The Gilbane Advisor

Curated for content, computing, and digital experience professionals

Gilbane Advisor 2-19-25 — Open web vs crawlers, prompt-and-pray

February 19, 2025 /

This week we feature articles from Shayne Longpre, and Hugo Bowne-Anderson & Alan Nichol.

Additional reading comes from Deborah Turness, Cory Doctorow, Kurt Cagle, and Michael Andrews.

News comes from Perplexity, Sprinklr & Bluesky, Databricks & SAP, accessiBe, and Transperfect.

Our next issue arrives March 5.

All previous issues are available at https://gilbane.com/gilbane-advisor-index

Opinion / Analysis

AI crawler wars threaten to make the web more closed

There’s an accelerating cat-and-mouse game between web publishers and AI crawlers, and we all stand to lose.

Shayne Longpre explains how this is likely to play out. He is not optimistic, but is hopeful. I’m sure he would love to hear about happier alternatives. You can reach him the Data Provenance Initiative. (5 min)

https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/02/11/1111518/ai-crawler-wars-closed-web

Beyond prompt-and-pray

Building reliable LLM-powered software in an agentic world

Companies may be excited about the potential of AI agents, but enterprise workflows are complex and largely mission-critical, so most organizations are sensibly leery. Hugo Bowne-Anderson & Alan Nichol propose a “Structured automation … development approach that separates conversational AI’s natural language understanding from deterministic workflow execution”. Good advice. (8 min)

https://www.oreilly.com/radar/beyond-prompt-and-pray

More Reading

All Gilbane Advisor issues

Content technology news

Introducing Perplexity Deep Research

Deep Research performs dozens of searches, reads hundreds of sources, and reasons through the material to autonomously deliver a comprehensive report.
www.perplexity.ai

Sprinklr announces new integration with Bluesky

Customers can use the Sprinklr platform to engage audiences on Bluesky, deliver consistent content, track metrics, and gather insights to inform brand strategies.
https://www.sprinklr.com

Databricks announces launch of SAP Databricks

The partnership with SAP natively integrates the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform within the newly launched SAP Business Data Cloud.
https://www.databricks.com/blog/introducing-sap-databricks

accessiBe updates accessFlow for native accessibility in web projects

Developers can achieve lasting accessibility improvements at a native level across web projects in alignment with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
https://accessibe.com

Transperfect acquires Apostroph Group

Apostroph expands TransPerfect’s footprint in the region, which includes client service, production, and studio facilities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
https://www.transperfect.com

All content technology news

The Gilbane Advisor is authored by Frank Gilbane and is ad-free, cost-free, and curated for content, computing, web, data, and digital experience technology and information professionals. We publish recommended articles and content technology news most Wednesdays. We do not sell or share personal data.

Subscribe | View online | Editorial policy | Privacy policy | Contact

Introducing Perplexity Deep Research

February 14, 2025 /

From the Perplexity blog…

Today we’re launching Deep Research to save you hours of time by conducting in-depth research and analysis on your behalf. When you ask a Deep Research question, Perplexity performs dozens of searches, reads hundreds of sources, and reasons through the material to autonomously deliver a comprehensive report. It excels at a range of expert-level tasks—from finance and marketing to product research—and attains high benchmarks on Humanity’s Last Exam.

We believe everyone should have access to powerful research tools. That’s why we’re making Deep Research free for all. Pro subscribers get unlimited Deep Research queries, while non-subscribers will have access to a limited number of answers per day. Deep Research is available on Web starting today and will soon be rolling out to iOS, Android, and Mac. (Be sure update your apps to the latest version.)

Deep Research takes question answering to the next level by spending 2-4 minutes doing the work it would take a human expert many hours to perform. Here’s how it works:

  • Research with reasoning – Equipped with search and coding capabilities, Perplexity’s Deep Research mode iteratively searches, reads documents, and reasons about what to do next, refining its research plan as it learns more about the subject areas. This is similar to how a human might research a new topic, refining one’s understanding throughout the process.
  • Report writing – Once the source materials have been fully evaluated, the agent then synthesizes all the research into a clear and comprehensive report.
  • Export & Share – You can then export the final report to a PDF or document, or convert it into a Perplexity Page and share it with colleagues or friends.

www.perplexity.ai

Databricks announces launch of SAP Databricks

February 13, 2025 /

Databricks, a Data and AI company, today announced the launch of SAP Databricks, a strategic product and go-to-market partnership with SAP that natively integrates the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform within the newly launched SAP Business Data Cloud. The partnership combines business data that is in SAP with the Databricks platform for data warehousing, data engineering, and AI all governed by Databricks Unity Catalog. Databricks recently announced $15B in fundraising and intends to earmark a quarter of a billion dollars ($250M) to help make customers and system integrator partners successful with SAP Databricks across deployment and migrations, to unlock the business value of SAP data.

SAP Databricks allows customers to combine their SAP data with the rest of their enterprise data easily. Through bi-directional sharing of data via Delta Sharing between their SAP Databricks environment and their native Databricks (non-SAP) environment, they can unify all their data without complicated data engineering. The entire data estate is then consistently governed and secured with Unity Catalog so enterprises can build on a trusted foundation, allowing enterprises to conduct exploratory data science and SQL analytics at scale with a full understanding of the business semantics.

https://www.databricks.com/blog/introducing-sap-databricks

Sprinklr announces new integration with Bluesky for insights and publishing

February 13, 2025 /

Sprinklr, a unified customer experience management (Unified-CXM) platform for modern enterprises, today announced a new integration with Bluesky for insights and content publishing. The partnership allows Sprinklr customers to integrate Bluesky into global marketing and insights strategies. 

The rapid growth and engagement levels on Bluesky led Sprinklr customers to ask Sprinklr to help them seamlessly integrate the platform into their global strategies.

Customers can now leverage the Sprinklr platform to engage audiences on Bluesky, deliver consistent content, track key metrics, and gather insights to inform brand strategies. Bluesky provides a unique level of control to users over their experiences on the platform. This approach is important and differentiating, as it leads to strong communities tailored toward shared interests. The community on Bluesky is organic and highly engaged, and if brands can create content that engages users in an authentic way, they can get a massive return. With this new API integration, Sprinklr offers customers the ability to:

  • Create, manage, and publish content to Bluesky through Sprinklr
  • Include Bluesky data in social listening dashboards and research
  • Track Broader analytics and insights to inform business strategy

For more information on integrating Bluesky into your social channel strategy, visit the Sprinklr website or contact your Sprinklr representative. 

https://www.sprinklr.com

accessiBe updates accessFlow for native web accessibility

February 13, 2025 /

accessiBe, experts in web accessibility solutions, announced the launch of accessFlow 2.0, the newest addition of its AI-powered web accessibility management solutions that help developers address accessibility barriers at the code level.

Building on accessFlow 1.0, accessFlow 2.0’s newest features simplify accessibility management, from site inception to production, by identifying issues, delivering actionable insights, and implementing fixes through its integration directly into development workflows and CI/CD pipelines. Compatible with frameworks including ReactJS, Angular, and more, accessFlow 2.0 works with existing processes to ensure accessible code is deployed consistently. By embedding accessibility within the software development lifecycle (SDLC), developers can achieve lasting accessibility improvements at a native level across web projects in alignment with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and compliance with regulatory requirements

Empowering Data-Driven Decisions – The enhanced dashboard delivers clear insights into accessibility issues, trends, and priorities.

Streamlined Issue Management – The new Explore Page aggregates and categorizes accessibility issues, allowing users to prioritize and manage them by severity or WCAG rules.

Robust Ticketing Synchronization – accessFlow 2.0 integrates with major ticketing systems like Jira, Asana, and ClickUp.

Real-Time Notifications – Real-time notifications keep users updated on audit results, mentions, full audit failures, and task assignments.

https://accessibe.com

TransPerfect acquires Apostroph Group

February 12, 2025 /

TransPerfect, a provider of language and AI solutions for global business, today announced that it has acquired Apostroph Group, a Switzerland- and Germany-based language service provider (LSP). Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Apostroph is an LSP in the DACH region, with significant market share coming from a combination of organic growth and M&A, including its 2017 merger with Germany-based Wieners+Wieners. The company’s global headquarters are in Lucerne, Switzerland, with a total of 10 offices across Switzerland and Germany. Founded in 1994, Apostroph has been headed since 2010 by CEO Philipp Meier. Apostroph will operate as a division within the TransPerfect Global Group and will continue to be led by Meier.

The addition of Apostroph expands TransPerfect’s existing footprint in the highly strategic DACH region, which includes multiple client service, production, and studio facilities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

https://www.transperfect.com

Gilbane Advisor 2-12-25 — Need knowledge graph?, AI agents & the web

February 12, 2025 /

This week we feature articles from Kurt Cagle, and Dharmesh Shah.

Additional reading comes from Sarah Gilbert, John Timmer, Mrinank Sharma, et al, and Ben Hylak, Shawn Wang, & Alessio Fanelli.

News comes from Databricks, Docugami, Adobe, and Brightcove.

Next issue arrives February 19.

All previous issues are available at https://gilbane.com/gilbane-advisor-index

Opinion / Analysis

When do you need a knowledge graph?

“Building a knowledge graph can be a significant undertaking, and consequently, it is worth taking the time to figure out if you need to make that effort in establishing one. There are a few questions you can ask when assessing this effort.” Kurt Cagle’s post will help decision-making teams get started. (5 min)

https://ontologist.substack.com/p/when-do-you-need-a-knowledge-graph

What OpenAI Operator means for AI Agents

Dharmesh Shah, who hosts a “marketplace and professional network for AI agents” (currently 784), is unsurprisingly excited about the recent announcements of OpenAI’s Operator, and Perplexity’s Assistant. He explains what “these new AI agents can (and can’t) do, why this matters, and what developers need to know about our new AI-first internet”. (5 min)

https://simple.ai/p/what-openai-operator-means-for-ai-agents

More Reading

All Gilbane Advisor issues

Content technology news

Databricks acquires BladeBridge

BladeBridge to help enterprises migrate to Databricks’ lakehouse, assess scope of conversion, configurable code transpiling, and LLM-conversion.
https://www.databricks.com/company/newsroom/press-releases/databricks-acquires-bladebridge-technology-and-talent

Docugami launches Canadian subsidiary

Docugami Canada will accelerate collaboration to advance the science of document Artificial Intelligence and expand customer engagement in Canada.
https://www.docugami.com

Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant adds GenAI features focused on contracts

The new features help customers grasp complex terms and spot differences between multiple agreements to understand and verify documents more easily.

https://news.adobe.com/news/2025/02/acrobat-ai-assistant-contracts

Brightcove launches AI Content Suite

The Brightcove AI Content Suite includes three AI-powered capabilities: content creation, metadata optimization, and language translation.
https://www.brightcove.com/company/press/brightcove-launches-ai-content-suite-ga/

All content technology news

The Gilbane Advisor is authored by Frank Gilbane and is ad-free, cost-free, and curated for content, computing, web, data, and digital experience technology and information professionals. We publish recommended articles and content technology news most Wednesdays. We do not sell or share personal data.

Subscribe | View online | Editorial policy | Privacy policy | Contact

Docugami launches Canadian subsidiary

February 5, 2025 /

Docugami, experts in AI for business documents, announced today it has opened its first international subsidiary, Docugami Canada, to help scale up the company’s collaboration with the Canadian AI sector and make it easier for document-intensive businesses in Canada to leverage Docugami’s document AI technologies to revolutionize their operations.

Docugami’s patented AI Document Engineering technology enables organizations to unlock the vital data contained in their business documents, automatically transforming complex long-form documents into structured, actionable data, enabling businesses to streamline their workflows, improve accuracy and efficiency, and drive better decision-making.

Docugami’s small agentic reasoning models outperform, in 3 top industry public benchmarks, all open-source reasoning models of comparable size and virtually all GPT-4 based LLMs. Docugami’s unique approach allows businesses to create Knowledge Graphs of all the data and information contained in their business documents, then use that data to power agentic workflows to accelerate their business processes.

Docugami already serves a wide range of customers across multiple industries, including insurance, life sciences, real estate, supply chain, and professional services. The company’s technology is designed to handle virtually all types of documents, such as contracts, reports, and regulatory filings.

https://www.docugami.com

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