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With year-to-date hiring plans sinking to a 16-year low according to a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, many people are beginning to feel the impactsand its reasonable enough to believe that artificial intelligence (AI) might have something to do with the slump. Zip, a company that creates procurement software, recently released a study that shows how AI might be factoring into hiring decisions even more than previously believed. The report surveyed 1,030 “experienced leaders” who are also responsible for some degree of spending and supply management within their companies. Seven in 10 of the leaderswhich amounts to 67%reported that theyre already using AI in “spend and supplier management,” while 17% say theyre using it widely. Basically, AI is taking over faster than most individuals and companies expected. One of the more interesting parts of the study found that optimism about AI is outpacing readiness. This can seem contradictory when you consider that 75% of companies are factoring AI into hiring decisions, but this number could reflect companies that list AI literacy in their job descriptions. The more alarming finding may be that 17% of companies now require proof from hiring managers that a job cant be performed by AI before a role is approved. window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); Human skills will still matter The study found that the skills being prioritized among the leaders are changing, with “AI and automation fluency” being the most critical skill expected in the next three years, followed by data analysis and decision support. The evidence further implies that AI is leading companies to rearrange their spending priorities. Respondents identified professional and legal services, gig workers, consultants, and travel and events among the areas where they’re looking for cost reductions this year. By gathering these broad perspectives, we aimed to illuminate not just how spend is managed today, but what it reveals about the future of business, Nick Heinzmann, Zips head of research, wrote in the report, which Zip calls the State of Spend survey. The study reflects that the desire to save money by having AI replace workers may represent an overall contradiction of most companies overall goalsespecially when establishing relationships with clients is more important than ever.
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E-Commerce
European shares were mixed in early trading while Asian shares mostly fell on Friday after a respite from Wall Street’s recent feverish rally. The price of gold also pulled back from record highs following recent torrid runs.The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were both up less than 0.1%. Oil prices slipped.In early European trading, Germany’s DAX rose 0.2% to 24,652.73, while France’s CAC 40 added 0.4% to 8,076.96.Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1% to 9,498.95, weighed down by losses for mining and energy stocks.Most Asian indexes fell. But South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1.7% to 3,610.60 as trading reopened after a holiday. India’s BSE Sensex also gained, adding 0.5%.The Kospi’s surge was fueled by a rally of tech shares including SK Hynix, which rose 8.2%. Samsung Electronics added 6.1%, boosted by news that Nvidia-backed Reflection AI had raised $2 billion in funding, increasing its market value to $8 billion.Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 1% lower to 48,088.80, pulling back from big gains the previous day after data showed producer prices rose more than expected in September.Political uncertainty also loomed after the ruling Liberal Democrats failed to persuade their junior coalition partner, the Buddhist-backed Komeito, to stay. The Komeito’s leader said the group was unhappy with the Liberal Democrats’ stance on cleaning up corruption.The Komeito’s move was a significant blow to hopes for LDP leader Sanae Takaichi, an ultra-conservative lawmaker, to become Japan’s first female prime minister.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 1.8% to 26,277.84, while the Shanghai Composite index slipped nearly 1% to 3,897.03.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid more than 0.1% to 8,958.30. Taiwan’s stock market was closed for a holiday.On Thursday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.3% from its latest all-time high for just its second loss in the last 10 days. The Dow dropped 0.5% and the Nasdaq composite lost 0.1%.Gold also fell following its stellar rally this year, losing 2.4% to drop back below $4,000 per ounce, while Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. They’re taking a moment following big runs driven in large part by expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates to support the economy.Financial markets have been climbing so relentlessly, including a 35% leap for the S&P 500 from a low in April, that worries are mounting that prices may have shot too high. Concerns are particularly strong about the frenzy lifting stocks related to artificial-intelligence technology.In other dealings early Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil shed 6 cents to $61.45 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, edged down 14 cents to $65.08 per barrel.The U.S. dollar fell to 152.71 Japanese yen from 153.05 yen. The euro rose to $1.1585 from $1.1569. Teresa Cerojano, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Megan Rapinoe, Caitlin Clark, Serena Williams, Mia Hamm, Lindsey Vonnthe list of high-profile, recognizable women athletes is growing. And track and field athletes may be the next to become household names. Thats the bet that Alexis Ohanian is making with Athlos, an all-womens track and field league, which is hosting its second event in New York this week. Ohanian is perhaps best known as the cofounder of Reddit, but he’s also an investor whos made no secret of his interest in investing in sports. During a press event in New York City this week, he said the idea for Athlos came to him while watching the Olympics, during which millions of people tune in to watch track and field events. His logic: Why not try to tap into that audience outside of larger events? Thats how Athlos was born. The league is an attempt to capture the excitement around track and field events that has, traditionally, only existed around the Olympics and other big-time track and field events. Last year, during its inaugural event, Ohanian says it drew 3 million viewers, attracted big-name advertisers like Toyota and Tiffany & Co., and was more successful than anticipated. This year, he expects it to be even bigger, and hopes that some of the athletes taking part will start to become recognizable to casual sports fansperhaps on a level that even matches what Clark has achieved in basketball. “Americans are going to be paying attention” When the Olympics or World Championship track and field events come around, Americans are going to be paying attention,” Ohanian says. “[We] have a legacy of American excellence in the sport, especially among our women. No one doubted for a second that womens soccer, womens basketball, was a tier-one opportunity. Ohanian was joined at the press conference by a lineup of Olympic Gold Medalists, world champions, and recordholders, including Masai Russell, Alexis Holmes, Grace Stark, Keely Hodgkinson, Faith Kipyegon, and Georgia Hunter Bell. Those athletes and others will compete this week for a top prize of $60,000. And Athlos is also giving some of them the chance to focus entirely on their chosen events, something that, until very recently, only the top sliver of athletes have been able to do. British mid-distance runner Georgia Hunter Bell, for instance, said that she only recently was able to quit her full-time job in tech sales to focus on track and fieldand shes an Olympic medalist who has set national records. It was hard training around a full-time, corporate job and trying to train like a professional athlete, she said. But leagues like Athlos are creating pathways to the pros for athletes like her. Globally, revenue from women’s sports doubled from 2023 to 2024 and was expected to exceed $2.3 billion this year, according to a March 2025 report from Deloitte. Basketball and soccer remain the sector’s biggest moneymakers. Athlos is only the most recent attempt at creating a professional-level league for female athletes. Several others are already gaining traction, including the WNBA, the National Womens Soccer League (NWSL), and the Professional Womens Hockey League (PWHL). The demand is there, Ohanian argues, and theres a big business opportunity for brands, advertisers, athletes, and others to get in on itthough he thinks itll take some time. I think this is just the start. Were not at F1 (Formula 1) size yet, he said. But I want people to take for granted that this sportwhich, again, is the most popular sport during the Olympicscan have the same-size platform outside of that, and bring together athletes, builders, CEOs, and investors who can keep driving it.
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E-Commerce
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