There was a time when it was common to print a form, fill it in with a pen, and then scan it to save it back to the system. While most companies now use online forms of some kind, there’s still friction for the end-user if they have to save a document to their desktop first. A fully digital experience is better, and PDFfiller offers easy PDF editing in the cloud and full-featured form workflows to transform your ‘paperwork’.

The mobile employee engagement platform, StaffConnect, has launched a new e-book, ‘Can Technology Solve the Employee Engagement Crisis?’, which explores the drivers and factors that contribute to engagement in the modern enterprise. MARGINALIA spoke with VP of Marketing, Geraldine Osman, to discuss how organisations can bridge the engagement gap through the right use of strategy and technology.

Principality Building Society is connecting over a thousand employees across Wales and the borders with their new social intranet. After 14 years’ reliance on out-dated tech, the new platform provides a friendly place for staff to contribute and collaborate.

The adoption of AI demands a new way of thinking about technology, business development, and strategic execution. “If done correctly, the economic and productivity gains could be extraordinary,” says PwC’s AI Programme Leader, Rob McCargow. In this interview, he shares with MARGINALIA the key findings from their recent study. He points to the ethical matters that must be considered, and offers guidance to maximise your AI impact.

Machines are becoming embedded in every area of business, enhancing many operational processes. So what’s going to help people stay relevant at work? According to University of Virginia Darden School of Business Professor, Ed Hess, “the quality of the human component of the organisation” is very much needed. MARGINALIA spoke with Hess to discuss his new book, Humility Is the New Smart.

Which digital workplace tools create better employee experiences? What value can they deliver? And how can an organisation select the right tools for its situation? The Real Story Group has published the EmpEx 200 to explore the categories of digital tools while considering the employee experience. The chart showcases 200 tools that dominate the digital workplace experience. MARGINALIA spoke with founder Tony Byrne to find out what businesses can make of the chart and its underpinning research.

“In many cases the nature of jobs will change rather than disappear because of AI.” Euan Cameron is the first UK artificial intelligence leader at PwC. In the newly created role, he is responsible for AI across the UK firm, helping PwC itself and clients identify opportunities to embrace the shift to automation. MARGINALIA spoke with Cameron to explore PwC’s latest research, ‘UK Economic Outlook’, and his views on the impact of artificial intelligence on the future of jobs.

As part of its Document Cloud offering, Adobe has just launched the Adobe Scan app. Powered by artificial intelligence and automatic text recognition technology, the new mobile app promises to “re-imagine how we capture the world around us,” as Group Product Marketing Manager, Lisa Croft, puts it. MARGINALIA spoke with Croft to explore how Adobe Scan helps people capture and action the information around them on any device.

“Businesses need to reimagine how they organise themselves in order to leverage mobile technology trends.” Gary Topiol, Managing Director EMEA at the workplace performance company, Nudge Rewards, tells MARGINALIA how organisations can support a successful work-anywhere mobilised workforce and engage their customer-facing teams effectively. Topiol advocates for a rethinking of old organisational structures and processes. Plus, he points out the need to focus on the emotional connections with dispersed staff in a mobile, digital workplace age.

Igloo Software helps companies around the world transform their business with a digital workplace platform that brings teams and resources together to drive productivity and support a positive corporate culture. In this interview, Vice President of Marketing, Mike Hicks, shares the best practices to create a digital destination that helps an organisation to improve communication, collaboration, knowledge sharing and employee engagement.

To tie in with the SharePoint Virtual Summit, MARGINALIA spoke with Dan Holme, Director of Product Marketing for SharePoint and Yammer, about what to expect from Microsoft in the future. Holme shares the latest, biggest announcements including the promising ‘Communication Sites’ within SharePoint. He also delves into the underused features of SharePoint and explains the difference between Yammer and Microsoft Teams.

We should not feel intimidated by the rise of the machines, says Ed Brill, Vice President, Offering Management and Design, at IBM Collaboration Solutions. In this interview, he tells MARGINALIA how cognitive computing has already created many advantages inside and outside of IBM. He also shares some recent and upcoming offerings – such as ‘Orient Me’ and ‘Watson Workspace’. IBM is building on the future of work through innovation and machine learning.

What’s the link between the intranet ‘now’ and the future of work? Learn more from Intranet Now conference founder, Wedge Black. In this interview, he describes the latest developments in the intranet industry and shares valuable intranet lessons and stories with MARGINALIA. Readers are of course encouraged to get involved in his fourth event — the largest intranet conference in the UK — Intranet Now 2017 will take place on 5th October in London.

Managing Director of Neutronic Technologies, Neil Gallant, tells MARGINALIA about the latest robotic practices and research, and his future of work expectations considering the potential of automation.   

New research by workplace performance software, Nudge Rewards, shows a rather disappointing disconnect between workers’ perceived value of mobile and their employers’ ability to maximise its benefits in the workplace. The question then becomes, what exactly is needed to support a successful work-anywhere mobilised workforce?

Expert in enterprise technology, Dion Hinchcliffe, industry analyst, thought leader, and ZDNet columnist, tells MARGINALIA about the principles and practices behind successful digital workplace transformations, and what he expects the next developments to be in the future of work.

Established companies are reassessing their conventional approaches to talent. Nele Klepper, Client Service Partner & Global Marketing Lead at a-connect, describes the drivers, benefits, and challenges of the open talent economy. She also provides MARGINALIA readers with advice on how organisations can best engage freelancers.

There’s a myth that some people are ‘creative types’ while others are not. Rob Eastaway, author of ‘Any Ideas?’, argues that everyone has valuable ideas all the time. In this interview, Eastaway explains the importance of creative problem-solving for the future of work. Everyone can be creative, given the right conditions.

VolkerWessels UK has built and launched its new staff portal using EasySharePoint, to unify 2,500 employees across the construction company’s numerous sites and five business units. Amanda Speirs, Corporate Communications Manager, shares the process and the lessons learnt.

Dave Marvit, Innovation Strategy Consultant at Fujitsu’s Open Innovation Gateway, walks MARGINALIA through the characteristics and opportunities of Infopresence to accelerate innovation. Oblong Industries’ Mezzanine system is enabling new kinds of communications and collaboration inside and outside Fujitsu.