Graybar grows automation operations with Valin acquisition | Walmart touts success in using AI for vendor negotiations | Resiliency still a CFO priority as supply chain woes wane
Graybar is acquiring Valin, a California automation and process control products distributor that operates 12 locations in the Southwest and West, a deal that will boost Graybar's automation operations and market growth. Separately, Graybar reported upbeat first-quarter results, with net sales and net income up 12.2% and 22.1%, respectively, from a year ago.
Since 2021, Walmart has been using an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Pactum AI to settle costs and purchase terms in small contracts with 2,000 equipment suppliers, reducing negotiation time from weeks or months to mere days. Some 75% of the suppliers said they preferred negotiating with a chatbot instead of a human, and Walmart said it reached deals with 68% of the suppliers with an average savings of 3%.
Chief financial officers say they likely will continue frequent calls and meetings with chief supply chain officers despite fewer problems than during the pandemic's height. Several CFOs say they want to check more details, ensure they're prepared for whatever could be coming and help suppliers where they can.
Freight industry representatives have vowed to oppose California legislation that would prohibit driverless autonomous vehicles in excess of 10,000 pounds on public roads. The measure proposes a one-year moratorium on local officials permitting driverless vehicles to operate without a human supervisor present.
CrowdStrike executives George Kurtz and Michael Sentonas say 71% of enterprise cyberattacks in 2022 didn't involve malware and that threat actors were able to penetrate systems and navigate without being detected. Kurtz and Sentonas offered ways to defend against these kinds of attacks, including identity management and the use of artificial intelligence to detect malicious activity rather than malicious code.
Forty-eight percent of business-to-business marketers who use intent data view their go-to-market strategy as very successful, in comparison to 17% who don't use intent data, according to a study by Intensify and Ascend2. B2B marketers rate customer account expansion, digital advertising and lead generation as the three most effective ways to use intent data for go-to-market strategies, while the top challenges are creating a strategy, measuring impact and turning intent data into insights.
The book, "Don't Wait for Someone Else to Fix It," by Doug Lennick and Chuck Wachendorfer shows people how to lead by practicing self-awareness, being in alignment with values and embracing empathy, writes Martin Zwilling, CEO and founder of Startup Professionals. "The behavior you display to constituents determines your leadership effectiveness," Zwilling writes, drawing on the authors' lessons.
Aaron Skonnard, co-founder and CEO of Pluralsight, urges organizations to ensure talent transformations are in place before tackling a digital transformation, and to understand that internal talent development is never-ending. Upskilling programs can be aligned with business initiatives to achieve success, Skonnard writes, adding that assessments are key to skills development.
