FEI Weekly

January 5, 2018

Amazon's Alexa, Microsoft's Cortana, and Google Assistant will battle it out as the AI of choice for enterprise. Sexual harassment makes us physically as well as mentally ill.

December Jobs Report: All Eyes on Pay

NYT - Paywall

The Labor Department will report the latest figures on hiring and unemployment at 8:30 AM ET. Perhaps the most closely watched number in the report will be the changes in wages from the previous December. If wages barely budge, economists will continue to reckon with how companies can dole out paltry raises even as employees are in great demand.

The Impact of Sexual Harassment Not Limited to Mental Health

Quartz

A new study found that sexual harassment puts its victims at risk of not only psychological damage but physical illness. Those who had experienced sexual harassment in the past 12 months had statistically significantly higher odds of smoking more often than they had before (either every day or some days), loosing work days, spending more days in bed, perceiving their general health to have worsened, and experiencing work-family life imbalance.

Get Ready for the Digital Assistant Wars

Fast Company

Amazon's Alexa, Microsoft's Cortana, and Google Assistant will battle it out as the AI of choice for enterprise. In November, Amazon announced plans to put an Echo on every office desk with Alexa for Business. The move might have created some tension with Microsoft, which has been fashioning its own Cortana as an office tool, while Google also seems likely to tweak its Assistant for a business environment, leading to a three-way battle for AI at work.

SEC Warns Bitcoin Investors They May Not Be Protected

The Street

SEC Chairman Jay Clayton warned investors to approach cryptocurrency markets with caution and said his agency was pursing some market participants for violating federal securities law. He said, "The SEC and state securities regulators are pursuing violations, but [we] caution you that, if you lose money, there is a substantial risk that our efforts will not result in a recovery of your investment."

What Are Your Leadership Blindspots?

Forbes

According to former Navy Top Gun instructor, David Markert, in weighing the best course of action, Generals ask many of the same questions that business leaders should be asking. What are other ways to do this? What are other ways to solve this problem? Are we doing something we’ve always done because that’s the way we do it or are we doing something different and unique? Or are we doing something because it’s the right answer?