(This column originally appeared in Forbes)
Here are five things in business technology news that happened this week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?
This Week in Business Technology News
Business Technology News #1 — AI is forcing the return of the in-person job interview.
Ray Smith of the Wall Street Journal reported that companies are going back to the “old-school” method of job interviews: face-to-face. As generative AI becomes more embedded in hiring, companies are rethinking how they conduct interviews — balancing automation with authenticity. (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Why this is important for your business:
According to the report, research has shown that in some instances, job seekers have used AI tools to cheat to appear more qualified, particularly in fields such as software engineering. Employers are changing up their interviewing process utilizing AI-powered screening to review resumes, then proceed with an in-person interview to better gauge soft skills and cultural fit. AI is making hiring faster and more scalable, but companies are learning that too much automation can feel impersonal. The future of interviews may be hybrid — tech-enhanced but still human at heart.
Business Technology News #2 — Zendesk and Talkdesk boost customer support efficiency
Customer service platform Zendesk has integrated GPT-5 into its Resolution Platform to supercharge customer support with smarter automation and faster, more accurate responses. According to the company this move enhances Zendesk’s AI agents, Copilot, and App Builder, making support interactions more seamless and effective. With GPT-5, improvements include fewer escalations and faster execution. Additionally, Zendesk says that its rigorous testing “ensures GPT-5 avoids hallucinations and only acts when confident.” (Source: Small Business Trends)
Why this is important for your business:
For the past couple of years I’ve been writing about how big companies are investing in AI, mostly for enhancing their customer service applications. I’ve also been telling my SMB clients to be patient: this stuff will eventually start trickling down. And it is. Zendesk — and other great customer service platforms for small businesses like my client Talkdesk Express — are using AI to shorten resolution times, provide more accurate answer to customer questions and better support human customer service representatives in their jobs. And they’re just getting started.
Business Technology News #3 — GenAI is coming for online checkout in seismic shift for internet shopping.
Generative AI is reshaping the online shopping experience by streamlining the checkout process, making it faster, simpler, and more integrated. For example, platforms like Perplexity now allow users to buy items (e.g., concert tickets, travel) directly within chat using PayPal or Venmo, without having to visit external sites and frictionless payments are simplifying the buying process to boost conversion rates and reduce cart abandonment. The Financial Times reported that an integrated check-out system will be supported by OpenAI — potentially partnering with Shopify to enable full transactions inside ChatGPT, though neither company has confirmed this. (Source: CNBC)
Why this is important for your business:
According to the above report experts say this shift could dramatically alter the retail model, with merchants paying commissions to AI platforms for in-chat sales where AI isn’t just recommending products — it’s closing the sale. Of course, it’s the big box retailers who are leaning into this stuff right now. But it’s not too hard to see how these technologies will soon be in the hands of smaller businesses selling online to provide a better shopping experience for their customers. Look for the bigger ecommerce platforms like Amazon, eBay and others to be making these tools available for their merchants.
Business Technology News #4 — The best laser printers for 2025.
According to PCMag, here’s a sample of their list of the best laser printers for various needs — home, office, color, mono, and budget — based on speed, print quality, usability, and cost per page. Their pick for best color laser is Brother’s MFC-L3780CDW model priced at $569.99. The best color laser for your budget is the Brother HL-L3295CDW for $429.98. The best color laser for small offices is the Xerox C235 for $400.00. On the higher-end price wise, the best color printer for large workgroups is the HP Color LaserJet Enterprise MFP M480f for $1,000. PCMag’s reviews are based on decades of testing and emphasize real-world performance. (Source: PCMag)
Why this is important for your business:
And yet, even in 2025, I still have trouble connecting to my printer.
Business Technology News #5 — Research shows AI agents are highly vulnerable to hijacking attacks.
Researchers from Zenity Labs revealed serious vulnerabilities in popular AI agents — showing how attackers can hijack them to steal data, manipulate workflows, and impersonate users. Their findings showed that Agents could be tricked into poisoning knowledge sources or altering behavior. Attackers could gain memory persistence, allowing ongoing access and manipulation. (Source: Cybersecurity Dive)
Why this is important for your business:
“This opens the door to sabotage, operational disruption, and long-term misinformation,” warned Greg Zemlin, product marketing manager at Zenity Labs. In their demonstrations, researchers highlighted the following vulnerabilities: Prompt injection via email compromised ChatGPT and accessed Google Drive; Microsoft Copilot Studio leaked entire CRM databases; Salesforce Einstein rerouted customer messages to attacker-controlled emails. This research emphasizes the urgent need for stronger safeguards as AI agents become more embedded in business operations. Looks like AI may be taking jobs away from some people, but providing plenty of opportunities for hackers.
Each week I round up five business technology news stories and explain why they’re important for your business. If you have any interesting stories, please post to my X account @genemarks
