AI Innovations Empower Small Businesses and Transform Workflows
WHO:
Fast Company - Lila Ibrahim is the chief AI readiness officer at Google DeepMind.
Fast Company - Charles Lamanna is the executive VP of agents and business apps at Microsoft.
Fast Company - Lin Qiao is the CEO of Fireworks AI.
Fast Company - Swami Sivasubramanian is the VP of AI at Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Fast Company - Dmitry Shevelenko is the chief business officer at Perplexity.
Fast Company - Sarah Sachs leads artificial intelligence modeling at Notion.
Fast Company - Ron Miasnik is the head of business development at Cognition.
Fast Company - Arnab Bose is the chief product officer at Asana.
WHAT:
Fast Company - Lila Ibrahim stated, “How do we help teachers get comfortable with what it means to vibe code and create tools for their classroom?”
Fast Company - Lin Qiao noted that Fireworks AI is already seeing AI agents being used internally for tasks such as automating reporting and planning, building contract review tools, and sourcing candidates.
Fast Company - Charles Lamanna stated, “The thing which has really blown us away is how sophisticated the scenarios are that people are already doing on it,” referring to Microsoft’s Copilot Cowork.
Fast Company - Swami Sivasubramanian mentioned that AWS's new agent services let customers offload deployment and pay as they go for computing that scales with demand.
Fast Company - Dmitry Shevelenko described Perplexity's Computer platform as allowing users to describe an outcome, which the system then takes from there, coordinating models and tools.
Fast Company - Sarah Sachs emphasized that Notion’s AI has evolved to what she calls “governed AI teammates” that operate with their own permissions and audit trails.
Fast Company - Ron Miasnik stated, “We actually see ourselves as a transformation partner that works at the highest levels of the organization to drive massive change,” regarding Cognition's approach.
Fast Company - Arnab Bose highlighted that Asana developed a form of activity reporting that lets users see detailed updates on what AI teammates are doing.
Fast Company - Eugenia Kuyda stated, “As soon as the cost of creating software goes to zero, all of a sudden you can build so many things that wouldn’t exist before,” regarding Wabi's approach to app development.
GeekWire - Apacendo Health is building AI agents that read incoming faxes and enter patient data into electronic health records for nephrology practices, aiming to cut the administrative work that consumes hours of clinic staff time each day.
Fast Company - Lila Ibrahim stated, “I wish more people were having these types of conversations, because I think we have agency in how we want to shape this.”
Fast Company - Lin Qiao emphasized, “Product market fit does not equal a viable business,” warning that startups can scale into bankruptcy if not careful.
Fast Company - Swami Sivasubramanian noted that AWS's new agent services allow customers to offload deployment and pay as they go for computing that scales with demand.
Fast Company - Dmitry Shevelenko described Perplexity's Computer platform as allowing users to describe an outcome, which the system then takes from there, coordinating models and tools.
Fast Company - Sarah Sachs stated, “I’ve always believed the real work begins when AI comes out of the chatbot.”
Fast Company - Cognition's AI coding agent, Devin, is now helping with other aspects of software development, such as reviewing and testing code and updating documentation.
Fast Company - Cognition's valuation is $10.2 billion following a $400 million fundraising round.
Fast Company - Fireworks AI processes more than 15 trillion tokens each day on its inference platform.
Fast Company - Cognition aims to be more than a toolmaker, working closely with customers to help them maximize the benefits of AI.
Fast Company - Cognition's enterprise clients include Goldman Sachs, Citibank, and Santander.
Fast Company - Cognition announced a $400 million fundraising round at a $10.2 billion valuation.
Fast Company - Asana's AI Teammates can now produce outputs in software platforms companies already use, updating task status and reporting on progress alongside human collaborators.
Fast Company - Wabi, founded by Eugenia Kuyda, allows users to create simple apps using AI prompts, aiming to democratize app development.
Fast Company - Lin Qiao's company, Fireworks AI, is helping over 10,000 companies, including Cursor, Uber, and DoorDash, build agents and workflows.
Fast Company - Fireworks AI has a valuation of $4 billion.
Fast Company - Cognition's AI coding agent, Devin, is now helping with other aspects of software development, such as reviewing and testing code and updating documentation.
Fast Company - Cognition's valuation is $10.2 billion following a $400 million fundraising round.
Fast Company - Asana's AI Teammates can draft campaign briefs, map out project timelines, and sort or assign incoming work without waiting for human input.
Fast Company - Ibrahim's team led a role-playing exercise with officials in Singapore to consider AI's impact on healthcare.
Fast Company - Microsoft’s Copilot Cowork allows office workers to delegate complex tasks to AI agents.
Fast Company - Fireworks AI helps over 10,000 companies build agents and workflows.
Fast Company - AWS announced Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, an agent-building platform used by Ericsson and Thomson Reuters.
Fast Company - Perplexity launched its Computer platform in 2026, allowing users to describe outcomes for AI to execute.
Fast Company - Notion's AI has evolved to create over 21,000 Custom Agents before its public launch in February.
Fast Company - Cognition announced a $400 million fundraising round at a $10.2 billion valuation.
Fast Company - Asana rolled out AI Teammates that can draft campaign briefs and manage projects.
Fast Company - Lin Qiao stated, “2026 is the year AI agents move from splashy demos to being used all over the place.”
Fast Company - Lin Qiao emphasized that her company is pioneering smaller, customized AI models, which can boost efficiency 5 to 10 times.
Fast Company - Swami Sivasubramanian noted that AWS's new agent services allow customers to offload deployment and pay as they go for computing that scales with demand.
Fast Company - Dmitry Shevelenko described Perplexity's Computer platform as allowing users to describe an outcome, which the system then takes from there, coordinating models and tools.
Fast Company - Sarah Sachs highlighted that Notion’s AI has evolved to what she calls “governed AI teammates” that operate with their own permissions and audit trails.
Fast Company - Cognition's AI coding agent, Devin, is now helping with other aspects of software development, such as reviewing and testing code and updating documentation.
Fast Company - Cognition announced a $400 million fundraising round at a $10.2 billion valuation.
Fast Company - Cognition's enterprise clients include Goldman Sachs, Citibank, and Santander.
Fast Company - Cognition aims to be more than a toolmaker, working closely with customers to help them maximize the benefits of AI.
Fast Company - Cognition's valuation is $10.2 billion following a $400 million fundraising round.
Fast Company - Asana's AI Teammates can now produce outputs in software platforms companies already use, updating task status and reporting on progress alongside human collaborators.
Fast Company - Wabi, founded by Eugenia Kuyda, allows users to create simple apps using AI prompts, aiming to democratize app development.
Fast Company - Charles Lamanna stated, “2026 is probably going to be the year where we move past chat as the main thing we think about when it comes to AI, particularly AI at work.”
Fast Company - Lin Qiao noted that her company is already seeing AI agents being used internally for tasks such as automating reporting and planning, building contract review tools, and sourcing candidates.
Fast Company - Swami Sivasubramanian mentioned that AWS's new agent services allow customers to offload deployment and pay as they go for computing that scales with demand.
Fast Company - Dmitry Shevelenko described Perplexity's Computer platform as allowing users to describe an outcome, which the system then takes from there, coordinating models and tools.
Fast Company - Sarah Sachs emphasized that Notion’s AI has evolved to what she calls “governed AI teammates” that operate with their own permissions and audit trails.
Fast Company - Ron Miasnik stated that Cognition aims to be more than a toolmaker, working closely with customers to help them maximize the benefits of AI.
Fast Company - Arnab Bose highlighted that Asana developed a form of activity reporting that lets users see detailed updates on what AI teammates are doing.
Fast Company - Eugenia Kuyda raised $20 million for Wabi’s preseed round, aiming to democratize app development.
Fast Company - Lin Qiao's company, Fireworks AI, is helping over 10,000 companies, including Cursor, Uber, and DoorDash, build agents and workflows.
Fast Company - Fireworks AI is pioneering a different approach to AI models, focusing on smaller, customized models trained on each application, which can boost efficiency 5 to 10 times.
Fast Company - Perplexity's Computer platform allows users to describe outcomes, coordinating various AI models and tools to execute tasks, and was launched in 2026.
Fast Company - Cognition's AI coding agent, Devin, is now helping with other aspects of software development, such as reviewing and testing code and updating documentation.
Fast Company - Asana's AI Teammates can now produce outputs in software platforms companies already use, updating task status and reporting on progress alongside human collaborators.
Fast Company - Wabi, founded by Eugenia Kuyda, allows users to create simple apps using AI prompts, aiming to democratize app development.
GeekWire - Apacendo Health is building AI agents that read incoming faxes and enter patient data into electronic health records for nephrology practices, aiming to cut the administrative work that consumes hours of clinic staff time each day.
Fast Company - Lin Qiao's company, Fireworks AI, has a valuation of $4 billion.
Fast Company - Fireworks AI processes more than 15 trillion tokens each day on its inference platform.
Fast Company - Perplexity's Computer platform allows users to describe outcomes for AI to execute, coordinating various AI models and tools.
Fast Company - Notion's AI has evolved to create over 21,000 Custom Agents before its public launch in February.
Fast Company - Cognition's valuation is $10.2 billion following a $400 million fundraising round.
Fast Company - Asana's AI Teammates can draft campaign briefs, map out project timelines, and sort or assign incoming work without waiting for human input.
Fast Company - Ibrahim's team led a role-playing exercise with officials in Singapore to consider AI's impact on healthcare.
Fast Company - Microsoft’s Copilot Cowork allows office workers to delegate complex tasks to AI agents.
Fast Company - Fireworks AI helps over 10,000 companies build agents and workflows.
Fast Company - AWS announced Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, an agent-building platform used by Ericsson and Thomson Reuters.
Fast Company - Perplexity launched its Computer platform in 2026, allowing users to describe outcomes for AI to execute.
Fast Company - Notion's AI has evolved to create over 21,000 Custom Agents before its public launch in February.
Fast Company - Cognition announced a $400 million fundraising round at a $10.2 billion valuation.
Fast Company - Asana rolled out AI Teammates that can draft campaign briefs and manage projects.
WHERE:
Fast Company - The role-playing exercise led by Ibrahim took place in Singapore.
Fast Company - Cognition's enterprise clients include Goldman Sachs, Citibank, and Santander.
Fast Company - The role-playing exercise led by Ibrahim took place in Singapore.
Fast Company - Cognition's enterprise clients include Goldman Sachs, Citibank, and Santander.
WHEN:
Fast Company - Fireworks AI sees 2026 as the year AI agents will be widely used.
Fast Company - Cognition announced its fundraising round in September 2025.
Fast Company - Notion publicly launched its Custom Agents capability in February.
WHY:
Fast Company - Ibrahim aims to improve AI literacy and prepare policymakers for AI's impact.
Fast Company - Lin Qiao emphasizes that product market fit does not guarantee a viable business for AI apps.
Fast Company - Miasnik believes AI will require more human engineers to maximize its benefits.
Fast Company - Ibrahim aims to improve AI literacy and prepare policymakers for AI's impact.
Fast Company - Lin Qiao emphasizes that product market fit does not guarantee a viable business for AI apps.
Fast Company - Miasnik believes AI will require more human engineers to maximize its benefits.
HOW:
Fast Company - Ibrahim's team works with governments to assess the impact of AI on jobs and reskilling needs.
Fast Company - Microsoft’s Copilot Cowork allows users to describe tasks for AI to complete.
Fast Company - Fireworks AI provides developers access to high-performance chips for running AI models.
Fast Company - AWS's new agent services allow customers to offload deployment and pay as they go for computing.
Fast Company - Perplexity's Computer platform coordinates various AI models and tools to execute tasks.
Fast Company - Notion's AI architecture was rebuilt to take advantage of improved reasoning models.
Fast Company - Ibrahim's team works with governments to assess the impact of AI on jobs and reskilling needs.
Fast Company - Microsoft’s Copilot Cowork allows users to describe tasks for AI to complete.
Fast Company - Fireworks AI provides developers access to high-performance chips for running AI models.
Fast Company - AWS's new agent services allow customers to offload deployment and pay as they go for computing.
Fast Company - Perplexity's Computer platform coordinates various AI models and tools to execute tasks.
Fast Company - Notion's AI architecture was rebuilt to take advantage of improved reasoning models.
(UPDATED June 19, 2026 15:58 UTC)
In a recent discussion, Lila Ibrahim posed an important question about helping teachers become comfortable with "vibe coding" to create effective classroom tools. Meanwhile, companies like Fireworks AI and Apacendo Health are leveraging AI for various applications, from automating reporting and planning to streamlining patient data entry in nephrology practices. Additionally, innovations from Microsoft, AWS, and Notion highlight the rapid evolution of AI technologies, with features like sophisticated scenario modeling and governed AI teammates transforming how organizations operate.
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(UPDATED June 19, 2026 14:02 UTC)
Cognition has announced a $400 million fundraising round, boosting its valuation to $10.2 billion, and is now helping enterprise clients like Goldman Sachs and Citibank with its AI coding agent, Devin, which assists in software development tasks. Meanwhile, Lin Qiao's Fireworks AI is supporting over 10,000 companies, including Uber and DoorDash, in building agents and workflows, and has reached a valuation of $4 billion. In a recent role-playing exercise in Singapore, Lila Ibrahim emphasized the importance of improving AI literacy and preparing policymakers for the technology's impact on various sectors, including healthcare.
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(UPDATED June 19, 2026 12:17 UTC)
In a significant shift for the tech industry, Lin Qiao has stated that 2026 will see AI agents transition from flashy demonstrations to widespread use across various sectors. Her company is leading the charge with smaller, customized AI models that can enhance efficiency by five to ten times, while Cognition has recently secured $400 million in funding, bringing its valuation to an impressive $10.2 billion, with clients like Goldman Sachs and Citibank. Additionally, innovations from companies like AWS and Notion are enabling more seamless integration of AI into everyday workflows, allowing users to leverage advanced tools and capabilities in their existing software platforms.
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(UPDATED June 19, 2026 08:44 UTC)
In a recent discussion, industry leaders highlighted significant advancements in AI, with Charles Lamanna predicting that 2026 will mark a shift away from chat as the primary focus in workplace AI. Companies like Lin Qiao's are already implementing AI agents for various tasks, including automating reporting and candidate sourcing, while AWS is introducing new agent services that allow customers to scale computing resources as needed. Additionally, innovations such as Notion's "governed AI teammates" and Asana's detailed activity reporting are paving the way for more integrated and efficient AI solutions in the workplace.
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(UPDATED June 18, 2026 23:31 UTC)
Fireworks AI, led by Lin Qiao, is making waves by assisting over 10,000 companies, including Cursor, Uber, and DoorDash, in building customized agents and workflows that can enhance efficiency by five to ten times. Meanwhile, Perplexity has launched its Computer platform, which enables users to describe desired outcomes and coordinate various AI models and tools to carry out tasks. Additionally, Cognition's AI coding agent, Devin, is expanding its role to include reviewing and testing code, while Asana's AI Teammates are now capable of updating task statuses and reporting progress within existing software platforms.
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(UPDATED June 18, 2026 19:43 UTC)
Apacendo Health is developing AI agents designed to read incoming faxes and input patient data into electronic health records for nephrology practices, aiming to significantly reduce the administrative workload for clinic staff. In other tech news, Fireworks AI has reached a staggering valuation of $4 billion while processing over 15 trillion tokens daily on its inference platform. Additionally, Cognition's valuation has soared to $10.2 billion following a $400 million fundraising round, highlighting the rapid growth and investment in AI technologies.
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(UPDATED June 18, 2026 17:58 UTC)
Lila Ibrahim, the chief AI readiness officer at Google DeepMind, recently led a role-playing exercise in Singapore to explore AI's impact on healthcare, while Microsoft introduced its Copilot Cowork, enabling office workers to delegate complex tasks to AI agents. Fireworks AI is helping over 10,000 companies build agents and workflows, and AWS has launched Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, an agent-building platform utilized by major firms like Ericsson and Thomson Reuters. Meanwhile, Cognition announced a $400 million fundraising round at a $10.2 billion valuation, and Notion's AI has created over 21,000 Custom Agents ahead of its public launch in February.