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Viewpoint: Middle Market Businesses Are Cutting Costs – But May Be Increasing Risks

Article 0 Comments When I talk with our agents that serve middle market clients, the same themes consistently emerge: middle market businesses are optimistic, but they’re also fatigued and looking for more than traditional risk transfer from their insurance partners. Many owners are walking a tightrope, balancing persistent cost pressures with the need to continue investing in their people. That tension shows up in our research as well. Nationwide’s latest survey of business owners shows 75% of middle market leaders feel positive about their current business conditions, even as they grapple with ongoing financial pressures that influence how they manage expenses, staffing and risk. Workforce strain and investment are rising together Middle market businesses report a range of financial concerns, led by inflation, high interest rates, tariffs, the potential for an economic downturn and supply chain disruptions. Despite these pressures, most leaders aren’t turning to layoffs to control costs. In fact, 8 in 10 middle market firms have either hired workers or plan to do so in the next 12 months. Another 17% say they’d cut their own salary before reducing employee benefits that help them attract talent. Yet, at the same time, many companies are asking more of their...

Coforge Launches A.I. “Mod Squads” 0

Coforge Launches A.I. “Mod Squads”

Introducing “Mod Squads” – Outcome-based human-agent pods under a subscription pricing construct Coforge introduces AI Mod Squads, a subscription-based delivery model that replaces traditional Time & Materials (T&M) with outcome-driven pricing, faster time-to-market with full cost predictability. Enterprises can assemble custom AI-native teams tailored to industry and engineering workflows, enabling autonomous, scalable execution with proven impact Princeton, NJ (Apr. 8, 2026) – Coforge, a global AI-native engineering services leader, is pleased to announce the launch of AI Mod Squads – a new delivery model with a simple monthly subscription fee. Mod Squads combine pre-built AI agents with specialized AI engineers to deliver dramatically faster time-to-market at a lower cost for clients. Customers can create their own AI-powered teams by selecting a set of pre-built AI agents for their use cases. Coforge is offering a comprehensive suite of 130+ agents across two categories: Industry-specific agents: Designed to handle tasks like fraud detection for banking, claims triaging for insurance, and weather alert management for airlines. Engineering-focused agents: Designed to execute legacy code reverse engineering, automate quality assurance, fix incident tickets, and more. The agents can be deployed in either customer hosted AI infrastructure, or in Coforge hosted Forge-X agentic infrastructure that includes...

Felix Raises Funding to Build Hyperautomation for Professional Services 0

Felix Raises Funding to Build Hyperautomation for Professional Services

XYZ Venture Capital leads $1.7M USD pre-seed round as Felix expands its AI automation builder across legal, finance, and insurance industries Prague, Czech Republic (Apr. 7, 2026) – Felix (felix.so), the AI workflow platform designed to run complex professional services operations without constant human oversight, has announced $1.7M in pre-seed funding led by XYZ Venture Capital, with participation from angel investors including current and former leaders and founders at Amazon, Apple, Palantir, FlexPort, Yelp and Midjourney. Already deployed at major legal, finance, and insurance firms, the company will use the funding to expand product capability and scale its rapid growth. Felix enables professionals in highly regulated and complex industries to turn institutional knowledge into automated workflows that only need to be built once. Users describe and refine their desired process in plain language, while Felix automatically deploys code to execute the workflow continuously — with built-in checkpoints, audit trails, and deterministic outputs. For example, Advocate, a New York-based risk management firm, used Felix to eliminate a backlog of over 50,000 mortgage insurance policies in three weeks — a feat that would have taken over 10 years to manually process. Now, they’re running Felix continuously to prevent any future backlogs. The...

New GreenShield data reveals that integrating mental health coverage and care improves health outcomes and drives cost savings for employers 0

New GreenShield data reveals that integrating mental health coverage and care improves health outcomes and drives cost savings for employers

Toronto, ON (Mar. 31, 2026) – A new report from GreenShield shows that when mental health coverage and care are integrated, Canadian employers can achieve a meaningful return on investment, while improving access to care and outcomes for employees. The report, When coverage meets care: unlocking ROI through integrated mental health support, finds that offering insurance and mental health support through a single, connected model enables faster access to effective care and reduces downstream costs. GreenShield observed that for every dollar invested in integrated mental health coverage and care, $1.50 was returned through lower mental health claims by year two, even before accounting for the impacts of absenteeism or disability. Employers also saw members access support more quickly and experience greater continuity of care, contributing to measurable clinical improvements. As Canada’s only national non-profit health care and insurance company, GreenShield combines coverage and care to improve health care access, convenience, integration, and outcomes for Canadians, in service of its social mission of Better Health for All. Operating across both benefits and care delivery enables GreenShield to generate insights through GreenShield+ – a seamlessly integrated health care and insurance solution – that help employers and policymakers understand what drives more effective...

Manulife and WEF UpLink Initiative Launch Canadian Longevity Innovation Challenge 0

Manulife and WEF UpLink Initiative Launch Canadian Longevity Innovation Challenge

‘Shaping Canada’s Longevity Advantage’ challenge will invite innovators to deliver solutions that strengthen health, financial resilience and social connection across longer lives The challenge is an initiative of Manulife’s Longevity Institute, driving Canadian solutions for a longer‑living society Toronto, ON (Apr. 22, 2026) – Manulife, in partnership with UpLink, the World Economic Forum’s early-stage innovation initiative, and the Forum’s Centre for Financial and Monetary Systems, has announced the launch of a new innovation challenge, ‘Shaping Canada’s Longevity Advantage,‘ focused on enabling lifelong health, wealth and purpose across multistage lives. Canadians are living longer, more complex lives, often balancing their own health and financial needs while supporting ageing parents or caregiving for others. Insights from the National Institute on Ageing‘s Ageing in Canada Survey, conducted by the NIA with support from Manulife, highlight the urgency of this challenge: 43 per cent of older Canadians are at high risk of social isolation, while only 29 per cent feel they can afford to retire. These realities underscore the need for practical, near-term solutions that help people live not just longer, but better, supported by stronger financial resilience, meaningful connections, and confidence across life stages. The ‘Shaping Canada’s Longevity Advantage’ challenge invites innovators to...

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Record Drought Sparks Worries About Fires, Water Supply and Food Prices

Article 0 Comments Drought in the contiguous United States has reached record levels for this time of year, weather data shows. Meteorologists said it’s a bad sign for the upcoming wildfire season, food prices and western water issues. More than 61% of the Lower 48 states is in moderate to exceptional drought — including 97% of the Southeast and two-thirds of the West — according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. It’s the highest levels for this time of year since the drought monitor began in 2000. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s comprehensive Palmer Drought Severity Index not only hit its highest level for March since records started in 1895, but last month was the third-driest month recorded regardless of time of year. It trailed only the famed Dust Bowl months of July and August 1934. Because of record heat, much of the West has had exceptionally low levels of snow in the first few months of the year, which is usually how the region stores water for the summer. A different drought — connected to the jet stream keeping storms further north — has put the South from Texas all the way to the East Coast into a separate...

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Trump signs order to speed review of psychedelics

Article 0 Comments President Donald Trump on Saturday directed his administration to speed up reviews of certain psychedelic drugs, including ibogaine, which recently has been embraced by combat veterans and conservative lawmakers despite having serious safety risks. Ibogaine and other psychedelics remain banned under the federal government’s most restrictive category for illegal, high-risk drugs. But the administration is taking steps to ease restrictions and spur research on using the drugs for medical purposes, including conditions like severe depression. “Today’s order will ensure that people suffering from debilitating symptoms might finally have a chance to reclaim their lives and lead a happier life,” Trump said as he signed an executive order on the drugs. The Republican president said his directive will help “dramatically accelerate” access to potential treatments. “If these turn out to be as good as people are saying, it’s going to have a tremendous impact,” he said. Veteran organizations and psychedelic advocates have long contended that ibogaine, which is made from a shrub native to West Africa, has great promise for hard-to-treat conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and opioid addiction. Trump’s announcement follows pledges by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other administration officials to ease access...

Managed services recognized as strategic engine for AI acceleration: KPMG 0

Managed services recognized as strategic engine for AI acceleration: KPMG

More than 90 percent of executives view managed services as essential for agentic AI delivery Eighty-seven percent of respondents have already woven managed services directly into their plans for digital transformation Leaders cite AI capability as their top consideration in managed services, followed by overall tech proficiency, data expertise, and a strategic transformation mindset Fifty-six percent of buyers cite AI management as their top priority for managed services investment over the next two years, followed by cybersecurity at 33 percent Managed services is now a strategic priority for 99 percent of organizations, with two‑thirds expecting the model to drive major operating, business, and strategic impact within 24 months London, UK (Apr. 7, 2026) – In the race for agentic artificial intelligence, companies have discovered a new shortcut: managed services. More than 90 percent of executives now view this model as an essential engine for agentic AI delivery, helping companies leapfrog the technical debt and talent gaps that often stall AI investment. That’s according to the global KPMG Managed Services Outlook Survey 2026, with research and analysis by IDC, which explores the use of managed services by 1,200-plus senior leaders. The survey finds that managed services are not on the sidelines; they...

Majesco Spring ’26 Release Redefines What Insurers Should Expect from Their Core Solutions in an Intelligent Era of Insurance 0

Majesco Spring ’26 Release Redefines What Insurers Should Expect from Their Core Solutions in an Intelligent Era of Insurance

New release empowers carriers with streamlined workflows, intelligent automation, and performance enhancements to accelerate growth and reduce operational friction Morristown, NJ (Apr. 7, 2026) – Majesco, the insurance industry’s foremost innovator in cloud and AI-native software, has announced its Spring ’26 Release, a bold step forward in helping insurers simplify and optimize operations, move faster, and unlock greater business value from their core systems. Built on customer feedback, this release addresses key pain points across Majesco’s product portfolio enabling insurers to eliminate operational friction and time to focus on high-value activities that deliver business and customer value amid evolving market demands. “Spring ’26 marks an important step forward for our customers as they navigate increasing complexity and rising expectations across their businesses,” said Manish Shah, President and Chief Product Officer at Majesco. “This release advances Majesco’s vision for intelligent, connected, and AI-powered core operations built around intelligence on tap, human–agent teams that enable insurers to scale rapidly, operate with agility and resiliency, and generate business value faster than traditional companies by deeply integrating AI in business processes across the value chain.” Built around the theme Redefine Possible, the Spring ’26 Release introduces new capabilities designed to reduce friction, improve visibility,...

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Ex-CEO, Ex-CFO of Bankrupt AI Company Charged With Fraud

Article 0 Comments The former chief executive and chief financial officer of iLearningEngines, which provided AI-driven business automation technology, were indicted on charges they defrauded investors and lenders by fabricating “virtually all” of the now-bankrupt company’s customer relationships and revenue. Former CEO Puthugramam Chidambaran, who founded iLearningEngines in 2010, and ex-CFO Sayyed Farhan Ali Naqvi were charged in a 10-count indictment with running a continuing financial crimes enterprise, securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud. The indictment was made public on April 17 in the Brooklyn, New York, federal court. Chidambaran, 57, was arrested in Potomac, Maryland, where he lives, while Naqvi, 44, of Houston, was arrested in San Jose, California, prosecutors said. The criminal enterprise charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Lawyers for the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Prosecutors said iLearning marketed itself as an artificial intelligence-driven digital education company with an “out-of-the-box AI platform,” and claimed to earn revenue mainly by selling licenses for its educational and training platforms to customers, including healthcare companies and schools. According to the indictment, the defendants used forged sham contracts to make it seem that iLearning’s customers were...