By Emma McDermott ATT, Founder of Global Tax Consulting Dubai’s lack of personal income tax is one of the main attractions for British professionals considering a move to the UAE. Combined with the employment opportunities, lifestyle and relative proximity to the UK, it is easy to understand why so many people are making the move. However, relocating to Dubai does not automatically mean that you stop […]
Corporate investment in artificial intelligence is accelerating, but most technology leaders still cannot demonstrate substantial financial benefits, according to new research exposing a widening gap between adoption and measurable business performance. A Gartner survey released on October 19 found that only 13 per cent of chief information officers said their organisations had achieved significant or transformational value from AI. The findings, presented at the Gartner IT Symposium […]
Technology companies were responsible for the largest share of people affected by third-party data breaches, according to new findings from risk advisory firm Kroll. Kroll’s 2026 Data Breach Outlook, published on Thursday, found that 69% of individuals affected in incidents it handled between June 2025 and June 2026 had been exposed through breaches involving third parties. Of that group, 79% were linked to compromises in the technology […]
Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a campaign targeting diplomatic organisations in three Central Asian countries with BlackX, a bootkit capable of circumventing Windows Secure Boot protections even on updated computers. Kaspersky disclosed the operation on Thursday, identifying diplomatic agencies in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan as targets. Its Global Research and Analysis Team linked the activity to APT41, a hacking group associated with China, but assigned only medium confidence […]
Searches of mobile phones, laptops and other electronic devices by United States customs officers have risen sharply, intensifying scrutiny of border security practices and the privacy protections available to international travellers. Figures from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show that officers searched 55,318 electronic devices during the 2025 fiscal year, an increase of 17.6 per cent from 47,047 in 2024 and 32.4 per cent from 2023. […]
US semiconductor stocks suffered a sharp sell-off on Thursday, wiping billions of dollars from market valuations after equipment manufacturer Lam Research warned that supply-chain bottlenecks were restricting shipments despite strong demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 6.72 per cent on October 22, with all 30 constituent companies declining. The retreat reflected mounting investor concerns about whether chipmakers could sustain ambitious expansion plans amid […]
French health authorities have confirmed the world’s first documented human infection with Shamonda virus in a severely immunocompromised patient who died earlier this month, while emphasising that no wider public health threat has been identified. The patient was receiving treatment for a serious underlying illness at Hospices Civils de Lyon and died in early October. Officials announced the finding on Thursday, saying investigations were continuing into the […]
Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered an all-out search for survivors and urgent treatment for the injured after a powerful earthquake struck Tibet, killing at least 16 people and leaving dozens injured. The magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Baqen County in Nagqu, in the Xizang Autonomous Region, at 10.33pm on Thursday. Local authorities said on Friday that the number of injured had risen to 65, while the confirmed […]
By Bhasha Singh New defence partnerships are emerging across the world. Their purpose is not merely to strengthen military capabilities but also to reduce dependence on other countries for weapons production and technology. On October 21, Türkiye, Pakistan, Indonesia and Qatar signed the Badr Memorandum of Understanding in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Under this […]
The article From Mecca To Badr: New Defence Alliances And The Questions Facing India appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 23 October 2026 – LeapThought and Google Cloud today announced a strategic partnership to bring sovereign, domain-native AI to the owners and operators of critical building infrastructure, giving them control of their data and sharper decision-making across the full value chain, from delivery through operations.
The partnership has two priorities. The first is value chain integration, which connects everyone involved in delivering and running an asset — owners, operators, developers, consultants, contractors, and suppliers — on one governed platform. The second is security and sovereignty: owners can keep control of their data, within compliant, standardized frameworks that can be repeated from one program to the next.
FULCRUMHQ, LeapThought’s globally recognized Integrated Digital Delivery (IDD) platform, gives infrastructure owners the option to run on Google Cloud, including Google’s sovereign, air-gapped solutions for defense, public sector, and private sector environments requiring high security. At its core is GENIEHQ, LeapThought’s own Industrial AI, embedded directly into the platform and built to reason over the structured and unstructured data that defines a capital program — BIM models, GIS and geospatial data, ERP financials, schedules, contracts, reality capture, telemetry, and data from field robotics and sensors. The partnership pairs GENIEHQ with Google Cloud’s Gemini models, giving owners and their delivery teams natural-language access to that data across a project and a portfolio.
The partnership delivers on these two priorities as follows:
1. Value Chain Integration: One Governed Record, Natural-Language Insight
Major capital and building infrastructure programs span owners, operators, developers, consultants, contractors, and suppliers — each typically working in separate systems, with design, construction, and operational data fragmented across handovers. LeapThought’s FULCRUMHQ platform brings this information together into a single governed record that follows an asset from design through operation, giving owners a consistent view across their portfolio, not just a single project.
By running FULCRUMHQ — and the GENIEHQ Industrial AI embedded within it — on Google Cloud, and integrating LeapThought’s proprietary data architecture with Google’s Gemini models, the partnership enables:
2. Security and Sovereignty: Full Control on Google Cloud’s Sovereign Solutions
For critical civil assets, defense installations, public sector agencies, and private sector owners where data cannot traverse the public cloud, LeapThought gives owners the choice to deploy on Google Cloud’s data residency solutions, including Google Cloud Data Boundary, Google Cloud Dedicated, and Google Distributed Cloud. In these environments, GENIEHQ, LeapThought’s Industrial AI embedded within FULCRUMHQ, runs alongside Gemini locally, within the owner’s chosen security boundary, ensuring zero cross-boundary exposure or unauthorized external telemetry.
“The value of an asset now lies as much in the intelligence around it as in its physical form. That intelligence belongs to the owner, and it must be secure, sovereign, and shared across the whole value chain. Demand for this is growing quickly, in Asia and around the world, and that is what brought us and Google Cloud together. We’re starting from Singapore and building toward a standard for critical infrastructure everywhere,” said Ratnakar Garikipati, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of LeapThought.
“Public sector and critical infrastructure agencies manage some of the most intricate engineering and regulatory datasets in the world. The partnership between Google Cloud and LeapThought enables project teams and portfolio owners to quickly surface actionable insights directly from complex BIM models and program data using everyday language. Combined with Google’s sovereign, air-gapped solutions, we’re providing agencies with the option to modernize project workflows while maintaining strict data governance, residency, and operational sovereignty,” said Rahul Sharma, Managing Director, APAC Public Sector, Google Cloud.
Hashtag: #LeapThought
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
LeapThought is a US technology company that builds software connecting people, data, and AI across the infrastructure lifecycle. It is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, has its Asia headquarters in Singapore, and operates across the United States, Brazil, Singapore, and New Zealand. Its FULCRUMHQ platform and embedded GENIEHQ Industrial AI serve public agencies, developers, consultants, contractors, and universities and institutes of higher learning. Clients include Singapore’s Land Transport Authority, Building and Construction Authority, and JTC. The company was founded and led by Ratnakar Garikipati.
Meta Platforms has agreed to give chief executive Mark Zuckerberg greater freedom to sell shares without surrendering voting control, securing his commitment to remain in California as voters prepare to decide on a billionaire wealth tax. The arrangement, disclosed in a regulatory filing, follows Zuckerberg’s warning that he was considering moving his primary residence outside the state to avoid a potentially multibillion-dollar liability under Proposition 40, which […]
Abu Dhabi renewable energy company Masdar has priced its $600 million five-year blue bond at 115 basis points above the comparable US Treasury benchmark, narrowing the spread from initial guidance of around 130 basis points. The 15-basis-point tightening establishes the final borrowing margin on the dollar-denominated offering, which is structured as senior unsecured debt and is scheduled to mature on 29 October 2031. The securities carry a […]
North Korea-linked hackers have incorporated post-quantum cryptography into a cyberespionage campaign against South Korean organisations, encrypting malware deliveries while exploiting widely used financial security software, cybersecurity researchers disclosed. Kaspersky identified the campaign, named Operation FlashHole, at its Security Analyst Summit in Bali on Wednesday. Its investigation established that at least three organisations in software development, construction and wired communications equipment manufacturing had been affected. The earliest evidence […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai The United Arab Emirates has formally nominated senior diplomat Lana Nusseibeh to become the next United Nations secretary-general, introducing a Middle Eastern contender into a leadership contest marked by divisions among the Security Council’s permanent members. President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan submitted her nomination on Wednesday in a letter to the presidents of the General Assembly and Security Council. Nusseibeh, the […]
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 23 October 2026 – Qashier, the unified merchant operating system serving more than 25,000 businesses across Southeast Asia, today launched QashierGM, an AI general manager that works with a merchant’s whole team. Available at no additional cost to all Qashier merchants in Singapore, QashierGM lives in QashierHQ, the web and mobile app (Android and iOS) merchants use to manage their sales, payouts, products and staff. Owners can ask it about sales, payouts and products in plain language. Merchants on the Qashier plan also get Crew, a new team chat where staff can bring QashierGM into any conversation by tagging @GM. Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines follow in November.
Because QashierGM works directly from each merchant’s own transactions and settlements, it can do what a general-purpose chatbot cannot: explain, line by line, why a payout is lower than the day’s sales, or show which outlet is underperforming this week. Owners get answers grounded in their actual operations, without piecing together reports.
“Most small business owners can’t afford a general manager, so they become one after closing, going through reports at midnight,” said Christopher Choo, Co-Founder and CEO of Qashier. “QashierGM is the manager they never had. It already knows the business, takes on the routine work and never makes a change without asking. With Crew, it now works alongside the whole team, not just the owner.”
The launch follows an open beta that began in September with merchants ranging from single-outlet cafés and shops to multi-outlet chains, with F&B operators the most active. Their most common questions were about sales trends, best sellers and payouts, and with the year-end festive season approaching, many are asking QashierGM to suggest festive promotions built around their most popular items.
Jun Rong, Operations Manager of Coexist Coffee Co., likens using QashierGM to talking to his store managers, only faster. “Running a café means wearing every hat, and the numbers usually wait until after closing. QashierGM already knows our sales, payouts and menu, so I just ask. When we plan a promotion, it suggests ideas based on what our customers actually buy, and nothing changes until I confirm. It feels like having a general manager who’s been with us from day one.”
QashierGM also takes routine admin off the owner’s plate. An owner can ask it to update a price, mark an item as sold out or add a new product, and QashierGM shows a card with exactly what will change and where. Nothing goes live until the owner taps confirm. Multi-outlet operators can compare stores, spot the one underperforming and push a change to every store in one request. Store managers see and change only their own store. Owners can also set alerts in their own words, such as “alert me on any unusual refunds” or “tell me when the first staff clocks in”, and QashierGM tells them when it matters.
Crew: the whole team, with QashierGM in the conversation
Crew, included in the Qashier plan and Enterprise plans, gives a merchant’s team a work chat of its own, separate from personal messaging groups where messages get lost and former staff keep the history. Owners, managers, kitchen and floor staff get private direct messages, group chats by team or department, and announcements with read receipts. Anyone can tag @GM to check a number, update an item or send a customer an invoice with a payment link. QashierGM acts only with the permissions of the person who tagged it, sends bigger changes to whoever can approve them right in the chat, and posts an update when an invoice is paid. It only sees the conversations it is tagged into.
On a typical day, a floor staff member can mark a dish sold out, a manager can approve a price change from her phone, and an owner can send an event deposit invoice and see it paid, all in the same app. Crew and QashierGM work in all major languages used across the region, including English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Thai.
Connectors to third party apps such as Gmail and Google Business Profile arrive in November, extending QashierGM beyond Qashier to supplier emails, customer enquiries and Google reviews. “A good general manager handles the work wherever it lands, not just inside one system,” added Choo. “This is the first step.”
Qashier processes more than US$1 billion in annualised payment volume for over 25,000 merchants across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. The company has been profitable since December 2025 and raised US$6.125 million in Series A+ financing in June 2026. QashierGM is available now to all Qashier merchants in Singapore through QashierHQ on web, Android and iOS, at no additional cost. Crew is included in the Qashier plan and Enterprise plans. Both launch in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines in November. To learn more, visit https://qashier.com/sg/.
Hashtag: #Qashier #QashierGM
https://qashier.com/sg/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/qashier/
https://www.facebook.com/Qashier
https://www.instagram.com/qashier.sg/
Tiktok: 
https://www.tiktok.com/@qashier.sg
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Qashier is a unified merchant operating system that brings together payments, business software, embedded financial services and customer engagement tools on one platform. Operating across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, Qashier supports more than 25,000 SMEs with an integrated ecosystem built for Southeast Asia’s digital economy. Qashier is licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore as a Major Payment Institution. Founded in Singapore in 2019, Qashier gives merchants an AI general manager, QashierGM, and a team chat, Crew, through QashierHQ.
