The report, Europe’s Moonshot Moment, found that the continent has over 280 software companies generating more than €100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). These scaleups include the likes of Spotify, Revolut, Adyen, and Vinted. However, European software businesses that reach the €100 million ARR threshold take 15 years on average to get there. That’s five years longer than their US peers, the report found. Europe also lags in birthing software giants. While 5–10% of US firms reaching €100 million in ARR subsequently scale to €1 billion, fewer than 3% of their European peers reach that milestone. The report highlighted some of the reasons for this stalled growth: fragmented markets, conservative corporate norms, and a slower flow of late-stage capital relative to early-stage investment. Turning point? Register Now Despite the hurdles, the report’s authors are confident that all the ingredients for Europe’s success in software are now in place. “Europe already holds the essentials to create the world’s next generation of software champions: deep talent pools, vibrant founder networks, and a rapidly maturing capital base,” said Ruben Schaubroeck, senior partner at McKinsey. While Europe lost out to Silicon Valley firms like Google and Microsoft in the early internet era, emerging technologies like AI may offer a new opening for the region’s tech startups. Geopolitical shifts could also drive governments to invest in local tech ecosystems and rethink digital sovereignty, said the report. “There’s no denying that European tech has faced structural barriers, but we’re at a genuine inflection point,” Phill Robinson, CEO and co-founder at Boardwave, told TNW. “New technology arenas, geopolitics, and an evolving operating environment are creating a unique opportunity for Europe to boost innovation.” Now Europe must turn that potential into profits, the report argues. To that end, it suggests five key interventions to boost Europe’s software ecosystem: Expand late-stage funding Encourage experienced founders to start new companies Make it easier for sales and marketing teams to work across borders and help startups grow faster Encourage more large firms in Europe to buy software from European startups by offering government support or financial incentives Strengthen public-private partnerships to de-risk new technologies Scaling up European tech The McKinsey/Boardwave report comes hot on the heels of the EU’s landmark Startup and Scaleup Strategy, launched last week. The plan set out several reforms designed to remove barriers to growth for the bloc’s early-stage companies. “If implemented boldly, and most importantly quickly, it can help Europe move from fragmented success stories to systemic, continent-wide scale; otherwise, we risk being left behind,” said Robinson, commenting on the new strategy. The EU’s proposal includes provisions for a long-awaited “28th regime,” which would allow companies to operate under a single set of rules across the 27 member states. It is intended to reduce headaches around taxes, employment rules, and insolvency. Robinson said he believes the EU’s new strategy will strengthen Europe’s software ecosystem by making it easier to operate across borders. “We need to act as one innovation ecosystem, not 27 different ones,” he said. “That’s what makes this Europe’s moonshot moment. If we connect and act now, we can lead. And not just in Europe, but globally.” Story by Siôn Geschwindt Siôn is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy. From nuclear fusion breakthroughs to electric vehic (show all) Siôn is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy. From nuclear fusion breakthroughs to electric vehicles, he's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. He has five years of journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. When he's not writing, you can probably find Siôn out hiking, surfing, playing the drums or catering to his moderate caffeine addiction. You can contact him at: sion.geschwindt [at] protonmail [dot] com Get the TNW newsletter Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week. Also tagged with

ipopba - stock.adobe.com News Maturing UK fintechs increase tech and cyber security hiring Increased hiring reflects that fintechs are maturing and now require more cyber security and compliance experts By Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA Published: 27 May 2025 16:23 The UK’s financial technology sector, or fintech as it is widely known, will see a 32% increase in professional hiring this year, with cyber security and technology roles the most in demand. As the fintech sector matures, and companies underpinned by tech seek to expand product ranges, increased demand for tech-related roles is inevitable. According to a report from recruitment services firm Morgan McKinley and labour market data company Vacancysoft, the increase comes as many UK fintechs move beyond the startup phase, add products and scale their operations. Technology-related hiring will see the fastest growth at 39%, driven by the need for engineering, cyber security, and IT management and development professionals. “London continues to dominate hiring in this space, buoyed by the upcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill. As fintechs replace legacy systems and meet rising compliance expectations, system resilience and threat mitigation skills are in high demand,” said the report. Risk and compliance professionals are also in increasing demand. Hiring in this area is projected to rise by 29% in 2025, according to Morgan McKinley and Vacancysoft, with financial crime professionals and fraud-related roles most in demand. This increase is due to growing regulatory scrutiny and operational complexity. “As regulatory expectations shift from minimum standards to active governance, fintechs are investing accordingly, seeking experienced professionals to strengthen internal control frameworks and support future authorisations or licensing requirements,” said the report. Fintechs are prioritising strategic hiring, investment in high-impact roles in compliance, product engineering and IT security, according to the report. Meanwhile, hiring for generalist functions remains flat or subject to cost review, it said. Mark Astbury, director at Morgan McKinley in the UK, said despite the uncertain economic climate, the UK fintech sector will see “one of its strongest hiring outlooks in recent years”. He said the rise in professional vacancies is led by London, but is echoed nationwide. “The data tells a clear story: despite subdued venture capital flows, demand for specialist talent remains robust. This isn’t a hype-driven rebound, it’s a grounded response to real-world pressures. Fintech firms are hiring to meet rising regulatory expectations as they grow, to counter increasingly sophisticated financial threats, and to build more resilient digital infrastructure,” added Astbury. “The surge in fraud risk and compliance roles, alongside double-digit growth in IT security and engineering, reflects an industry maturing in response to both opportunity and obligation,” he said. The increased recruitment of professionals comes with the backdrop of sector investment falling by over a quarter to $9.9bn, down 27% from $13.6bn in 2023, according to KPMG’s Pulse of fintech report. In the report, KPMG said geopolitical uncertainty, high levels of inflation and higher interest rates all contributed to “more subdued levels of UK fintech investment”. KPMG’s figures mirror those published by Innovative Finance last month, which reported a 37% fall in investment in 2024 compared with 2023. Innovate Finance, the industry body for fintech in the UK, blamed tough market conditions that included “rising interest rates, geopolitical instability, as well as a recalibration in venture capital fundraising”. The UK’s fintech sector attracted $3.6bn investment last year, which was only bettered by the US. Read more about fintech In The Current Issue: UK government outlines plan to surveil migrants with eVisa data Why we must reform the Computer Misuse Act: A cyber pro speaks out Download Current Issue SAP Sapphire 2025: Developers take centre stage as AI integration deepens – CW Developer Network Microsoft entices developers to build more Windows AI apps – Cliff Saran's Enterprise blog View All Blogs

Anthropic has announced the release of its next-generation language models: Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4. The update marks a significant technical refinement in the Claude model family, particularly in areas involving structured reasoning, software engineering, and autonomous agent behaviors. This release is not another reinvention but a focused improvement—bringing increased consistency, interpretability, and performance across complex reasoning tasks. With extended context handling, long-horizon planning, and more efficient coding capabilities, these models reflect a maturing shift toward functional generalist systems that can serve a range of high-complexity applications. Claude Opus 4: Scaling Advanced Reasoning and Multi-file Code Understanding Positioned as the flagship model, Claude Opus 4 has been benchmarked as Anthropic’s most capable model to date. Designed to handle intricate reasoning workflows and software development scenarios, Opus 4 has achieved: 72.5% accuracy on the SWE-bench benchmark, which tests models against real-world GitHub issue resolution. 43.2% on TerminalBench, which evaluates correctness in terminal-based code generation tasks requiring multi-step planning. A notable aspect of Claude Opus 4 is its agentic behavior in software environments. In practical testing, the model was able to autonomously sustain nearly seven hours of uninterrupted code generation and task execution. This is a marked improvement from Claude 3 Opus, which previously sustained such tasks for under an hour. These improvements are attributed to enhanced memory management, broader context retention, and a more robust internal planning loop. From a developer’s perspective, Opus 4 reduces the need for frequent interventions and exhibits stronger consistency in handling edge cases across software stacks. Claude Sonnet 4: A Balanced Model for General Reasoning and Code Tasks Claude Sonnet 4 replaces its predecessor, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, with a more stable and balanced architecture that brings improvements in both speed and quality without significantly increasing computational costs. Sonnet 4 is optimized for mid-scale deployments where cost-performance trade-offs are critical. While not matching Opus 4’s reasoning ceiling, it inherits many architectural upgrades—supporting multi-file code navigation, intermediate tool use, and structured text processing with improved latency. It serves as the new default model for free-tier users on Claude.ai and is also available via API. This makes Sonnet 4 a practical option for lightweight development tools, user-facing assistants, and analytical pipelines requiring consistent but less intensive model calls. Architectural Highlights: Hybrid Reasoning and Extended Thinking Both models incorporate hybrid reasoning capabilities, introducing two distinct response modes: Fast Mode for low-latency responses suitable for short prompts and conversational tasks. Extended Thinking Mode for computationally intensive tasks requiring deeper inference, longer memory chains, or multi-turn agentic behavior. This dual-mode reasoning strategy allows users to dynamically allocate compute and latency budgets based on task complexity. It is especially relevant in agent frameworks, where LLMs must balance fast reaction time with deliberative planning. Deployment and Integration Claude Opus 4 and Sonnet 4 are accessible through multiple cloud platforms: Anthropic’s Claude API Amazon Bedrock Google Cloud Vertex AI This cross-platform availability simplifies model deployment into diverse enterprise environments, supporting use cases ranging from autonomous agents to code analysis, decision support, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines. Conclusion The Claude 4 series does not introduce radical design changes but instead demonstrates measured improvements in reliability, interpretability, and task generalization. With Claude Opus 4, Anthropic positions itself firmly in the upper tier of AI model providers for reasoning and coding automation. Meanwhile, Claude Sonnet 4 offers a technically sound, cost-efficient entry point for developers and researchers working on mid-scale AI applications. For engineering teams evaluating LLMs for long-context planning, software agents, or structured data workflows, the Claude 4 models present a competitive, technically capable alternative. Check out the Technical details and Get started today on Claude, Claude Code, or the platform of your choice. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also, feel free to follow us on Twitter and don’t forget to join our 95k+ ML SubReddit and Subscribe to our Newsletter. Asif RazzaqWebsite |  + postsBioAsif Razzaq is the CEO of Marktechpost Media Inc.. As a visionary entrepreneur and engineer, Asif is committed to harnessing the potential of Artificial Intelligence for social good. His most recent endeavor is the launch of an Artificial Intelligence Media Platform, Marktechpost, which stands out for its in-depth coverage of machine learning and deep learning news that is both technically sound and easily understandable by a wide audience. The platform boasts of over 2 million monthly views, illustrating its popularity among audiences.Asif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/Technology Innovation Institute TII Releases Falcon-H1: Hybrid Transformer-SSM Language Models for Scalable, Multilingual, and Long-Context UnderstandingAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/Google DeepMind Releases Gemma 3n: A Compact, High-Efficiency Multimodal AI Model for Real-Time On-Device UseAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/A Step-by-Step Implementation Tutorial for Building Modular AI Workflows Using Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 3.7 through API and LangGraphAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/Meta Researchers Introduced J1: A Reinforcement Learning Framework That Trains Language Models to Judge With Reasoned Consistency and Minimal Data

10 incredible new tabletop games for you to play in summer 2025 Lucy Orr Published May 16, 2025 2:00pm Pokémon TCG is in for a hot summer (The Pokémon Company) GameCentral looks at the most exciting new summer tabletop releases, including adaptations of Final Fantasy, Assassin’s Creed, and Citizen Sleeper The tabletop games industry has become an unlikely victim of Trump’s tariff trade war. Just after it was recovering from Covid supply chain issues it now sees itself hit with manufacturing issues and an uncertain future. It’s so bad that board game developer CMON has already shut up shop and Stonemaier, famous for the hugely successful Wingspan, is suing the Trump administration. Meanwhile Cephalofair, developer of fan favourite Gloomhaven, can’t even get their product on to the shelves, as it’s stuck in China. While I don’t expect any empty shelves at the UK Games Expo this month, there’s definitely panic in the air. Although one company that doesn’t seem to be too concerned is Games Workshop, who have always manufactured most of their products in the UK – although accessories and terrain for your favourite Warhammer army might become harder to find in the future. After everyone got into it during lockdown, the tabletop industry was riding a huge boom, with recent industry projections of the market doubling to around £20 billion by 2030. But US tariffs have left the industry reeling and could see the price for tabletop games around the world rise significantly. Despite the doom and gloom there’s plenty of exciting new products already out this year and many more on the way from massive brands such as Pokémon and Disney, as well as new Kickstarters that you can print yourself, thereby completely bypassing any manufacturing issues. There’s also never been a better time to support your local board game shop or Dungeons & Dragons club, as their overheads rise, so here’s a selection of games you might find on their shelves right now and those coming soon, that I’m excited to play during the summer break. Magic: The Gathering – Final Fantasy Square Enix’s iconic Final Fantasy franchise is stepping onto the cardboard battlefield with Magic: The Gathering, and the result is as gloriously nostalgic as it is mechanically exciting. The Universes Beyond initiative brings beloved characters, summons, and settings into Magic’s gameplay, with Cloud Strife leading the charge. The Final Fantasy Starter Kit offers two pre-constructed 60 card decks, packed with flavour and function and perfect for newcomers attracted by the sight of a Chocobo or Moogle. Each deck includes five rares, a foil mythic legendary, deck boxes, and digital codes for Magic: The Gathering Arena. But the real draw? The cards themselves. They are stunning. Cloud channels Final Fantasy 7’s environmental and emotional themes, with equipment-focused synergies that feel spot-on. Stiltzkin the Moogle is a flavourful support piece for donation strategies and the terrifying Tonberry arrives with Deathtouch and First Strike, which is fitting for a creature that’s haunted players for decades. With gorgeous full art treatments by amazing artists such as Takahashi Kazuya and Yoshitaka Amano, underpinned by clever mechanical call backs, this crossover is more than fan service, it’s a lovingly crafted bridge between two gaming giants that’s bound to fly of the shelves. £15.99 on Amazon – releases June 13 Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team: Typhon There’s a possible future where Games Workshop is the final tabletop company left standing, as they dodge tariffs and take down licence infringers like a particularly vicious swarm of tyrranids. You too can act out this future in Kill Team: Typhon, which delivers the chaos of Warhammer 40,000 in a claustrophobic, subterranean brawl between flesh-rending Tyranid Raveners and a desperate Adeptus Mechanicus Battleclade. The latest Kill Team box looks stunning and turns up the tension with asymmetric forces: a lean, elite brood of Raveners – deadly melee predators that can tunnel through terrain – versus a jury-rigged Mechanicus strike team, built from repurposed servitors and guided by a technoarchaeologist scouring ancient relics. But this isn’t Helldivers 2. The Raveners can be customised into deadly variants like the Tremorscythe and Felltalon, each armed with bio-engineered weapons designed for close-quarters carnage. On the other side, the Mechanicus bring massed, lobotomised firepower: breachers, gunners, medics, and overseers to allow for some tactical coordination. Also included are Hormagaunts, the swarming Tyrranids shock troops and new Tyranid-infested terrain – always the standout feature of these kill team boxes, in my opinion, and perfect for narrative or larger 40K battles. Typhon embraces Kill Team’s strength: cinematic asymmetry and high stakes. Price TBA – releases June Scalpers are going to love this (The Pokémon Company) Pokémon Trading Card Game Scarlet & Violet – Destined Rivals Pokémon Center Elite Trainer Box This red and black box is going for gangbusters on eBay, before it’s even supposed to be out. The Scarlet & Violet Destined Rivals set reintroduces the beloved Trainer’s Pokémon mechanic, but now with a twist where players can align with iconic duos like Arven’s Mabosstiff and Ho-Oh ex or Cynthia and Garchomp ex. Or fall in with Team Rocket under Giovanni’s command, fielding heavy hitters like Mewtwo ex. It’s a rich throwback to the Gym Heroes era, with cards that spotlight specific trainer and pokémon bonds, each emblazoned with the trainer’s name. The expansion includes 83 cards branded under Team Rocket, 17 new Pokémon ex cards (10 of which are Trainer’s Pokémon ex), and a trove of high rarity collectibles: 23 illustration rares, 11 special illustration rares, and six hyper rare gold-etched cards. But the pre-launch hasn’t been all Sunflora and Jigglypuffs. Since its full reveal on March 24, pre-orders have sparked a frenzy amongst scalpers, with sellouts and early store hiccups are already marring the rollout. Still, between the nostalgia bait and villainous charm, Destined Rivals is shaping up to be one of 2025’s hottest trading card releases. RRP £54.99 – releases May 30 Finspan One game I just can’t put back on the shelf at the moment is Finspan; who’d of thought fish could be so much fun? Since Wingspan took flight in 2019, it’s become a modern classic: part art piece, part engine builder, and a benchmark for gateway games. Finspan, the third entry in the series, swaps feathers for fins, inviting players to explore marine ecosystems across oceanic zones in a beautifully illustrated, medium-lightweight game that last about 45 minutes. Mechanically, Finspan is more accessible than Wingspan, thanks to forgiving resource generation and a gentler deck structure. Strategic depth is still there, whether you chase high value fish, go wide with schools, or balance both. It’s more of a solo puzzle, and less about blocking opponents, which might suit more casual groups. Replayability is strong, and with one to five player support it scales well. The art is stunning, and the fish facts make you feel like a would-be marine biologist. But I missed the funny components (no birdhouse dice tower), so this is missing some of that Wingspan magic. Finspan is a fantastic entry point to the series and an accessible and fun addition to the franchise. It’s not as perfect as Wingspan, but it swims confidently in its own current. Could we see whale and crustacean expansions? I hope so. RRP £41.99 – available now Star Wars Unlimited – Jump To Lightspeed While you might have missed the Star Wars Celebration in Japan last month, and be bereft over the end of Andor Season 2, don’t worry – there are plenty of alternatives for Star Wars fandom. Fantasy Flight Games is revving its hyperdrive with Jump To Lightspeed, the fourth set for trading card game Star Wars Unlimited. A dramatic shift from previous ground-focused releases, this set propels players into orbit, with an emphasis on space combat and a host of gameplay refinements. Headlining the release are two new Spotlight Decks, each featuring a classic rivalry, such as Han Solo vs. Boba Fett. These 50-card preconstructed decks introduce Pilots, a brand-new card type that changes how space units operate. Pilots can be deployed to enhance ships with improved health and damage dealing abilities, offering fresh tactical depth. The set also debuts the Piloting keyword, a hyperspace mechanic, and five special rarity cards per deck, including one new Leader per Spotlight release. It’s a sleek continuation of Unlimited’s mission, with deep strategy wrapped in Star Wars flair. Fantasy Flight isn’t just releasing a new set; they’re effectively entering year two of the game with a soft reboot, that smartly rebalances and refreshes. For new and returning players, the standalone Spotlight Decks offer a refined on-ramp into the meta, while the stellar art and fan favourite make this one of the best sci-fi trading card games around. RRP: £34.99 – available now An indie tabletop game adapting an indie video game (Jump Over the Age) Citizen Sleeper: Spindlejack I was gutted I didn’t manage to nab some physical Cycles of the Eye Data-Cloud dice from Lost in Cult, before they sold out, so I was ecstatic to see the shadow drop of Citizen Sleeper: Spindlejack, especially as it’s completely free. It’s a lean, solo tabletop role-player set in the neon-drenched corridors of the Far Spindle, part of the Citizen Sleeper universe. Released on May 5th (aka Citizen Sleeper Day), it’s a print-and-play experience that trades dense narrative for kinetic delivery runs and tactical movement through a crumbling space station. Inspired by Kadet, the courier from Citizen Sleeper 2, Spindlejack casts you as one of the eponymous daredevils: airbike mounted messengers who dodge cargo haulers and urban decay to deliver sensitive payloads in a haunted, half-dead network. The draw? Not just the cryo or reputation, but the thrill, the competition, and the culture. Using your 10 six-sided dice, a pencil, and some printed sheets you’ll chart courses across randomly generated intersections, upgrade your bike, and edge toward Spindlejack legend status. Designed by Gareth Damian Martin, with stylish, gritty art from Guillaume Singelin, this is a tight, systems-focused dive into a beloved sci-fi setting. No campaign scheduling. No group required. Just you, your dice, and the Spindle’s rusted arteries. For fans of Citizen Sleeper or those craving a focused, atmospheric solo experience, Spindlejack is a no-brainer. DIY or DIE. Available now Disney Lorcana has become a certified hit (Ravensburger) Disney Lorcana – Reign Of Jafar Set 8 and Illumineer’s Quest: Palace Heist The internet has been on fire with the announcement that forthcoming Lorcana sets are to include Darkwing Duck and The Goofy Movie cast, emphasising that Disney Lorcana has become something of a juggernaut since its 2023 debut, captivating collectors and competitive players with a blend of nostalgic charm and evolving mechanics – judging scandals aside. During the Next Chapter of Lorcana livestream earlier this month, Ravensburger dropped major news. The autumn 2025 set, Fabled, will introduce Lorcana’s first ever set rotation, a sign the game is maturing into a competitive force. To support this shift, Fabled will include reprints from earlier sets, while also debuting two new rarity levels: epic and the ultra-rare Iconic. Reign Of Jafar, the game’s eighth set, sees Jafar rise as the new central villain, corrupting Archazia’s Island and bringing a darker twist to the narrative. Familiar faces like Mulan, Stitch, Rapunzel, and Bruno return, alongside new cards and accessories, including updated sleeves and deck boxes featuring classic Enchanted artwork. The new Illumineer’s Quest: Palace Heist PvE box expands on the beloved Deep Trouble, letting players face Jafar co-op style. Expect pre-built decks (Amethyst Amber and Ruby Steel), booster boxes, and enough lore-packed cardboard to fuel your summer break. £16.99 starter pack – releases May 30 The Lord Of The Rings: Fate Of The Fellowship While Finspan might be missing a dice tower, Fate Of The Fellowship more than makes up for that with a dice tower Barad-dûr. This is a one to five player co-op strategy game that builds on the Pandemic System but adds enough fresh features to feel distinct, deeper, and more precious than ever. Players take on the roles of Fellowship members and allies, racing to protect havens from surging shadow troops and helping Frodo sneak past the Nazgûl en route to Mount Doom. Unlike previous Pandemic adaptations, Fate Of The Fellowship leans hard into narrative mechanics. You’ll juggle four resources – stealth, valour, resistance, and friendship – across a sprawling map as you battle despair and shifting objectives. Each player commands two characters, with asymmetric abilities and layered decisions every turn. With 24 rotating objectives, a constant threat from the Eye of Sauron, and a cleverly tuned solo mode, designer Matt Leacock has crafted his richest Pandemic variant yet. I’ve seen plenty of tabletop gamers saying this will be their must-play at UK Games Expo. RRP £69.99 – releases June 27 Assassin’s Creed Animus Animus brings the Assassin’s Creed universe to the tabletop in a wholly fresh, narrative-driven experience. Up to four players select historical eras, each tied to a legendary assassin like Ezio or Eivor, resulting in distinct, asymmetric playstyles, unique objectives, and specialised mechanics. Rather than a miniatures skirmish, this is a competitive, timeline-jumping adventure where players dive into ancestral memories via the titular Animus. Strategic stealth and precision matter: while one player might rush to the end, victory favours those who stay synchronised with their ancestor’s memory by completing tasks efficiently and, of course, stealthily. While there’s still not much information about this game at the moment, Animus looks to employ modular and evolving dynamics driven by interactive card play. Players can impact each other’s timelines, which will hopefully keep the experience reactive and organic. With deep lore integration, and Ubisoft’s full support, this could the most ambitious Assassin’s Creed tabletop title yet. Crowdfunding starts summer 2025 Some like it Hoth (Days of Wonder) Star Wars: Battle Of Hoth Days of Wonder, the studio behind tabletop classic Ticket To Ride, has unveiled its next major release, with Star Wars: Battle Of Hoth. Designed for two to four players, aged 8 and up, this fast-paced board game runs around 30 minutes per session and leans on the accessible, card-driven Commands & Colors system. More Trending Players will face off as Imperial or Rebel forces across 17 scenario-driven missions, with options to escalate into campaign mode. Leader cards introduce familiar names like Vader, Luke, Leia, and Han to influence the tide of battle. Although it should be easy to learn, concerns linger about the scope of the battlefield. A cramped board could reduce tactical play to simple dice duels, something fans of strategic depth may find frustrating. Questions also remain about unit range and movement dynamics. Still, Battle Of Hoth promises cinematic nostalgia and the potential for layered tactics, and all for a very reasonable price. RRP: £49.99 – crowdfunding starts summer 2025 Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Forward-thinking businesses – and even nations – are upskilling mid-career professionals to help them not only survive but prosper in the era of widespread enterprise artificial intelligence (AI). As businesses and public sector organisations adopt AI at a lightning pace, white-collar professions face huge disruption, not unlike that experienced by nineteenth century blue-collar workers. According to research by OpenAI and the University of Pennsylvania, roles that will be affected include accountants, legal assistants, financial analysts, journalists, translators and public relations professionals. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs published figures in March 2023 that spoke of 300 million jobs exposed to AI across all sectors. Although it’s a concept dating back decades, the widespread take-up of generative AI (GenAI) began around 2022 with the release of ChatGPT. It was a wake-up call for governments and businesses alike, which must prepare for inevitable disruption. According to Tram Anh Nguyen, co-founder of the centre for finance, technology and entrepreneurship (CFTE), people over the age of 40 in mid-career professional roles are the most at risk of major job disruption as businesses integrate AI into their operations. CFTE is a global education platform that specialises in training in the finance sector, including teaching AI in finance. Nguyen, who is also Global Women in AI chair, spent decades working in the finance sector in business roles, said: “AI is no longer a future concept. It’s here and it’s affecting everyone at every level.” But this does not mean professionals will be replaced if they are re-trained – and this does not just mean technical training. Training on AI for non-technical roles will encompass professionals learning underlying knowledge about AI, the AI tools available to them and the use cases for AI in their roles, said Nguyen. In its whitepaper titled The AI-fication of talents, CFTE said three groups of professionals will emerge. It reported that there will be: “mass displacement” of roles centred on execution which will be increasingly automated; “supercharged professionals” will emerge who use AI to expand scope and scale; while “creative disruptors” will be small group inventing new models, products and systems. Nguyen warned that the UK is behind in readying the workforce for AI. “We are not preparing people in the right way because the focus is not on adult education at scale,” she told Computer Weekly. She cited a project in Singapore which CFTE helped to design. It involves supporting mid-career transitions, particularly focusing on technology and finance sectors, while providing financial support to help people switching careers. All Singaporeans aged 40 and above received funds to refresh their skills, with a large proportion taking up IT-related courses in areas including artificial intelligence. Around 555,000 people participated in programmes supported by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) in 2024 and 520,000 in 2023, according to Singapore newspaper The Straits Times. These are significant numbers for Singapore, which has a population of around six million, but the same challenge is faced globally. One sector being heavily affected is financial services, which leads the way in AI innovation and investment. For example, Bloomberg Intelligence recently put the number of jobs set to be replaced by AI in the US finance sector – Wall Street specifically – at hundreds of thousands. CIOs questioned by the organisation expected 3% of their workforce to be cut on average. Around a quarter of respondents expect the workforce to be cut by between 5% and 10% as AI takes over roles, with the back and middle offices to be most affected. According to research by banking industry benchmarking firm Evident, AI-related roles could be the only “safe jobs” in the banking sector as financial organisations “relentlessly” press on with AI-led transformation. It’s banking industry report found that recruitment of AI development professionals grew by 6% in the last year, hiring of data engineers increased by 14%, and the number of AI and software implementation experts hired increased by 42%. But while the finance sector finds itself on the front-line of the AI revolution, the technology’s rapid spread goes way beyond. Bloomberg’s head of AI, Amanda Stent, recently told Computer Weekly in an interview that there has been “no revolution in history that has not led to job transformation”. “Some types of job change, some types of job go away,” they added. “But there’s also no revolution in history that hasn’t led to more jobs created overall, I think that is true with AI, which will augment a lot of people.” Stent said all workers, regardless of their roles, will have to learn to use AI: “We can teach people how to be effective users of AI without needing to know all that maths.” The legal sector is an example of a traditional industry adapting to AI. The UK regulator of solicitors, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, recently authorised the first law firm to provide legal services purely through AI. Mark Lewis, a lawyer at Stephenson Hardwood, specialised in technology, said most, “if not virtually all, serious law firms” are deploying AI and GenAI operationally. “Typical use cases include document review, analysis and summarisation, legal research, case research and predicting the outcomes of cases, reviewing and reporting on the application of regulations around the world, and, of course, in law firm back-office operations – for example, in client due diligence and acceptance.” But he added that AI is not “yet” causing “major disruption” in the legal sector: “As with talk of AI disrupting many sectors, including doing away with the work now done by paralegals, junior lawyers, and even senior lawyers, this hasn’t really happened yet in the legal markets here – or, I think, anywhere. “There is a good deal of the usual tech hype about it. No doubt AI will become integral to legal process and lawyering at all levels, but, as in many other sectors, even that is going to take time and the maturing of legal use cases.” He said firms are, however, preparing for the impact of AI: “We, like many firms, have made available to all our lawyers GenAI tools developed specifically for us, to be used within certain parameters and in accordance with our AI/GenAI policies. “We want our lawyers to use these GenAI tools, to become accustomed to the way it processes work, to understand its strengths and limitations, and to become expert in creating and refining prompts. “For me, there is an even more important – existential – point: the single biggest challenge is how we as a society learn to understand, live and work with AI. It should start as early as possible and continue through our lives.” In the IT sector, AI is a huge business opportunity, but the technology is also transforming how suppliers operate. Workers in the IT sector will also have to learn to work with AI. Amrinder Singh, head of EMEA and APAC operations at Indian IT services firm Hexaware, told Computer Weekly that all the company’s staff, around 30,000, will be trained how to harness AI. He put it in startling terms the risks to workers that are not trained up. “We said that there is no future for single-skilled people,” he said. “Unless you are multi-skilled with domain understanding, as well as understanding how to use AI and technology, you will not survive.” Read more about GenAI

Senior Third-Party Risk Management AnalystEpic GamesCary, North Carolina, United States2 hours agoApplyWHAT MAKES US EPIC?At the core of Epic’s success are talented, passionate people. Epic prides itself on creating a collaborative, welcoming, and creative environment. Whether it’s building award-winning games or crafting engine technology that enables others to make visually stunning interactive experiences, we’re always innovating.Being Epic means being a part of a team that continually strives to do right by our community and users. We’re constantly innovating to raise the bar of engine and game development.COMPLIANCEWhat We DoWe help the company do the right thing by identifying, monitoring, and reporting on potential risks in order to support the company’s goal of promoting trust in our products and services.What You'll DoAs a Senior Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) Analyst, you will play a key role in protecting Epic’s ecosystem by leading security-focused due diligence and ongoing oversight of third-party service providers. You will take ownership of high-impact assessments, leverage your deep knowledge of information security and GRC frameworks, and serve as a strategic partner in maturing our third-party risk program. This role will be critical in ensuring third parties align with Epic’s security, privacy, and compliance standards, especially within a fast-paced, evolving regulatory environment.In this role, you willLead third-party risk assessments with a focus on Information Security and GRC, evaluating inherent and residual risks to drive risk-informed decision-makingPerform in-depth due diligence on prospective and existing vendors, with an emphasis on cybersecurity controls, regulatory compliance (e.g., GDPR, SOC 2, ISO 27001), and data protection practicesManage periodic reassessments of high-risk and critical vendors to monitor for emerging threats, changes in control environments, and compliance postureEnsure integrity, consistency, and audit-readiness of third-party data within the GRC platform, supporting executive reporting and regulatory complianceCollaborate with key stakeholders across Information Security, Privacy, Legal, Procurement, and Business Units to integrate third-party risk insights into broader enterprise risk initiativesProvide expert guidance during third-party offboarding, ensuring risk is appropriately retired and that data retention, access, and continuity controls are validatedSupport external audits, internal investigations, and regulatory inquiries by preparing accurate and timely responses related to TPRM practices and control effectiveness while contributing to the enhancement of TPRM policies, playbooks, and metrics to continuously mature the programWhat we're looking for5+ years of experience in third-party risk management, information security, IT audit, or GRC, preferably within Gaming, Technology, or ConsultingDeep understanding of security risk assessment frameworks and best practices (e.g., NIST, ISO 27001, SIG, CSA, etc.)Proficiency in GRC platforms such as Archer, OneTrust, ServiceNow, or similar tools, with the ability to lead data analysis and system improvementsDemonstrated ability to identify and assess security, privacy, and operational risks with a practical and solutions-oriented mindsetExcellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to influence and challenge stakeholders at all levels while maintaining constructive relationshipsComfortable navigating ambiguity, leading through change, and managing complex or sensitive third-party issuesExperience with regulatory requirements related to vendor management and data security is strongly preferredComfortable working in a cross-functional environment and adapting to changing business and regulatory requirementsEPIC JOB + EPIC BENEFITS = EPIC LIFEOur intent is to cover all things that are medically necessary and improve the quality of life. We pay 100% of the premiums for both you and your dependents. Our coverage includes Medical, Dental, a Vision HRA, Long Term Disability, Life Insurance & a 401k with competitive match. We also offer a robust mental well-being program through Modern Health, which provides free therapy and coaching for employees & dependents. Throughout the year we celebrate our employees with events and company-wide paid breaks. We offer unlimited PTO and sick time and recognize individuals for 7 years of employment with a paid sabbatical.ABOUT USEpic Games spans across 25 countries with 46 studios and 4,500+ employees globally. For over 25 years, we've been making award-winning games and engine technology that empowers others to make visually stunning games and 3D content that bring environments to life like never before. Epic's award-winning Unreal Engine technology not only provides game developers the ability to build high-fidelity, interactive experiences for PC, console, mobile, and VR, it is also a tool being embraced by content creators across a variety of industries such as media and entertainment, automotive, and architectural design. As we continue to build our Engine technology and develop remarkable games, we strive to build teams of world-class talent.Like what you hear? Come be a part of something Epic!Epic Games deeply values diverse teams and an inclusive work culture, and we are proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. Learn more about our Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy here.Note to Recruitment Agencies: Epic does not accept any unsolicited resumes or approaches from any unauthorized third party (including recruitment or placement agencies) (i.e., a third party with whom we do not have a negotiated and validly executed agreement). We will not pay any fees to any unauthorized third party. Further details on these matters can be found here. Create Your Profile — Game companies can contact you with their relevant job openings. Apply

The world of architectural visualization is evolving rapidly, driven by new technologies and shifting industry demands. To capture the latest trends, Architizer and Chaos surveyed more than 1,000 design professionals worldwide, uncovering key insights into the challenges and opportunities shaping the field. The results are now available in the free-to-download State of Architectural Visualization 2024-25 Report — a must-read for architects, designers, and visualization specialists looking to stay ahead of the curve. In an engaging webinar hosted by Architizer and Chaos, Roderick Bates, Director of Corporate Development at Chaos, took to our virtual stage to explore the findings of the 2024-25 survey and report — and what they mean for the future of architectural visualization. Read on to discover the key points from Bates’ captivating presentation. Your browser does not support this, try viewing it on YouTube: YOUR URL Shifting Demographics and Global Reach Bates began by highlighting the wide-reaching, diverse nature of the survey respondents, which helps to substantiate and increase confidence in the findings. This year’s survey reflected a wider range of voices than ever before, with participants hailing from more than 75 countries. While 40% were U.S.-based, there was a significant increase in participation from the EU, UK, Oceania, and Asia. Firm size varied as well, with 64% of responses coming from small firms with fewer than 20 employees juxtaposed with a healthy 14% representation from firms with 100+ employees. “This kind of spread means that the data speaks to everyone in the AEC industry — from freelancers to global studios,” Bates emphasized. “All those different stakeholders have different needs, and the survey helps us understand them.” Chaos and Architizer’s annual industry reports include “The Future of Architectural Visualization” (2023), “The State of AI in Architecture” (2024), and “The State of Architectural Visualization” (2024-2025). Download the latest report for free here. Bates emphasized that this year’s survey data has already shaped real-world strategy for Chaos: “This is information that’s incredibly valuable to us as a company when we think about what products to develop — large-scale initiatives, M&A, and more.” The report has been used in internal product roadmaps and even supported due diligence in recent acquisitions. Acceleration and Specialization in AI AI emerged as a central theme in both the report and the webinar — a fact that should come as no surprise given the rapid emergence of this technology in recent years. According to the data, 56% of respondents are now actively using AI tools in their workflows, up dramatically from last year’s insights into AI across the industry. 35% are using AI to generate quick variations, while 44% are generating concept images and ideas early in design. These numbers appear to show that a “maturing” process is underway when it comes to AI usage within architecture. “People are no longer AI-hesitant,” Bates said. “We’re seeing a lot of firms experimenting with it, and the number of people fully invested — who say it’s part of their workflow — is growing.” Chaos recently acquired EvolveLAB and is developing integrated AI tools for its suite of architectural visualization applications. Roderick’s webinar demonstrated a range of potential applications for AI, including this animated construction timelapse. Chaos’s response to this evolving landscape is characteristically dynamic — they have already developed and launched tailor-made AI tools like the AI Enhancer in Enscape, which can instantly improve the realism of renderings, and have acquired EvolveLAB, which creates high-quality AI-driven tools for visualization, modeling and project documentation. “These aren’t generic solutions anymore,” commented Bates. “These are tools trained on architectural datasets, made specifically for architectural visualization.” Benefits of AI cited in the survey included faster workflows, enhanced creativity, and lower costs — “this sounds like a CFO’s dream right here”, remarked Bates. He went on to present examples of AI in action, from a sketch being transformed into a rendering, to instant material variations for a contemporary interior. Standardization, Integration, and the Path Forward The webinar also tackled some of the biggest roadblocks identified in the report: integration friction, lack of standardization, and concerns around quality control. “Architectural firms thrive on consistency,” said Bates, “and AI’s variability can be a headache.” To address this, Chaos is building standardized prompt libraries and working toward seamless integration across its visualization tools. “You shouldn’t have to redo work,” Bates emphasized. “If you’re in our ecosystem — or bringing in data from other platforms — it should just work.” Additionally, sustainability was highlighted as another challenging yet high-potential area within visualization workflows, based on survey feedback. As Bates explained, tools like Enscape Impact now offer rapid building performance simulations integrated directly into the design environment, requiring just a small number of key inputs. “It almost gets to the level of an AI prompt,” he noted. Architects are seeking even more automation and ease of use within this niche, signaling a strong demand for sustainability tools that are faster, smarter, and more intuitive — underscoring a major opportunity for future innovation. The webinar concluded with a lively Q&A, with AI predictably at the center of the debate. Some viewers expressed apprehension around the rapid adoption of these tools, while others pointed to the promise of AI’s efficiencies, freeing them up to focus more on design ideation. Whichever side of the argument you land on currently, one thing is certain — the State of Architectural Visualization report provides an invaluable source of insight into the industry today — and where it is heading tomorrow. To learn more and download your free copy of the report, click here, and learn more about Chaos’s latest developments in architectural visualization here. The post State of ArchViz Webinar: How AI Is Changing Architectural Visualization appeared first on Journal.

Concurrent with the rise of artificial intelligence in recent years has been an uptick in fear of it. With every new use of artificial intelligence comes the fear that it will cost jobs. Now that fear has expanded to not only costing humans their jobs, but killing off software as a service (SaaS) applications as well. Generative AI was the first boogieman, and now concern is growing around the impact of AI agents, otherwise known as agentic AI. Agentic AI is an artificial intelligence system designed to operate autonomously or semi-autonomously on behalf of a user or organization to perform specific tasks. AI agents take initiative and make decisions based on data input from other applications or sensors. They can adjust their behavior based on context, user preferences, new data, or environmental changes. It is growing at a decent rate. By 2028, Gartner estimates that at least 15% of day-to-day work decisions will be made by autonomous AI agents, up from 0% in 2024. This has led to the fear that AI agents will replace SaaS apps by rendering the software irrelevant. A simple search under the phrase “Will AI agents replace SaaS?” yields dozens of articles and postings asking that same question, fueled in part by remarks Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made to podcasters Bill Gurley and Brad Gerstner on their BG2 podcast in December. “I think the notion that business applications exist — that’s probably where they’ll all collapse in the agent era. Because if you think about it, they are essentially CRUD [create, read, update, delete] databases with a bunch of business logic,” Nadella said. “The business logic is all going to these agents, and these agents are going to be multi-repo CRUD. So they’re not going to discriminate between what the back end is. They’re going to update multiple databases, and all the logic will be in the AI tier, so to speak. Once the AI tier becomes the place where all the logic is, then people will start replacing the back ends,” he said. But Nadella went on to discuss how AI agents could be used in cooperation with business apps, where apps like Excel and Word act as specialized canvases for the agents. “So yes, I think there will be disruption,” he said, but AI agents are more likely to complement apps than to eliminate them. “I think that we’re a long way away from AI agents replacing SaaS,” said Tom Coshow, senior director and analyst at Gartner. “It’s important to remember that inside SaaS platforms, there are automated workflows that people have built that they still want to use. The SaaS platform still serves as a system of record for them.” AI agents may make it so that people can do their work without going into a SaaS app’s user interface, he added, but the app will still be in use. “[Agentic AI] is going to enhance it [SaaS], it’s not going to replace it,” he said. The relationship between agents and SaaS The reason agentic AI is perceived as a threat to SaaS and not traditional apps is that traditional apps have all but disappeared, replaced in favor of on-demand versions of former client software. But it goes beyond that. AI is considered a potential threat to SaaS for several reasons, mostly because of how it changes who is in control and how software is used. Agentic AI changes how work gets done because agents act on behalf of users, performing tasks across software platforms. If users no longer need to open and use SaaS apps directly because the agents are doing it for them, those apps lose their engagement and perceived usefulness. That ultimately translates into lost revenue, since SaaS apps typically charge either per user or by usage. An advanced AI agent can automate the workflows of an entire department, which may be covered by multiple SaaS products. So instead of all those subscriptions, you just use an agent to do it all. That can lead to significant savings in software costs. (See also: How will AI agents be priced? CIOs need to pay attention) On top of the cost savings are time savings. Jeremiah Stone, CTO with enterprise integration platform vendor SnapLogic, said agents have resulted in a 90% reduction in time for data entry and reporting into the company’s Salesforce system. “That doesn’t mean that we’re going to see an impact to the workforce, per se, but rather, we’re going to remove a lot of the drudgery, so that people can do their jobs more effectively,” he said. Mike Wertz, program engineering lead at Optio.ai, developer of a customer data platform designed to help organizations integrate and analyze customer data, said that because agentic AI has the ability to learn, it can adapt and modify the rules that a SaaS application operates by. So, for example, suppose a form has multiple data entry windows for variables like name, address, phone number, etc., and the form layout changes. Inputs have been moved around the screen and are in different places. Perhaps new data entry elements have been added. A SaaS app would require a change to the rules for input and data entry, but the AI agent would simply learn the new structure and adapt. Agents don’t use the UI; they use the back-end interface and have the ability to learn changes to data input. “In using AI, it’s adapting to changes within that document,” said Wertz. “The more you use it, the more you train models. They learn. That’s the benefit of agentic AI: it gains flexibility.” The state of agentic AI The current maturity level of agentic AI is low, Gartner’s Coshow said, and as such, there are potential drawbacks, risks, and other potential issues to note. The main pitfall of AI agents is that most people are building them using large language models (LLMs), and LLMs are probabilistic. That means that you might be working with data that is incomplete or biased, so you might get an answer that is not as precise as you want — or worse, biased in some way. “What’s happening in an AI agent is you’re giving it data so that it can make a decision, and if the data itself is biased or wrong, then you’re going to ultimately get a wrong action,” said Coshow. He advises gradual use of data-driven AI agents until a company or entity has its data “in shape,” as it were. (See also: AI agents can (and will) be scammed) Another question to ask is: is that data properly secured? To function, AI agents need access to data — sometimes highly restricted data. “If you build an AI agent using your permissions, and I get my hands on the agent, can I now see data that I shouldn’t be able to see?” he asked. “I would say, make sure your data is secured before you start building AI agents, and that the user security will stay in force from the data level up to the agent level.” While agentic AI is still a maturing technology, SaaS providers like Salesforce and ServiceNow are rapidly closing the gap by building no-code AI agent platforms that promise to make it easy for enterprises to automate parts of a workflow. “So as we go through this year, I think we’ll see more and more workflows being automated and a lot of time saved,” Coshow said. The agentic AI market is a mix of startups, large established players, and homegrown, privately developed applications, said Coshow. “All the big players are going to be building in the ability to create AI agents inside their platform, and for obvious reasons. If I’m using a software platform and I can’t build automation, I can go someplace else to build that automation,” he said. “I would say that AI agents inside SaaS platforms is a relationship that is going to evolve… The relationship between AI agents, the SaaS platform, and the human beings that work in that environment is going to be an evolution that will be really interesting to watch, but it will definitely be gradual,” he added.