trying to remove siloes that have existed. A mobile network has always been siloed from the physical broadband network. There are reasons behind it, but now, how do we integrate them to be sure the experience is seamless and flawless?How does breaking down siloes and focusing on complementary technology benefit businesses?If we can shift our mindset, 5G could very well usher in a new age focused on multiaccess user experiences. There is a likely future where consumers will never need to know whether they are connected to WiFi, 4G, 5G, 6G, or whatever next-generation connectivity technology comes next. If experience expectations are being fulfilled, how users are connected won't matter.The network elements for 5G are designed to distribute roles to empower companies with control, access, and insight. It gives a business the tools to operate similarly to how it is today without feeling like they're handing off the communicative arm of its IT to an entity. If the power goes out or the networks go down, how much will it impact your business? No business wants to forecast that risk in their planning.With 5G, that control can be migrated into the business instead of businesses having to hire experts to understand what mobile networks look like and negotiate the handoffs between a public network and a private network. It simplifies all of that.It's a simplification tool that extends and expands the reach of what a business can do today across the globe.What advice do you have for companies to derive the most value out of 5G?The first thing is understanding your use cases and having a good grasp of your existing technology stack. Looking at the big picture is important for understanding your needs today but also making sure that tomorrow isn't forgotten. It's very important that your ecosystem is front and center in your decision-making process.The goal should be simplifying and expanding what you're already capable of. It's a democratization of connectivity and access.Investing in 5G isn't a one-time thing. It's a long-term decision — an ongoing commitment to innovation, development, and opportunity. It's important that you're not buying technology for technology's sake. Be comfortable not knowing everything and trusting your partners.

Cisco strategy manager says combining 5G with established tech can help companies get ahead

New Delhi, The <keyword id="6396354" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="national-company-law-appellate-tribunal" source="Orion">National Company Law Appellate Tribunal</keyword> (<keyword id="6396355" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nclat" source="Orion">NCLAT</keyword>) has stayed a <keyword id="47183" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cci" source="Orion">CCI</keyword> order that imposed a penalty on state-owned power producer <keyword id="45179" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ntpc" source="Orion">NTPC</keyword> for not disclosing the acquisition of 35.47 per cent equity share capital in Ratnagiri Gas &amp; Power Private Ltd. The Competition Commission of India on August 22, 2023, imposed a penalty of Rs 40 lakh on NTPC for non-disclosure of its acquisition of 35.47 per cent of the equity share capital in Ratnagiri Gas &amp; Power Private Ltd (RGPPL). This was challenged by NTPC before the NCLAT, which is an appellate authority over the orders passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). A two-member bench directed to list the matter on February 27, 2024, for the next hearing on NTPC's appeal and stayed the operation of order passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). "Till next date of hearing the operation of the impugned order dated 22.08.2023 passed by the CCI shall remained stayed," said NCLAT passed earlier this week. NCLAT directed CCI to file a reply over NTPC appeal within four weeks and rejoinder, if any by the power producer, to be filed within four weeks thereafter. NTPC had acquired 35.47 per cent of the equity share capital of RGPPL without notification to the CCI, increasing its stake from 25.51 per cent to 60.98 per cent. Later, CCI on October 27, 2022, issued a notice or failure to notify the transaction under combination regulation. CCI was of the opinion that the transaction in question was a notifiable transaction. However, NTPC had submitted that the acquisition of an additional 35.47 per cent stake in RGPPL was a part of the resolution plan for the settlement of the outstanding debt of RGPPL. Moreover, the final goal of the said transaction was not to acquire equity shares or control, but to settle RGPPL's debt. NTPC also did not acquire any additional rights and enjoys joint control in RGPPL along with GAIL and Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd even on consummation of the transaction, said PSU. However, rejecting this, CCI held that by failure to notify the transaction before its consummation has resulted in violation of provisions of Section 6(2) of the Competition Act and therefore, is liable to a penalty under Section 43A of the Competition Act and imposed a fine of Rs 40 lakh. This was subsequently challenged by NTPC before NCLAT.

NCLAT stays CCI penalty on NTPC in Ratnagiri Gas & Power shares issue

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Sunrun, the largest home solar installer, is pushing battery storage amid a downturn in the market.</li><li>High interest rates and policy changes in California are slowing demand for residential solar.</li></ul>The residential solar company Sunrun this month hit some milestones in what's otherwise been a bleak year for the industry.The company on Tuesday said it had 1 million residential solar customers and accounted for one in five home solar systems installed across the country. On a recent earnings call, Sunrun's CEO Mary Powell also said the company was selling a record amount of battery storage. More than half of new US sales in the latest quarter included solar and battery storage — what the company calls an "attachment rate." That figure is up from 12% a year ago.Still, the company isn't immune from a major slowdown in home solar sales. The slump was enough to force a competitor, SunPower, to file for bankruptcy protection this month. SunPower cited a combination of high interest rates and a policy change in California, the country's largest solar market. The company was also highly leveraged and struggled to raise more capital after some financial-reporting errors.In June, analysts at Wood Mackenzie forecast that homeowners nationwide will install 14% less solar power in 2024 than they did in 2023, marking the first time the market has contracted in five years. Zoë Gaston, a principal analyst on Wood Mackenzie's US distributed solar team, said the drop will likely be even larger following the exits of SunPower and another top installer, Titan Solar, from the industry.Driving the downturn is a new "net-metering" policy in California, where homeowners are getting paid less for sending electricity to the grid. The analysts estimate that California's market will contract by 40% this year, following a mad dash to install solar before those changes took effect in April 2023.High interest rates aren't helping either. Most homeowners finance their solar systems with a lease or a loan from companies like Sunrun. Higher rates on those long-term leases and loans mean less money saved on monthly utility bills, making solar less appealing."The days of easy money and low interest rates provided a lot of stimulus for demand," Brett Castelli, a clean-energy equity analyst at Morningstar, told Business Insider.Those days are over, he added, so some residential solar companies are focusing less on growth and more on cash flow after operating in the red.Powell told Business Insider that Sunrun had been focusing on boosting cash and a "battery-first" strategy in order to weather the solar-market headwinds. Sunrun is aiming for $200 million to $500 million in cash flow this year; historically it's been negative.She described the residential solar market this year as "distorted" because of the massive run-up in demand last year in California. But she speculated that it would adjust and then grow by at least 10% a year."Utilities don't have a solution for the future," Powell said, adding that <a target="_blank" href="https://l.businessinsider.com/a/click?_t=c8e10479a20f45bba5aad6c5f6fbb009&amp;_m=410907af3b41471e942f363124c7df5f&amp;_e=FH1nquVkvLfNWFzU_lJs7AfiLlVuT6tp-orYYxsiQ6Xb04sHPpCAri4s2sGvXpwgMOXKHrkz6fAZ5qhwQUqAN7ecYWspQ8eNmuBVPi4-oJZGY3DZPYLGfp_hwzKHsMpGsXu9MnCW07xSaqSSgUVU_naD-_XrZyHSN8fvD6Q_1mcZWLJJRUwme9UUf_Y-ocgDMDQjL0PS58nYKkpgOc8DTxCIvKp2Dw5T7VKntAN1HNHt32_HosEXg7Z81zY4XWq8UHeBdQ1ec0YwSVruC-j92AZ5h1NoIKQPn3NoqKEsWOUvB3ZYc8xbEl9dfiz-y4OaaxwujEvrpnlRKSgqXHGuPW44VrvTVXsKxjobl5e6jkuM8J1YU7mScSkza2XJNFJi_RbD0YUfEs1lR_WZwOnPFedTl0McEaarIC8dTt5c05odhMRNYJlHdHlI5nd2JGDAS453FqLVPoj3ud0mDseK7o8iWpQhwLkofncVVUWUEZ0%3D">customers are paying more for power but reliability is getting worse</a>. "That creates a systemic demand for solar and battery storage."Powell said regulators were pushing utilities to leverage residential renewable energy to stabilize the grid during periods of high demand, while homeowners want to have backup power as outages become more frequent because of extreme weather.Powell pointed to Sunrun's pilot projects in Texas, California, and Puerto Rico, where the company is monitoring its customers' stored solar power and sending it to the grid in times of high demand. Customers get paid for the energy, while Sunrun is paid for dispatching the batteries. In Maryland, Sunrun has partnered with three owners of electric Ford F-150s who charge at home to test how EV batteries can serve as back-up power.Castelli agreed with Powell's prediction that residential solar will grow in the long term, pointing to rising utility rates, the falling costs of equipment, and the likelihood of lower interest rates. But if states follow California's lead by making it less lucrative for homeowners to send electricity to the grid, demand could slow."The bottom line is the rooftop-solar industry needs to become more efficient," Castelli said. "The US has by far the highest cost for rooftop solar in the world. Through these changes and headwinds, companies are going out of business, and that's making the industry more efficient."

Residential solar is struggling. One company's add-on is helping it hit 1 million installations.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>PepsiCo says it's two-thirds of the way done with an overhaul of its supply chain.</li><li>It has invested in AI and automation to make its production and distribution more profitable.</li></ul>Gregg Roden, PepsiCo's chief operating officer, has spent his entire 34-year professional career working at the snacking giant. He said that in the past three years alone he'd witnessed more change than in the 31 years before that.Over the past couple of decades, as consumers bought more goods online, grocery sales remained reliably stuck in the store. But the pandemic shifted grocery-shopping patterns, and now people are increasingly likely to buy food and beverages online too."When I started 34 years ago, everything was bought from a store, and we had a pretty narrow portfolio of options for the consumer," Roden told Business Insider. "Now, literally anyone can buy anything, anywhere." PepsiCo has also expanded its product line, offering new flavors and sizes of its snacks and drinks.These changes mean demand for more brands is coming from more directions. PepsiCo says it is investing in digitization and automation — including robotics and predictive artificial intelligence — so it can better plan for demand and more quickly and precisely produce and deliver its products. And it says its supply-chain transformation is two-thirds complete.<h2 id="edb5b524-83f3-4f66-928d-fc4bdede46a4">Supporting agriculture with AI predictive insights and satellite imagery</h2>PepsiCo generated more than $91 billion in 2023 from the sales of more than 500 brands worldwide, including its namesake soda, Lay's, Doritos, Gatorade, and Mountain Dew. The company's earnings for the first two quarters of 2024 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/11/pepsico-pep-earnings-q2-2024-earnings.html">exceeded Wall Street's expectations</a>, but volume in North America for the Frito-Lay and beverages businesses has been declining as consumers have pushed back against years of price hikes.Athina Kanioura, PepsiCo's chief strategy and transformation officer, described investments in PepsiCo's seed-to-shelf supply chain as the "glue" in the company's future ability to deliver higher profits and revenue growth. And it all begins with the work done in the field.The farmers PepsiCo works with own more than 4 million acres in North America alone, providing ingredients such as potatoes and corn for its chips and other snacks.The thinking is that by using less water and fertilizer to produce those ingredients, the company can boost its profits in an industry that operates on thin margins. It says that it works with farmers to ensure they have the technology to harvest those ingredients efficiently and that it subsidizes some of the cost of that technology for smaller farms.It also says it has partnered with companies including CropTrak, AgroScout, and Microsoft to monitor production, analyze crop health, track where crops go, and better understand where to plant crops so they can thrive.<h2 id="32588e1b-3851-4dba-89dd-e96f1f24974a">Distribution workers do fewer manual tasks</h2>PepsiCo is also rethinking how it fulfills orders and distributes its products, which is changing the work of the company's many employees in manufacturing and distribution. With more automation, workers are doing fewer physical tasks, like driving a forklift, and far more oversight of the machines taking over those tasks.Workers at manufacturing facilities and distribution centers and the unions that represent them often bristle at automation, which can lead to layoffs. Large food manufacturers that have announced closings and layoffs this year include PepsiCo, Tyson Foods, and Campbell Soup. Often those announcing layoffs don't directly attribute them to automation but to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/tyson-foods-close-iowa-pork-plant-with-1200-workers-2024-03-11/">soft sales</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fooddive.com/news/campbell-soup-closing-inefficient-sites-415-job-losses/717224/">older facilities that can't keep up with demand</a>, or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fooddive.com/news/pepsicos-quaker-plant-illinois-closing-layoffs/712954/">even product recalls</a>. PepsiCo declined to comment on the reason for its layoffs.Food producers are also confronting a generational shift. Research from McKinsey suggests that while many Gen Zers express interest in working in manufacturing, not enough of them are taking jobs at factories to fill vacancies, and that they're <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/from-hire-to-inspire-getting-and-keeping-gen-z-in-manufacturing">more likely than older workers to leave those jobs</a>.PepsiCo argues that it can't continue to have employees perform most tasks manually while cost-effectively churning out enough food and drinks to meet demand. So it trains workers to monitor autonomous machines and ensure they're working safely and efficiently. "You are taking an analog worker, and you are making them a digital worker," Kanioura said.Its modernization efforts include how it puts together variety packs, such as those containing several small bags of Ruffles, Doritos, Cheetos, and Fritos: While workers used to assemble the packs, machines are increasingly taking over.Even as it has invested in automation, PepsiCo's total workforce has swelled: It grew by 20%, to 318,000, over the five years that ended in 2023.<h2 id="49fb841a-5ce1-4f54-8631-44d495ffdaa5">Creating more intelligent warehouses</h2>PepsiCo says it considers most of the company's warehouses "intelligent" facilities with tech that allows employees to track and control the movement of goods.It uses sensors and AI to help with predictive maintenance checks and quality-control measures — for example, using patterns to identify a machine or vehicle that's likely to malfunction and cause problems later on. Rather than suffering a shutdown when a motor breaks on the tortilla-chip line, PepsiCo can preemptively replace the motor the next time the line is scheduled for downtime."Being able to turn that data into action is important," Roden said.

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