SummaryWorld Insurance Associates is a unique insurance organization offering top products and services from major providers, combined with attentive service from local agents.Founded in 2011, World is one of the fastest-growing insurance brokers in the U.S. with over 2,200 employees in over 260 offices across North America. We specialize in personal and commercial insurance lines, surety and bonding, employee benefits, financial and retirement services, and human capital management solutions.Our rapid growth and market leading presence has created opportunities throughout the state and we offer top talent the choice to work from one of our multiple offices throughout the region.Position OverviewWe have an exciting position for an experienced hands-on CRM director who excels at and thrives on building processes, structure and technology adoption. We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated candidate to oversee CRM administration and support marketing campaign and process efficiencies. They will play a key role in optimizing and enhancing our HubSpot CRM platform to support our business objectives. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of leveraging HubSpot and other marketing technologies to drive business efficiency and effectiveness. The role also demands excellent communication skills to successfully work as a liaison between Leadership, Sales, Marketing, Operations, and IT teams, strong organizational and project management skills. This position will report directly to the VP of Digital Strategy.You must be a self-motivated, technical, dynamic problem solver who is able to cope with the demands of a fast-paced environment with a keen sense for prioritizing and project management.Key Functions and Responsibilities:CRM Administration: Oversee the administration and use of the HubSpot CRM platform, ensuring it is leveraged to its full potential to drive business efficiency and effectiveness. Maintain data hygiene within the platform, implement best practices for data management and compliance.Standards, Policies & Procedures: Define and implement the standards, policies, and procedures for marketing operations and sales operations as it relates to CRM use, ensuring alignment and integration with other business functions and objectives.Cross-Functional Collaboration: Act as a liaison internally with Leadership, Sales, Marketing, Operations, Data & Analytics, and Placement teams to ensure seamless collaboration and alignment.Innovation & Strategic Thinking: Continuously seek innovative ways to improve marketing operations and contribute to the strategic direction of the organization.Stakeholder Management: Effectively manage relationships with key stakeholders to ensure alignment and support for marketing operations initiatives.User Training & Onboarding: Youll play an integral role in HubSpot user adoption. Design and implement in-depth training programs to end users.Operations Architecture: Act as the architect of a complex and well-thought-out operations structure to support both sales and marketing functions.Identify Opportunities and Gaps: Youll analyze complex business problems, use business acumen to propose improvements that demonstrate forward-thinking strategies.To be successful in this role, you will:Possess strong strategic thinking and leadership skills.Have 7+ years of experience in a Marketing or Sales role, managing CRM system(s).Possess a strong understanding of the platform, with the ability to build custom objects, formula fields, workflows, custom views, and other content of intermediate and high complexity.Exhibit strong skills in project creation and management including intake of tasks, prioritization and successful delivery with communication and training.Have certifications for HubSpot Sales Hub, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Service CMS Hub.Have a diverse industry background, insurance or financial services is preferred but not required.Equal Employment OpportunityAt World Insurance Associates (WIA), we celebrate and support our differences. We know employing a team rich in diverse thoughts, experiences, and opinions allows our employees, our products, and our community to flourish. WIA is honored to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, or Veteran status. In addition, WIA makes reasonable accommodations to known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified applicant or employee with a disability, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business.TO EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRMS AND STAFFING AGENCIES:World does not accept unsolicited resumes from any agencies that have not signed a mutual service agreement. All unsolicited resumes will be considered Worlds property, and World will not be obligated to pay a referral fee. This includes resumes submitted directly to Hiring Managers without contacting Worlds Human Resources Talent Department.#LI-KC1#LI-REMOTE

Seeking An Experienced CFOAre you a driven and entrepreneurial CFO with experience in helping business owners improve their business? Would you like to guide business owners in selling or buying privately held companies? Would you like to be rewarded for your skill and experience? Are you seeking a unique opportunity to control your career while building a thriving consulting practice? B2B CFO offers a dynamic platform for seasoned financial professionals like you to excel in strategic business advisory and sell/buy services for privately held companies.Why Choose B2B CFO & B2B EXIT?As a Partner with B2B CFO & B2B EXIT, you'll tap into the potential of our well-recognized brand and esteemed reputation to create your own thriving consulting practice. Within this role, you'll provide a diverse range of strategic business advisory services, enabling business owners to increase cash flow, secure bank loans, ensure sustained profitability, and strategically prepare their businesses for a future sale. To delve deeper into our extensive offerings, visit www.b2bcfo.com and explore our specialized services at www.b2bexit.com.Ideal Candidate Profile:Experienced CFO with success in increasing company cashExperience in being involved in the buying/selling of companiesDesires to learn one of the most important skills in the USA finding great paying clientsDesire to learn how to have multiple clientsPassion to be in control of their futureRequirements:Minimum of 5 years as a CFO (or equivalent, such as financial vice president/VP of finance) in privately held companies within the USAAt least 15 years of professional experience since college graduationBonus:Has a series Series 7 and/or 79 licensePlease Note:This is NOT a W-2 CFO position; we are seeking candidates to join our firm as Partners, working from anywhere in the USA within your local marketThis is NOT a franchise opportunityBy confidentially submitting your resume, you grant B2B CFO & B2B EXIT permission to contact you via email and phone about our CFO opportunities. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.Apply NowLet's start your dream job Apply now

The top two floors of a former merchants house in Covent Garden have been extensively renovated and remodelled by Carmody Groarke to create a family-sized penthouse stretching across the third and four stories of the Grade II-listed building.The lower level of the penthouse apartment, which accommodates the entrance lobby and bedrooms, has been lined throughout with walnut-panelled joinery.In contrast, the upper floors open-plan living takes advantage of the loft spaces high ceilings and views over Covent Garden Market. Large skylights have been placed between the original roof trusses.Advertisement Source:Johan DehlinTo the rear of the landlocked site, a new rooftop pavilion, designed to sit lightly on top of the brick annex, extends the loft space to house a kitchen and sheltered roof terrace. The 14m-long pavilion takes the form of a pitched roof extension, with large openings that mirror the window patterns below, and is constructed from 25mm-thick solid-plate sanded aluminium.The sheet metal plates, chosen for their lightness, appear as if they lean against one another as if they are balanced. Internally, the kitchen, also crafted from sanded stainless steel, links visually to the exterior treatment of the extra storey.Furniture has been designed in collaboration with a team of makers. Other materials used include American walnut, heartwood ash and silver travertine, which was handpicked from quarried Italian silver travertine blocks. Each stone slab was dry-laid and selected to define the kitchen, bathrooms and terraces. Source:Johan DehlinClients viewWe had an ambitious vision for this apartment: a spacious, light-filled home with high ceilings, outdoor space, and seamless functionality. Collaborating with Carmody Groarke was an extraordinary experience. Working within the constraints of a challenging historic site, they brought their expertise to reimagine the space in ways we never imagined. They unlocked patterns of our family life, shaping an inspiring home. Their ability to translate our meticulous brief into a beautifully resolved design one that balances minimalist precision with warmth and adaptability was remarkable. This project was a true collaboration, with their creative expertise guiding the overall vision while embracing our deep involvement. The result is a home that continues to reveal new layers to us every day, fully realising our vision and rewarding the time, effort, and passion invested in it.Private clientProject dataCompletion 2025Gross internal floor area 450mConstruction cost UndisclosedClient PrivateArchitect Carmody GroarkeStructural engineer Price & MyersMEP consultant P3RCost consultant Brendan Hennessy AssociatesAcoustic engineer Sandy BrownPavilion fabrication Littlehampton WeldingPavilion engineer FormatJoinery Young & NorgateLighting design AntumbraPlanning consultant Gerald EveHeritage consultant Donald Insall AssociatesFire engineer Fire DynamicsMain contractor London Projects

Learn how to rig a bow and arrow in Blender - PixelForge recreated his old tutorial on a new channel with updated versions, better audio, and editing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jhX4qYAc5kSource

AI agents represent the next evolutionary leap beyond generative AI, capable of taking autonomous ... More action rather than just responding to prompts.Adobe StockMost adults reading this will have lived through several waves of technology-driven change already during their lifetimes. The arrival of the internet, smartphones and cloud-based computing all changed our lives in significant ways.The next wave of change will be driven by AI agentsnext-generation AI capable of taking action on our behalf and carrying out complex tasks without human intervention.As with technological revolutions, the impact will be felt first by business and industry. But make no mistakethe way we spend our free time, schedule our daily activities, spend our money, and communicate with friends will be changed forever, too.So heres an overview of some of the ways that I think we will see this happen as agents create perhaps the most profound change yet in the way humans work with machines and technology.First Of All, What Is An AI Agent?A quick refresher for those out-of-the-loop: Most people are familiar with generative AI, like ChatGPT, which creates text and images based on prompts. AI agents can be seen as an evolutionary leap forwardthey dont just respond to prompts; they take action, completing complex tasks with minimal intervention from us.For example, ChatGPT can generate a recipe based on your preferences. An AI agent could also order ingredients, coordinate smart kitchen appliances, and refine the process over time. Seen as the next frontier in AI, agents are generating huge excitement.Agents are here todaytools are becoming available from leading AI developers, including OpenAIs Operator, Amazons Q, Microsofts Copilot and Googles Project Astra. And while these are mainly targeted at enterprise users, applications designed to help us with everyday activities are inevitably on their way.Everyday AI AgentsHow will these agents fit into everyday life, and what sort of jobs will they help us with? Well, in theory, most of the tasks that we currently accomplish now using search engines and apps could eventually be done for us by agents.This could include online shopping, personal fitness, travel planning, managing our social calendars and controlling the ever-growing number of connected gadgets and appliances in our lives.Booking a trip, for example, can involve time-consuming searches across different search engines, online markets and airline or hotel websites in order to get the best deals. This is all work that an agent could carry out much more quickly and efficiently than a human.Don't forget, the agent is "always on," tooso if your flight is canceled or delayed, it will know about it, and it will help you with backup plans and contingencies.If youre a gadget fan like me, it can easily get to the point that controlling all your smart home devices involves navigating a confusing pile of apps and remotes. To an AI agent, this wouldnt be an issue at all. We will rely on them as middlemen to interact on our behalf with all the other less intelligent technology in our homes.AI smart assistants like Siri and Alexa will get a whole lot smarter when they become AI agents. Rather than simply answering questions and acting as very overpowered timers and camera monitors, they will proactively manage your schedule, learn about you by conversing and working alongside you, and help you work towards achieving long-term goals.Does anyone else sometimes gets frustrated by the number of messenger apps and platforms these days and long for the old days of a single inbox where everyone could contact you?And AI agents will sit at the top of the heap of comms and messenger apps that we all live with today, making sure important messages get to us no matter how they're sent and screening against unwanted and nuisance communications.In fact, I predict you will soon be able to use agents to automate just about anything we currently do on our smartphones shopping, ordering taxis, booking tables at restaurants, interacting with banking and payment service providers, or creating and publishing social media content.Before long, I expect agentic AI technology to profoundly impact the way that humans interact with technology. The change will be no less dramatic than the arrival of the internet. While that augments our knowledge by putting all of the information in the world at our fingertips, agents augment our ability to take action.Autonomous Robots That Dont Need Humans? What Could Go Wrong?Well, unfortunately, quite a bit.The very concept of enabling machines to make decisions and take action without input from us clearly throws up a number of red flags. From the obvious, like hoping it wont spend all our money unwisely, to the more insidious can we really be sure its acting with our best interests at heart?One of the key ways that AI agents are different from earlier AIs is that they can interact with external systems. Unlike chatbots like ChatGPT, for example, which have to be given access through an API, agents can learn to access and use external systems by themselves.Operator, for example an AI agent developed by OpenAI uses computer vision to understand whats happening on a computer screen. This means it can log into an online store and make purchases on a users behalf (although apparently, it still cant complete captchas.)While this is clearly a hugely exciting opportunity to save humans from the drudgery of day-to-day and mundane tasks, its clear we have to be confident that safeguards are in place.There are potentially more dramatic consequences than simply having our bank accounts drained by our new agentic companions, too. There are still questions about the long-term impact that reliance on AI will have on human planning and decision-making skills if we lean too heavily on them.And what measures need to be put in place to ensure that by carrying out the instructions of their owners, they arent inadvertently harming or inconveniencing others? Making it possible to create armies of virtual shoppers that will buy up sought-after concert tickets to resell for profit, for example, or predict and capitalize on food and medicine shortages might not make the world a better place.No technology as transformative as this comes without challenges, though. And ultimately, AI agents are set to usher in enormous change, which will be evident in many aspects of our day-to-day lives, just as it will be at the vanguard of science and enterprise.

AMDs latest high-end graphics card, the Radeon RX 9070 XT, is proving to be a massive hit. AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su confirmed in an interview with Asus China Manager, Tony Yu that that sales of the RX 9070 XT have skyrocketed, outpacing its predecessor by ten times. This overwhelming demand has exceeded initial projections, forcing AMD to ramp up production to ensure a steady supply.Launched as part of the RDNA 4 lineup, the Radeon RX 9070 XT was positioned as a direct competitor to Nvidias mid-to-high-end offerings, promising strong performance at an aggressive price point. The reception has been overwhelmingly positive, with both enthusiasts and mainstream gamers flocking to purchase the card. Retailers have reported frequent stock shortages, reflecting the intense demand for AMDs latest GPU.Recommended VideosDr. Su acknowledged the supply constraints, stating that AMD is working closely with manufacturing partners to increase production. Im very proud of the team (working) on RDNA 4. When we do a new architectural generation, we have to decide its primary characteristics many years in advance, and for RDNA 4, what we really wanted to do is bring the best gaming capability to a very, lets call it good price point, so that we could get more gamers to have access to this technology. Su also added that The 9070 XT has been a fantastic success, actually it is the number one selling (GPU) for all of the AMD Radeon generations, for first week sales by far, 10 times the previous generations. We are really excited about it, and we are increasing the manufacturing so more gamers can have access to it. The GPUs success is likely attributed to its balance of performance, efficiency, and pricing. With RDNA 4s architectural improvements, the RX 9070 XT offers gains in both rasterization and ray tracing performance, making it a compelling option for high-resolution gaming. The cards pricing, which undercuts Nvidias competing models while delivering similar or better performance, has also played a crucial role in its popularity.It will be interesting to see AMDs ability to maintain stock levels in the coming months, as it will determine whether the RX 9070 XT can sustain its momentum. The companys efforts to ramp up production indicate a strong commitment to keeping up with demand, avoiding the severe shortages that have plagued almost every GPU launch.With AMDs CEO confirming the GPUs unprecedented sales success and ongoing supply improvements, the Radeon RX 9070 XT is well on its way to becoming one of the companys best-selling graphics cards to date. For gamers looking to upgrade, the increasing availability of the RX 9070 XT should make it easier to get their hands on AMDs latest powerhouse.Editors Recommendations

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsHow the study was conducted?Its time to invest in a better micWe are, thankfully, past the era where the predominant medium of professional communication was video calls on Zoom or Google Meet. It made a giant out of platforms such as Zoom, triggered body image and self-consciousness woes for many, and helped us realize the importance of a good-quality webcam and mic. According to a study conducted by experts at Yale University, a bad microphone and poor audio quality actually have a meaningful impact on a persons job prospects. It also makes the person on the other end lower the perception of a speakers credibility, compared to another candidate with a high fidelity mic delivering clear without any distortion. Recommended VideosSuperficial auditory properties can have surprisingly deep consequences for higher-level social judgments, says the research paper published in the Proceedings of National Academy of of Sciences journal. As per the study, bad audio quality triggers decreased judgments of intelligence, hireability, credibility, and romantic desirability. DellAs part of their experiment, the team simulated the quality of bad mics on voice recordings and assessed the impression on listeners. Across all the tests, it was evident that undesirable audio traits such as tinny sound negatively affect the impression of a speaker, irrespective of how profound and eloquent the actual words are. The team conducted a total of six experiments. As part of the analysis, participants were made to listen to the same voice recordings in two different variations one recording with a high-quality mic that deliver clear audio, while the other one simulated the effect of a bad mic that distorted the true sound. The words were clearly discernible in each case, though. In situations where participants were asked to judge the hiring prospects of a candidate or hearing a sales pitch, participants clearly favored candidates who sent recordings that were clear and resonant in quality. The person behind such clean recordings was deemed well-suited for hiring, intelligent, credible, and overall, more desirable.Microsoft/UnsplashThis is both fascinating and concerning, especially when the sound of your voice is determined not just by your vocal anatomy, but also by the technology youre using,notes Brian Scholl, senior author of the research paper and a professor of psychology in Yales Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The experts behind the study note that during video calls, especially those where the stakes are high, a candidate can see how they look through the camera feed. However, they dont know how they sound to other people in the video conference. It is, therefore, advisable to check their mic quality via a voice recording, and if possible, switch to a gear that offers a better microphone. Alternatively, you can switch the mic input from the computers onboard mics to a connected peripheral. For example, you can now use your Android phone as a webcam for video calls with a simple plug-and-play approach. Its also an opportunity to accordingly switch the audio input channel, preferably to the connected wired or wireless listening gear. Editors Recommendations

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Co-founder of the controversial Clearview AI has joined Architect Capital as chief technology officer to develop a novel strategy to increase leverage.

Software engineers are increasingly turning to AI tools. MTStock Studio/Getty Images 2025-03-25T08:30:01Z SaveSaved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? The vibe coding era is here. Will you survive it?It's a question software engineers are increasingly asking as AI automates more of their work.Software experts suggested embracing AI tools, improving prompts, and mastering clear thinking to stay ahead.Software engineering had long seemed like a sure bet for a future-proof career. Then, vibe coding came along.Since computer scientist and OpenAI cofounder Andrej Karpathy coined the term last month, the world of software development has rallied around the idea of using generative AI tools to automate vast portions of coding workloads.In Karpathy's telling, "vibe coding" means he can "just see stuff, say stuff, run stuff, and copy-paste stuff, and it mostly works."More people are now using AI for tasks that would previously require deep technical skills, such as building apps or creating a video game.Mark Zuckerberg, for instance, said earlier this year that he expects Meta to have "AI that can effectively be a sort of midlevel engineer." Comments like this have come as job opportunities for software engineers a historically well-paid job have plummeted. On Indeed, openings in the US are down a third from five years ago.It raises a big question: how can software engineers not just survive but thrive in the vibe coding era?Business Insider spoke to software engineers who said vibe coding doesn't have to mean total doom for career prospects so long as they prioritize these three skills.1. Embrace the vibesEmbracing and mastering vibe coding tools is a good place to start.ChatGPT, Cursor, Replit, and Windsurf are just some of the tools being used to fast-track workloads.Marc Tuscher, chief technology officer at AI robotics firm Sereact, told BI that vibe coding tools make him "much faster," which is why he encourages his team of roughly 25 software engineers to use them.Though Tuscher acknowledges these tools can make mistakes that need to be debugged, he says a software engineer working with AI tools will have an advantage over one that doesn't. "The amount of speed you can get compared to coding yourself is crazy," he said.It's part of the reason industry leaders have become more vocal about putting these tools to use. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, said in an interview with Stratechery's Ben Thompson this month that for students, "the obvious tactical thing is just get really good at using AI tools." Sam Altman is encouraging students to use AI tools. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Tanay Kothari, CEO of Wispr Flow, a voice agent that can be used to input commands into vibe coding tools like Cursor, understands that there might be some reluctance among veteran developers to embrace such tools.In his experience, however, engineers who think they're "just really good" will start seeing vibe coding tools as an "unlock" once they understand the efficiency gains at hand. "People who use AI tools roughly get twice as much done," he told BI.2. Up your prompt gameLearning how to give instructions known as prompts to vibe coding tools in a smarter way can also give engineers an edge."The hottest new programming language is English," Karpathy quipped in January 2023, just a few months after ChatGPT's first public release.Research papers, such as the original paper behind OpenAI's GPT-3, suggest that the large language models powering today's generative AI tools can, as Karpathy put it, be "'programmed' inside the prompt."In other words, a carefully constructed prompt can drastically alter the quality of output for an AI system. Andrej Karpathy captured the AI coding zeitgeist with "vibe coding." San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images It's why Ash Edwards, a former Palantir engineer turned CEO of AI agent company Fern Labs, sees software engineers getting more value out of vibe coding tools by being more "prescriptive.""A real failure case is almost letting the code choose its own directions," he told BI. "I think you can usually get much better results if you know what you want to do and you know roughly how you want to build it."It's a view shared by Kothari: "There is a right set of questions to ask ChatGPT to get your work done."3. A clear-thinking mindsetWhen AI is doing more of the grunt work of software development, what should engineers focus their newfound extra time on?Software experts who spoke to BI said the answer was simple: focus on thinking clearly.When software engineers build programs and apps, they spend a lot of time thinking carefully about what exactly is being built and how it might be stitched together in a wider system. This all requires careful thinking before lines of code are even written.One type of thinking that helps this process is reasoning from "first principles," according to Wispr Flow's Kothari, referring to breaking a complex problem into smaller pieces to find a suitable solution."That is a very hard, high-level problem that you need to be able to solve regardless of how good AI gets," he said.Kothari notes that this is a key attribute of what defines a "10x engineer" an industry archetype of an engineer who is typically 10 times more productive and valuable than their counterparts. "10x things come from clarity of thought," he added.Thinking about systems at large is another helpful way to approach software engineering problems. Kothari notes that people can waste a lot of time not doing this, as it can lead to building "the wrong thing that nobody really wanted."Fern Labs' Edwards agrees, noting that engineers are "always going to need to be able to think about systems" despite the growing use of vibe coding tools as they will fundamentally still be the ones needing to oversee a program."Having that software engineering mindset, understanding how to think about problems and break them down and think about them in abstraction I think that's always going to be useful and important, if not more so, as these things get more and more powerful," he said.