Darktrace today announced it has won the UK 2024 Microsoft Partner of the Year Award.
The company was honored among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology.
“It is an amazing accolade to be recognized in this way by a company we admire and work with closely,” said Nicole Eagan, Darktrace Chief Strategy & AI Officer, “Microsoft and Darktrace are a powerful combination, delivering proactive cyber protection tailored to organizations by combining large scale threat intelligence with security insights unique to each customer’s digital footprint. Our ambition is to continuously extend and elevate the Microsoft security suite including email, Azure and Copilot.”
The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards recognize Microsoft partners that have developed and delivered outstanding Microsoft Cloud applications, services, devices, and AI innovation during the past year.
Awards were classified in various categories, with honorees chosen from more than 4,700 nominations from more than 100 countries. Darktrace was recognized for providing outstanding solutions and services in the UK.
“Congratulations to the winners and finalists of the 2024 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards!” said Nicole Dezen, Chief Partner Officer and Corporate Vice President at Microsoft. “The momentum generated by numerous AI & Copilot announcements this year fueled innovation from our partners, enabling groundbreaking services and solutions to customers. I am inspired by the capability and creativity in our partner ecosystem and this year’s winners beautifully demonstrate the best of what’s possible with AI and the Microsoft Cloud.”
The 2024 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards are announced ahead of the MCAPS Start 2024 Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards digital event on July 10th and 11th. Partners will receive recognition at MCAPS Start for Partners ahead of in person celebrations during the week of Microsoft Ignite in November.
Additional details on the 2024 awards are available on the Microsoft Partner blog: https://aka.ms/POTYA2024_announcement. The complete list of categories, winners and finalists can be found at https://aka.ms/2024POTYAWinnersFinalists.
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Global consulting firm J.S. Held, proudly celebrating 50 transformative years, announces the recognition of multiple experts and firmwide expertise in Chambers and Partners’ Annual Guides: Crisis & Risk Management and Litigation Support firms.
The J.S. Held Global Investigations team is once again recognized for expertise in Political Risk, Investigative Due Diligence, and Asset Tracing & Recovery. New for 2024, the Global Investigations team, in concert with the Environmental Health & Safety team, is recognized among the leading global Environmental, Social & Governance Risk experts. Further, the Global Investigations experts in the United Kingdom and the Asia Pacific are recognized in Business Intelligence & Investigations.
J.S. Held is proud to share the recognition of the team expertise and individual experts who received top Chambers and Partners rankings in the areas of:
Asset Tracing & Recovery – Global | Band 1
Peter Pender-Cudlip, Global Investigations & Intelligence Expert and Senior Managing Director within the J.S. Held Global Investigations practice. Peter advises clients on commercial and sovereign asset tracing, complex fraud investigations, and a wide range of cross-border litigation and arbitration matters.
“[Peter]… understands what is important for blue-chip clients and is able to get useful and usable information with his team. Peter is great to deal with, and he gets results.”
Ashley Messick, Global Asset Tracing & Recovery Expert and Senior Managing Director within the J.S. Held Global Investigations practice. Ashley leads J.S. Held’s Sovereign Debt Advisory and has extensive experience advising on sovereign and commercial disputes, asset recovery, and enforcement. She has led high-profile investigations involving debtors originating from Africa, Latin America, and Russia/Central Asia. She has tracked down assets and gathered intelligence in some of the world’s most difficult frontier markets, including West and Central Africa, the Middle East, and Russia.
“Ashley Messick has an amazing set of contacts, she’s results-oriented … extremely creative and subtle about looking for assets. She’s … thoughtful about developing strategies that fit with enforcement and … able to co-ordinate teams from across the globe.”
Political Risk – Global | Band 1
Livia Paggi, Political Risk, ESG, and Business Intelligence Expert and Managing Director within the J.S. Held Global Investigations practice. She advises multinational clients on doing business successfully in some of the world’s most challenging markets. Over the past decade, Livia has developed expertise in Russia and the wider Eurasia region.
“I worked with Livia and she is brilliant. She is dynamic and responsive.”
Philip Worman, Global Political Risk, Business Intelligence, and Investigations Expert and Senior Managing Director within the J.S. Held Global Investigations practice. Philip advises clients on doing business in emerging and frontier markets and has particular expertise in sanctions policy and risk mitigation.
“Philip Worman is outstanding in all respects; [he] has on-the-ground experience and has a real international coverage.”
Investigative Due Diligence – Global | Band 3
Chambers and Partners recognizes J.S. Held’s expertise in this category and observes, “J.S. Held provides clients with investigative due diligence alongside its extensive litigation support, asset tracing and recovery, and political risk practices. Its clients consist of sovereign entities, corporations, financial institutions, pension funds, private equity and hedge funds, legal firms, and high net worth individuals.”
Environmental, Social & Governance – Global | Band 3
Chambers, in recognizing J.S. Held’s expertise in this category, shares, “J.S. Held advises multinational companies on ESG issues around the world, using both its political risk expertise and its investigations and due diligence practice to assist with providing advice on ESG-related risks and disclosure obligations. J.S. Held recently acquired boutique consultancy Africa Matters, further strengthening its capabilities on ESG work in Africa.”
Business Intelligence & Investigations – Asia Pacific | Band 2
Bruno Vickers, Global Investigations & Business Intelligence Expert and Managing Director within the J.S. Held Global Investigations practice. Bruno has expertise in locating and recovering assets on cross-border disputes. He has acted for clients in many significant legal proceedings over the last decade, including those heard in local courts as well as in international arbitration centers such as London, Geneva, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
“Bruno is very impressive … he runs a good outfit and clients really like him.”
Business Intelligence & Investigations – United Kingdom | Band 3
Sebastian Neave, Global Investigations & Business Intelligence Expert and Managing Director within the J.S. Held Global Investigations practice. Sebastian advises clients on complex disputes, cross-border litigation, and arbitration claims. Sebastian has developed specific expertise in disputes related to Russia and the CIS, working on high-profile matters emanating from the region. He has extensive experience gathering evidence to support recovery strategies against a diverse collection of states and state-owned commercial parties.
“Sebastian is outstanding… borders do not seem to exist for him.”
Equally important to the overall and individual expert rankings is the specific feedback from clients and peers acknowledging the work of J.S. Held:
“J.S. Held has an incredible ability to adapt their research and work product to the specifics of their respective clients across numerous industries.”
“These guys are top notch, without a doubt.”
“They have a very experienced team across various fields of expertise and jurisdictions.”
“The team is incredibly competent and responsive.”
“J.S. Held’s research, entrepreneurship, and responsiveness make them stand out.”
“Among other asset tracers, their work was by far the most comprehensive and specific.”
“…intelligence work is what they do, clients love them, and in the end, they find the gold.”
“They understand complex and sensitive matters and have the expertise to handle it efficiently.”
“J.S. Held [experts] are professional, responsive, and have an ability to get information which is unrivalled. They provide us with sometimes 24-hour support.”
“I would highly commend their capacity to tackle complex matters with finesse and expertise.”
Commenting on J.S. Held expert recognitions by Chambers and Partners, Greg Esslinger, Executive Vice President and Global Investigations Practice Lead, shares, “Global Investigations at J.S. Held is home to strategic innovators, integrated collaborators, and recognized thought leaders who have created the next-generation investigations practice together—a multidisciplinary team with global reach and strong cultural competence.” Esslinger adds, “The real added value of J.S. Held investigation work is the ability to use human sources to fill information gaps, corroborate data, and generate new leads. As a firm, we have a wealth of experience identifying and approaching specific sources with direct knowledge of a sovereign, company, or individual’s assets to develop actionable intelligence. ”
The global forensics team utilizes best-of-breed technology to support complex data challenges. Experts leverage multiple technology partners with a clear view to appropriate integration of GenAI and related tools. Application includes data collection, managing disparate data sources, translation of foreign language documents, and processing information from emerging off-channel communications and collaboration tools. The result: J.S. Held’s clients can focus on strategy and know that technology is on their side.
Learn more about the dedicated and entrepreneurial experts who help transform J.S. Held, explore our story, and celebrate this momentous milestone, our 50 & Forward celebration, with us at jsheld.com.
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A recent study commissioned by IBM has found that the Philippines is lagging behind its Southeast Asian counterparts in terms of artificial intelligence (AI) readiness. Conducted by Ecosystm, a digital research and advisory firm based in Singapore, the study surveyed 372 technology, data, and business leaders across five ASEAN countries.
The results from the IBM survey indicate differing levels of AI readiness within the region, with Singapore at the forefront—23% of respondents there consider their organizations ready to leverage AI. This is followed by Indonesia at 22%, Thailand at 20%, Malaysia at 19%, and the Philippines trailing at 16%.
Titled “The AI Readiness Barometer: ASEAN’s AI Landscape,” IBM’s report provides detailed insights into both the challenges and opportunities of AI adoption in the region. It outlines five stages of AI readiness: Traditional, Emerging, Consolidating, Transformative, and AI-first. Organizations in the Traditional stage exhibit limited AI capabilities, while those in the Emerging stage are starting to engage with AI technologies. The Consolidating stage sees AI being integrated into wider operational areas, and the Transformative stage marks the use of AI to drive significant organizational changes. The AI-first stage represents organizations where AI is central to both strategy and operations.
The emergence of Generative AI (GenAI), notably since the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022, has significantly impacted industries worldwide. Despite the initial enthusiasm, many organizations are still grappling with how to fully utilize AI to enhance business efficiency and increase revenue. The report stresses the importance of moving beyond the initial excitement to integrate AI into core decision-making processes, thereby unlocking its transformative potential.
The study points out several industries beginning to utilize AI effectively. In the manufacturing sector, which includes automotive and electronics, 18% of organizations are employing AI. This is followed by the financial services sector, including banking, at 17%, and government entities at 16%. The travel and transportation sector is at 9%, while consumer and retail, as well as telecom and media sectors, both stand at 8%.
However, despite the increased uptake of AI, the report underscores that governance and compliance, crucial for AI deployment, are not currently prioritized by many organizations. Only 13% of respondents are concentrating on improving data governance and compliance. More focus is being given to identifying business use cases for pilots or Proof of Concepts (PoCs) at 25%, enhancing data quality, interoperability, and consistency at 22%, upskilling and reskilling employees at 21%, and adopting new technologies for data management at 19%.
Source: backendnews.net
 
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