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Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are unlocking new opportunities for brands and retailers to push the boundaries of online shopping and customer experience. As global retailers are expected to spend $7.3 billion on AI this year and the global market for AI software is expected to reach $126 billion by 2025, AI presents many benefits and opportunities within the context of the eCommerce industry including more targeted marketing and advertising, increased customer retention, efficient sales processes, better product development, and innovative shopping experiences.

Here are eight applications of AI in eCommerce that can take both backend processes and customer-facing experiences for brands to the next level. 

The widespread shift to working from home in 2020 forced many companies to rapidly adopt cloud technologies to enable remote workforces and customer connections. However, some important IT planning may have been overlooked amid the urgency to transition to the cloud. A long-term plan around data governance -- the approach to managing and using data securely in enterprise systems -- may not have been implemented when moving to the cloud.

Understandably, data governance may not have been a top priority for companies in the pandemic’s early days. But now, as companies review their cloud strategies and contemplate the next steps for maximizing value from the cloud, data governance plays a critical role in cloud optimization. This is especially true as the pace of data creation has rapidly accelerated since 2020. If not kept in check, the rapid creation of data can result in data sprawl, a staggering amount of unorganized data that leaves your IT environment in disarray.

Microsoft runs occasional bug bashes for Insiders to help find and eradicate flaws in preview versions of its operating system, and the latest one is live now and will run until March 22.

The software giant didn’t roll out a new build to Dev Channel Insiders on Wednesday this week, as is usually the case, so instead it’s delivering new build 22579 today, along with ISO files for it. There are some new features and improvements to be enjoyed in this flight, including the ability to name your folders on Start, and site suggestions in the Get Started app that you can pin to your taskbar.

While security apps may not be the software that everyone gets excited about, there is no getting away from their importance. Despite this, there are a couple of things that stop many people from investigating security solutions. Firstly, modern version of Windows include protective features, and secondly there is the concern about additional cost.

With the newly updated Bitdefender Antivirus Free for Windows, both of these concerns are rendered moot. Not only is the software completely free of charge, the features and options it offers go far beyond anything Microsoft has provided with Windows. This latest version is notable for various reasons, not least of which is the fact that it has been completely re-engineered and re-architectured.

When the Log4Shell vulnerability appeared in December last year the effects rippled across the cybersecurity world with potentially millions of devices affected.

A new study from Qualys takes a look at how enterprises responded to the vulnerability and how successful their remediation efforts were.

When the world shut down in March 2020, many of us envisioned a two-week work-from-home stint, followed by a prompt return to office life. Little did we know that the business world, as we knew it, would change forever.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the overnight shift to a remote workforce was done out of necessity. But, over the past two years, companies have realized that this new operations model can have many business benefits, including cost savings associated with physical office space and a better work/life balance for employees.

All USB and Thunderbolt cables are not created equally. Since these cables can carry both power and data, it can be quite foolish (and potentially dangerous) to choose one that is low-quality. The problem, however, is it can be hard to know which cables on the market are worth your time. You see, a higher price does not necessarily mean a cable is of good quality or safe to use.

OWC is aiming to solve this dilemma by releasing a premium Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C cable on which consumers can fully depend. In other words, you will be able to buy this cable and be confident that it meets all specifications and certifications. In fact, it is certified for up to 8K video, up to 100 watts power delivery, and up to 40Gb/s data transfer. Yeah, this a very nice cable, folks!

Businesses are investing more in site reliability engineering but are being held back by outdated and manual processes, according to a new report.

A study of 450 site reliability engineers carried out by software intelligence company Dynatrace finds 88 percent say there is now more understanding of the strategic importance of their role than there was three years ago.

New research from service orchestration and automation solutions company Stonebranch finds 88 percent of enterprises intend to grow their investment in these technologies this year.

The report is based on a survey of respondents from companies with over 1000 employees to find their views about automation and orchestration as it relates to cloud, data pipelines, IT operations, self-service enablement, and more.

New research from CloudShare finds a significant shift in the way B2B software companies are connecting with customers and the potential for increased revenue that comes from a shift to virtual software experiences.

The amount of virtual proof of concepts (POCs) and self-paced virtual learning experiences has increased by nearly 400 percent in 2021 according to the study.

The threat landscape is becoming more challenging from every angle. Security teams are understaffed and overworked and are still catching up after the wide-ranging effects of the pandemic. There’s unfortunately no end in sight as the skills gap widens and the complexity around IT management continues to grow with remote work programs going from sticking plaster to get through the initial lockdown to 'business as usual.' Bad actors are becoming more sophisticated each day. It has never before been this hard to keep your organization secure.

It’s no wonder that many security professionals fall into the trap of adopting numerous security tools to help them cope with these problems. In the hope of using the latest and seemingly greatest technology, CISOs think adding another security layer will reduce their risk exposure. If only it were that easy. Adding more technology can solve some of the issues, but it can also dilute team attention spans further, leading to more problems over time.

It never takes long for threat actors to jump on a bandwagon and the Ukraine conflict is the latest event to prompt a wave of cryptocurrency phishing emails.

A new report of February's attack vectors from managed detection and response company Expel shows attempts to impersonate legitimate aid organizations to exploit people's desire to support refugees and victims with donations.

There can be few Netflix users out there who have not teamed up with friends or family to share a single account between multiple households. While this is a great way to reduce the cost of accessing the streaming service, Netflix is a little irked at the revenue it is missing out on as a result.

As such, the company has announced that it is planning a test that will prompt some password-sharers to pay a bit extra to add extra "sub accounts" to their Standard and Premium plans.

Google has announced a new contextual navigation unit called "Related search for content". It is an AdSense tool that can be used by website owners to show visitors search terms that are related to the content of the page they are currently viewing.

From a web user's point of view, the feature provides an easy way to find out more information about a topic without having to manually hunt things down. For site owners, it is a way to help keep visitors on the site for longer.

So, you just took a bunch of photos with your camera and now it is time to transfer the pics to your computer, eh? OK, just remove the storage card from your camera and insert it directly into your computer. What? You can't do that? Oh, that's right -- many computer manufacturers are no longer including integrated card readers these days. Ugh. I guess those photos will be stuck on the card forever, right?

Actually, no. You can simply connect an external card reader to your computer to transfer those photos (or other file types). Today, Lexar launches its latest such reader. Called "Professional USB-C Dual-Slot Reader," it connects with (you guessed it) USB Type-C and is compatible with both SD and microSD cards.