Fortune

“We like to drink our own martinis,” Salesforce AI CEO Clara Shih joked at #BrainstormTech when asked about how her company uses its own AI products internally. “It’s bumpy at times, but I really like that accountability of us being customer zero," she told Fortune's Jeremy Kahn. Shih, who was appointed as the company’s first-ever head of AI just a few months after OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022, said trust is critical for all of today’s generative AI—even beyond core trust issues such as data security and data privacy. She emphasized that Salesforce is implementing all of its AI internally, which helps the company understand their customers’ concerns. Read more: bit.ly/3Y8wDAs

“The Western way is core to who we are,” Harmit Singh, chief financial and growth officer at Levis’Store told Fortune in a recent interview "We are all about denim lifestyle, a head-to-toe look.” He pointed to the cowboy hat on his desk that he put on briefly. Singh was also wearing a Western denim shirt and Levi’s 517 bootcut jeans. Earlier that day, he had a meeting with investors, and dressed for the occasion to show them what’s selling, Singh said. “And I have a bunch of 501s in my closet,” he added. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dqJQQ862

The 1199 apartment complex in East Harlem has a star-studded history. Located on 109th Street and First Avenue, the high-rise was once referred to by fellow resident, entrepreneur, record executive, and Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash as the “best building in a bad neighborhood.” In 1999, a 16-year-old Shari Bryant was focused on securing an internship to launch her own career, and asked Dash, her neighbor, if she could shadow him. The aspiring intern walked into Roc-A-Fella’s office determined to learn more about the music industry, only to become the copresident of one of the biggest and most influential music labels in the country 20 years later: Roc Nation. Founded by Jay-Z in 2008, the full-service management, music publishing, and entertainment company boasts some of the most notable names in music on its roster, including Grammy Award winners Rihanna, Buju Banton, and J. Cole. Learn more about Shari's story here: bit.ly/4b48xuy 📩 Subscribe to the weekly #FortuneNXTL newsletter and learn everything you need to make it to the C-suite: https://lnkd.in/gNqtt36z #Entrepreneurship #Leadership #BusinessGrowth #Internships #CSuite

It was fun to interview legendary Google software engineer and current Google Research chief scientist Jeff Dean about Gemini, Project Astra, and what might really be needed to achieve AGI at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech conference earlier this week. Here's a write-up of our fireside chat. (I think there's the full video of the session linked to the post too.) #brainstormtech

2024 #BrainstormTech in the books with Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary C. Daly and Zoox CEO Aicha Evans 💰🤖🚕 Read our coverage of these conversations on Fortune. And congratulations to the team that makes it all possible! Maryam Banikarim 🗽🚕 ❤️ Andrew Nusca Alyson Shontell Jason Del Rey Jeremy Kahn Alexei Oreskovic

Summer Fridays are dead, and there's an unsuspected culprit: remote work. End-of-week perks in the summer months have been phasing out for years, and with hybrid and remote schedules sticking around, employers are reasoning there's no need for more wiggle room. “Employers are still feeling, ‘With hybrid work, people have more flexibility. So why do we need to do summer Fridays?’ And employees are feeling, ‘I’m on 24/7 and I would like to officially be able to cut out early,’” Laurie Chamberlin, head of recruitment solutions for LHH North America, tells Fortune. “Companies are looking more at outputs and work products and hitting deadlines.” But workers who still enjoy summer Fridays are testament to the impact of rest and relaxation. “I’m much more prepared to come in on Monday, and I don’t feel like I’m coming into the next week flustered,” says Josiah Chambers, an account executive for a New York City PR agency. “It definitely contributes to me feeling less burnt out. When we are going through the week, it’s something to look forward to.” Read more about the disappearance of summer Fridays in my Fortune story below. https://lnkd.in/eq5kPQYb

Ask any CEO about the biggest risks to their business, and cybersecurity is sure to be near the top of the list. Spending on security products and services will total $212 billion this year and reach $330 billion in 2027, according to industry research firm IDC. Fortune teamed up with Lightspeed to identify the fastest-growing startups in this critical field with the #FortuneCyber60. See the full list here: bit.ly/3Ltx8NL Fortune and Lightspeed are also compiling data to find the best cybersecurity startups. Submit your company for consideration here: bit.ly/3LvosGM

For the first time, the more than 250 healthcare professionals who form the Team USA Medical Team have a uniform. Figs, a direct-to-consumer medical apparel brand—and the first company led by two female cofounders to go public—partnered with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to break another barrier. “This is the first time ever that a medical team has been outfitted for any country for the Olympic Games,” FIGS cofounder and CEO Trina Spear tells Fortune. “It’s very much about something that speaks to our overall mission and values as a company from day one: putting health care professionals in the spotlight that they deserve. Usually they’re behind the scenes, but not anymore. This is really about showcasing the people who are serving all of us, serving humanity, and in this case, serving athletes.” Read more: bit.ly/3LwzN9m

When IBM rolled out AI chatbot AskHR in 2017, employees weren't happy. https://lnkd.in/dj-X9MTe It was built to address workers’ questions and reduce the need for HR leaders or employees to parse through long company manuals to find the right answer. “When we started on this journey, we started on it as a technical change. And what happened was nobody used it,” IBM CHRO Nickle LaMoreaux told Fortune. Faced with worker apathy, the company decided to force employees to use AskHR. In 2018, IBM told its 21,000 frontline managers that HR staff would no longer assist them with inquiries—they would now have to use the AI chatbot to get their questions answered. But worker satisfaction with the HR department plummeted. That prompted people leaders to radically switch up their strategy.  Read more: https://lnkd.in/dj-X9MTe

These are the 100 Best Large Workplaces for Millennials. Employees at this year’s winning companies outperformed their peers in agility, productivity, and innovation—business metrics essential to AI success. Notably, innovation levels are a staggering 97% higher than at typical organizations. To determine the list, Fortune partnered with Great Place To Work US to analyze survey feedback representing employees from companies across the U.S. “These companies are thriving as a direct result not only of the trust young generations put in their leaders, but all generations,” says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place To Work. The top companies include: ➡️ Cisco ➡️ Hilton ➡️ NVIDIA ➡️ East West Bank ➡️ Kimley-Horn 🔗 See the full 2024 list: https://lnkd.in/eKUTz4fX