Tools & Platforms

3 AI roadblocks—and how to overcome them

Published

7 days ago

September 4, 2025

Evidence of uneven AI adoption in the private sector grows by the day, with executives worried about falling behind more tech-savvy competitors. But the stakes are different, and considerably higher, in government. For local leaders, AI isn’t about winning a race. It’s about unlocking new problem-solving capacity to deliver better services and meet pressing resident needs.

Even so, city governments face real barriers to further adoption, including persistent concerns about accuracy and privacy, procurement hurdles, and too little space for civil-servant experimentation. The good news? Innovative leaders are already showing how to overcome these obstacles. And, in doing so, they’re reaping insights of use to others aiming to do the same.

Designing AI tools tailored to employees’ needs.

Boston Chief Innovation Officer Santiago Garces has no doubt that his city-hall colleagues want to push their efforts forward with AI, and he’s got the data to prove it. His team recently conducted a survey of 600 Boston city employees and found that 78 percent of them want to further integrate the technology into their work. When asked what’s holding them back, security, accuracy, and intellectual property are among civil servants’ top concerns.

Boston’s solution: Developing AI tools with more specific use cases, such as speeding up the procurement process, and employee concerns in mind from the start.

Following through on a project they began last year, Garces and his team recently deployed a tool called Bitbot that can answer employees’ questions about procurement. Because it was trained on dozens of procurement documents, as well as state law, local ordinances, and city best practices, Garces argues the tool is best described not as a chatbot (though it resembles one) and more like the AI version of a handbook people know they can trust. And while the city’s randomized controlled trial of the tool’s impact is still wrapping up, Garces says the city has generally seen faster task completion and higher levels of accuracy from employees using it. At the same time, the tool is set up not to send information back to the major tech companies the way most public-facing AI tools do, which helps address employee concerns around privacy and security.

While not every city has the resources to develop products like this on its own, Garces notes that working with university partners (he works closely with Northeastern University) can be very affordable. And this sort of approach could help civil servants everywhere be more comfortable in pushing AI use forward.

“They want the city-provided tool that they know that they can trust,” Garces explains.

Rapidly prototyping to de-risk big purchases.

When not developing bespoke AI solutions, cities turn to outside vendors. And they’re increasingly doing so with great success and impact, according to Mitchell Weiss, a Harvard Business School professor and senior advisor to the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. Still, adoption is uneven. “Some local leaders are wary [of making a sizeable], given broader concerns in the private sector and worries about the return on investment, ” he adds. Tight city budgets make the stakes of a misstep especially, and private-sector caution only reinforces city leaders’ hesitation.

That’s why some cities are shaking up how they buy AI tools, both to speed that procurement process up and make sure that they stay laser-focused on boosting efficiency and effectiveness, rather than pursuing new tech for its own sake. Call it “try before you buy” for cities and AI.

Take San Antonio. Emily Royall, who until this past month worked as a senior manager for the emerging technology division in the city, helped run a rapid prototyping initiative that ensures potential AI contracts address tangible, department-level needs. The city spends up to $25,000 on three-to-six-month pilots before committing to longer-term vendor deals. The goal is to gauge impact and kick the tires first.

Longer term, Royal and her new colleagues at the Procurement Excellence Network (she joined the team in September) believe one way cities will take their AI games to the next level is by banding together and conducting joint solicitations. And unlike traditional approaches to cooperative purchasing, cities are now determined to take a more muscular role in deciding for themselves what the most valuable AI use cases look like, and then calling on industry to develop the products that bring them to life while still meeting cities’ privacy concerns.

“This is about pooling purchasing power to deliver the outcomes that governments actually want to see from their implementation of the technology,” she says.

Leading teams toward bolder experimentation.

One of the cities leading that charge when it comes to local governments shaping the AI market is San Jose, Calif., which on Wednesday announced the first winners of its AI Incentive Program, offering grants to AI startups taking on everything from food waste to maternal health. But that’s not the only way the city is standing out. San Jose is also a model when it comes to creating a workplace where employees trust that leaders will have their backs as they constantly experiment in new ways with the technology.

“Integrating AI into city hall isn’t just a question of expense,” explains Mai-Ling Garcia, digital practice director at the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University. “It also requires that you have the political capital to spend to take risks.”

And San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is spending that political capital to great effect.

“He tells us it’s OK if you try something and it doesn’t work—you will not be penalized so long as there’s sufficient due diligence,” explains Stephen Caines, the city’s chief innovation officer.

But it’s not just what the mayor tells civil servants. And it’s not just the training San Jose provides through its data and AI upskilling programs, which are delivered in partnership with San Jose State University and which the mayor wants to train 1,000 more civil servants next year. It’s the larger political climate he’s cultivated to encourage AI experimentation.

For example, the mayor presented a memo to the city council two years ago calling for the city to seize the moment and help shape (and stimulate) the emerging industry, and to integrate it across city operations. When local lawmakers voted for it, it helped clarify for everyone in city hall that pushing public-sector AI use forward wasn’t just allowed, but a key part of their job.

“I am often reminding policymakers and my colleagues that we spend probably a disproportionate amount of time focused on the technology itself or the latest hot startup versus what moves the needle the most, which is the people who will use these tools,” Mayor Mahan tells Bloomberg Cities. He adds that it isn’t just him, but city leaders across the organization who encourage experimentation with the technology.

“How you choose to react to failure matters a tremendous amount for building culture,” Mayor Mahan, who is participating in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, explains.

Among San Jose’s most concrete AI successes so far is a traffic-signal initiative that has already shown the potential to reduce resident commute times by 20 percent. And if the mayor and his team have anything to say about it, that’s just the start of not just pushing AI use forward in their city but encouraging other cities to experiment, too.

“The outdated vision of government is that we are merely consumers of technology,” Caines, the local innovation officer, explains. “The thesis that we’re putting forward is that government can be not only a lab where technology can be deployed, it can also be a valuable partner in co-creation, and we can actually serve as a market indicator by highlighting use cases that make a difference for residents.”

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Tools & Platforms

Global policymakers, executives urge open collaboration to share opportunities of AI-Xinhua

Published

11 minutes ago

September 11, 2025

The Editors

A robot is displayed at the exhibition area of the 2025 Global Industrial Internet Conference in Shenyang, northeast China’s Liaoning Province, Sept. 6, 2025. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)

SHENYANG, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) — The 2025 Global Industrial Internet Conference concluded on Monday in Shenyang, the capital of northeast China’s Liaoning Province, having seen Chinese and international guests issue a call for open cooperation to share in the new opportunities presented by artificial intelligence (AI).

The conference brought together government and business representatives from over 10 countries, including Brazil, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia and China, spanning sectors such as mobile communication, AI and high-end manufacturing. Attendees held in-depth discussions on how to better advance intelligentization, network connectivity and digitalization in economic development.

Piero Scaruffi, founder of Silicon Valley Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, said that AI technology is not a zero-sum game, but rather a catalyst for mutual benefits and shared success. Today’s advancements in AI have benefited greatly from international cooperation.

Tang Lixin, vice president of Northeastern University in Liaoning and an expert on industrial intelligence, told Xinhua that AI has become a strategic technology leading a new technological revolution and industrial transformation. It is a critical strategic resource driving global technology leaps, industrial optimization and upgrading, and overall productivity advancement, exerting profound impacts on economic and social development. Promoting the healthy, orderly development of AI has become particularly urgent, he noted.

“AI presents a shared opportunity for all humanity, as well as a common challenge we all face,” said Hermano Tercius, secretary of telecommunications at the Ministry of Communications of Brazil, adding that in the current complex and ever-changing international environment, strengthening international cooperation in the field of new technologies is crucial.

He said that as the world’s third-largest user of AI, Brazil still lags behind in data center construction. This necessitates collaboration with countries that have advantages in digital infrastructure to achieve complementary benefits and mutual success.

The further advancement of global AI technology hinges on the existence of an open, inclusive environment for innovative collaboration. During the conference, many participants highlighted challenges in areas such as governance frameworks and technical standards that current global AI development faces.

“AI has triggered significant transformations in the technological landscape. Without better compliance-driven rulemaking, it is difficult to predict its future trajectory. Global cooperation is essential to address these challenges,” said Alexandre V. Chidiac, managing partner of Iskandar Group, which is a company engaged in international shipping and trade.

“We advocate for inclusive policies and environments in the field of AI among all nations,” Tercius said. “Only through such efforts can we ensure that no country is left behind in this technological revolution, and build a robust bridge towards shared prosperity and an interconnected future for the world.”

Ben Sassi, general manager of the Warsaw Chamber of Commerce in Poland, stated that there is an urgent global need to strengthen dialogue, enhance mutual trust, and build widespread consensus in areas such as rule-making, technical standards and ethics to promote the healthy development of AI in a united manner.

Over the years, China has made positive explorations and contributed constructive ideas and solutions to the global governance of AI. The country launched the Global AI Governance Initiative in 2023. And last year, the 78th UN General Assembly reached a historic consensus by adopting a resolution on enhancing international cooperation for AI capacity building, which was spearheaded by China.

Participating guests also expressed their willingness to collaborate with China in the field of AI in the future. Pakistan Global Business Alliance Chairman Muhammad Asif Noor Farooqi, for example, said that he hopes China and Pakistan will enhance cooperation within the digital economy to strengthen Pakistan’s intelligent infrastructure. ■

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Tools & Platforms

The Latest Tech News – SimCorp, Axyon AI

Published

53 minutes ago

September 11, 2025

Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff

11 September 2025

The latest technology news in the wealth management sector from around the world.

SimCorp, Axyon AI

SimCorp, the global
financial technology provider and subsidiary of Deutsche Börse
Group, is partnering with Axyon AI, a fintech firm specialising
in predictive, AI-driven solutions for asset managers, hedge
funds and institutional investors.

Axyon AI’s predictive analytics will integrate into the SimCorp
One investment management platform later this year.

Equity managers and analysts will gain access to predictive
alerts, helping them anticipate market shifts, identify emerging
opportunities, and assess potential risks, SimCorp said in a
statement.

“By integrating Axyon AI’s solutions into the SimCorp One
platform, portfolio managers benefit from seamless access to
asset forecasts, rankings and signals directly within their
existing workflows,” Marc Schröter, chief product and technology
officer at SimCorp, said.

As part of the deal, Axyon AI wil join SimCorp’s open
platform ecosystem, which will give SimCorp One users access
to third-party tools across the investment management value
chain.

SimCorp referred to industry research showing that there is
rising demand for AI in asset management. The 2025 Global
InvestOps Report found that 75 per cent of buy-side executives
recognise AI’s potential benefits but require more guidance on
how to embed it effectively.

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Tools & Platforms

How AI Will Unlock Small Business Growth

Published

2 hours ago

September 11, 2025

Gelila

Artificial Intelligence

getty

If AI is going to matter at all in our economy, it has to matter for small businesses first.

As a search fund entrepreneur, I’ve met and worked with more than 300 CEOs and founders in cities across the U.S. from New York to Las Vegas, Sunnyvale to Maryland. In every conversation, the same concern surfaces: the AI models in our smartphones are more advanced than the technology stacks running our businesses. While the devices in our pockets update monthly, most business systems remain unchanged for years. And nowhere is this more evident than in small businesses.

This matters because small businesses employ more than 61 million people, nearly half the private workforce. Yet just a fraction of 1% are building the kinds of technology ventures that attract institutional capital.

So this means that the overwhelming majority of small businesses are self-funded and family-run. They’re bootstrapped by owners who pour their own savings into businesses that anchor the communities they care about. These are the businesses still running payroll on technology built a decade ago.

Family Businesses Meet AI Startups

Trusted relationships build businesses.

getty

The other day, I joined a lunch meeting with 80 small business owners who lead multi-generational family firms. This gathering was a masterclass in human networks. However, not once was technology mentioned in the entire meeting.

Every three weeks, all 80 members gather at a private club on Park Avenue for a three-course meal. The purpose was to share business priorities and make referrals and introductions for each member. There were green pens and notepads on the tables embossed with the motto: “Trusted relationships build businesses.” Over lunch, if each of the 80 members received just five new customer introductions, that’s over 400 new channels opened before dessert.

Four hours later, I was downtown at the city’s newest restaurant for a startup forum. Here, every conversation was about AI and technology, from AI-powered roll-ups and cybersecurity to founders turning New York’s vacant warehouses into sushi pop-ups.

Startup Forum in NYC Restaurant

New York, NY

Two Worlds In One City

Across every city I’ve traveled to, these two business communities live side by side but rarely meet. One is led by families built through trusted introductions and intellectual property developed over decades. The other is driven by startups fueled by the race to deploy the newest technology at scale.

What happens when these two worlds connect? Imagine today’s most advanced technology powering small family-owned businesses.

For the past 40 years, one model of entrepreneurship has created more than $10 billion in value by doing exactly this: investing in established small businesses and building them with new technology and leadership. The Search fund model, first launched at Stanford in 1984, was designed to bring innovation into established firms. One of the earliest search funds invested in a 50-person roadside assistance company and built it into Asurion, now a global tech-care enterprise with 23,000 employees and 300 million customers. Another transformed a compliance services firm into RIA-in-a-Box, a leading SaaS platform used by over 2,600 firms nationwide.

What once took years and significant capital investment can now be done in months. Today, enterprise-grade tools once reserved for Fortune 500 corporations are within reach of nearly every business. The playbooks that small businesses have relied on for decades to build multi-generational, value-based businesses can, when paired with AI, scale impact in weeks instead of years.

Across core functions, generative AI is cutting work times by more than 60%. If you can sketch an idea on a napkin, it can be built in hours, not weeks. Supply chains, compliance, document processing and technical workflows are already showing double-digit productivity improvements. In some cases, technical tasks have been reduced by as much as 70%.

Search funds are one proven path to bringing technology into legacy businesses. Others are emerging as well, including AI consulting firms, AI studios and AI-powered roll-up strategies, each with their own strategies to rebuild established firms with the most advanced technology available today.

The tools are here, the cost has never been lower, and the door is wide open—for now.

If AI is going to matter at all, it has to matter for small businesses first. Once it’s put to work, it will power growth across Main Street and fuel an economy that directly supports half the workforce.

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