Category: AI

  • Selling Smarter, Not Harder: Why AI is Resellers’ Best Ally This Summer

    Selling Smarter, Not Harder: Why AI is Resellers’ Best Ally This Summer

    Image credit: Unsplash

    Summer can be a tough season for online sellers. Shoppers are outdoors, vacations disrupt buying patterns, and engagement dips across platforms. But for many resellers, tools powered by AI and automation are helping them weather the “summer slump” and stay profitable.

    According to eBay’s 2024 Small Business Report, 42% of U.S.-based resellers see a dip in revenue between June and August. To maintain sales velocity, more sellers are leaning on tech solutions to keep listings active, competitive, and visible.

    Combatting the Summer Slowdown

    “Summer tends to be the most unpredictable quarter,” says Michael Chierchio, founder of Sidekick Tools. “Buyers get distracted, and sellers burn out from trying to manage every detail manually.”

    Tools like Sidekick allow sellers to automate:

    • Seasonal markdowns based on calendar triggers
    • Cross-platform relisting of slow-moving inventory
    • Optimized pricing adjustments tied to supply-and-demand patterns

    These automated workflows are designed to help sellers stay visible without overextending themselves—a crucial balance during slower seasons.

    Sidekick Tools Image 4

    How AI is Personalizing the Reselling Game

    Generic, static listings don’t cut it anymore. Today’s buyers want tailored experiences and fast responses. AI helps resellers adapt by:

    • Auto-generating descriptions with tone matching
    • Analyzing buyer intent to suggest promotions
    • Recommending bundle options based on past purchase data

    A report from McKinsey found that businesses using AI to personalize content and pricing saw a 10–15% boost in customer satisfaction and a 20% increase in repeat purchases. This can be especially helpful for sellers juggling hundreds of listings across platforms.

    “The smartest sellers aren’t just working harder—they’re building systems that work for them,” Chierchio explains. “AI helps you understand patterns that would take hours to track manually.”

    Sidekick Tools Image 1

    Saving Time, Reducing Burnout

    Many full-time and side-hustle resellers cite time management as their biggest challenge. According to a 2024 survey by Poshmark, over 60% of sellers spend more than 20 hours a week managing listings and logistics. That’s where automation tools become a lifeline.

    Platforms like Sidekick Tools, which offer bulk listing edits, crosslisting with one click, and automated inventory syncing, can save users up to 10 hours per week on average.

    “The more you automate, the more you can focus on high-value activities like sourcing better inventory, improving your photos, or creating content,” says Chierchio.

    Looking Ahead: Technology as a Business Partner

    Reselling is no longer just about finding a deal and flipping it. It’s become a data-driven industry where speed, presentation, and pricing matter more than ever. Sellers who embrace AI and automation aren’t just keeping up—they’re outpacing their competition.

    As Chierchio sums up, “Success in this space comes down to consistency. If tech can help you stay visible and active—even when life gets busy or sales slow down—then you’re always moving forward.” For sellers aiming to make reselling a reliable income stream, the tools are there. The question is—will you let them work for you?

    Written in partnership with Tom White

  • AI-Powered Resumes: How Job Seekers Are Adapting to Evolving Hiring Landscape

    AI-Powered Resumes: How Job Seekers Are Adapting to Evolving Hiring Landscape

    Image credit: Pexels

    The job application process has seen a drastic transformation with the advent of technology. Today, artificial intelligence has a profound impact on everything from writing resumes to the way they are screened. As hiring practices are evolving, both candidates and employers are experiencing a new reality where recruiters’ preferences are constantly shifting, leading to the reshaping of traditional resumes.

    AI’s Role in Resume Creation and Hiring

    Artificial intelligence today forms the foundation of the hiring ecosystem. Job seekers are turning to AI tools to create and optimize resumes. They are using such tools to refine their content, prepare applications for specific roles, and get through applicant tracking systems (ATS). On the other hand, companies are relying on AI to screen applications more smoothly, looking for keywords and skills that best align with the open job roles.

    According to a recent survey, reliance on AI is growing among job seekers, though adoption is not uniform. Notably, a gender gap persists as men are reportedly using AI tools at a significantly higher rate than women to enhance their resumes. This discrepancy leads to broader questions of accessibility, awareness, and confidence in leveraging new technologies in job hunting.

    Format Trends Defy Old Myths

    The days of cherry-picking one-page resumes as the gold standard are long gone. More and more hiring managers are coming to accept two-page resumes, especially for candidates who are seniors or have varied skill sets. It is an acknowledgment of the broader evolution away from stringent rules on format.

    Design is also coming back as a determining factor. Minimalist templates might have dominated the hiring ecosystem once, but today, resumes increasingly incorporate subtle design elements such as color accents, icons, and structured sections. This is enhancing readability without overwhelming ATS systems. Such changes in a resume reflect a positive shift that balances both aesthetic appeal and technical functionality.

    Skills and Personalization Are More Than Buzzwords

    The move toward skills-based hiring is teaching job seekers that one-size-fits-all resumes won’t work anymore. There is much more to the personalization of resumes. The better an individual tailors their resume to the job they are applying for, such as the language and keywords, the higher compatibility the applicant has with ATS.

    Listing all the relevant skills is equally important. Experts suggest structuring skills into clear categories, using industry-relevant terms, and integrating soft skills where applicable. This will not only help candidates pass the ATS filters, but it will also create a compelling narrative to impress human reviewers.

    Design Details That Can Make or Break a Resume

    Small details are also important in a resume. Including a profile photo remains a divisive choice even today. While it can add a personal touch in creative industries, a profile photo might also invite unconscious bias in a more conservative field. File format preferences rank higher in visible clarity, and PDF reigns supreme for its consistency across devices and platforms.

    Job seekers are also recommended to avoid common pitfalls, such as unprofessional email addresses. A dated or casual email handle might seem like a minor issue, but it can undercut an otherwise strong job application.

    A Tool Helping Job Seekers Adapt

    One platform at the forefront of this evolution is Enhancv, a resume builder used by millions. Founder Volen Vulkov emphasizes the emotional toll of the job search, noting, “We see that finding a job is one of the most stressful things out there. Creating a resume is the part that people really postpone and they really don’t know how to do… Our goal is to remove or at least help as much as possible the stress of job applications.”

    Looking Ahead

    As the job market becomes more competitive and technology more advanced, understanding and integrating resume trends is no longer optional but imperative. Candidates embracing AI responsibly can tailor each application according to specific roles while focusing on both content and presentation standards. This undoubtedly increases their chance of landing interviews in today’s hiring landscape, where every detail matters.

  • The Innovative Implementation of AI in Medical Alert Devices

    The Innovative Implementation of AI in Medical Alert Devices

    Image credit: Unsplash

    In the aftermath of World War II, with the Allies having achieved victory, societies across the globe felt reinvigorated and inspired. As soldiers returned home and festivities commenced, it led to a huge uptick in the number of children born over the next several years. This generation of children, born between 1946 and 1964, would come to be known as the Baby Boomers. Today, the age of the youngest possible Baby Boomer is sixty-one years old, with the vast majority of them being significantly older than that. To this end, there is now an unprecedented number of elderly people, many of whom require care in one form or another.  

    This has generated a growing need for smarter senior care solutions as the aging population increases. Fortunately, artificial intelligence (AI) is moving emergency response systems from reactive to proactive models. Through these methods, new technology is helping to bring balance, peace, and prosperity to the latter years of the Baby Boomers’ lives.

    AI’s Role in Modern Medical Alert Devices

    Traditional accelerometers are used to measure the vibrations of any given structure. Over the course of the past few decades, this technology has been applied to medical alert systems. As a result of this, these medical alert systems would be able to detect if the individual wearing them had fallen, even if that person was rendered incapable of calling for help themselves. 

    Today, that technology is being taken even further, as AI is being used to improve fall detection accuracy beyond traditional accelerometers. Through AI, these tools are shifting toward predictive technology capable of identifying fall risks based on behavioral patterns and activity tracking. Whereas traditional medical alert systems were rooted in reactive measures, these new AI systems take a proactive approach, working to keep elderly individuals safer.

    Computing and Privacy in Senior Tech

    As with any new application of AI technology, implementing these tools in modern devices has raised widespread concerns about ethical and privacy measures. These concerns are understandable, given the amount of valuable information such machinery gathers. Fortunately, modern devices are managing ethical concerns around privacy by using local edge processing, HIPAA-compliant data storage, and limiting sensitive data transmission.

    LogicMark’s Innovative Approach

    Companies like LogicMark are working to reinvent these devices with AI and machine learning (ML) for improved fall detection, predictive health insights, and proactive care. Privacy and ethical considerations are prioritized through edge processing, data minimization, and HIPAA compliance. With their product, Freedom Alert Max, the company aims to shift industry focus from reactive to preventative care using pattern recognition and digital twin modeling.

    “We’re evolving everything in the world, trying to paint paintings with AI… but we should be focusing AI on what’s relevant—health, safety, and security,” says Chia-Lin Simmons, CEO of LogicMark.

    Looking Ahead: Predictive and Preventive AI

    Future advancements in the field may include real-time analysis using multisource data (like sound and vibration), digital twin modeling, and demographic-based risk forecasting. All of these innovations would be made in the interest of keeping elderly people safer and more secure within their homes.

    Final Thoughts

    When someone reaches their elderly years, they deserve to be taken care of. Every one of these individuals has lived a life full of hardships and perseverance, with plenty of stories to tell and scars to show for it. To this end, they have earned the right to live out their twilight years in peace, without having to constantly worry about their own safety. Medical devices that now incorporate AI technology help keep elderly people secure and more carefree than ever before. AI-powered wearables and medical alert systems not only protect vulnerable individuals but also offer peace of mind to caregivers, transforming how society perceives aging and technology.

  • From Teenage Coder to AI Trailblazer: Christoph Heike on Founding Greetmate.ai and the Future of AI Communication

    From Teenage Coder to AI Trailblazer: Christoph Heike on Founding Greetmate.ai and the Future of AI Communication

    Image credit: Unsplash

    Christoph Heike, founder of Greetmate.ai, has been building things since he was a teenager—literally. From his early web dev experiments in Germany to launching a cutting-edge AI communications platform in California, his story is one of persistence, curiosity, and bold reinvention.

    We caught up with Christoph to dive into his journey from Europe to Silicon Valley, how Greetmate came to life, and why he believes voice AI is the next frontier in business communications.


    Early Days in Germany

    Q: What first drew you into web development back in Germany?
    “I started building websites at 13 and just loved creating things. I was always fascinated by how computers work. By five, I was already playing with them. I loved the massive opportunities that the internet offered – The ability to connect millions of people just by technology is simply mind blowing.

    Q: What was your first web dev business like?
    “I got started in hobby forums—PC water cooling, online communities. People found out I could build websites and started asking for help. I didn’t even realize at first that this could be a paid service. I just did it for fun first. Then, I started to charge small amounts. By 14, I was running my own small business, and by 19, I had dropped out of my computer science study to pursue it full time.”

    Q: How did Germany’s tech scene shape your path?
    “Germany was behind in many ways—government agencies still used fax machines. But that also meant high demand for digital talent. At the same time, I stayed connected globally through open source communities. That gave me the perspective that the world was much bigger than my local scene.”


    A Leap Across the Atlantic

    Q: What inspired your move to California?
    “California always felt like the heart of tech, but it seemed so far away. I finally made the move at 27, slightly after the COVID pandemic. I’d vacationed here before, and the combination of opportunity, weather, and a more optimistic business culture really stood out to me.”

    Q: What were some of the biggest challenges in transitioning to the U.S. tech ecosystem?
    “The tech stack wasn’t the issue—we mostly use the same tools globally. The bigger challenge was adjusting to the American mindset and business culture. It’s very different from Germany, but in a good way.”

    Q: Was there a moment when you knew California was the right fit?
    “Pretty early on, I just felt it. The positivity, the entrepreneurial spirit—it clicked. In Germany, success can sometimes be met with skepticism. Here, people celebrate it.”


    From Web Dev to Voice AI

    Q: What inspired the shift from web development to AI?
    “I wouldn’t call it a full shift—it’s more like a natural extension. I’ve been building with AI since GPT-2, and when GPT-3 dropped, it was obvious this tech was going to be huge. With 16+ years of software experience, I just leaned in.”

    Q: How did Greetmate come to life?
    “I’d been thinking about reviving a boat broker platform and wanted to add an AI voice receptionist. At the time, I was also using a human virtual receptionist service for my web dev business, but it wasn’t always reliable. I thought, ‘Can’t AI do this better?’ So I built the MVP for Greetmate in July 2024—and people were interested right away.”

    Q: What were some of the toughest challenges in building it?
    “Building the AI engine for real-time phone conversations was hard. I didn’t use off-the-shelf APIs—I built it all myself. Dealing with live audio, streaming, integrating various services—it was a technical mountain. But I’m proud of that. And I’m still working on it daily.”


    On the AI Industry Today

    Q: What excites you most about AI right now?
    “AI is transforming how we communicate. It’s not optional anymore. Businesses that adopt it early will have an edge. That’s just reality.”

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    Q: Where do you see AI—and Greetmate—heading next?
    “Voice AI is going to explode. We’re seeing major progress in voice generation and computer vision. I want Greetmate to become the go-to AI communications platform—handling as much business communication as possible.”


    Giving Back

    Q: You also lecture and judge hackathons. What’s the motivation behind that?
    “I love giving back. I see a younger version of myself in so many of the people I meet. I just wish I had someone offering that kind of feedback and mentorship when I was starting out.”

    Q: What’s your approach when speaking to students or early-career pros?
    “Never look down on anyone. Whether they’re new or experienced, there’s always something to learn from each other.”

    Q: Any memorable moments from your university talks?
    “At a recent workshop, students came up to me asking for job advice. That stuck with me—it was a shift. I’m no longer the young prodigy; I’m now someone they look up to.”


    Looking Ahead

    Q: When you reflect on your journey, what stands out most?
    “How fast things have evolved. Just five or ten years ago, the tools we take for granted today didn’t exist. It’s incredible to look back and see how far we’ve come.”

    Q: What advice would you give to someone starting out?
    “Build hundreds of things—even if they go nowhere. You need a high frustration tolerance. It’s not about success every time. It’s about learning and refining your skills through repetition.”

    Q: What’s next for you and Greetmate?
    “Big product updates. More customers. Growing the team. We’re just getting started.”


    Conclusion:
    From humble forum gigs at age 14 to leading a cutting-edge AI startup in California, Christoph Heike’s journey is a testament to what happens when relentless curiosity meets fearless execution. With Greetmate.ai, he’s not just building tools—he’s building the future of communication.

    Written in partnership with Tom White

  • AI and the Creative Renaissance: How Dan Goman’s Ateliere Is Empowering Storytelling Through Automation

    AI and the Creative Renaissance: How Dan Goman’s Ateliere Is Empowering Storytelling Through Automation

    Image credit: Unsplash

    For decades, storytelling in the entertainment industry has operated within a relatively fixed structure—create content, distribute it through established channels, and hope audiences connect with it. But just as streaming technology upended the traditional cable model, artificial intelligence is now transforming how stories are conceived, produced, and delivered.

    “This industry is 1000% resistant to any change, at all, period. It literally takes an act of God or a force majeure for something to make them change,” says Dan Goman, founder and CEO of Ateliere Creative Technologies. Despite this resistance, the media landscape is undergoing a profound evolution, with AI-driven tools reshaping creative workflows and automation empowering storytellers in unprecedented ways.

    AI’s Integration Into Creative Workflows

    The traditional media production pipeline is notoriously fragmented, with disconnected processes that slow down creation and limit innovation. Goman, who began his career in software development before founding Ateliere, has positioned his company at the forefront of these changes by developing cloud-native solutions that streamline media workflows through AI integration.

    “Operating a digital streaming service was new at the time,” Goman explains, reflecting on Ateliere’s early days. “Every content company was struggling with the lack of robust streaming technology solutions. Operating a streaming content service is very capital intensive, and our initial venture didn’t see significant success.”

    This realization led to a pivotal moment. Rather than continuing down an unsustainable path, Goman made the decision to shift Ateliere’s focus from content creation to technology development—specifically, building a proprietary platform designed to address the inefficiencies plaguing media production and distribution.

    “We kept wasting money with antiquated technology not designed for digital first,” said Goman. “But we decided to stop throwing money away and build our own tech team and technology.”

    This strategic pivot exemplifies the kind of adaptability that separates successful businesses from those that fail to evolve. By recognizing Ateliere’s core competency in technological innovation rather than content creation, Goman positioned the company to solve larger industry challenges through AI-powered automation.

    Breaking Down Silos Through Intelligent Automation

    One of the most significant barriers to creativity in media production has been the persistence of operational silos. As Goman points out, “Media workflows are often fragmented, with production, post-production, distribution, and storage managed by different teams using disparate systems.”

    These disconnected processes not only slow down content creation but also make it difficult to implement comprehensive changes or track operations across the entire supply chain. Ateliere’s cloud-native solutions, particularly Ateliere Connect, address this fragmentation by unifying various stages of production and distribution through AI-driven tools.

    The platform’s FrameDNA™ technology, for example, uses AI to identify and eliminate redundant content across media libraries, significantly reducing storage requirements and associated costs. This not only streamlines operations but also has meaningful environmental implications, as redundant storage across multiple servers creates unnecessary energy consumption.

    “Platforms with extensive content catalogs often encounter escalating storage expenses, but these systems can lower cloud storage costs by as much as 90%,” notes Goman, highlighting the dual benefit of improved efficiency and reduced environmental impact.

    AI as Creative Enabler, Not Replacement

    The narrative around AI in creative fields often centers on fear—the concern that automated systems will replace human artists and storytellers. However, Goman’s vision for AI in media production is fundamentally collaborative, focusing on how intelligent automation can enhance human creativity rather than supplant it.

    By automating routine tasks like content tagging, localization, and quality control, AI tools free creative professionals to focus on the aspects of storytelling that truly require human insight and emotional intelligence. This shift represents not a diminishment of human contribution but rather an evolution in how creative teams work.

    Consider the process of creating content for global audiences. Traditionally, localizing a film or series for different markets required extensive manual effort, from translation and dubbing to cultural adaptation. AI-powered tools can now automate many of these processes, analyzing cultural nuances and generating localized versions that maintain the core emotional impact of the original content.

    “Every action you take feeds back into an invisible system, learning your preferences and adjusting what it offers,” Dan explains, describing how AI systems learn and adapt. This capability extends beyond audience analytics to the creative process itself, where AI can help storytellers understand how different narrative choices might resonate with specific audiences.

    Written in partnership with Tom White

  • How Open-Source Models Are Disrupting the AI Industry

    How Open-Source Models Are Disrupting the AI Industry

    Image credit: Unsplash

    AI is in a rapidly moving modern-day arms race as companies worldwide try to create powerful, practical, and accessible generative AI models. Competitors are generally grouped into two categories: proprietary AI models developed by tech giants with a host of resources and open-source startups with significantly less funding. Can open-source AI truly challenge big tech? How can businesses ensure security and ethical practices when data is open to so many people?

    The Rise of Efficient AI Models

    The norm in AI development has long been standardized by singular corporations investing enormous amounts of resources into computing power and data processing. Some of the biggest generative AI companies, like OpenAI, have historically required hundreds of millions of dollars to produce a viable product.

    Instead, recent technological advancements show that AI models can achieve competitive performance with significantly fewer resources. DeepSeek R1 was trained with just 2,000 GPUs and a $5.7 million investment—a fraction of the cost of competing US tech giants.

    David Bader, a professor and Director of the Institute for Data Science at New Jersey Institute of Technology, is a nationally recognized expert on high-performance computing and AI. He says, “DeepSeek’s approach demonstrates that highly capable AI models no longer require vast financial and computational resources. This shift could open the door for more innovation across industries and make AI more accessible.” 

    Open-Source AI: A Double-Edged Sword

    There are both advantages and disadvantages to consider when naming open-source AI as the ultimate AI-creation solution. 

    Open-source AI makes development more accessible than ever. Businesses and developers who lack the resources to develop a model from scratch can turn to community-driven improvements. With open collaboration, finding bugs, redundancies, and missing features is easier when several experienced minds are working on the same project. It can also be a cost-saving option for companies looking to integrate AI without relying on expensive third-party models.

    On the other hand, intellectual property may become an issue when an AI model is open-source. With many hands on deck and without a coordinated supervisor, data privacy is of increasing concern. Individuals may make unauthorized modifications or maliciously use the project.  While it may seem far from reality, autonomous AI systems have the potential to transgress ethical boundaries unintentionally or operate unpredictably. 

    The Future of AI Development and Security

    Predictions say that training costs will likely continue to decrease over the next five years. Cheaper AI development could lead to its adoption across industries like healthcare, finance, and customer service. Rather than hiring companies to integrate a pre-made system, existing businesses will be able to create AI that accommodates their unique needs more easily. 

    There will continue to be a debate over data security when comparing proprietary versus open-source models. Open-source AI can offer complete transparency and customization, but it may also be vulnerable to internal security threats. 

    Proprietary models have highly controlled access and security, but they are also limited in accessibility and have higher expenses associated with them. A hybrid AI approach could balance the benefits of openness with robust protective security measures.

    Innovation With Open-Source AI Models

    While developing an AI model has traditionally been exclusive to established tech giants, open-source models and lower development costs make it more accessible. While open-source development democratizes good ideas, it also introduces challenges with cyber security and ethics.

    Several factors must be considered in AI development before creating a universal standard. However, open-source AI is a realistic option if companies want to create high-quality models without vast access to resources. Open-source development is far from perfect, but it’s a step in the right direction toward creating a world where developers aren’t limited by funding or location.