Small Business (SMB) stories - Page 17

North Korean hackers stole USD $300M via fake Zoom calls; robust identity checks could have broken the scam's chain of trust.

Small firms across Australia and New Zealand turn to AI to sharpen 2026 growth, boost service standards and tackle persistent staff shortages.

AI and financial modelling will top Australia's 2026 finance hiring, as firms seek data‑savvy accountants to lead automation and analysis.

Qantas will serve 196,000 allergen-friendly Indigenous Cooee Christmas cookies, giving the native superfoods brand major national exposure.

Ignition platform fuels more than USD $3.1bn in 2025 client revenue as 8,500 firms automate billing, payments and pricing decisions.

PaySauce launches NZD $4m equity raise at NZD $0.26 a share to fund its 2026 Australian expansion and broaden its investor base.

Singapore fintech Aspire wins key licences in Australia, Europe and the US, paving the way for a global rollout of its business finance platform.

Employment Hero debuts real-time Payday Super pilot, processing Australia's first in-payroll super payment ahead of 2026 mandate.

Energy bills surge for Australian SMEs as federal rebates end, driving cost cuts, delayed investment and a pivot to digital and AI tools.

Bizcap appoints long-time executive Rebecca del Rio as Deputy CEO for APAC, expanding her leadership as the lender accelerates global growth.

Australian start-up Restoke.ai launches its AI 'restaurant manager' in the US, promising to boost margins and automate back-of-house work.

Hitachi Vantara's VSP One platform is named a GigaOm primary storage Leader again, praised for AI-era cyber resilience and hybrid cloud support.

HCLSoftware has introduced a BigFix Secure Resilient Operations model with Agentic AI to unify IT and security on a single cloud-native platform.

AI-native, cloud-first networking is turning enterprise connectivity from a sunk cost into a strategic, measurable driver of financial value.

Australian businesses are tipped to treat AI like human staff by 2026, tightening control of machine identities and data risks.

Sage has been named a leader in IDC's 2025-2026 global ranking of AI-enabled professional services automation and ERP applications.

Shippo has launched MCP, an AI-powered platform that lets commerce-focused agents turn natural language shipping requests into live actions.

OpenAI launches its first Asia Pacific OpenAI for Countries plan in Australia, pairing sovereign AI infrastructure with major skills drives.

Swann taps AWS generative AI so its security cameras only ping for user-defined events, slashing false alerts and notification overload.

Australian SMEs step up a campaign against the RBA's proposed blanket ban on card surcharges, warning it will lift prices for all shoppers.