Matt Farmer

I believe the UK has a real opportunity to lead a new, ethical model for growth with digital labour. In a recent piece for The Guardian, I shared my thoughts on how people and agentic AI can work together. Our goal is to augment human capabilities, not replace humans. We’re achieving this by automating routine tasks and freeing up teams to concentrate on strategic, high-impact work. We're already seeing the results firsthand. Our AI agents have now handled over 1 million customer conversations, showing how digital labour can alleviate routine queries and let our teams focus on the complex challenges that drive real value. I hope you'll read the full article to explore how we can build a more dynamic, hybrid workforce for the future: https://lnkd.in/eVDB_sYt

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It's a proud moment for me, as we announce our $30bn (£22bn) investment to power the UK’s AI future. This hugely significant investment – spanning 2025 to 2028 – is Microsoft’s largest ever financial commitment in the UK and shows how much belief the company has in our country’s potential. $15bn of this investment will go towards building new #Cloud and #AI infrastructure, including the country’s largest supercomputer (23,000+ advanced GPUs), in partnership with Nscale. The rest of the investment will: ◾ strengthen our existing operations and boost technological innovation to the benefit of our customers; ◾drive progress on the UK Government’s #AIActionPlan; ◾support our focus on providing free AI skills to more than a million people by the end of 2025. Our commitment today will fuel a prosperous AI-powered future for the UK built on trust, security and responsibility. Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/eKf482ps #Innovation #Investment #AgenticAI #UKEconomy #AISkills Brad Smith | Satya Nadella

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We’re thrilled to share a landmark moment for us at Haylo: we have acquired Plessey Semiconductors Ltd, the UK’s leader in microLED display technology. For me, as a co-founder of Haylo, this isn’t just another deal, it’s a bold step towards shaping the future of AR/VR, optical computing, and AI-powered devices, industries set to be worth around £600bn by 2034. Over the next five years, we will: - Invest over £100m to scale from low-volume manufacturing to high-volume global production - Create and protect highly skilled jobs in Plymouth and the wider region - Build the hardware foundation for the next era of immersive, intelligent computing MicroLEDs will power the next generation of devices, from ultra-efficient AR/VR displays to optical processors that make AI faster, cooler, and far more sustainable. With Plessey’s end-to-end capabilities, world-class team, and deep IP portfolio, we’re ready to turn microLED breakthroughs into mass-market reality. This is a proud moment for me personally, for our brilliant team, our partners, and for the future of computing. And the journey is only just beginning. https://lnkd.in/ev7Hczth

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Unlimited Leave - Can It Boost Productivity and Cut Costs? It sounds like a Silicon Valley perk. But unlimited paid time off is quietly spreading to smaller businesses too. Why? Advocates say it: 📊 Cuts admin by removing the need to track multiple leave types 💸 Avoids big payouts for unused days when staff depart 🎯 Offsets pressure to raise base salaries The paradox? Employees often take less time off than under “use it or lose it” schemes. The key, say those who’ve implemented it successfully, is structure: – Tie eligibility to tenure or performance – Keep manager approval in place to prevent abuse It’s a perk that works when paired with trust and clarity. And in Thailand, one company is taking it a step further - offering “Tinder Leave”: paid time off to look for love. ✅ Perks can save costs as well as boost culture ✅ Flexibility is only as strong as the rules behind it ✅ Time off is a productivity tool, not a luxury 👇 Would you take more or less time off if your company offered unlimited leave? 🔗 Full Guardian story: https://lnkd.in/gmPbqXzs 🔗 Tinder Leave story in the Straits Times: https://lnkd.in/gzTA2sZA ******* Repost this to help your network & follow me Adam Graham for more content like this.

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Nick Chapsas and his software training platform, Dometrain, are a good example of why “the world needs MoR”. In 2023 Nick decided to build on his hugely successful, 360,000+ follower YouTube, channel where he taught new skills to software engineers, by launching a very sophisticated SaaS-based educational resource. Nick built his massive following by offering practical learning that mirrors real-world development environments. He explains it like this: “We believe in a very specific type of teaching… which is the ‘paired programming’ experience. We want to give the experience that you join a company, you sit next to a senior engineer, and that engineer teaches you how to do things." Today the site boasts around 100 high-quality training courses covering everything from .NET and Cloud to career progression, Dometrain. But as Dometrain evolved its pricing strategy - and grew internationally - they started to run into roadblocks. → He started to discover that they were losing 50% of sales through “false fraud flags” - that’s a lot of revenue! → As he scaled globally, the complex burden of international sales tax became overwhelming for him and his team. Nick found himself buried in admin hassle instead of concentrating on expanding the business. At Paddle, we believe that the challenges of global growth, finding new customers and generating more revenue belong to founders and entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, as the world’s leading Merchant of Record (MoR) (the seller of record for SaaS transactions) all the risk, compliance and accountability belong to us. Making the change to Paddle meant Nick had more flexibility, more control, and more time to focus on his core product. Solving Nick’s problems in this way perfectly illustrates what we’re doing here at Paddle, and the results - like 50% fewer billing support requests - speak for themselves. 

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🚑 The NHS spends billions every year on temporary staffing. What if AI could change that? That’s exactly what Healsgood's Flexzo Ai is doing - and why they’ve just secured an additional £2.5m seed round led by Octopus Ventures, bringing their total raised this year to £5m. Backed early by us and leading angel investors, Flexzo AI is helping NHS Trusts and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs): ⚡ Cut reliance on expensive bank & agency staff ⚡ Standardise rates and manage their own staff banks ⚡ Save millions while improving conditions for clinicians Founder Jack Henderson and his team are building the digital infrastructure to make NHS England workforce management more sustainable, scalable, and smart. We’re proud to have been there from the start and to see Flexzo AI scaling with incredible momentum - joined now by the brilliant team at Octopus Ventures. This is how you combine mission-driven healthcare impact with cutting-edge AI. 

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2 years today since we launched StackOptimise ⚙️ This is the best decision we ever made ⬇️ Investing in personal brand. For a business like ours - operating in a saturated space, offering a commoditised service - brand is a super powerful differentiator. So Felix and I decided, from the get-go, to post on LinkedIn everyday. We've only missed a handful of days. And it's paid dividends: 1️⃣ Every deal we've closed has been meaningfully influenced by our LinkedIn presence, either to generate or nurture the lead. 2️⃣ We’re constantly flooded with inbound job applications. 3️⃣ Vendors & partners treat you differently when you’ve got influence. 4️⃣ We promote the tools in our stack for free usage, thus minimising our costs. A trade that only works if your brand holds weight. 5️⃣ Team members gain visibility into both the bigger vision and our day-to-day, driving employee retention. I’ve lost count of how many people I’ve spoken to who’ve either started, or plan to start, their own business - and I always say the same thing: Invest in your personal brand now. It compounds faster than almost anything else. And literally makes every part of the journey - hiring, partnerships, sales, retention - exponentially easier. ---- Here's our Ultimate Guide to Explode on LinkedIn in 2025: https://lnkd.in/eiv6Aktz

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Completely agree with Ella Dickinson here 👍. SMEs and VCSEs play an essential (growing) role in delivering on social value objectives by driving impact. Only when the entirety of a project’s supply chain is fully aligned and engaged can the full potential of social value be realised. It’s something that the new Social Value Model and the NPPS are doubling down on, as we all know, so examples of how big infrastructure businesses like AECOM are cascading their values down through suppliers in practice are really valuable. Kieran Ronnie FICRS #SocialValue #SupplyChain #Infrastructure #Sustainability https://lnkd.in/ecy5P73N

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