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MIL-OSI: LiveRamp Announces Results for Third Quarter FY25

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Revenue up 12% Year-Over-Year

Fourth Consecutive Quarter of Double-Digit Revenue Growth

Fiscal YTD Operating Cash Flow up 17% Year-Over-Year

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LiveRamp ^® (NYSE: RAMP), the leading data collaboration platform, today announced its financial results for the fiscal 2025 third quarter ended December 31, 2024.

Q3 Financial Highlights¹

Total revenue was $195 million, up 12%.
Subscription revenue was $146 million, up 10%.
Marketplace & Other revenue was $50 million, up 20%.
GAAP gross profit was $140 million, up 9%. GAAP gross margin compressed by two percentage points to 72%. Non-GAAP gross profit was $146 million, up 11%. Non-GAAP gross margin compressed by one percentage point to 74%.
GAAP operating income was $15 million, in-line with the prior year. GAAP operating margin compressed by one percentage point to 8%. Non-GAAP operating income was $45 million, up 24%. Non-GAAP operating margin expanded by two percentage points to 23%.
GAAP and Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share were $0.17 and $0.55, respectively.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $45 million, up from $17 million.
Third quarter share repurchases totaled approximately 368,000 shares for $10 million. Fiscal year to date through December 31, 2024 share repurchases totaled approximately 2.8 million shares for $76 million.

A reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP results is provided in the schedules in this press release.

Commenting on the results, CEO Scott Howe said, “We posted a strong quarter, with revenue and operating income exceeding our expectations, and revenue growing at a double-digit rate for the fourth consecutive quarter. Our sales momentum improved appreciably in the third quarter as our Data Collaboration Platform and clean room solution are resonating with customers. This confirms the substantial market demand for our platform that helps customers efficiently use their first-party data to deliver, measure and optimize their digital advertising.”

GAAP and Non-GAAP Results
The following table summarizes the Company’s financial results for the fiscal 2025 third quarter ended December 31, 2024 ($ in millions, except per share amounts):

_________________________

¹ Unless otherwise indicated, all comparisons are to the prior year period.


	GAAP		Non-GAAP
	Q3 FY25	Q3 FY24	Q3 FY25	Q3 FY24
Subscription revenue	$146	$132	—	—
YoY change %	10%	5%	—	—
Marketplace & Other revenue	$50	$42	—	—
YoY change %	20%	29%	—	—
Total revenue	$195	$174	—	—
YoY change %	12%	10%	—	—

Gross profit	$140	$129	$146	$131
% Gross margin	72%	74%	74%	75%
YoY change, pts	(2 pts)	1 pt	(1 pt)	(1 pt)

Operating income	$15	$15	$45	$36
% Operating margin	8%	9%	23%	21%
YoY change, pts	(1 pt)	24 pts	2 pts	5 pts

Net earnings	$11	$14	$37	$32
Diluted earnings per share	$0.17	$0.21	$0.55	$0.47

Shares to calculate diluted EPS	66.7	67.9	66.7	67.9
YoY change %	(2%)	5%	(2%)	4%

Operating cash flow	$45	$17	—	—
Free cash flow	—	—	$45	$14

Totals and year-over-year changes may not reconcile due to rounding.

A detailed discussion of our non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP results is provided in the schedules in this press release.

Additional Business Highlights & Metrics

On February 25, 2025 we will host an investor day presentation in San Francisco (additional information). The event coincides with RampUp 2025, our annual customer and partner conference on February 25-27, 2025 (additional information).
In November 2024 we announced an expansion of the Quick Start Insights available on our Data Collaboration Platform to now offer media intelligence across a network of premium publishers. These standardized insights enable our customers to more quickly access and deploy media performance metrics — such as audience overlaps, optimal frequency, and last-touch attribution — from premium publisher and CTV data. As a result, LiveRamp customers now have a simplified way to enhance media buying and planning strategies and increase the time-to-value from clean room partnerships.
In January 2025 we announced in partnership with Mohegan, a leader in casino and entertainment destinations, the industry’s first casino media network. For the first time, brands can access Mohegan’s rich first-party insights to reach guests and players in addition to the ability to measure campaigns across the casino’s digital channels and on-premise experiences – such as in-app, loyalty programs, slot machines, and kiosks (additional information).
LiveRamp ended the quarter with 125 customers whose annualized subscription revenue exceeds $1 million, compared to 105 in the prior year period.
LiveRamp ended the quarter with 865 direct subscription customers, compared to 895 in the prior year period.
Subscription net retention was 108% and platform net retention was 111% for the quarter.
Annual recurring revenue (ARR), which is the last month of the quarter fixed subscription revenue annualized, was $491 million, up 10% compared to the prior year period.
Current remaining performance obligations (CRPO), which is contracted and committed revenue expected to be recognized over the next 12 months, was $434 million, up 13% compared to the prior year period.

Financial Outlook

LiveRamp’s non-GAAP operating income guidance excludes the impact of non-cash stock compensation, purchased intangible asset amortization, and restructuring and related charges.

For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, LiveRamp expects to report:

Revenue of between $184 million and $186 million, an increase of between 7% and 8%
GAAP operating loss of $8 million
Non-GAAP operating income of $22 million

For fiscal 2025, LiveRamp increases its guidance and expects to report:

Revenue of between $741 million and $743 million, an increase of between 12% and 13%
GAAP operating income of $10 million
Non-GAAP operating income of $135 million

Conference Call

LiveRamp will hold a conference call today at 1:30 p.m. PT (4:30 p.m. ET) to further discuss this information. Interested parties are invited to listen to a webcast of the conference, which can be accessed on LiveRamp’s investor site. A slide presentation will be referenced during the call and is available here.

About LiveRamp

LiveRamp is a global technology company that helps companies build enduring brand and business value by collaborating responsibly with data. A groundbreaking leader in foundational identity, LiveRamp offers a connected customer view with clarity and context while protecting brand and consumer trust. We offer flexibility to collaborate wherever data lives to support a wide range of data collaboration use cases—within organizations, between brands, and across our global network of premier partners. Global innovators, from iconic consumer brands and tech platforms to retailers, financial services, and healthcare leaders, turn to LiveRamp to deepen customer engagement and loyalty, activate new partnerships, and maximize the value of their first-party data while staying on the forefront of rapidly evolving compliance and privacy requirements. LiveRamp is based in San Francisco, California with offices worldwide. Learn more at LiveRamp.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended (the “PSLRA”). These statements, which are not statements of historical fact, may contain estimates, assumptions, projections and/or expectations regarding the Company’s financial position, results of operations for fiscal 2025 and beyond, market position, product development, growth opportunities, economic conditions, and other similar forecasts and statements of expectation. Forward-looking statements are often identified by words or phrases such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “plan,” “expect,” “believe,” “intend,” “foresee,” or the negative of these terms or other similar variations thereof.

These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause the Company’s actual results and experiences to differ materially from the anticipated results and expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements.

Among the factors that may cause actual results and expectations to differ from anticipated results and expectations expressed in forward-looking statements are uncertainties related to high interest rates, cost increases, the possibility of a recession, general inflationary pressure, geo-political circumstances that could result in increased economic uncertainties and the associated impacts of these potential events on our suppliers, customers and partners; the Company’s dependence upon customer renewals, new customer additions and upsell within our subscription business; our reliance upon partners, including data suppliers; competition; rapidly changing technology’s impact on our products and services; the risk that we fail to realize the potential benefits of or have difficulty integrating acquired businesses (including Habu); and attracting, motivating and retaining talent. Additional risks include maintaining our culture and our ability to innovate and evolve while operating in a hybrid work environment, with some employees working remotely at least some of the time within a rapidly changing industry, while also avoiding disruption from reductions in our current workforce as well as disruptions resulting from acquisition, divestiture and other activities affecting our workforce. Our global workforce strategy could possibly encounter difficulty and not be as beneficial as planned. Our international operations are also subject to risks, including the performance of third parties as well as impacts from war and civil unrest, that may harm the Company’s business. The risk of a significant breach of the confidentiality of the information or the security of our or our customers’, suppliers’, or other partners’ data and/or computer systems, or the risk that our current insurance coverage may not be adequate for such a breach, that an insurer might deny coverage for a claim or that such insurance will continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, could be detrimental to our business, reputation and results of operations. Other business risks include unfavorable publicity and negative public perception about our industry; interruptions or delays in service from data center or cloud hosting vendors we rely upon; and our dependence on the continued availability of third-party data hosting and transmission services. Our clients’ ability to use data on our platform could be restricted if the industry’s use of third-party cookies and tracking technology declines due to technology platform changes, regulation or increased user controls. Continued changes in the judicial, legislative, regulatory, accounting, cultural and consumer environments affecting our business, including but not limited to litigation, investigations, legislation, regulations and customs at the state, federal and international levels relating to information collection and use represents a risk, as well as changes in tax laws and regulations that are applied to our customers which could cause enterprise software budget tightening. In addition, third parties may claim that we are infringing their intellectual property or may infringe our intellectual property which could result in competitive injury and / or the incurrence of significant costs and draining of our resources.

For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties that could affect LiveRamp’s business, reputation, results of operation, financial condition and stock price, please refer to LiveRamp’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of LiveRamp’s most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and subsequent filings.

The financial information set forth in this press release reflects estimates based on information available at this time.

LiveRamp assumes no obligation and does not currently intend to update these forward-looking statements.

To automatically receive LiveRamp financial news by email, please visit www.LiveRamp.com and subscribe to email alerts.

For more information, contact:

LiveRamp Investor Relations
Investor.Relations@LiveRamp.com

LiveRamp^®and RampID™ and all other LiveRamp marks contained herein are trademarks or service marks of LiveRamp, Inc. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

LIVERAMP HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

	For the three months ended December 31,
			$		%
	2024	2023	Variance		Variance

Revenues	195,412	173,869	21,543		12.4	%
Cost of revenue	54,998	44,934	10,064		22.4	%
Gross profit	140,414	128,935	11,479		8.9	%
% Gross margin	71.9%	74.2%

Operating expenses
Research and development	42,735	37,788	4,947		13.1	%
Sales and marketing	50,863	46,203	4,660		10.1	%
General and administrative	31,994	27,241	4,753		17.4	%
Gains, losses and other items, net	149	2,502	(2,353	)	(94.0	)%
Total operating expenses	125,741	113,734	12,007		10.6	%

Income from operations	14,673	15,201	(528	)	(3.5	)%
% Margin	7.5%	8.7%

Total other income, net	4,033	6,607	(2,574	)	(39.0	)%

Income from continuing operations before income taxes	18,706	21,808	(3,102	)	(14.2	)%
Income tax expense	9,184	8,429	755		9.0	%
Net earnings from continuing operations	9,522	13,379	(3,857	)	(28.8	)%

Earnings from discontinued operations, net of tax	1,688	598	1,090		182.3	%

Net earnings	11,210	13,977	(2,767	)	(19.8	)%

Basic earnings per share:
Continuing operations	0.15	0.20	(0.06	)	(28.5	)%
Discontinued operations	0.03	0.01	0.02		183.6	%
Basic earnings per share	0.17	0.21	(0.04	)	(19.4	)%

Diluted earnings per share:
Continuing operations	0.14	0.20	(0.05	)	(27.5	)%
Discontinued operations	0.03	0.01	0.02		187.4	%
Diluted earnings per share	0.17	0.21	(0.04	)	(18.4	)%

Basic weighted average shares	65,631	65,961
Diluted weighted average shares	66,743	67,943


Some totals may not sum due to rounding.

LIVERAMP HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

	For the nine months ended December 31,
			$		%
	2024	2023	Variance		Variance

Revenues	556,856	487,809	69,047		14.2	%
Cost of revenue	157,981	131,767	26,214		19.9	%
Gross profit	398,875	356,042	42,833		12.0	%
% Gross margin	71.6 %	73.0 %

Operating expenses
Research and development	130,742	106,040	24,702		23.3	%
Sales and marketing	156,145	135,217	20,928		15.5	%
General and administrative	94,324	79,914	14,410		18.0	%
Gains, losses and other items, net	752	9,192	(8,440	)	(91.8	)%
Total operating expenses	381,963	330,363	51,600		15.6	%

Income from operations	16,912	25,679	(8,767	)	(34.1	)%
% Margin	3.0 %	5.3 %

Total other income, net	12,674	17,887	(5,213	)	(29.1	)%

Income from continuing operations before income taxes	29,586	43,566	(13,980	)	(32.1	)%
Income tax expense	25,821	27,297	(1,476	)	(5.4	)%
Net earnings from continuing operations	3,765	16,269	(12,504	)	(76.9	)%

Earnings from discontinued operations, net of tax	1,688	985	703		71.4	%

Net earnings	5,453	17,254	(11,801	)	(68.4	)%

Basic earnings per share:
Continuing operations	0.06	0.25	(0.19	)	(76.8	)%
Discontinued operations	0.03	0.01	0.01		71.5	%
Basic earnings per share	0.08	0.26	(0.18	)	(68.4	)%

Diluted earnings per share:
Continuing operations	0.06	0.24	(0.18	)	(76.8	)%
Discontinued operations	0.03	0.01	0.01		71.9	%
Diluted earnings per share	0.08	0.25	(0.17	)	(68.3	)%

Basic weighted average shares	66,182	66,247
Diluted weighted average shares	67,505	67,733


Some totals may not sum due to rounding.

LIVERAMP HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP EPS (1)
(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

	For the three months ended December 31,		For the nine months ended December 31,
	2024	2023	2024	2023

Income from continuing operations before income taxes	18,706	21,808	29,586	43,566
Income tax expense	9,184	8,429	25,821	27,297
Net earnings from continuing operations	9,522	13,379	3,765	16,269
Earnings from discontinued operations, net of tax	1,688	598	1,688	985
Net earnings	11,210	13,977	5,453	17,254

Basic earnings per share	0.17	0.21	0.08	0.26
Diluted earnings per share	0.17	0.21	0.08	0.25

Excluded items:
Purchased intangible asset amortization (cost of revenue)	3,686	1,181	11,280	5,688
Non-cash stock compensation (cost of revenue and operating expenses)	26,760	17,497	83,813	46,524
Restructuring and merger charges (gains, losses, and other)	149	2,502	752	9,192
Transformation costs (general and administrative)	—	—	—	1,875
Total excluded items from continuing operations	30,595	21,180	95,845	63,279

Income from continuing operations before income taxes and excluding items	49,301	42,988	125,431	106,845
Income tax expense (2)	12,421	10,732	30,537	25,935
Non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations	36,880	32,256	94,894	80,910

Non-GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations
Basic	0.56	0.49	1.43	1.22
Diluted	0.55	0.47	1.41	1.19

Basic weighted average shares	65,631	65,961	66,182	66,247
Diluted weighted average shares	66,743	67,943	67,505	67,733


(1) This presentation includes non-GAAP measures. Our non-GAAP measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures, and should be read only in conjunction with our condensed consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. For a detailed explanation of the adjustments made to comparable GAAP measures, the reasons why management uses these measures and the material limitations on the usefulness of these measures, please see Appendix A.

(2) Non-GAAP income taxes were calculated by applying the estimated annual effective tax rate to year-to-date pretax income or loss and adjusting for discrete tax items in the period. The differences between our GAAP and non-GAAP effective tax rates were primarily due to the net tax effects of the excluded items, coupled with the valuation allowance and smaller pre-tax income for GAAP purposes.

LIVERAMP HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP INCOME FROM OPERATIONS (1)
(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands)

	For the three months ended December 31,		For the nine months ended December 31,
	2024	2023	2024	2023

Income from operations	14,673	15,201	16,912	25,679

Excluded items:
Purchased intangible asset amortization (cost of revenue)	3,686	1,181	11,280	5,688
Non-cash stock compensation (cost of revenue and operating expenses)	26,760	17,497	83,813	46,524
Restructuring and merger charges (gains, losses, and other)	149	2,502	752	9,192
Transformation costs (general and administrative)	–	–	–	1,875
Total excluded items	30,595	21,180	95,845	63,279

Income from operations before excluded items	45,268	36,381	112,757	88,958


(1) This presentation includes non-GAAP measures. Our non-GAAP measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures, and should be read only in conjunction with our condensed consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. For a detailed explanation of the adjustments made to comparable GAAP measures, the reasons why management uses these measures and the material limitations on the usefulness of these measures, please see Appendix A.

LIVERAMP HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
RECONCILIATION OF ADJUSTED EBITDA (1)
(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands)

	For the three months ended December 31,		For the nine months ended December 31,
	2024	2023	2024	2023

Net earnings from continuing operations	9,522	13,379	3,765	16,269
Income tax expense	9,184	8,429	25,821	27,297
Total other income, net	(4,033)	(6,607)	(12,674)	(17,887)

Income from operations	14,673	15,201	16,912	25,679
Depreciation and amortization	4,400	1,782	13,404	7,685

EBITDA	19,073	16,983	30,316	33,364

Other adjustments:
Non-cash stock compensation (cost of revenue and operating expenses)	26,760	17,497	83,813	46,524
Restructuring and merger charges (gains, losses, and other)	149	2,502	752	9,192
Transformation costs (general and administrative)	–	–	–	1,875

Other adjustments	26,909	19,999	84,565	57,591

Adjusted EBITDA	45,982	36,982	114,881	90,955


(1) This presentation includes non-GAAP measures. Our non-GAAP measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures, and should be read only in conjunction with our condensed consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. For a detailed explanation of the adjustments made to comparable GAAP measures, the reasons why management uses these measures, the usefulness of these measures and the material limitations on the usefulness of these measures, please see Appendix A.

LIVERAMP HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Dollars in thousands)

	December 31	March 31	$	%
	2024	2024	Variance	Variance
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	376,772	336,867	39,905	11.8	%
Restricted cash	593	2,604	(2,011)	(77.2	)%
Short-term investments	7,500	32,045	(24,545)	(76.6	)%
Trade accounts receivable, net	210,565	190,313	20,252	10.6	%
Refundable income taxes, net	6,630	8,521	(1,891)	(22.2	)%
Other current assets	41,747	31,682	10,065	31.8	%
Total current assets	643,807	602,032	41,775	6.9	%

Property and equipment	24,099	25,394	(1,295)	(5.1	)%
Less – accumulated depreciation and amortization	17,440	17,213	227	1.3	%
Property and equipment, net	6,659	8,181	(1,522)	(18.6	)%

Intangible assets, net	23,302	34,583	(11,281)	(32.6	)%
Goodwill	501,559	501,756	(197)	(0.0	)%
Deferred commissions, net	44,497	48,143	(3,646)	(7.6	)%
Other assets, net	33,389	36,748	(3,359)	(9.1	)%
	1,253,213	1,231,443	21,770	1.8	%

Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
Current liabilities:
Trade accounts payable	105,334	81,202	24,132	29.7	%
Accrued payroll and related expenses	35,639	61,575	(25,936)	(42.1	)%
Other accrued expenses	45,856	42,857	2,999	7.0	%
Deferred revenue	44,795	30,942	13,853	44.8	%
Total current liabilities	231,624	216,576	15,048	6.9	%

Other liabilities	63,882	65,732	(1,850)	(2.8	)%

Stockholders’ equity:
Preferred stock	–	–	–	n/a
Common stock	15,853	15,594	259	1.7	%
Additional paid-in capital	2,022,227	1,933,776	88,451	4.6	%
Retained earnings	1,319,625	1,314,172	5,453	0.4	%
Accumulated other comprehensive income	3,493	3,964	(471)	(11.9	)%
Treasury stock, at cost	(2,403,491)	(2,318,371)	(85,120)	3.7	%
Total stockholders’ equity	957,707	949,135	8,572	0.9	%
	1,253,213	1,231,443	21,770	1.8	%

LIVERAMP HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands)
	For the three months ended December 31,
	2024	2023
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net earnings	11,210	13,977
Earnings from discontinued operations, net of tax	(1,688)	(598)
Non-cash operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization	4,400	1,782
Loss on disposal or impairment of assets	99	911
Provision for doubtful accounts	(97)	544
Deferred income taxes	11	(47)
Non-cash stock compensation expense	26,760	17,497
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable, net	(19,013)	(24,778)
Deferred commissions	(1,042)	(4,235)
Other assets	(6,596)	(4,831)
Accounts payable and other liabilities	23,829	21,639
Income taxes	(1,617)	(14,139)
Deferred revenue	8,861	8,834
Net cash provided by operating activities	45,117	16,556
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(282)	(2,211)
Cash paid in acquisitions, net of cash received	(1,951)	—
Proceeds from sales of investments	1,994	—
Purchases of strategic investments	(1,000)	—
Net cash used in investing activities	(1,239)	(2,211)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds related to the issuance of common stock under stock and employee benefit plans	2,304	1,646
Shares repurchased for tax withholdings upon vesting of stock-based awards	(1,565)	(547)
Acquisition of treasury stock	(10,098)	(10,000)
Net cash used in financing activities	(9,359)	(8,901)
Cash flows from discontinued operations:
From operating activities	2,486	598
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash	(1,217)	735

Net change in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	35,788	6,777
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period	341,577	492,169
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period	377,365	498,946

Supplemental cash flow information:
Cash paid for income taxes, net from continuing operations	10,990	22,699
Cash received for income taxes, net from discontinued operations	(2,486)	(912)
Cash paid for operating lease liabilities	2,495	2,551

Non-cash investing and financing activities:
Operating lease assets obtained in exchange for operating lease liabilities	1,284	—
Purchases of property, plant and equipment remaining unpaid at period end	85	1,218
Excise tax payable on net stock repurchases	64	—

LIVERAMP HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands)
	For the nine months ended December 31,
	2024	2023
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net earnings	5,453	17,254
Earnings from discontinued operations, net of tax	(1,688)	(985)
Non-cash operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization	13,404	7,685
Loss on disposal or impairment of assets	119	1,213
Lease-related impairment and restructuring charges	(36)	2,315
Provision for doubtful accounts	1,148	307
Impairment of goodwill	—	2,875
Deferred income taxes	49	40
Non-cash stock compensation expense	83,813	46,524
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable, net	(21,640)	(41,036)
Deferred commissions	3,645	(7,142)
Other assets	(2,598)	912
Accounts payable and other liabilities	(8,165)	8,754
Income taxes	3,953	29,560
Deferred revenue	13,928	9,737
Net cash provided by operating activities	91,385	78,013
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(749)	(2,464)
Cash paid in acquisitions, net of cash received	(1,951)	—
Purchases of investments	(1,967)	(24,385)
Proceeds from sales of investments	26,989	25,750
Purchases of strategic investments	(1,400)	(1,000)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	20,922	(2,099)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds related to the issuance of common stock under stock and employee benefit plans	8,631	7,221
Shares repurchased for tax withholdings upon vesting of stock-based awards	(9,305)	(5,116)
Acquisition of treasury stock	(75,751)	(45,325)
Net cash used in financing activities	(76,425)	(43,220)
Cash flows from discontinued operations:
From operating activities	2,486	985
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash	(474)	819

Net change in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	37,894	34,498
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period	339,471	464,448
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period	377,365	498,946

Supplemental cash flow information:
Cash paid (received) for income taxes, net from continuing operations	21,990	(2,440)
Cash received for income taxes, net from discontinued operations	(2,486)	(1,507)
Cash received for tenant improvement allowances	(1,758)	—
Cash paid for operating lease liabilities	7,372	7,699

Non-cash investing and financing activities:
Operating lease assets obtained in exchange for operating lease liabilities	2,327	11,677
Operating lease assets, and related lease liabilities, relinquished in lease terminations	(555)	(4,486)
Purchases of property, plant and equipment remaining unpaid at period end	85	1,218
Excise tax payable on net stock repurchases	64	—

LIVERAMP HOLDINGS, INC AND SUBSIDIARIES
CALCULATION OF FREE CASH FLOW (1)
(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands)


		6/30/2023			9/30/2023			12/31/2023			3/31/2024			FY2024			6/30/2024			9/30/2024			12/31/2024			FY2025

Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities		$	25,693		$	35,764		$	16,556		$	27,643		$	105,656		$	(9,328	)	$	55,596		$	45,117		$	91,385

Less:
	Capital expenditures		(53	)		(200	)		(2,211	)		(1,791	)		(4,255	)		(226	)		(241	)		(282	)		(749	)

Free Cash Flow		$	25,640		$	35,564		$	14,345		$	25,852		$	101,401		$	(9,554	)	$	55,355		$	44,835		$	90,636


(1) This presentation includes non-GAAP measures. Our non-GAAP measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures, and should be read only in conjunction with our condensed consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. For a detailed explanation of the adjustments made to comparable GAAP measures, the reasons why management uses these measures and the material limitations on the usefulness of these measures, please see Appendix A.

LIVERAMP HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)
																			Qtr-to-Qtr
	FY2024										FY2025								FY2025 to FY2024
	6/30/2023		9/30/2023		12/31/2023		3/31/2024		FY2024		6/30/2024		9/30/2024		12/31/2024		FY2025		%	$

Revenues		154,069		159,871		173,869		171,852		659,661		175,961		185,483		195,412		556,856	12.4%	21,543
Cost of revenue		45,621		41,212		44,934		47,722		179,489		51,749		51,234		54,998		157,981	22.4%	10,064
Gross profit		108,448		118,659		128,935		124,130		480,172		124,212		134,249		140,414		398,875	8.9%	11,479
% Gross margin		70.4 %		74.2 %		74.2 %		72.2 %		72.8 %		70.6 %		72.4 %		71.9 %		71.6 %

Operating expenses
Research and development		34,519		33,733		37,788		45,161		151,201		44,118		43,889		42,735		130,742	13.1%	4,947
Sales and marketing		44,879		44,135		46,203		60,476		195,693		54,175		51,107		50,863		156,145	10.1%	4,660
General and administrative		26,664		26,009		27,241		30,252		110,166		30,961		31,369		31,994		94,324	17.4%	4,753
Gains, losses and other items, net		116		6,574		2,502		2,516		11,708		206		397		149		752	(94.0)%	(2,353)
Total operating expenses		106,178		110,451		113,734		138,405		468,768		129,460		126,762		125,741		381,963	10.6%	12,007

Income (loss) from operations		2,270		8,208		15,201		(14,275)		11,404		(5,248)		7,487		14,673		16,912	(3.5)%	(528)
% Margin		5.0 %		24.3 %		40.2 %		(31.6)%		1.7 %		(3.0)%		4.0 %		7.5 %		3.0 %

Total other income, net		4,849		6,431		6,607		5,070		22,957		4,444		4,197		4,033		12,674	(39.0)%	(2,574)

Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes		7,119		14,639		21,808		(9,205)		34,361		(804)		11,684		18,706		29,586	(14.2)%	(3,102)
Income tax expense (benefit)		8,705		10,163		8,429		(3,027)		24,270		6,685		9,952		9,184		25,821	9.0%	755
Net earnings (loss) from continuing operations		(1,586)		4,476		13,379		(6,178)		10,091		(7,489)		1,732		9,522		3,765	(28.8)%	(3,857)

Earnings from discontinued operations, net of tax		–		387		598		805		1,790		–		–		1,688		1,688	182.3%	1,090

Net earnings (loss)	$	(1,586)	$	4,863	$	13,977	$	(5,373)	$	11,881	$	(7,489)	$	1,732	$	11,210	$	5,453	(19.8)%	(2,767)

Basic earnings (loss) per share:
Continuing Operations		(0.02)		0.07		0.20		(0.09)		0.15		(0.11)		0.03		0.15		0.06	(28.5)%	(0.06)
Discontinued Operations		0.00		0.01		0.01		0.01		0.03		0.00		0.00		0.03		0.03	183.7%	0.02
Basic earnings (loss) per share		(0.02)		0.07		0.21		(0.08)		0.18		(0.11)		0.03		0.17		0.08	(19.4)%	(0.04)

Diluted earnings (loss) per share:
Continuing Operations		(0.02)		0.07		0.20		(0.09)		0.15		(0.11)		0.03		0.14		0.06	(27.5)%	(0.05)
Discontinued Operations		0.00		0.01		0.01		0.01		0.03		0.00		0.00		0.03		0.03	187.3%	0.02
Diluted earnings (loss) per share		(0.02)		0.07		0.21		(0.08)		0.17		(0.11)		0.03		0.17		0.08	(18.4)%	(0.04)


Basic weighted average shares		66,497		66,284		65,961		66,323		66,266		66,621		66,294		65,631		66,182
Diluted weighted average shares		66,497		67,868		67,943		66,323		67,918		66,621		67,309		66,743		67,505

Some earnings (loss) per share amounts may not add due to rounding.

LIVERAMP HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP EXPENSES (1)
(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands)
	FY2024					FY2025
	6/30/2023	9/30/2023	12/31/2023	3/31/2024	FY2024	6/30/2024	9/30/2024	12/31/2024	FY2025
Expenses:
Cost of revenue	45,621	41,212	44,934	47,722	179,489	51,749	51,234	54,998	157,981
Research and development	34,519	33,733	37,788	45,161	151,201	44,118	43,889	42,735	130,742
Sales and marketing	44,879	44,135	46,203	60,476	195,693	54,175	51,107	50,863	156,145
General and administrative	26,664	26,009	27,241	30,252	110,166	30,961	31,369	31,994	94,324
Gains, losses and other items, net	116	6,574	2,502	2,516	11,708	206	397	149	752

Gross profit, continuing operations:	108,448	118,659	128,935	124,130	480,172	124,212	134,249	140,414	398,875
% Gross margin	70.4%	74.2%	74.2%	72.2%	72.8%	70.6%	72.4%	71.9%	71.6%

Excluded items:
Purchased intangible asset amortization (cost of revenue)	3,290	1,217	1,181	3,097	8,785	3,846	3,748	3,686	11,280
Non-cash stock compensation (cost of revenue)	629	629	817	1,478	3,553	1,596	1,499	1,455	4,550
Non-cash stock compensation (research and development)	5,077	5,293	6,960	9,859	27,189	10,205	10,920	10,085	31,210
Non-cash stock compensation (sales and marketing)	3,736	4,786	4,089	6,337	18,948	7,093	7,383	7,278	21,754
Non-cash stock compensation (general and administrative)	3,850	5,027	5,631	7,106	21,614	9,091	9,266	7,942	26,299
Restructuring charges (gains, losses, and other)	116	6,574	2,502	2,516	11,708	206	397	149	752
Transformation costs (general and administrative)	1,875	—	—	—	1,875	—		—	—
Total excluded items	18,573	23,526	21,180	30,393	93,672	32,037	33,213	30,595	95,845

Expenses, excluding items:
Cost of revenue	41,702	39,366	42,936	43,147	167,151	46,307	45,987	49,857	142,151
Research and development	29,442	28,440	30,828	35,302	124,012	33,913	32,969	32,650	99,532
Sales and marketing	41,143	39,349	42,114	54,139	176,745	47,082	43,724	43,585	134,391
General and administrative	20,939	20,982	21,610	23,146	86,677	21,870	22,103	24,052	68,025

Gross profit, excluding items:	112,367	120,505	130,933	128,705	492,510	129,654	139,496	145,555	414,705
% Gross margin	72.9%	75.4%	75.3%	74.9%	74.7%	73.7%	75.2%	74.5%	74.5%

(1) This presentation includes non-GAAP measures. Our non-GAAP measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures, and should be read only in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. For a detailed explanation of the adjustments made to comparable GAAP measures, the reasons why management uses these measures, the usefulness of these measures and the material limitations on the usefulness of these measures, please see Appendix A.

LIVERAMP HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP EPS (1)
(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)
	FY2024					FY2025
	6/30/2023	9/30/2023	12/31/2023	3/31/2024	FY2024	6/30/2024	9/30/2024	12/31/2024	FY2025

Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	7,119	14,639	21,808	(9,205)	34,361	(804)	11,684	18,706	29,586
Income tax expense (benefit)	8,705	10,163	8,429	(3,027)	24,270	6,685	9,952	9,184	25,821
Net earnings (loss) from continuing operations	(1,586)	4,476	13,379	(6,178)	10,091	(7,489)	1,732	9,522	3,765

Earnings from discontinued operations, net of tax	–	387	598	805	1,790	–	–	1,688	1,688

Net earnings (loss)	(1,586)	4,863	13,977	(5,373)	11,881	(7,489)	1,732	11,210	5,453

Earnings (loss) per share:
Basic	(0.02)	0.07	0.21	(0.08)	0.18	(0.11)	0.03	0.17	0.08
Diluted	(0.02)	0.07	0.21	(0.08)	0.17	(0.11)	0.03	0.17	0.08

Excluded items:
Purchased intangible asset amortization (cost of revenue)	3,290	1,217	1,181	3,097	8,785	3,846	3,748	3,686	11,280
Non-cash stock compensation (cost of revenue and operating expenses)	13,292	15,735	17,497	24,780	71,304	27,985	29,068	26,760	83,813
Restructuring and merger charges (gains, losses, and other)	116	6,574	2,502	2,516	11,708	206	397	149	752
Transformation costs (general and administrative)	1,875	–	–	–	1,875	–	–	–	–
Total excluded items from continuing operations	18,573	23,526	21,180	30,393	93,672	32,037	33,213	30,595	95,845

Income from continuing operations before income taxes and excluding items	25,692	38,165	42,988	21,188	128,033	31,233	44,897	49,301	125,431
Income tax expense (2)	6,167	9,036	10,732	3,947	29,882	7,371	10,745	12,421	30,537
Non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations	19,525	29,129	32,256	17,241	98,151	23,862	34,152	36,880	94,894

Non-GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations
Basic	0.29	0.44	0.49	0.26	1.48	0.36	0.52	0.56	1.43
Diluted	0.29	0.43	0.47	0.25	1.45	0.35	0.51	0.55	1.41

Basic weighted average shares	66,497	66,284	65,961	66,323	66,266	66,621	66,294	65,631	66,182
Diluted weighted average shares	67,388	67,868	67,943	68,471	67,918	68,463	67,309	66,743	67,505


Some totals may not add due to rounding

(1) This presentation includes non-GAAP measures. Our non-GAAP measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures, and should be read only in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. For a detailed explanation of the adjustments made to comparable GAAP measures, the reasons why management uses these measures and the material limitations on the usefulness of these measures, please see Appendix A.

LIVERAMP HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP OPERATING INCOME GUIDANCE (1)
(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands)
	For the		For the
	quarter ending		year ending
	March 31, 2025		March 31, 2025



GAAP income (loss) from operations	$	(8,000)	$	10,000

Excluded items:
Purchased intangible asset amortization		3,000		14,000
Non-cash stock compensation		26,000		110,000
Restructuring costs		1,000		1,000
Total excluded items		30,000		125,000

Non-GAAP income from operations	$	22,000	$	135,000


(1) This presentation includes non-GAAP measures. Our non-GAAP measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures, and should be read only in conjunction with our condensed consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. For a detailed explanation of the adjustments made to comparable GAAP measures, the reasons why management uses these measures, the usefulness of these measures and the material limitations on the usefulness of these measures, please see Appendix A.

APPENDIX A

LIVERAMP HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Q3 FISCAL 2025 FINANCIAL RESULTS

EXPLANATION OF NON-GAAP MEASURES AND OTHER KEY METRICS

To supplement our financial results, we use non-GAAP measures which exclude certain acquisition related expenses, non-cash stock compensation and restructuring charges. We believe these measures are helpful in understanding our past performance and our future results. Our non-GAAP financial measures and schedules are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures and should be read only in conjunction with our consolidated GAAP financial statements. Our management regularly uses these non-GAAP financial measures internally to understand, manage and evaluate our business and to make operating decisions. These measures are among the primary factors management uses in planning for and forecasting future periods. Compensation of our executives is also based in part on the performance of our business based on these non-GAAP measures.

Our non-GAAP financial measures, including non-GAAP earnings (loss) per share, non-GAAP income (loss) from operations and adjusted EBITDA reflect adjustments based on the following items, as well as the related income tax effects when applicable:

Purchased intangible asset amortization: We incur amortization of purchased intangibles in connection with our acquisitions. Purchased intangibles include (i) developed technology, (ii) customer and publisher relationships, and (iii) trade names. We expect to amortize for accounting purposes the fair value of the purchased intangibles based on the pattern in which the economic benefits of the intangible assets will be consumed as revenue is generated. Although the intangible assets generate revenue for us, we exclude this item because this expense is non-cash in nature and because we believe the non-GAAP financial measures excluding this item provide meaningful supplemental information regarding our operational performance.

Non-cash stock compensation: Non-cash stock compensation consists of charges for associate restricted stock units, performance shares and stock options in accordance with current GAAP related to stock-based compensation including expense associated with stock-based compensation related to unvested options assumed in connection with our acquisitions. As we apply stock-based compensation standards, we believe that it is useful to investors to understand the impact of the application of these standards to our operational performance. Although stock-based compensation expense is calculated in accordance with current GAAP and constitutes an ongoing and recurring expense, such expense is excluded from non-GAAP results because it is not an expense that typically requires or will require cash settlement by us and because such expense is not used by us to assess the core profitability of our business operations.

Restructuring charges: During the past several years, we have initiated certain restructuring activities in order to align our costs in connection with both our operating plans and our business strategies based on then-current economic conditions. As a result, we recognized costs related to termination benefits for employees whose positions were eliminated, lease and other contract termination charges, and asset impairments. These items, as well as third party expenses associated with business acquisitions in the current year, reported as gains, losses, and other items, net, are excluded from non-GAAP results because such amounts are not used by us to assess the core profitability of our business operations.

Transformation costs: In previous years, we incurred significant expenses to separate the financial statements of our operating segments, with particular focus on segment-level balance sheets, and to evaluate portfolio priorities. Our criteria for excluding transformation expenses from our non-GAAP measures is as follows: 1) projects are discrete in nature; 2) excluded expenses consist only of third-party consulting fees that we would not incur otherwise; and 3) we do not exclude employee related expenses or other costs associated with the ongoing operations of our business. We substantially completed those projects during the third quarter of fiscal year 2018. Beginning in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018, and through most of fiscal 2019, we incurred transaction support expenses and system separation costs related to the Company’s announced evaluation of strategic options for its Marketing Solutions (AMS) business. In the first and second quarters of fiscal 2021 in response to the potential COVID-19 pandemic impact on our business and again during fiscal 2023 in response to macroeconomic conditions, we incurred significant costs associated with the assessment of strategic and operating plans, including our long-term location strategy, and assistance in implementing the restructuring activities as a result of this assessment. Our criteria for excluding these costs are the same. We believe excluding these items from our non-GAAP financial measures is useful for investors and provides meaningful supplemental information.

Our non-GAAP financial schedules are:

Non-GAAP EPS, Non-GAAP Income from Operations, and Non-GAAP expenses: Our Non-GAAP earnings per share, Non-GAAP income from operations, and Non-GAAP expenses reflect adjustments as described above, as well as the related tax effects where applicable.

Adjusted EBITDA: Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income from continuing operations before income taxes, other expenses, depreciation and amortization, and including adjustments as described above. We use Adjusted EBITDA to measure our performance from period to period both at the consolidated level as well as within our operating segments and to compare our results to those of our competitors. We believe that the inclusion of Adjusted EBITDA provides useful supplementary information to and facilitates analysis by investors in evaluating the Company’s performance and trends. The presentation of Adjusted EBITDA is not meant to be considered in isolation or as an alternative to net earnings as an indicator of our performance.

Free Cash Flow: To supplement our statement of cash flows, we use a non-GAAP measure of cash flow to analyze cash flows generated from operations. Free cash flow is defined as operating cash flow less capital expenditures. Management believes that this measure of cash flow is meaningful since it represents the amount of money available from continuing operations for the Company’s discretionary spending. The presentation of non-GAAP free cash flow is not meant to be considered in isolation or as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities as a measure of liquidity.

PDF Available: http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/cfac844b-6484-4164-92b1-a991aa0edb1a

The MIL Network –

February 6, 2025

MIL-OSI: Tenable Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Financial Results

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Fourth quarter revenue of $235.7 million, up 11% year-over-year; full year revenue of $900.0 million, up 13% year-over-year.
Fourth quarter calculated current billings of $302.2 million, up 11% year-over-year; full year calculated current billings of $969.5 million, up 11% year-over-year.
Full year net cash provided by operating activities of $217.5 million; full year unlevered free cash flow of $237.8 million.

COLUMBIA, Md., Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Tenable Holdings, Inc. (“Tenable”) (Nasdaq: TENB), the exposure management company, today announced financial results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2024.

“We are very pleased with the results for the quarter as we delivered better-than-expected CCB, revenue, operating income, EPS and unlevered free cash flow,” said Steve Vintz, Co-CEO and CFO of Tenable. “Our outperformance was driven by strong traction in cloud and Tenable One as customers look to secure cloud and get a holistic view of their environment.”

“We continue to drive incredible value for our customers resulting in a strong quarter for six-figure additions, many of which were Tenable One deals,” said Mark Thurmond, Co-CEO and COO of Tenable. “We are winning marquee, large deals with our exposure management products and are laser focused on continuing to deliver on our customer-driven roadmap.”

Fourth Quarter 2024 Financial Highlights

Revenue was $235.7 million, an 11% increase year-over-year.
Calculated current billings was $302.2 million, an 11% increase year-over-year.
GAAP income from operations was $13.0 million, compared to a loss of $14.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Non-GAAP income from operations was $59.4 million, compared to $36.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
GAAP net income was $1.9 million, compared to a loss of $21.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
GAAP diluted earnings per share was $0.02, compared to a loss per share of $0.19 in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Non-GAAP net income was $50.7 million, compared to $30.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share was $0.41, compared to $0.25 in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $81.1 million, compared to $38.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Unlevered free cash flow was $85.7 million, compared to $43.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Repurchased 1.2 million shares of our common stock for $50.0 million.

Full Year 2024 Financial Highlights

Revenue was $900.0 million, a 13% increase year-over-year.
Calculated current billings was $969.5 million, an 11% increase year-over-year.
GAAP loss from operations was $6.9 million, compared to $52.2 million in 2023.
Non-GAAP income from operations was $184.1 million, compared to $121.0 million in 2023.
GAAP net loss was $36.3 million, compared to $78.3 million in 2023.
GAAP net loss per share was $0.31, compared to $0.68 in 2023.
Non-GAAP net income was $158.6 million, compared to $97.2 million in 2023.
Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share was $1.29, compared to $0.80 in 2023.
Cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments were $577.2 million at December 31, 2024, compared to $474.0 million at December 31, 2023.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $217.5 million, compared to $149.9 million in 2023.
Unlevered free cash flow was $237.8 million, compared to $175.4 million in 2023.
Repurchased 2.3 million shares of our common stock for $100.0 million.

Recent Business Highlights

Added 485 new enterprise platform customers and 135 net new six-figure customers.
Announced our intent to acquire exposure management company Vulcan Cyber Ltd., whose capabilities will augment our industry-leading Exposure Management platform, adding enhanced visibility, extended third-party data flows, superior risk prioritization, and optimized remediation.
Launched Tenable Patch Management, an autonomous patch management solution built to quickly and effectively close vulnerability exposures.
Integrated Tenable Vulnerability Intelligence into Tenable Security Center and enhanced the solution’s risk prioritization and web application scanning features to streamline vulnerability analysis and response.
Published the 2024 Tenable Cloud Risk Report examining the critical risks at play in modern cloud environments. The report reflects findings by the Tenable Cloud Research team based on telemetry from millions of cloud resources across multiple public cloud repositories.

Financial Outlook

Our financial outlook excludes the impact of the potential acquisition of Vulcan Cyber, which we expect to close shortly.

For the first quarter of 2025, we currently expect:

Revenue in the range of $232.0 million to $234.0 million.
Non-GAAP income from operations in the range of $42.0 million to $44.0 million.
Non-GAAP net income in the range of $35.0 million to $37.0 million, assuming interest income of $5.2 million, interest expense of $7.0 million and a provision for income taxes of $3.6 million.
Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share in the range of $0.28 to $0.30.
124.0 million diluted weighted average shares outstanding.

For the year ending December 31, 2025, we currently expect:

Calculated current billings in the range of $1.040 billion to $1.055 billion.
Revenue in the range of $971.0 million to $981.0 million.
Non-GAAP income from operations in the range of $213.0 million to $223.0 million.
Non-GAAP net income in the range of $189.0 million to $199.0 million, assuming interest income of $21.0 million, interest expense of $28.3 million and a provision for income taxes of $13.4 million.
Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share in the range of $1.52 to $1.60.
124.5 million diluted weighted average shares outstanding.
Unlevered free cash flow in the range of $285.0 million to $295.0 million.

Conference Call Information

Tenable will host a conference call today, February 5, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss its financial results. The conference call can be accessed at 877-407-9716 (U.S.) and 201-493-6779 (international). A live webcast of the event will be available on the Tenable Investor Relations website at https://investors.tenable.com. An archived replay of the live broadcast will be available on the Investor Relations page of the website following the call.

About Tenable

Tenable^® is the exposure management company, exposing and closing the cybersecurity gaps that erode business value, reputation and trust. The company’s AI-powered exposure management platform radically unifies security visibility, insight and action across the attack surface, equipping modern organizations to protect against attacks from IT infrastructure to cloud environments to critical infrastructure and everywhere in between. By protecting enterprises from security exposure, Tenable reduces business risk for approximately 44,000 customers around the globe. Learn more at tenable.com.

Contact Information

Investor Relations
investors@tenable.com

Media Relations
tenablepr@tenable.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, our platform’s ability to help protect enterprises from security exposure and streamline vulnerability analysis and response, business strategy and plans and objectives for future operations, are forward-looking statements and represent our views as of the date of this press release. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “will” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions and risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond our control that could affect our financial results. These risks and uncertainties are detailed in the sections titled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 and other filings that we make from time to time with the SEC, which are available on the SEC’s website at sec.gov. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future events and trends discussed in this press release may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in any forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we are under no obligation to update these forward-looking statements subsequent to the date of this press release, or to update the reasons if actual results differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, we use certain non-GAAP financial measures, as described below, to understand and evaluate our core operating performance. These non-GAAP financial measures, which may be different than similarly titled measures used by other companies, are presented to enhance the overall understanding of our financial performance and should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.

We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information about our financial performance, enhance the overall understanding of our past performance and future prospects and allow for greater transparency with respect to important metrics used by management for financial and operational decision-making. We include these non-GAAP financial measures to present our financial performance using a management view and because we believe that these measures provide an additional comparison of our core financial performance over multiple periods with other companies in our industry.

Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included in the financial tables accompanying this press release.

Calculated Current Billings: We define calculated current billings, a non-GAAP financial measure, as total revenue recognized in a period plus the change in current deferred revenue in the corresponding period. We believe that calculated current billings is a key metric to measure our periodic performance. Given that most of our customers pay in advance (including multi-year contracts), but we generally recognize the related revenue ratably over time, we use calculated current billings to measure and monitor our ability to provide our business with the working capital generated by upfront payments from our customers. We believe that calculated current billings, which excludes deferred revenue for periods beyond twelve months in a customer’s contractual term, more closely correlates with annual contract value and that the variability in total billings, depending on the timing of large multi-year contracts and the preference for annual billing versus multi-year upfront billing, may distort growth in one period over another.

Free Cash Flow and Unlevered Free Cash Flow: We define free cash flow, a non-GAAP financial measure, as net cash provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment and capitalized software development costs. We believe free cash flow is an important liquidity measure of the cash that is available (if any), after purchases of property and equipment and capitalized software development costs, for investment in our business and to make acquisitions. We believe that free cash flow is useful as a liquidity measure because it measures our ability to generate cash. We define unlevered free cash flow as free cash flow plus cash paid for interest and other financing costs. We believe unlevered free cash flow is useful as a liquidity measure as it measures the cash that is available to invest in our business and meet our current debt obligations and future financing needs. However, given our debt obligations, non-cancelable commitments and other contractual obligations, unlevered free cash flow does not represent residual cash flow available for discretionary expenses.

Non-GAAP Income from Operations and Non-GAAP Operating Margin: We define these non-GAAP financial measures as their respective GAAP measures, excluding the effect of stock-based compensation, acquisition-related expenses, restructuring expenses, costs related to the intra-entity asset transfers resulting from the internal restructuring of legal entities, and amortization of acquired intangible assets. Acquisition-related expenses include transaction and integration expenses, as well as costs related to the intercompany transfer of acquired intellectual property. Restructuring expenses include non-ordinary course severance, employee related benefits, and other charges to reorganize business operations. We believe that the exclusion of these expenses provides for a useful comparison of our operating results to prior periods and to our peer companies, which commonly exclude restructuring expenses.

Non-GAAP Net Income and Non-GAAP Earnings Per Share: We define non-GAAP net income as GAAP net income (loss), excluding the effect of stock-based compensation, acquisition-related expenses, restructuring expenses and amortization of acquired intangible assets, including the applicable tax impacts. In addition, we exclude the tax impact and related costs of intra-entity asset transfers resulting from the internal restructuring of legal entities as well as deferred income tax benefits recognized in connection with acquisitions. We use non-GAAP net income to calculate non-GAAP earnings per share.

Non-GAAP Gross Profit and Non-GAAP Gross Margin: We define non-GAAP gross profit as GAAP gross profit, excluding the effect of stock-based compensation and amortization of acquired intangible assets. Non-GAAP gross margin is defined as non-GAAP gross profit as a percentage of revenue.

Non-GAAP Sales and Marketing Expense, Non-GAAP Research and Development Expense and Non-GAAP General and Administrative Expense: We define these non-GAAP measures as their respective GAAP measures, excluding stock-based compensation, acquisition-related expenses and costs related to intra-entity asset transfers resulting from the internal restructuring of legal entities.

TENABLE HOLDINGS, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (unaudited)

	Three Months Ended December 31,						Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands, except per share data)	2024			2023			2024			2023
Revenue	$	235,731		$	213,306		$	900,021		$	798,710
Cost of revenue⁽¹⁾		51,439			48,803			199,668			183,577
Gross profit		184,292			164,503			700,353			615,133
Operating expenses:
Sales and marketing⁽¹⁾		95,348			103,700			395,385			393,450
Research and development⁽¹⁾		44,728			40,083			181,624			153,163
General and administrative⁽¹⁾		31,241			30,567			124,130			116,181
Restructuring		—			4,499			6,070			4,499
Total operating expenses		171,317			178,849			707,209			667,293
Income (loss) from operations		12,975			(14,346	)		(6,856	)		(52,160	)
Interest income		5,738			5,377			23,325			24,700
Interest expense		(7,587	)		(8,131	)		(31,920	)		(31,339	)
Other expense, net		(2,577	)		(609	)		(3,435	)		(8,602	)
Income (loss) before income taxes		8,549			(17,709	)		(18,886	)		(67,401	)
Provision for income taxes		6,681			3,939			17,415			10,883
Net income (loss)	$	1,868		$	(21,648	)	$	(36,301	)	$	(78,284	)

Net earnings (loss) per share:
Basic	$	0.02		$	(0.19	)	$	(0.31	)	$	(0.68	)
Diluted	$	0.02		$	(0.19	)	$	(0.31	)	$	(0.68	)

Weighted-average shares used to compute net earnings (loss) per share:
Basic		119,748			116,717			118,789			115,408
Diluted		123,853			116,717			118,789			115,408

_______________

⁽¹⁾Includes stock-based compensation as follows:

	Three Months Ended December 31,				Year Ended December 31,
	2024		2023		2024		2023
Cost of revenue	$	3,191	$	2,705	$	12,677	$	11,247
Sales and marketing		15,210		14,700		62,727		61,322
Research and development		12,261		9,354		47,656		37,225
General and administrative		10,052		9,756		40,455		35,533
Total stock-based compensation	$	40,714	$	36,515	$	163,515	$	145,327

TENABLE HOLDINGS, INC. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (unaudited)

	December 31,
(in thousands, except per share data)		2024			2023
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	328,647		$	237,132
Short-term investments		248,547			236,840
Accounts receivable (net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $525 and $470 at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively)		258,734			220,060
Deferred commissions		51,791			49,559
Prepaid expenses and other current assets		53,026			61,882
Total current assets		940,745			805,473
Property and equipment, net		39,265			45,436
Deferred commissions (net of current portion)		67,914			72,394
Operating lease right-of-use assets		45,139			34,835
Acquired intangible assets, net		94,461			107,017
Goodwill		541,292			518,539
Other assets		13,303			23,177
Total assets	$	1,742,119		$	1,606,871

Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable and accrued expenses	$	19,981		$	16,941
Accrued compensation		55,784			66,492
Deferred revenue		650,372			580,779
Operating lease liabilities		6,801			5,971
Other current liabilities		5,154			5,655
Total current liabilities		738,092			675,838
Deferred revenue (net of current portion)		182,815			169,718
Term loan, net of issuance costs (net of current portion)		356,705			359,281
Operating lease liabilities (net of current portion)		56,224			48,058
Other liabilities		8,329			7,632
Total liabilities		1,342,165			1,260,527
Stockholders’ equity:
Common stock (par value: $0.01; 500,000 shares authorized, 122,371 and 117,504 shares issued at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively)		1,224			1,175
Additional paid-in capital		1,374,659			1,185,100
Treasury stock (at cost: 2,673 and 356 shares at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively)		(114,911	)		(14,934	)
Accumulated other comprehensive income		318			38
Accumulated deficit		(861,336	)		(825,035	)
Total stockholders’ equity		399,954			346,344
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	$	1,742,119		$	1,606,871

TENABLE HOLDINGS, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (unaudited)

	Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands)		2024			2023
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net loss	$	(36,301	)	$	(78,284	)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization		33,209			27,108
Stock-based compensation		163,515			145,327
Net accretion of discounts and amortization of premiums on short-term investments		(7,595	)		(8,323	)
Amortization of debt issuance costs		1,353			1,267
(Gain) loss on other investments		(1,452	)		5,617
Restructuring		4,528			—
Other		6,507			2,179
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable		(38,730	)		(30,042	)
Prepaid expenses and other assets		26,170			1,689
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and accrued compensation		(8,257	)		7,071
Deferred revenue		82,581			81,755
Other current and noncurrent liabilities		(8,052	)		(5,509	)
Net cash provided by operating activities		217,476			149,855

Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment		(4,247	)		(1,704	)
Capitalized software development costs		(6,451	)		(7,052	)
Purchases of short-term investments		(287,797	)		(278,209	)
Sales and maturities of short-term investments		283,964			317,651
Proceeds from other investments		3,512			—
Purchases of other investments		(1,250	)		—
Business combinations, net of cash acquired		(29,162	)		(243,301	)
Net cash used in investing activities		(41,431	)		(212,615	)

Cash flows from financing activities:
Payments on term loan		(3,750	)		(3,750	)
Proceeds from stock issued in connection with the employee stock purchase plan		16,262			16,224
Proceeds from the exercise of stock options		8,064			3,501
Purchase of treasury stock		(99,977	)		(14,934	)
Other financing activities		—			210
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities		(79,401	)		1,251
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash		(5,129	)		(2,225	)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash		91,515			(63,734	)
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of year		237,132			300,866
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of year	$	328,647		$	237,132

TENABLE HOLDINGS, INC. REVENUE COMPONENTS AND RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES (unaudited)

Revenue	Three Months Ended December 31,				Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands)		2024		2023		2024		2023
Subscription revenue	$	215,932	$	193,880	$	824,659	$	725,013
Perpetual license and maintenance revenue		11,833		12,194		47,774		48,729
Professional services and other revenue		7,966		7,232		27,588		24,968
Revenue⁽¹⁾	$	235,731	$	213,306	$	900,021	$	798,710

_______________

(1) Recurring revenue, which includes revenue from subscription arrangements for software (both recognized ratably over the subscription term and upon delivery) and cloud-based solutions and maintenance associated with perpetual licenses, represented 95% and 96% of revenue, respectively, in the three months and year ended December 31, 2024 and 95% of revenue in the three months and year ended December 31, 2023.

Calculated Current Billings	Three Months Ended December 31,						Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands)		2024			2023			2024			2023
Revenue	$	235,731		$	213,306		$	900,021		$	798,710
Deferred revenue (current), end of period		650,372			580,779			650,372			580,779
Deferred revenue (current), beginning of period⁽¹⁾		(583,940	)		(522,449	)		(580,887	)		(506,192	)
Calculated current billings	$	302,163		$	271,636		$	969,506		$	873,297

_______________

(1) Deferred revenue (current), beginning of period for the three months ended December 31, 2023 and years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 includes $4.1 million, $0.1 million and $4.1 million, respectively, related to acquired deferred revenue.

Remaining Performance Obligations	At December 31,
(in thousands)		2024		2023
Remaining performance obligations, short-term	$	660,647	$	595,053
Remaining performance obligations, long-term		206,879		179,955
Remaining performance obligations	$	867,526	$	775,008

Free Cash Flow and Unlevered Free Cash Flow	Three Months Ended December 31,						Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands)		2024			2023			2024			2023
Net cash provided by operating activities	$	81,119		$	38,505		$	217,476		$	149,855
Purchases of property and equipment		(2,323	)		(405	)		(4,247	)		(1,704	)
Capitalized software development costs		(521	)		(2,345	)		(6,451	)		(7,052	)
Free cash flow		78,275			35,755			206,778			141,099
Cash paid for interest and other financing costs		7,472			7,537			30,977			34,323
Unlevered free cash flow	$	85,747		$	43,292		$	237,755		$	175,422

Free cash flow and unlevered free cash flow for the periods presented were impacted by:

	Three Months Ended December 31,						Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands)		2024			2023			2024			2023
Employee stock purchase plan activity	$	5,267		$	3,584		$	(1,016	)	$	1,077
Acquisition-related expenses		(170	)		(8,506	)		(1,496	)		(9,336	)
Restructuring		—			—			(5,911	)		—
Tax payment on intra-entity asset transfer⁽¹⁾		(1,232	)		—			(1,232	)		—

________________

(1) The tax payment on intra-entity asset transfer includes $0.3 million of interest that is included in cash paid for interest and other financing costs.

Non-GAAP Income from Operations and Non-GAAP Operating Margin	Three Months Ended December 31,						Year Ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)		2024			2023			2024			2023
Income (loss) from operations	$	12,975		$	(14,346	)	$	(6,856	)	$	(52,160	)
Stock-based compensation		40,714			36,515			163,515			145,327
Acquisition-related expenses		648			4,744			1,932			9,472
Restructuring		—			4,499			6,070			4,499
Amortization of acquired intangible assets		5,014			4,651			19,457			13,859
Non-GAAP income from operations	$	59,351		$	36,063		$	184,118		$	120,997
Operating margin		6	%		(7)	%		(1)	%		(7)	%
Non-GAAP operating margin		25	%		17	%		20	%		15	%

Non-GAAP Net Income and Non-GAAP Earnings Per Share	Three Months Ended December 31,						Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands, except per share data)		2024			2023			2024			2023
Net income (loss)	$	1,868		$	(21,648	)	$	(36,301	)	$	(78,284	)
Stock-based compensation		40,714			36,515			163,515			145,327
Tax impact of stock-based compensation⁽¹⁾		1,219			971			2,845			2,017
Acquisition-related expenses⁽²⁾		648			4,744			1,932			9,472
Restructuring⁽²⁾		—			4,499			6,070			4,499
Amortization of acquired intangible assets⁽³⁾		5,014			4,651			19,457			13,859
Tax impact of acquisitions		(31	)		426			(161	)		265
Tax impact of intra-entity asset transfer⁽⁴⁾		1,232			—			1,232			—
Non-GAAP net income	$	50,664		$	30,158		$	158,589		$	97,155

Net earnings (loss) per share, diluted	$	0.02		$	(0.19	)	$	(0.31	)	$	(0.68	)
Stock-based compensation		0.33			0.31			1.38			1.25
Tax impact of stock-based compensation⁽¹⁾		0.01			0.01			0.03			0.02
Acquisition-related expenses⁽²⁾		—			0.04			0.02			0.08
Restructuring⁽²⁾		—			0.04			0.05			0.04
Amortization of acquired intangible assets⁽³⁾		0.04			0.04			0.16			0.11
Tax impact of acquisitions		—			—			—			—
Tax impact of intra-entity asset transfer⁽⁴⁾		0.01			—			0.01			—
Adjustment to diluted earnings per share⁽⁵⁾		—			—			(0.05	)		(0.02	)
Non-GAAP earnings per share, diluted	$	0.41		$	0.25		$	1.29		$	0.80

Weighted-average shares used to compute GAAP net earnings (loss) per share, diluted		123,853			116,717			118,789			115,408

Weighted-average shares used to compute non-GAAP earnings per share, diluted		123,853			122,023			123,370			120,714

________________

(1) The tax impact of stock-based compensation is based on the tax treatment for the applicable tax jurisdictions.

(2) The tax impact of acquisition-related expenses and restructuring charges are not material.

(3) The tax impact of the amortization of acquired intangible assets is included in the tax impact of acquisitions.

(4) The tax impact of the intra-entity asset transfer is additional tax incurred related to the 2021 internal restructuring of Indegy.

(5) An adjustment to reconcile GAAP net loss per share, which excludes potentially dilutive shares, to non-GAAP earnings per share, which includes potentially dilutive shares, when applicable.

Non-GAAP Gross Profit and Non-GAAP Gross Margin	Three Months Ended December 31,						Year Ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)		2024			2023			2024			2023
Gross profit	$	184,292		$	164,503		$	700,353		$	615,133
Stock-based compensation		3,191			2,705			12,677			11,247
Amortization of acquired intangible assets		5,014			4,651			19,457			13,859
Non-GAAP gross profit	$	192,497		$	171,859		$	732,487		$	640,239
Gross margin		78	%		77	%		78	%		77	%
Non-GAAP gross margin		82	%		81	%		81	%		80	%

Non-GAAP Sales and Marketing Expense	Three Months Ended December 31,						Year Ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)		2024			2023			2024			2023
Sales and marketing expense	$	95,348		$	103,700		$	395,385		$	393,450
Less: Stock-based compensation		15,210			14,700			62,727			61,322
Less: Acquisition-related expenses		—			512			52			512
Non-GAAP sales and marketing expense	$	80,138		$	88,488		$	332,606		$	331,616
Non-GAAP sales and marketing expense % of revenue		34	%		41	%		37	%		42	%

Non-GAAP Research and Development Expense	Three Months Ended December 31,						Year Ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)		2024			2023			2024			2023
Research and development expense	$	44,728		$	40,083		$	181,624		$	153,163
Less: Stock-based compensation		12,261			9,354			47,656			37,225
Less: Acquisition-related expenses		—			2,880			(20	)		2,880
Non-GAAP research and development expense	$	32,467		$	27,849		$	133,988		$	113,058
Non-GAAP research and development expense % of revenue		14	%		13	%		15	%		14	%

Non-GAAP General and Administrative Expense	Three Months Ended December 31,						Year Ended December 31,
(dollars in thousands)		2024			2023			2024			2023
General and administrative expense	$	31,241		$	30,567		$	124,130		$	116,181
Less: Stock-based compensation		10,052			9,756			40,455			35,533
Less: Acquisition-related expenses		648			1,352			1,900			6,080
Non-GAAP general and administrative expense	$	20,541		$	19,459		$	81,775		$	74,568
Non-GAAP general and administrative expense % of revenue		9	%		9	%		9	%		9	%

The following adjustments to reconcile forecasted non-GAAP income from operations, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per share, free cash flow and unlevered free cash flow are subject to a number of uncertainties and assumptions, each of which are inherently difficult to forecast. As a result, actual adjustments and GAAP results may differ materially.

Forecasted Non-GAAP Income from Operations	Three Months Ending March 31, 2025						Year Ending December 31, 2025
(in millions)	Low			High			Low		High
Forecasted (loss) income from operations	$	(18.0	)	$	(16.0	)	$	3.0	$	13.0
Forecasted stock-based compensation		55.0			55.0			190.0		190.0
Forecasted amortization of acquired intangible assets		5.0			5.0			20.0		20.0
Forecasted non-GAAP income from operations	$	42.0		$	44.0		$	213.0	$	223.0

Forecasted Non-GAAP Net Income and Non-GAAP Earnings Per Share	Three Months Ending March 31, 2025						Year Ending December 31, 2025
(in millions, except per share data)	Low			High			Low			High
Forecasted net loss⁽¹⁾	$	(26.0	)	$	(24.0	)	$	(26.0	)	$	(16.0	)
Forecasted stock-based compensation		55.0			55.0			190.0			190.0
Forecasted tax impact of stock-based compensation		1.0			1.0			5.0			5.0
Forecasted amortization of acquired intangible assets		5.0			5.0			20.0			20.0
Forecasted non-GAAP net income	$	35.0		$	37.0		$	189.0		$	199.0

Forecasted net loss per share, diluted⁽¹⁾	$	(0.22	)	$	(0.20	)	$	(0.21	)	$	(0.13	)
Forecasted stock-based compensation		0.46			0.46			1.57			1.57
Forecasted tax impact of stock-based compensation		0.01			0.01			0.04			0.04
Forecasted amortization of acquired intangible assets		0.04			0.04			0.16			0.16
Adjustment to diluted earnings per share⁽²⁾		(0.01	)		(0.01	)		(0.04	)		(0.04	)
Forecasted non-GAAP earnings per share, diluted	$	0.28		$	0.30		$	1.52		$	1.60

Forecasted weighted-average shares used to compute GAAP net loss per share, diluted		120.5			120.5			121.0			121.0
Forecasted weighted-average shares used to compute non-GAAP earnings per share, diluted		124.0			124.0			124.5			124.5

________________
(1) The forecasted GAAP net loss assumes income tax expense of $4.6 million and $18.4 million in the three months ending March 31, 2025 and year ending December 31, 2025, respectively.

(2) Adjustment to reconcile GAAP net loss per share, which excludes potentially dilutive shares, to non-GAAP earnings per share, which includes potentially dilutive shares.

Forecasted Free Cash Flow and Unlevered Free Cash Flow	Year Ending December 31, 2025
(in millions)	Low			High
Forecasted net cash provided by operating activities	$	278.0		$	288.0
Forecasted purchases of property and equipment		(17.0	)		(17.0	)
Forecasted capitalized software development costs		(3.0	)		(3.0	)
Forecasted free cash flow		258.0			268.0
Forecasted cash paid for interest and other financing costs		27.0			27.0
Forecasted unlevered free cash flow	$	285.0		$	295.0

The MIL Network –

February 6, 2025

MIL-OSI: GAMCO’s Chairman Elects to Waive Compensation from March 1, 2025 to May 31, 2025 – To Accelerate ETF and CIT Development

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

GREENWICH, Conn., Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GAMCO Investors, Inc. (“GAMCO”) (OTCQX: GAMI) announced today that its Chairman and co-CEO, Mr. Mario J. Gabelli, has elected to waive all of his Portfolio and Relationship compensation that he would otherwise have been entitled to for the period from March 1, 2025 to May 31, 2025. This will provide cushion for investment strategy development.

About Gabelli

Gabelli is best known for its research-driven value approach to equity investing (known as PMV with a Catalyst^TM). Gabelli conducts its investment advisory business principally through two subsidiaries: Gabelli Funds, LLC (24 open-end funds, 14 closed-end funds, 5 actively managed ETFs, and a SICAV) and GAMCO Asset Management Inc. (approximately 1,400 institutional and private wealth separate accounts). Gabelli serves a broad client base including institutions, intermediaries, offshore investors, private wealth, and direct retail investors. In recent years, Gabelli has successfully integrated new teams of RIAs by providing attractive compensation arrangements and extensive research capabilities. As we stated in the past, Gabelli continues to look for new acquisitions / lift-outs and will pay finder’s fees for successful opportunities.

Gabelli offers a wide range of solutions for clients across Value and Growth Equity, Convertibles, actively managed ETFs, sector-focused strategies including Gold and Utilities, Merger Arbitrage, Fixed Income, and 100% U.S. Treasury Money Market.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The financial results set forth in this press release are preliminary. Our disclosure and analysis in this press release, which do not present historical information, contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements convey our current expectations or forecasts of future events. You can identify these statements because they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They use words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” and other words and terms of similar meaning. They also appear in any discussion of future operating or financial performance. In particular, these include statements relating to future actions, future performance of our products, expenses, the outcome of any legal proceedings, and financial results. Although we believe that we are basing our expectations and beliefs on reasonable assumptions within the bounds of what we currently know about our business and operations, the economy, and other conditions, there can be no assurance that our actual results will not differ materially from what we expect or believe. Therefore, you should proceed with caution in relying on any of these forward-looking statements. They are neither statements of historical fact nor guarantees or assurances of future performance.

Forward-looking statements involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors, some of which are listed below, that are difficult to predict and could cause actual results and outcomes to differ materially from any future results or outcomes expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that may cause our actual results to differ from our expectations include risks associated with a decline in the securities markets that adversely affect our assets under management, negative performance of our products, the failure to perform as required under our investment management agreements, and a general downturn in the economy that negatively impacts our operations. We also direct your attention to the more specific discussions of these and other risks, uncertainties and other important factors contained in our Annual Report and other public filings. Other factors that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We do not undertake to update publicly any forward-looking statements if we subsequently learn that we are unlikely to achieve our expectations whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

Contact: Kieran Caterina

SVP, Chief Accounting Officer

(914) 921-5149

For further information please visit

www.gabelli.com

The MIL Network –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Welcome to IADC’s 2025 Executive Committee!

Source: International Association of Drilling Contractors – IADC

Headline: Welcome to IADC’s 2025 Executive Committee!

KEVIN NEVEU, CHAIR

Precision Drilling Corporation

Kevin Neveu is President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Precision Drilling Corporation and has held these positions since joining the company in 2007. Mr. Neveu has 43 years of experience in the oilfield services sector holding various technical, marketing, and management positions over his career. Mr. Neveu holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and is a graduate of the University of Alberta and is a registered Professional Engineer in the province of Alberta. He has also completed the Harvard Advanced Management Program in Boston, Massachusetts.

RODDIE MACKENZIE, VICE CHAIR

Transocean

Named to his current position in February 2022, Mr. Mackenzie is responsible for identifying innovative technologies that create demonstrable value for Transocean’s customers and differentiate Transocean from its competitors in addition to leading Transocean’s Marketing organization. Mr. Mackenzie served previously as Senior Vice President, Marketing, Innovation and Industry Relations; Vice President, Marketing and Contracts; Managing Director, Business Development and Strategic Accounts, and as a Marketing Director with increasing roles of responsibility in the United States, France, and Dubai. He brings over 20 years of industry experience and prior to his time in Marketing, Mr. Mackenzie served in various operational and project roles around the globe, starting his career at Transocean as a rig-based engineer in 1997. He has worked on all manner of drilling rigs in Algeria, Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola, Brazil, and the US Gulf of Mexico.

Mr. Mackenzie currently serves as Vice President for Offshore Division of the International Association of Drilling Contractors and on various committees for the Offshore Energy Center.

Mr. Mackenzie graduated from the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program in 2016 and received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Strathclyde in Civil Engineering with Environmental Studies in 1997.

BRAD JAMES, IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR

Enterprise Offshore Drilling

Mr. James has served as founding President, CEO and Board Member of Enterprise Offshore Drilling LLC since 2016. He previously served as Sr. Vice President – Marketing of Hercules Offshore from 2006 through 2016 and was responsible for managing worldwide marketing activity for Hercules drilling divisions. Prior to that he held various leadership roles at Transocean Offshore (including R&B Falcon and Cliffs Drilling), was founding President of Field Drilling Company and Vice President of Southland Drilling. He currently serves on the IADC Executive Committee and is a board member of IADC Drillers PAC and is a former Chairman of the IADC Houston Chapter. Mr. James obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Southwest Texas State University in 1981.

JENNIFER YEUNG, SECRETARY/TREASURER

Noble Corporation

Ms. Yeung was named Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller of Noble in November 2023. Prior to joining Noble, she served at Ernst & Young LLP, an accounting and professional services firm, in various roles of increasing responsibility since January 2007. Most recently, Ms. Yeung served as Audit Managing Director from October 2020 through September 2023, and as Audit Senior Manager from July 2014 through October 2020, serving clients across a range of industries including offshore drilling.

Ms. Yeung is a certified public accountant and received a Bachelor of Accountancy and a Bachelor of Business Administration, Finance from Loyola University.

LEE WOMBLE, DIVISION VP DRILLING SERVICES

SLB

Lee Womble is Vice President and Global Accounts Director for SLB with global responsibility for drilling contractor accounts over all SLB divisions and basins.

He joined Cameron Iron Works in 1988 as a Product Design Engineer after receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Lee received his registered Professional Engineer license from the State of Texas in 1993 and obtained his first patent in 1994. He has since managed engineering, repair operations, manufacturing, field service and sales.

Mr. Womble has since held numerous positions throughout his 36-year career such as Design Engineer, Repair and Sales Mgr., Regional Manager, Director and now Vice President since 2007. He has lived in locations such as the US, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Lee has served on committees for API, AADE, IADC and The Joint Industry Task Force. He is currently focused on help SLB lead in technology, performance, and customer centricity.

GENE STAHL, DIVISION VP NORTH AMERICA ONSHORE

Precision Drilling Corporation

Gene Stahl was appointed as President, North American Drilling in 2023 and previously held the position of Chief Marketing Officer since 2019. Since joining Precision Drilling in 1993, Mr. Stahl has progressed his way through the organization holding several positions with increasing responsibility, including Contracts, Investor Relations, Engineering, Manufacturing, Rig Construction, Procurement, Field Training and Development, and Health, Safety and Environment (HSE). Mr. Stahl holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Calgary and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, Advanced Management Program.

JON RICHARDS, DIVISION VP OFFSHORE

Noble Corporation

Jon Richards currently serves as Vice President Operations for Noble Corporation. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations for Diamond Offshore. Mr. Richards joined Diamond Offshore in 1997 and has over 27 years of experience in the offshore drilling industry.

Jon started his career as an Operations Development Trainee with Diamond and has since held various leadership roles and responsibilities managing operations in the United States, United Kingdom, West Africa, and Brazil. Jon holds a degree in Business Management from Texas Tech University and participates in various roles as a member of the IADC. In his free time, Jon enjoys spending time outdoors with his family and volunteering with youth sports.

JIM NOWOTNY, DIVISION VP INTERNATIONAL ONSHORE

Helmerich & Payne

Jim Nowotny is the Vice President International and Offshore Business Development at Helmerich & Payne. He has extensive domestic and international leadership experience in multiple areas of the offshore and land drilling industry, including marketing and business development, commercial and technical contracts, operations, manufacturing, and engineering. He has worked in the energy industry since 1995.

Prior to joining Helmerich & Payne, he worked for an international oil field equipment manufacturer. There he was responsible for four manufacturing business units within Canada and the USA. He oversaw all aspects of business operations, including the manufacturing, engineering, and business development groups. Jim also worked for over 16 years in various roles for Atwood Oceanics, an international offshore drilling contractor. He worked in increasing roles of responsibility in the areas of engineering, operations, marketing, and business development.

Jim has a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University and has completed several executive education courses at Columbia Business School, Harvard Law School and Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

MIL OSI Economics –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Congrats to the Recipients of IADC Student Chapter Scholarships!

Source: International Association of Drilling Contractors – IADC

Headline: Congrats to the Recipients of IADC Student Chapter Scholarships!

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MIL OSI Economics –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Hoeven Statement on Confirmation of Pam Bondi as U.S. Attorney General

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for North Dakota John Hoeven
02.04.25
WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today issued the following statement after voting to confirm former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as U.S. Attorney General:
“Pam Bondi has years of law enforcement experience, including as a prosecutor and the former attorney general of Florida. She has committed to leading the Department of Justice with a focus on its core mission of prosecuting crime and keeping the American people safe. We look forward to working with her to improve public safety in North Dakota and across the nation.”

MIL OSI USA News –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Bipartisan Duckworth-Daines-Cruz-Hirono Bill to Better Protect Parents Traveling with Breast Milk Passes Committee

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Illinois Tammy Duckworth
February 05, 2025
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, bipartisan legislation led by U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) to make it easier for parents to safely embark on air travel with breast milk and breastfeeding supplies successfully passed through the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (CST). The Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening (BABES) Enhancement Act, which Duckworth reintroduced last week alongside co-leads U.S. Senators Steve Daines (R-MT), Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), would require the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to clarify and regularly update guidance on handling breast milk, baby formula and other related nutrition products, including ice packs, in consultation with leading maternal health groups. This swift committee passage comes after the bipartisan legislation passed the Senate by unanimous consent late last year in the 118th Congress.
“After hearing far too many stories about traveling moms being mistreated and wrongfully denied access to their breast milk and the breastfeeding equipment they need to take care of their babies, I’m thrilled our bipartisan legislation passed through committee—bringing us that much closer to preventing these incidents from ever happening again,” said Senator Duckworth. “Ensuring that the TSA keeps its employees up to speed on their own policies and updates those policies as necessary is the least we can do to help parents travel through airports with the dignity and respect they deserve. The Senate already passed this legislation by unanimous consent last year—now, the full Senate must pass it again so we can send it to the House as soon as possible.”
“Moms have a tough job, and the last thing they need to worry about is traveling safely with breast milk and formula for their babies,” said Senator Daines. “I’m glad to see this bipartisan legislation pass out of committee and become one step closer to becoming law.”
“Far too often, families traveling with infants and young children are subjected to inconsistencies when going through TSA’s screening, causing inconveniences that can make traveling together even more difficult. This simple legislation to update the TSA’s compliance guidance for the 3-1-1 liquids will help families travel without added hassles,” said Senator Cruz.
“The BABES Enhancement Act will require TSA to clarify and regularly update its guidance on handling breast milk and baby formula, helping to ensure that parents and their young children can travel by air with peace of mind, knowing they can keep milk and supplies they need to keep their babies fed,” said Senator Hirono. “I am glad to see this important legislation passed out of committee and I look forward to working with Senators Duckworth, Daines, and Cruz to pass this bill to keep families and their children safe and healthy.”
The bipartisan BABES Enhancement Act would help keep breastfeeding parents and their kids safe and healthy while traveling by air. Mishandled breast milk can become contaminated, which puts children at risk. Moreover, parents who lactate typically need to breastfeed or pump once every few hours. Failure to do so can result in a clogged milk duct, or a painful infection called mastitis. The legislation would better protect families by requiring TSA to:
Issue guidance promoting the hygienic handling of any breast milk, baby formula and other infant nutrition products, as well as accessories required to preserve these products;
Consult with nationally recognized maternal health organizations in establishing and communicating this guidance; and
Update guidance every five years to respond to emerging needs of parents and to account for developments in technology.
This legislation would also direct an independent government watchdog to conduct an audit of compliance with TSA screening policies for passengers traveling with breast milk and other infant nutrition products, providing lawmakers with information related to violations of policies.
A copy of the bill text is available on Senator Duckworth’s website.
Duckworth has been a strong advocate in ensuring moms receive the dignity and respect they deserve while traveling. In 2022, Duckworth pressed TSA Administrator David Pekoske for improved treatment of new mothers and Americans with disabilities from employees of the TSA. That same year, Duckworth also called on TSA to address inconsistent implementation of the 3-1-1 Liquids Rule Exemption travel policy for breast milk and formula at airport security checkpoints as well as ensure new moms and their infants can travel safely without fear of harassment.
Duckworth has also championed several policies that help make air travel easier for new moms. Her bipartisan Friendly Airports for Mothers (FAM) Improvement Act, which was signed into law in 2020, is helping ensure our small airports across the country support new moms and promote breastfeeding-friendly environments. The legislation builds on Duckworth’s success in enacting a law that ensures all large and medium airports provide a clean, private space where moms can breastfeed or pump. As a result of her legislation, O’Hare and Midway Airports both installed free-standing lactation pods.
-30-

MIL OSI USA News –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Risch: Loeffler will Strengthen Idaho Small Businesses, Achieve Trump Priorities

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Idaho James E Risch

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), senior member of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, released the following statement today on the importance of Idaho’s small businesses and his support for President Trump’s nominee to lead the Small Business Administration (SBA), Kelly Loeffler.

“Small businesses are the lifeblood of Idaho—fueling our economy, creating jobs, and strengthening our communities. Yet, many small businesses have been stifled by bureaucratic complexity and the heavy-handed regulations implemented under the Biden administration,” said Risch. “With former U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler leading the Small Business Administration, I am confident that Idaho’s small businesses will have greater freedom to innovate and access much-needed resources for success. I was proud to support her nomination by President Trump through the Small Business Committee and look forward to her confirmation by the full Senate.”

MIL OSI USA News –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Senator Coons, Representative Chu reintroduce bill to prevent Muslim bans
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Representative Judy Chu (D-Calif.) reintroduced the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act, which would prevent future bans by the Trump administration on Muslims or any other religious group by strengthening the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit discrimination based on religion. The bill would also require that any suspension of entry into the United States be narrowly tailored, backed by credible evidence, and subject to appropriate consultation with Congress.

“President Trump’s Muslim ban during his first term was un-American, unjust, and weakened our standing in the world,” said Senator Coons. “Now, as the country enters President Trump’s second term, fear and prejudice are once again guiding immigration policy, and his flurry of executive orders have laid the groundwork for another attempt at a Muslim ban. The NO BAN Act is needed now more than ever to ensure that the Trump administration cannot implement discriminatory measures and to reaffirm our nation’s commitment to religious freedom and equality under the law.”

“A hateful stain on our nation’s history, the Muslim Ban that President Trump instituted in his first term was fueled by bigotry and Islamophobia and did lasting damage to the families it separated,” said Representative Chu. “Distressingly, President Trump has already started the process to fulfill his campaign promise to reinstate a ban, signing an Executive Order on his first day back in office that lays the groundwork for a future, and potentially expanded, Muslim Ban. That’s why I am joining Senator Coons and my Democratic colleagues to once again introduce the NO BAN Act to make certain that no president can ever ban people from entering the country solely because of their religion.”

Additionally, Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) reintroduced the Access to Counsel Act, which Senator Coons cosponsored. This bill ensures that U.S. citizens, green card holders, and other individuals with legal status are able to consult with an attorney, relative, or other interested parties to seek assistance if they are detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for more than an hour at ports of entry, including airports. As a result of President Trump’s Muslim Ban in 2017, individuals were held for long periods of time, often without access to legal counsel.

The NO BAN Act was initially introduced in the 116th Congress in response to President Trump’s attempts in 2017 to introduce a Muslim ban. Courts initially struck down the bans, but a conservative Supreme Court upheld a version of the ban in a 5-4 decision. As a result, families were separated, couples were forced to live apart, and communities were unable to reunite for milestones of joy and grief. While former President Biden rescinded the bans, President Trump has signaled intent to issue a new travel ban in the coming months.

The NO BAN Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives in both 2020 and 2021. In 2021, the Biden administration issued a statement in support of the legislation, noting that the prior “bans were a stain on our national conscience and are inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths.”

An executive order issued by President Trump on his first day of his second term requires government departments to identify over the course of 60 days nations whose migration and screening processes are “so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.” The order lays the groundwork for another ban on migration from predominantly Muslim countries.

The NO BAN Act would push back on Trump’s Muslim ban or any other travel ban by:
- Providing that the Immigration and Nationality Act nondiscrimination provisions apply to religion, as well as to the issuance of non-immigrant visas and benefits;
- Requiring that any travel restriction imposed under Immigration and Nationality Act be based on specific and credible facts, and in a way narrowly tailored to address a compelling government interest; and
- Establishing procedural requirements, including notice to Congress within 48 hours, and periodic reporting.
The NO BAN Act has received endorsements from numerous immigrants’ rights organizations, faith-based organizations, and civil rights organizations, including Care in Action, 18 Million Rising, Afghans For A Better Tomorrow, African Public Affairs Committee, America Indivisible, American Humanist Association, American Immigration Lawyers Association, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Americans for Immigrant Justice, Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, ANAR, Asian Law Caucus, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Church World Service, Communities United for Status & Protection (CUSP), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Emgage Action, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Global Refuge, Hindus for Human Rights, Human Rights First, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Immigrants Act Now, Interfaith Alliance, International Refugee Assistance Project, League of Conservation Voters, Muslims for Just Futures, National Council of Jewish Women, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Immigrant Justice Center, National Immigration Law Center, National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, National Partnership for New Americans, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Poligon Education Fund, Queer Crescent, Quixote Center, Refugee Council USA (RCUSA), Refugees International, Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), Social Workers for Immigration Justice, South Asian Legal Defense Fund, South Asian Public Health Association (SAPHA), The Advocates for Human Rights, The Sikh Coalition, Union for Reform Judaism, Win Without War, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, ACLU, Brennan Center for Justice, Arab American Civic Council, ASATA Power, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL), CAIR Washington, California Immigrant Policy Center, Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University, Civic Ark, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Education Law Center-PA, Estrella del Paso, Family Action Network Movement, Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), Indo-American Center, Islamic Society of Central Jersey, Malikah, Muslim Justice League, Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center, Womankind, and Concerned Christian Citizen.

“As President Trump fulfills his racist campaign promises by indefinitely blocking all vulnerable refugees and by preparing a potential resurrection of categorical bans on people who come to the U.S. from African, Muslim-majority, or other countries, we welcome the timely reintroduction of an essential policy rooted in the highest American aspirations of equality, religious freedom, and refuge from tyrannical leaders,” said Sumayyah Waheed, Senior Policy Counsel, Muslim Advocates. “With the reintroduction of the NO BAN Act, we hope to check discriminatory and cruel abuses of presidential power at our borders. We remember clearly the hate, chaos, and family separation resulting from President Trump’s first-term Muslim and African bans – effects that remain unresolved to this day. Meanwhile, people seeking safety at our borders are forced to face unlawful, dehumanizing, debilitating, and even lethal barriers to doing so. We thank Rep. Chu and Sen. Coons for their leadership and urge Members in both houses to swiftly pass this bill.”

“The first time President Trump was in the White House, as we all watched his xenophobic Muslim ban wreak havoc on families in airports and communities across the country, the ACLU took to the courts for relief. This time around, the landscape includes the Supreme Court’s decision to allow Trump’s previous ban to go into effect. We can’t sit back as Trump again seeks to inflict cruelty. The NO BAN Act is an important effort to uphold our fundamental values and ensure our laws prevent discriminatory bans from being enacted in the future,” said Naureen Shah, deputy director of government affairs with the ACLU Equality Division.

“Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban was a stain on America’s conscience and President Biden’s Executive Order rescinding the various versions of the ban was an important first step,” said Yasmine Taeb, Legislative and Political Director at MPower Change Action Fund. “During the campaign trail, Trump vowed not only to reinstate the Muslim Ban but to expand it, and has made good on that promise by previewing a travel ban on his first day back in office. To ensure our communities do not face the threat of family separation, xenophobia, and Islamophobia through the implementation of another unconstitutional and unconscionable ban by Trump, Congress needs to take action and pass the NO BAN Act. We’re grateful for the leadership of Representative Chu and Senator Coons in reintroducing the NO BAN Act and urge Congress to pass the bill swiftly.”

“Trump’s discriminatory Muslim and African bans inflicted unthinkable cruelty and separated families. The policy was met with widespread resistance, with thousands of people making their voices heard in protests at airports across the country. With Trump’s return to office, and his day-one executive order signaling another forthcoming ban, we must all do everything in our power to ensure these harmful bans do not return. We commend Senator Coons’ and Representative Chu’s leadership on this issue and call on Congress to pass the NO BAN Act today to protect communities from lasting harm,” said Raha Wala, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Advocacy at the National Immigration Law Center.

“Thousands of American families will soon be separated and America’s economic competitiveness will be damaged if President Trump reimposes the so-called travel ban. The scars of the first ban have not yet fully healed, and some who were denied entry under the first ban are staring down more than four years of separation from their families. As members of Trump’s own coalition have noted, U.S. innovation and economic strength are fueled by immigrants from Iran and other countries that will potentially be banned. It is not stable or secure or fair to American families for the U.S. to impose and repeal such policies every four years by executive fiat — Congress must act as a co-equal branch and establish guardrails that protect the rights, security, and economy for all Americans by passing the NO BAN Act,” said Jamal Abdi, President of National Iranian American Council Action.

“The reintroduction of the NO BAN Act in the 119th Congress is a crucial step in reaffirming America’s historic role as a beacon of hope and opportunity for immigrants. For generations, the United States has stood as a nation that values diversity, equity, and justice. This legislation ensures that the executive power cannot be misused to undermine these principles or to close our doors to those seeking opportunity and refuge. We extend our gratitude to Representative Judy Chu, Senator Chris Coons, and the original co-sponsors of this critical bill and urge Congress to act swiftly to pass it, preserving the ideals that have long defined and strengthened our nation,” said Wa’el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage Action.

The text of the bill is available here.

A section-by-section summary of the bill is available here.
MIL OSI USA News –
February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Senator Coons, Foreign Relations Committee Democrats push Secretary Rubio for answers on national security risks stemming from pauses to USAID programs

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and the rest of the Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding an explanation of recent developments at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This includes recent reports that individuals who identified themselves as working for the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) requested unauthorized access to USAID’s main headquarters, American citizens’ data and classified spaces, and illegally demanded access to classified documents, creating a national security risk.
Senator Coons has long advocated to strengthen USAID given its vital role in advancing U.S. national security and global stability. He introduced the bipartisan Locally Led Development and Humanitarian Response Act last year, aiming to increase and improve USAID’s collaboration with local partners when implementing humanitarian and development programs around the world. Until recently, he was the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations (SFOPS), responsible for overseeing USAID and our nation’s entire foreign aid spending.
“Congress established the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as an independent agency, separate from the Department of State, to ensure that we can deploy development expertise and U.S. foreign assistance quickly, particularly in times of crisis, to meet our national security goals,” the senators wrote. “For this reason, any effort to merge or fold USAID into the Department of State should be, and by law must be, previewed, discussed, and approved by Congress.”
“We received reports that individuals who identified themselves as working for the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (DOGE) accessed USAID’s main headquarters, including classified spaces,” the senators continued. “The potential access of sensitive, even classified, files which may include the personally identifiable information of Americans working with USAID, and this incident as a whole raises deep concerns about the protection and safeguarding of matters related to U.S. national security.”
“We request an immediate update about the access of USAID’s headquarters, including whether the individuals who accessed the headquarters were authorized to be there and by whom, whether all individuals who accessed classified spaces have active security clearances at the appropriate level, what they were seeking to access, if any [personally identifiable information] of American citizens was breached, and whether any review is underway regarding potential unauthorized access to sensitive personnel information and classified materials,” concluded the senators.
You can read the full letter here and below.
Dear Secretary Rubio:
Congress established the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as an independent agency, separate from the Department of State, to ensure that we can deploy development expertise and U.S. foreign assistance quickly, particularly in times of crisis, to meet our national security goals. For this reason, any effort to merge or fold USAID into the Department of State should be, and by law must be, previewed, discussed, and approved by Congress. Congress has also made clear that any attempt to reorganize or redesign USAID requires advance consultation with, and notification to, Congress.
Consistent with past precedent, we expect and welcome the Department of State’s and USAID’s engagement on any proposed organizational reforms, and other matters implicating congressional requirements.
While we continue to welcome such engagement, we write with deep concern about this weekend’s developments at USAID’s headquarters.
We received reports that individuals who identified themselves as working for the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) accessed USAID’s main headquarters, including classified spaces. While some of the individuals purported to have security clearances, it is unclear whether those who accessed secure classified facilities had proper clearance or what they were seeking to access. We understand that the security guards present at the facility were threatened when they raised questions. As members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, we had not been notified of any such visit to USAID by DOGE or other agency officials. Following this incident, the senior management of the Office of Security, which secures USAID personnel and facilities and safeguards national security information, were placed on administrative leave. The potential access of sensitive, even classified, files, which may include the personally identifiable information (PII) of Americans working with USAID, and this incident as a whole, raises deep concerns about the protection and safeguarding of matters related to U.S. national security.
We request an immediate update about the access of USAID’s headquarters, including whether the individuals who accessed the headquarters were authorized to be there and by whom, whether all individuals who accessed classified spaces have active security clearances at the appropriate level, what they were seeking to access, if any PII of American citizens was breached, and whether any review is underway regarding potential unauthorized access to sensitive personnel information and classified materials.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Sens. Moran, Peters, Rep. Norton Reintroduce Legislation to Remove Derogatory Language from D.C. Code

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Kansas – Jerry Moran

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) – chairman of the Congressional Down Syndrome Task Force – Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), today reintroduced legislation that would update the District of Columbia (D.C.) Code by eliminating the words “mentally retarded” and replacing it with language that better respects the dignity of individuals with disabilities.

In 2010, Congress passed Rosa’s Law which eliminated the word “mental retardation” from federal law. However, Title 11 of the D.C. Code still uses various forms of those words and can only be amended by Congress. The Words Matter for the District of Columbia Courts Act would replace the term with “persons of moderate intellectual disabilities.”

“Individuals with disabilities deserve to be respected and valued,” said Sen. Moran. “Language that is degrading to individuals with disabilities should be eliminated from our laws and courts. This legislation makes certain the D.C. courts are using language that is both accurate, appropriate and maintains the dignity of all people.”

“Our words have power, and every person deserves to be treated with respect and dignity,” said Sen. Peters. “It’s long past time to remove this derogatory language from D.C. code, so that we can better ensure every individual is treated with compassion and decency.”

“Words indisputably matter,” said Rep. Norton. “Certain words can become antiquated and offensive over time, and I am pleased to be joined by a bipartisan group of lawmakers in modernizing the D.C. Code. My own daughter, Katherine, has Down syndrome. I’m appalled at the thought of someone using the ‘R-word’ slur toward her, and it is beyond the pale that the derogatory term is still a part of the D.C. Code.”

This legislation is also supported by the National Down Syndrome Society, National Down Syndrome Caucus, Global Down Syndrome Foundation, Association of University Centers on Disabilities, National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities and Special Olympics.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Sens. Moran, Duckworth Call on FAA to Continue Restricting Non-Essential Helicopter Operations Near Ronald Reagan National Airport

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Kansas – Jerry Moran
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) – the chair and ranking member of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space and Innovation – called on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to continue the restrictions placed on non-essential helicopter operations near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport following the mid-air collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, and a United States Army H-60 Blackhawk on the night of January 29, 2025.
“We write to you to request the Federal Aviation Administration continue the restrictions placed on non-essential helicopter operations near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport until the completion of the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) preliminary report and a briefing by FAA to the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation, regarding the safety of resuming non-essential helicopter operations,” the senators wrote. “Until investigators complete this work, restricting helicopter operations, while allowing for essential medical support, active law enforcement, active air defense, and presidential transport traffic will help keep the area safe and improve public trust in commercial air travel.”
The full letter can be found here and below.Dear Acting Administrator Rocheleau,
We write to you to request the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) continue the restrictions placed on non-essential helicopter operations near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport until the completion of the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) preliminary report and a briefing by FAA to the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation (Subcommittee) regarding the safety of resuming non-essential helicopter operations. Until investigators complete this work, restricting helicopter operations, while allowing for essential medial support, active law enforcement, active air defense, and presidential transport traffic will help keep the area safe and improve public trust in commercial air travel.
The mid-air collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, and a United States Army H-60 Blackhawk on the night of January 29, 2025, is a tragic event which requires a thorough evaluation of air traffic in the vicinity of airport. As the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation, we intend to conduct a subcommittee review into the January 29th tragedy by examining the facts and expert findings to determine whether policy changes may be necessary to increase safety and improve public trust. We look forward to your cooperation as we conduct our review to prevent a similar incident from happening again.
We are grateful for our first responders, military and civilian men and women who have contributed to the response efforts and for your actions in response to this tragic event.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Coast Guard Cutter Campbell returns home after interdicting $91M in illicit narcotics during Eastern Pacific Ocean patrol

Source: United States Coast Guard

U.S. Coast Guard sent this bulletin at 02/05/2025 04:00 PM EST

02/05/2025 03:31 PM EST

NEWPORT, R.I.  — The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Campbell (WMEC 909) returned to their home port in Newport, Monday, following a 63-day multi-mission patrol to the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific Ocean. Campbell deployed in support of Joint Interagency Task Force – South (JIATF-S) to advance the primary mission of interdicting illegal narcotics in known drug trafficking zones. Campbell’s crew conducted maritime safety and security missions while working to detect, deter and intercept drug-smuggling vessels.

MIL Security OSI –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Field the Future event aims to empower young football players and patients
Source: Microsoft

Headline: Field the Future event aims to empower young football players and patients
Summary

EA Sports joined forces with Xbox, the San Francisco 49ers, and Gamers Outreach for this year’s Field the Future event.

Field the Future aims to empower young football players and Madden gamers by providing resources and opportunities to advance their skills, passion, and knowledge of the sport.

EA Sports Madden NFL 25 coming to the Play List for EA Play and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members on February 6, 2025.
EA Sports recently teamed up with Xbox, the San Francisco 49ers, and Gamers Outreach to bring some joy and support to young gamers and patients through the annual Field the Future event, providing young football players and Madden gamers with resources and opportunities to improve their skills, the knowledge of the game, and the healing power of play. Read on to learn more:

Madden Field the Future Event Returns

Recently, EA Sports joined forces with Xbox, the San Francisco 49ers, and Gamers Outreach — a non-profit organization that empowers hospitalized families through play — for this year’s Field the Future event. Field the Future aims to empower young football players and Madden gamers by providing resources and opportunities to advance their skills, passion, and knowledge of the sport, so they know that they have a future in football, and that there are several pathways to get you there.

On January 27, fifteen custom video game kiosks – Gamers Outreach Karts (“GO Karts”) – donated through the Field the Future initiative, began their deployment at the UCSF Health System, including San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital. GO Karts are portable video game kiosks built for hospitals. Each of these units is equipped with an Xbox, controllers, and an assortment of video games. The devices are used within hospitals to provide entertainment and therapeutic activities to children as they receive medical care, and will bring the healing power of play through an estimated forty three thousand gaming experiences each year throughout the UCSF Health System.

Then, on January 28, EA Sports hosted 150 flag football players and 50 Children’s Hospital patients at their Redwood Shores office. Young football players and Madden gamers were given the opportunity to advance their skills, passion, and knowledge of the sport. Attendees got office tours, two educational sessions on the future of gaming and technology with our own dev team, a panel with Kristin Juszczyk and our SVP Andrea Hopelain and a chance to hit the Madden field for flag football, drills and scrimmages led by San Francisco 49ers own Kyle Juszczyk and 49ers legend Larry Grant.

All the participants walked away with a custom Madden Xbox controller and a month of Game Pass Ultimate to play EA Sports Madden NFL 25 starting February 6 (more on that in a minute), and four lucky winners received a brand-new Surface Pro!

Play Madden NFL 25 with EA Play Starting on February 6

With the Super Bowl this weekend, you can tee up the action early and dominate the field like a bonafide superstar in EA Sports Madden NFL 25, coming to the Play List this Thursday, February 6, for all EA Play and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members.

In Madden NFL 25, players can experience FieldSense and Boom Tech (available on Xbox Series X|S and PC versions), physics-based tackling systems featuring the reengineered Hit Stick and enhanced ball carrier control. Madden NFL 25 also includes updated visuals and presentation with two additional commentary teams, aiming to provide realistic NFL gameplay through various modes. Madden NFL 25 also introduces new control levels, signature styles, and mechanics for ball carriers, catching, and pre-play, focusing on football fundamentals such as blocking and playbooks.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Game Pass PC members receive EA Play with their Game Pass subscription. Members can experience the world of EA with unlimited access to a collection of top titles, trials of select new games, in-game member rewards, 10% on EA digital purchases and more. Members can unlock the thrill of their next favorite game with up to 10-hour trials of EA’s latest titles such as EA Sports FC 25, EA Sports NHL 25, EA Sports College Football 25, F1 24, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard in addition toaccess to an unrivaled collection of EA’s best-loved series and top titles, including Madden NFL 25, Madden NFL 24, EA Sports FC 24, EA Sports WRC, and Star Wars: Jedi Survivor.

Visit the EA Play page for more details, and to stay up to date on the latest from EA Play, follow EA Play on, Instagram, or X. Please see EA.com/EA-Play/Terms for terms and conditions. Read here for more details..
MIL OSI Economics –
February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: From bottlenecks to breakthroughs: Obeikan’s AI‑powered journey

Source: Microsoft

Headline: From bottlenecks to breakthroughs: Obeikan’s AI‑powered journey

Al-Obeikan hired Tarik Taman, an American with a long history of executive management in software companies, to be general manager of the new O3ai startup. What convinced Taman to take the job was that he could not find anything else like it on the market: a complete smart factory platform underpinned by a guiding philosophy – the Lean management system.

“Lean transformations drive value, always,” he said. “Automated lean transformations drive even more value, because it’s easier to adopt, easier to track, easier to sustain and easier to optimize because it’s all digital.”

He said that was evident in the results O3ai achieved at Obeikan – in four years it went from a $750 million company to a $1 billion company with a greatly improved bottom line and better employee engagement.

Taman said that even though O3ai emerged from a long-established family company, it has many of the virtues of a startup, thanks to the vision of Al-Obeikan.

“We really have had the good fortune to have something called last-mover advantage,” he said. “We’re one of the first software platforms in our space where the first line of code was written in the 2020s, so we don’t have 10- and 20-year-old legacy code that we’re trying to rewrite the logic of constantly.”

He credits the partnership with Microsoft for providing an extra competitive advantage.

“Because we partnered with Microsoft from day one, because we’ve used all of the infrastructure and service that Azure has to offer, we get to move at higher speed as compared to legacy software.”

Taman said that O3ai started by using machine learning in Azure, but it quickly adopted Azure OpenAI Service and Microsoft Copilot when they became available. O3ai created its own chatbot that digests and interprets all the data that is constantly being produced by the machines on production lines. Each machine is equipped with a system of sensors that feeds data into O3ai — that system is known as IoT, or the Internet of Things.

MIL OSI Economics –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: How real-world businesses are transforming with AI – with 50 new stories
Source: Microsoft

Headline: How real-world businesses are transforming with AI – with 50 new stories

Updated February 5, 2025: The post contains 50 new customer stories, which appear at the beginning of each section of customer lists. The post will be updated regularly with new stories.

One of the highlights of my career has always been connecting with customers and partners across industries to learn how they are using technology to drive their businesses forward. In the past 30 years, we’ve seen four major platform shifts, from client server to internet and the web to mobile and cloud to now — the next major platform shift to AI.

As today’s platform shift to AI continues to gain momentum, Microsoft is working to understand just how organizations can drive lasting business value. We recently commissioned a study with IDC, The Business Opportunity of AI, to uncover new insights around business value and help guide organizations on their journey of AI transformation. The study found that for every $1 organizations invest in generative AI, they’re realizing an average of $3.70 in return — and uncovered insights about the future potential of AI to reshape business processes and drive change across industries.

Check out the top 5 AI trends to watch from IDC and Microsoft

Today, more than 85% of the Fortune 500 are using Microsoft AI solutions to shape their future. In working with organizations large and small, across every industry and geography, we’ve seen that most transformation initiatives are designed to achieve one of four business outcomes:
1. Enriching employee experiences: Using AI to streamline or automate repetitive, mundane tasks can allow your employees to dive into more complex, creative and ultimately more valuable work.
2. Reinventing customer engagement: AI can create more personalized, tailored customer experiences, delighting your target audiences while lightening the load for employees.
3. Reshaping business processes: Virtually any business process can be reimagined with AI, from marketing to supply chain operations to finance, and AI is even allowing organizations to go beyond process optimization and discover exciting new growth opportunities.
4. Bending the curve on innovation: AI is revolutionizing innovation by speeding up creative processes and product development, reducing the time to market and allowing companies to differentiate in an often crowded field.
In this blog, we’ve collected more than 300 of our favorite real-life examples of how organizations are embracing Microsoft’s proven AI capabilities to drive impact and shape today’s platform shift to AI. Today, we’ve added new stories of customers using our AI capabilities at the beginning of each section. We’ll regularly update this story with more. We hope you find an example or two that can inspire your own transformation journey.

Enriching employee experiences

Generative AI is truly transforming employee productivity and wellbeing. Our customers tell us that by automating repetitive, mundane tasks, employees are freed up to dive into more complex and creative work. This shift not only makes the work environment more stimulating but also boosts job satisfaction. It sparks innovation, provides actionable insights for better decision-making and supports personalized training and development opportunities, all contributing to a better work-life balance. Customers around the world have reported significant improvements in employee productivity with these AI solutions:

New Stories:
1. Acentra Health created MedScribe using Azure OpenAI Service. The solution has saved 11,000 nursing hours and nearly $800,000. It also helped each nurse process 20 to 30 letters daily, while achieving a 99% approval rate for MedScribe-generated letters.
2. Brisbane Catholic Education provides Microsoft 365 Copilot to 12,500 educators, and uses Microsoft Copilot Studio to create a generative AI tool to help educators integrate Catholic traditions and values into the classroom.
3. Crediclub saves 96% per month in auditing expenses and analyzes 150 meetings per hour with Azure AI, freeing up time for 800 sales advisors and 150 branch managers to interact directly with customers.
4. eClinicalWorks developed a tool using Azure AI services and Azure AI Document Intelligence to help healthcare workers scan, sort and match thousands of faxes each year to match the faxed data with current patient files.
5. Education Authority of Northern Ireland (EANI) introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce admin work, allowing teachers to focus on students. The Microsoft partnership ensures secure and ethical AI use, while teacher training focuses on prompt writing and effective tool adoption.
6. Ma’aden uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance productivity, saving up to 2,200 hours monthly. Tasks like drafting emails, creating documents and data analysis have become more efficient, helping Ma’aden achieve its growth goals.
7. Marketing org mci group uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance the use of AI and other technological advances to boost employee efficiency.
8. Michelin deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot and a generative AI in-house chatbot based on Azure OpenAI Service called “Aurora” designed to help employees optimize work and team performance, boosting productivity tenfold.
9. Raiffeisen Bank International built its own ChatGPT using Azure OpenAI Service to automate repetitive tasks like documenting intelligence and more rapidly summarize legal, regulation and banking documents.
10. Sanabil Investments deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot to help employees reduce the time spent on manual everyday tasks that diverted focus from more strategic and valuable work. Within two months, approximately 70% of employees regularly used Copilot.
11. Sensei rolled out Microsoft 365 to reduce the number of internal apps and better connect systems for easier collaboration, and is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to increase efficiency.
12. Sikshana Foundation is working with Microsoft Research India to introduce an AI copilot for teachers that shortens preparation time for lessons from an hour or more to just minutes.
13. The University of Hong Kong adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance productivity by automating administrative tasks and providing intelligent assistance, allowing faculty to focus more on teaching.
1. Accenture and Avanade launched a Copilot business transformation practice, supported by Microsoft, and co-invested in new capabilities, solutions and training to help organizations securely and responsibly reinvent their business functions with generative and agentic AI and Copilot technologies.
2. Access Holdings Plc adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot, integrating generative AI into daily tools and, as a result, writing code now takes two hours instead of eight, chatbots launch in 10 days instead of three months and presentations are prepared in 45 minutes instead of six hours.
3. Adobe is connecting Adobe Experience Cloud workflows and insights with Microsoft 365 Copilot to deliver generative-AI powered capabilities that enable marketers to increase collaboration, efficiency and creativity.
4. Amadeus empowers its teams to focus their time and skills on value-added tasks with Microsoft 365 Copilot, by summarizing email threads, chat or transcripts and summing up information from diverse sources.
5. ANZ has invested in Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot and Copilot in Microsoft Edge to boost productivity and innovation across its workforce.
6. Asahi Europe & International (AEI) has adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot, saving employees potentially 15% of time previously spent on administrative tasks.
7. AXA developed AXA Secure GPT, a platform powered by Azure OpenAI Service that empowers employees to leverage the power of generative AI while targeting the highest level of data safety and responsible use of the tool.
8. Axon Enterprise developed a new AI tool with Azure OpenAI Service called Draft One, resulting in an 82% decrease in time spent on reports, which freed up officers to engage more with their community.
9. Aztec Group enhanced productivity and client experience by trialing Microsoft 365 Copilot with 300 staff, uncovering “unlimited” use cases and plans for a wider rollout.
10. Bader Sultan & Bros. Co. W.L.L. implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance employee productivity and speed up customer response times.
11. Bancolombia is using GitHub Copilot to empower its technical team, achieving a 30% increase in code generation, boosting automated application changes to an average of 18,000 per year, with a rate of 42 productive daily deployments.
12. Bank of Queensland Group is using Microsoft 365 Copilot, with 70% of users saving two-and-a-half to five hours per week.
13. BaptistCare Community Services is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to save employees time as they navigate workforce shortage challenges allowing them to focus more on the people they care for.
14. Barnsley Council was recognized as “Double Council of the Year in 2023” for its implementation of Microsoft 365 Copilot, which modernized operations and reduced administrative tasks, leading to improved job satisfaction and increased creativity.
15. BlackRock purchased more than 24,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses spanning all employees, functions and locations, helping improve the Copilot experience, including codeveloping new features and functions.
16. British Heart Foundation is testing Microsoft 365 Copilot and in its initial test, users estimate that Microsoft 365 Copilot could save them up to 30 minutes per day.
17. Buckinghamshire Council deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot with staff reporting productivity improvements, quality enhancements and time savings which are enabling the different teams to do more with less.
18. Campari Group adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to help employees integrate it into their workflow, resulting in time savings of about two hours a week from the support of routine activities such as email management, meeting preparation, content creation and skill acquisition.
19. Canadian Tire Corporation moved its data from on-premises systems to Microsoft Azure and built digital assistants using Azure OpenAI Service, and now more than 3,000 corporate employees save 30 to 60 minutes a day using its ChatCTC digital assistant.
20. Capita is using GitHub Copilot for productivity improvements as well as improvements in developer satisfaction, recruitment and retention.
21. Cathay leverages Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline meetings and manage information more effectively, reducing time-consuming tasks and fostering creativity.
22. CDW used Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve work quality for 88% of users, enabling 77% to complete tasks faster, and increasing productivity for 85% of users.
23. Chi Mei Medical Center is lightening workloads for doctors, nurses and pharmacists with a generative AI assistant built on Azure OpenAI Service.
24. Clifford Chance adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline tasks, automate processes and enhance collaboration. Lawyers use it to draft and manage emails and ensure compliance, allowing them to focus on complex legal work and improve productivity.
25. DLA Piper chose Microsoft 365 Copilot to boost productivity for operational and administrative teams, saving up to 36 hours weekly on content generation and data analysis.
26. Eaton adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate the creation of 1,000 standard operating procedures to streamline customer service operations and improve data access across teams, cutting creation time from one hour to 10 minutes.
27. E.ON is focused on Germany’s energy transition, leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot to manage the complex grid in real-time, increasing productivity and efficiency for its workforce.
28. Enerijisa Uretim has adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline meeting summaries, reformat documents and compile reports, enabling employees to concentrate on more strategic and fulfilling activities instead of spending six hours in meetings.
29. EPAM is deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot to consolidate information and generate content and documents.
30. Farm Credit Canada implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot which resulted in time savings on routine tasks for 78% of users, with 30% saving 30 to 60 minutes per week and 35% saving over an hour per week, allowing employees to focus on more value-added tasks.
31. Finastra used Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate tasks, enhance content creation, improve analytics and personalize customer interactions, with employees citing a 20%-50% time savings.
32. Four Agency Worldwide increased employee productivity using Microsoft 365 Copilot to generate ideas for creative work and support administrative-heavy processes, data analysis and report generation, allowing staff to focus on outreach and less time doing paperwork.
33. Goodwill of Orange County developed an AI-powered app using Azure AI capabilities to help more people, including those with developmental, intellectual and physical disabilities, work in unfilled e-commerce positions.
34. Harvey uses Azure OpenAI to simplify routine tasks across hundreds of law firms and legal teams, with one corporate lawyer saying he saved 10 hours of work per week.
35. Honeywell employees are saving 92 minutes per week — that’s 74 hours a year! Disclaimer: Statistics are from an internal Honeywell survey of 5,000 employees where 611 employees responded.
36. Insight employees using Copilot are seeing four hours of productivity gained per week from data summarization and content creation.
37. Joos uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to grow its brand with worldwide collaboration by streamlining meetings, optimizing presentations and improving communications.
38. Kantar is harnessing the power of Microsoft 365 Copilot by reducing costly, time-consuming IT processes and boosting productivity for employees.
39. KMS Lighthouse enhanced its knowledge management platform with Microsoft Teams and Dynamics 365 integration, enabling users to leverage KMS Lighthouse without having to switch applications. And with Azure OpenAI Service, companies can create relevant content more quickly within the KMS Lighthouse application.
40. KPMG Australia is using Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search and Microsoft Copilot 365 to perform advanced text analysis of dozens of client source documents to identify full or partial compliance, or noncompliance, in a fraction of the time required for manual assessments.
41. LGT is launching Microsoft Copilot LGT to improve efficiency, showing users save an average of an hour a week even in the pilot phase.
42. Localiza&Co, a leader in the mobility industry in Latin America, implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate processes and improve efficiency, and reduced 8.3 working hours per employee per month.
43. Lotte Hotels & Resorts has been creating a new work culture that allows employees to work more efficiently and focus on the nature of the work by adopting Microsoft Power Platform for automation.
44. MAIRE is leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate routine tasks, saving over 800 working hours per month, freeing up engineers and professionals for strategic activities while supporting MAIRE’s green energy transition by reducing their carbon footprint.
45. McDonald’s China chose Microsoft Azure AI, GitHub Copilot and Azure AI Search to transform its operations, resulting in a significant increase in AI adoption, consumption and retention from 2,000 to 30,000 employee transactions monthly.
46. McKnight Foundation adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot for all staff, saving time, increasing productivity and freeing space to focus on strategic priorities.
47. Medigold Health uses Azure OpenAI Service to significantly reduce the time that clinicians spend writing reports during their consultation and administrative time.
48. Morula Health is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance productivity, streamline medical writing tasks and ensure data security, ultimately improving efficiency and client satisfaction.
49. Motor Oil Group is achieving remarkable efficiency gains by integrating Microsoft 365 Copilot into its workflows, with staff spending minutes on tasks that used to take weeks.
50. Nagel-Group uses Azure OpenAI Service to help employees quickly access information which saves time, creates efficiency and transparency and leads to higher-quality answers overall.
51. National Australia Bank is leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot for daily productivity and data analysis and insights and Microsoft Copilot for Security to quickly analyze millions of security event logs and allow engineers to focus on more important areas.
52. NFL Players Association integrated Azure AI Services and Azure App Service into their video review process, reducing review time by up to 73%, significantly increasing efficiency and enhancing player safety through consistent rule enforcement.
53. O2 Czech Republic boosts productivity and streamlines meetings with Microsoft 365 Copilot, revolutionizing how information is shared and making automation a part of daily work.
54. Onepoint developed a secure conversational agent based on Azure OpenAI which delivers productivity gains of between 10% and 15% across all business lines.
55. Orange Group has over 40 use cases with Azure OpenAI Service and GitHub Copilot across business functions to support employees in their day-to-day tasks, enabling them to concentrate on higher value-added activities.
56. Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve staff report productivity by saving one to two hours a week, or simple formatting tasks down to a matter of seconds, enabling more resources to deliver frontline services.
57. PA Consulting transformed its sales operations with Microsoft 365 Copilot, so its people can invest more time on the activities that have the biggest impact for clients and maximize the strategic value they provide.
58. Petrobras used Azure OpenAI Service to create ChatPetrobras, which is streamlining workflows, reducing manual tasks and summarizing reports for its 110,000 employees.
59. Petrochemical Industries Company automates work processes to save time with Microsoft 365 Copilot from weeks to days, hours to seconds.
60. PIMCO built ChatGWM with Azure AI Studio, a comprehensive platform that provides the ability to ask questions, receive responses and verify answers all in one place, so teams can spend more time engaging clients and having deeper conversations.
61. PKSHA Technology is optimizing their time on critical work by increasing efficiency in meeting preparations, data analytics and ideation with the help of Microsoft 365 Copilot.
62. Providence has collaborated with Nuance and Microsoft to accelerate development and adoption of generative AI-powered applications, helping improve care quality and access, and reduce physician’s administrative workloads.
63. RTI International adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to gain productivity wherever possible, allowing staff to focus on their areas of expertise, delivering even better science-backed solutions for clients.
64. SACE, an Italian finance and insurance firm, is using Microsoft 365 Copilot and Viva to boost productivity and unlock employee potential while enhancing overall well-being — and productivity improvement data from the first nine months of implementation shows a 23% increase.
65. Sandvik Coromant is using Microsoft Copilot for Sales to drive efficiency and accuracy, shaving at least one minute off each transaction, allowing sellers and account managers to focus their expertise on responding to customers’ needs with analysis, creativity and adaptability.
66. Sasfin Bank built a solution on Microsoft Azure that centralized 20,000 documents to analyze contract clauses and provide real-time snapshots, moving guesswork into data-driven decision-making.
67. Scottish Water implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot reducing mundane tasks to a minimum, and thus freeing up time for employees to work on the more meaningful tasks.
68. Shriners Children’s developed an AI platform allowing clinicians to easily and securely navigate patient data in a singular location, enhancing patient care, and improving the efficiency of their healthcare services.
69. Siemens is leveraging Azure OpenAI Service to improve efficiency, cut downtime and address labor shortages.
70. Softchoice employees are experiencing firsthand how Microsoft 365 Copilot can transform daily workflows, realizing productivity gains of 97% reduction in time spent summarizing technical meetings and up to 70% less time spent on content creation.
71. Syensqo utilized Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service to develop a custom AI chatbot in three months, which improved their internal data management, decision-making and overall efficiency.
72. Teladoc Health uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to revolutionize its telehealth operations, automating routine tasks, boosting efficiency and increasing productivity.
73. Telstra developed two cutting-edge generative AI tools based on Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service: 90% of employees are using the One Sentence Summary tool which resulted in 20% less follow-up customer contact and 84% of customer service agents using the Ask Telstra solution.
74. Topsoe achieved 85% AI adoption among office employees in seven months, significantly enhancing productivity and business processes.
75. Torfaen County Borough Council utilized Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline back-office processes, resulting in significant time savings and enhanced productivity for both business and children’s services teams, with further rollouts planned.
76. Trace3 leveraged Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline and enhance processes across the business and with clients, such as reducing the time it takes HR recruiting managers to respond to applicants within a couple of days instead of several weeks.
77. Unilever is reinventing their marketing process with Copilot, saving time on briefing tasks, automatically pulling in relevant market data, content and insights to accelerate campaign launches.
78. Uniper SE implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce time spent on manual and repetitive tasks, and help workers focus on more pressing work, such as developing enhanced solutions to speed up the energy transition.
79. Unum Group built a custom AI application to search 1.3 terabytes of data with 95% accuracy using Azure OpenAI Service.
80. Virgin Atlantic adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot and GitHub Copilot and is seeing real business benefits, including productivity improvements, enabling new ways of working.
81. Visier built a generative AI assistant that leverages Azure AI and Azure OpenAI Services to deliver workforce analytics and actionable insights for more than 50,000 customers.
82. Virtual Dental Care developed an AI application Smart Scan that leverages Microsoft Azure to reduce paperwork for mobile dental clinics in schools by 75% and frees dentists to devote more time to patient care.
83. Zakladni Skola As Hlavkova adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot and saw a 60% improvement in handling administrative documents, decreased lesson preparation from hours to few minutes, increased inclusivity and enhanced communication with students and parents.
Reinventing customer engagement

We’ve seen great examples of how generative AI can automate content creation, ensuring there’s fresh and engaging materials ready to go. It personalizes customer experiences by crunching the numbers, boosting conversion rates. It makes operations smoother, helping teams launch campaigns faster. Plus, it drives innovation, crafting experiences that delight customers while lightening the load for staff. Embracing generative AI is key for organizations wanting to reinvent customer engagements, stay ahead of the game and drive both innovation and efficiency.

New Stories:
1. Aditya Birla Capital built the SimpliFi chatbot on Microsoft Azure to simplify financial services information and offers through intelligent search and proactive nudging with minimum latency and high scalability.
2. AIA is using Copilot in Dynamics 365 Customer Service to allow customer service representatives to handle more cases in less time by automating time-consuming tasks like drafting customer emails and summarizing lengthy chats and case histories.
3. Aydem Energy and Microsoft partner Softtech used Azure OpenAI Service to create an AI assistant for WhatsApp, providing customers with real-time updates and handling meter readings, bill checks and claims.
4. The City of Buenos Aires developed Boti with ChatGPT using Azure OpenAI Service to manage multiple service channels and personalize key services for residents and tourists. The chatbot centralizes data, enables natural language interactions and scales to handle high demands, managing 2 million queries per month without human intervention, alleviating the operational burden by 50%, improving the citizen experience and increasing efficiency.
5. de Alliantie built a generative AI chatbot using Azure OpenAI to digest information in their online knowledge base so staff can get accurate answers in seconds. Another Azure AI-based solution transcribes and summarizes calls, then categorizes them by theme.
6. Haceb created a virtual technical support assistant with generative AI, helping on-the-ground technicians troubleshoot, diagnose and resolve product issues faster and more efficiently.
7. Lloyds Banking Group developed the Branch Translation App using Microsoft Power Apps and Azure AI services with a goal to improve communication with non-English speaking customers and the innovation enhanced service delivery, receiving positive feedback from employees and customers alike.
8. Staffbase provides its clients with Staffbase Companion, which helps it enhance internal communication with quick content generation, summarization, translation and future capabilities — and remain confident in data protection.
9. Tekion built Automative Retail Cloud, a unified, cloud-native platform that uses generative AI to analyze communications, extract insights and provide customer-specific recommendations for sales agents.
10. Welcome Account created a banking application with a conversational agent based on Azure OpenAI Service, in order to help people manage their finances and administrative procedures. This multilingual agent already assists no less than a thousand refugees on a daily basis.
11. UBS is using Azure AI solutions, including Azure AI Search and Azure OpenAI Service, to power “Smart Assistants” that streamline content access and provide real-time information to Client Advisors, boosting efficiency and client engagement.
12. Virbe enables businesses to interact with customers through AI-powered avatars, and with Azure AI services like Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Search, Virbe enhanced its AI avatars and simplified engagement with enterprise customers — and customers are seeing up to a 10x increase in leads.
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1. Absa has adopted Microsoft Copilot to streamline various business processes, saving several hours on administrative tasks each day.
2. Adobe leverages Microsoft Azure to streamline the customer experience, harnessing the power of the connected cloud services and creating a synergy that drives AI transformation across industries.
3. Acentra Health developed Medscribe, a web application that uses Azure OpenAI Service to generate draft letters in a secure, HIPPA-compliant enclave that responds to customer appeals for healthcare services within 24 hours, reducing the time spent on each appeal letter by 50%.
4. Air India leveraged Azure OpenAI Service to develop a virtual assistant that has handled nearly 4 million customer queries with full automation, significantly enhancing customer experience and avoiding millions of dollars in customer support costs.
5. Alaska Airlines is using Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Defender, and GitHub to ensure its passengers have a seamless journey from ticket purchase to baggage pickup and started leveraging Azure OpenAI Service to unlock more business value for its customer care and contact centers.
6. Ally Financial is using Azure OpenAI Service to reduce manual tasks for its customer service associates, freeing up time for them to engage with customers.
7. BMW Group optimizes the customer experience connecting 13 million active users to their vehicles with the MyBMW app on Azure, which supports 450 million daily requests and 3.2TB data processing.
8. Boyner has tripled its e-commerce performance using Microsoft Azure, seeing a rise in customer satisfaction, engagement, conversion rate and revenue.
9. Bradesco Bank integrated Microsoft Azure to its virtual assistant, BIA, resulting in reduced response time from days to hours, improving operational efficiency and client satisfaction.
10. Capgemini Mexico integrated GitHub Copilot to support scalable AI implementations which has led to improved customer experiences and increased efficiency.
11. Capitec Bank uses Azure OpenAI Service and Microsoft 365 Copilot, enabling their AI-powered chatbot to assist customer service consultants in accessing product information more efficiently, saving significant time for employees each week.
12. Cdiscount is leveraging GitHub Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service to enhance developer efficiency, optimize product sheet categorization and improve customer satisfaction.
13. Cemex used Azure OpenAI Service to launch Technical Xpert, an AI tool used by sales agents to provide instant access to comprehensive product and customer solution information, significantly reducing search time by 80%.
14. Chanel elevated their client experience and improved employee efficiency by leveraging Microsoft Fabric and Azure OpenAI Service for real-time translations and quality monitoring.
15. City of Burlington created two AI-powered solutions: MyFiles system using Microsoft Power Platform for building permits, and CoBy, a 24/7 customer support assistant using Microsoft Copilot Studio.
16. City of Madrid created an AI virtual assistant with Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service offering tourists accurate, real-time information and personalized responses in 95-plus languages.
17. Cognizant is making performance management more effective and meaningful with Microsoft Azure Machine Learning to help clients across industries envision, build, and run innovative digital enterprises.
18. Coles Group has leveraged Microsoft Azure to enhance its digital presence and improve customer engagement, rolling out new applications to its stores six times faster without disrupting workloads.
19. Commercial Bank of Dubai used Microsoft Azure to upgrade its application infrastructure, improving transaction security and speed so individual customers can now open an account and start banking in about two minutes.
20. Cradle Fund, dedicated to nurturing startups in Malaysia, introduced an AI-driven chatbot to boost user interaction and increase public engagement. User engagement quadrupled while resolution time was reduced from two days to a few clicks. Cradle also decreased customer service costs by 35%, increased international interactions by 40% and increased daily average visits 10-fold.
21. Doctolib, a leading eHealth company in France, leverages Microsoft technology to develop an AI-powered medical assistant, integrating both Azure OpenAI Service and Mistral Large on Azure.
22. Docusign used Azure AI to develop its Intelligent Agreement Management (IAM) platform, which supports millions of workflows, reducing contract processing times and enhancing customer satisfaction with advanced AI-powered analytics.
23. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has significantly improved productivity and customer satisfaction by integrating multiple Microsoft AI solutions, reducing task completion time from days to hours and achieving a 98% customer happiness rate.
24. Elcome uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve the customer experience, reducing response times from 24 hours to eight hours.
25. elunic developed shopfloor.GPT based on Azure OpenAI leading to increased productivity for customers saving 15 minutes per request.
26. Estée Lauder Companies is leveraging Azure OpenAI Service to create closer consumer connections and increase speed to market with local relevancy.
27. First National Bank (FNB) is using Microsoft Copilot for Sales to help bankers create professional, thoughtful emails in 13 native South African languages, to enhance customer interactions, streamline communications and reinforce its commitment to innovation and customer service.
28. Flora Food Group migrated to Microsoft Fabric to offer more detailed and timely insights to its customers, enhancing service delivery and customer satisfaction.
29. Groupama deployed a virtual assistant using Azure OpenAI Service that delivers reliable, verified and verifiable information, and boasts an 80% success rate.
30. Holland America Line developed a virtual agent using Microsoft Copilot Studio that acts as a digital concierge on their website to support new and existing customers and travel advisors, which has achieved a strong resolution rate and is currently handling thousands of conversations per week.
31. International University of Applied Sciences (IU) adopted Azure OpenAI Service to revolutionize learning with a personalized study assistant that can interact with each student just like a human would.
32. Investec is using Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales to enhance the bank’s client relationships, estimating saving approximately 200 hours annually ultimately boosting sales productivity and delivering personalized, seamless customer experience.
33. Jato Dynamics used Azure OpenAI Service to automate content generation, helping dealerships save approximately 32 hours each month.
34. Kenya Red Cross worked with Pathways Technologies to develop a mental health chatbot in Azure AI.
35. LALIGA is delivering a seamless fan experience and AI insights with Azure Arc, using AI in Azure for optimizing match scheduling and other key operations.
36. Legrand used Azure OpenAI Service to reduce the time to generate product data by 60% and improve customer support interactions with fast, accurate information.
37. Linum is using Microsoft Azure to train their text-to-video models faster and more efficiently without losing performance or wasting resources.
38. Lumen Technologies is redefining customer success and sales processes through the strategic use of Microsoft 365 Copilot, enhancing productivity, sales and customer service in the global communications sector.
39. Mars Science & Diagnostics used the Azure AI catalog to build generative AI apps to enhance accuracy and extract data insights quickly, helping pets with critical, undiagnosed conditions receive the care they require faster.
40. McKinsey & Company is creating an agent to reduce client onboarding process by reducing lead time by 90% and administrative work by 30%.
41. Meesho leveraged Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service and GitHub Copilot to enhance customer service and software development, resulting in a 25% increase in customer satisfaction scores and 40% more traffic on customer service queries.
42. Milpark Education integrated Microsoft Copilot and Copilot Studio and in just four months, improved efficiency and accuracy of student support, decreasing the average resolution time by 50% and escalation time by more than 30%.
43. National Basketball Association is using Azure OpenAI Service to speed up the time to market, helping fans connect with the league with personalized, localized insights to enhance the fan experience.
44. NC Fusion chose a comprehensive Microsoft solution to make marketing engagement activities easier and accurately target the best audience segments.
45. Medgate, a telehealth subsidiary of Otto Group developed a medical Copilot powered by Azure OpenAI which summarizes consultations, supports triage and provides real-time translations.
46. Orbital Witness embraced the use of large language models (LLMs) in Azure OpenAI to build its innovative AI Agent application, Orbital Copilot, which can save legal teams 70 percent of the time it takes to conduct property diligence work.
47. Pacific Gas & Electric built a chatbot using Microsoft Copilot Studio that saves $1.1 million annually on helpdesk support.
48. Parloa took a “voice-first” approach and created an enterprise-grade AI Agent Management platform to automate customer interactions across phone, chat and messaging apps.
49. Pockyt is using GitHub Copilot and anticipates a 500% increase in productivity in the medium to long term as they continue adapting AI and fine-tuning their software development life cycle.
50. South Australia Department for Education launched an AI-powered educational chatbot to help safeguard students from harmful content while introducing responsible AI to the classrooms.
51. Sync Labs is using Microsoft Azure to create AI-driven solutions that have led to a remarkable 30x increase in revenue and a 100x expansion of their customer base.
52. Syndigo is using Azure to accelerate digital commerce for its customers by more than 40% and expand its customer base.
53. Telkomsel created a virtual assistant with Azure OpenAI Service, resulting in a leap in customer self-service interactions from 19% to 45%, and call volume dropped from 8,000 calls to 1,000 calls a day.
54. Torrens University chose to use Azure OpenAI to uplift its online learning experience, saving 20,000 hours and $2.4 million in time and resources.
55. Trusting Social integrated Microsoft Azure services to launch AI-driven agents that are changing how banks function and transforming their customer’s banking experience.
56. University of California, Berkeley used Azure OpenAI Service to deploy a custom AI chatbot that supports student learning and helps students with complex coursework.
57. University of Sydney created a self-serve AI platform powered by Azure OpenAI Service, to enable faculty to build custom chatbots for enhancing student onboarding, feedback, career simulation and more.
58. Van Lanschot Kempen is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce the time needed for daily tasks, freeing up time to invest in that crucial personal connection.
59. Virgin Money built an award-winning virtual assistant using Copilot Studio to help build customers’ confidence in their digital products and services.
60. VOCALLS automates over 50 million interactions per year, resulting in a 78% reduction in average handling time aside from a 120% increase in answered calls.
61. Vodafone Group is leveraging Microsoft’s AI solutions, including Azure AI Studio, OpenAI Service, Copilot and AI Search, to achieve a 70% resolution rate for customer inquiries through digital channels and reduce call times by at least one minute.
62. Walmart is using Azure OpenAI Service to deliver a helpful and intuitive browsing experience for customers designed to serve up a curated list of the personalized items a shopper is looking for.
63. Weights & Biases created a platform which runs on Microsoft Azure that allows developers to keep records, log successes and failures and automate manual tasks.
64. World2Meet is providing better customer service and operations with a new virtual assistant powered by Microsoft Azure.
65. Xavier College is modernizing its student information systems on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Azure to unlock powerful insights, fostering innovation and data-driven decision making.
66. Zavarovalnica Triglav implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Azure OpenAI Service to streamline its operations with automated responses and smart rerouting of customer enquiries.
67. Zurich Insurance Group used Azure OpenAI Service to develop advanced AI applications that led to more accurate and efficient risk assessment evaluations, accelerating the underwriting process, reducing turnaround times and increasing customer satisfaction.
Reshaping business process

Transforming operations is another way generative AI is encouraging innovation and improving efficiency across various business functions. In marketing, it can create personalized content to truly engage different audiences. For supply chain management, it can predict market trends so companies can optimize their inventory levels. Human resources departments can speed up the hiring process, while financial services can use it for fraud detection and risk assessments. With generative AI, companies are not just refining their current processes, they’re also discovering exciting new growth opportunities.

New Stories:
1. Bank of Queensland is modernizing its operations with Azure, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft 365 Copilot, using AI to optimize business processes such as creating marketing content, building reports and plans and drafting HR content.
2. Document360 created an AI-powered knowledge base and service platform for companies to create, manage and publish online documentation, including product manuals, SOPs and wikis.
3. Eduvos is simplifying the student enrollment experience with Microsoft Azure and Dynamics 365, reducing the time from 90 days to nearly instantaneous and associated costs by 90%.
4. Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) uses Azure Local to support its digital manufacturing platform, including support for safety-critical applications that use AI. Through its hybrid Azure environment, EGA has achieved 10 to 13 times faster AI response time and 86% cost savings for AI image and video use cases.
5. Hellenic Cadastre built a system that reads and categorizes property contracts, applies legal rules and provides assessments for approval using Azure OpenAI Service. Today, property transaction assessments take less than 10 minutes instead of hours, reducing costs from 15 euros to 0.11 euros per assessment. The system also enhanced property owners’ legal security and boosted the Greek economy by enabling transactions to be completed sooner.
6. Startup legal-i is using AI to analyze unstructured data and help expensive insurance specialists make better decisions faster — speeding up healthcare and insurance processes and improving the accuracy of outcomes.
7. Publishing company SHUEISHA Inc. is using Microsoft Security Copilot to enable faster incident response, boosting the confidence and effectiveness of cybersecurity personnel.
8. thyssencrupp is using the Siemens Industrial Copilot, built on Azure OpenAI Service, to address a skilled labor gap while revolutionizing how it programs and operates machinery.
9. U.S. AutoForce implemented Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management to centralize warehouse data, connect processes and improve operational efficiency while using Microsoft Copilot for Finance to automate monthly reconciliations.
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1. ABB Group integrated Azure OpenAI Service into their Genix Copilot platform enabling customers to achieve up to 30% savings in operations and maintenance, 20% improvement in energy and emission optimization and an 80% reduction in service calls.
2. Accelleron used Microsoft Power Platform to support numerous business applications and simplify processes for service agents and employees, resulting in the onboard of new agents in 30 minutes, compared to two days for other solutions.
3. Accenture developed an AI-powered financial advisor that leverages RISE with SAP on Microsoft Azure to enhance their infrastructure and integrate financial data.
4. Atomicwork leverages Azure OpenAI to bring together three power capabilities: a conversational assistant, a modern service management system and a workflow automation platform.
5. Blink Ops fully embraced generative AI to build the world’s first Security Automation Copilot with more than 8,000 automated workflows to help any Security/IT task through prompts.
6. Chalhoub Group is using Microsoft Fabric to modernize its data analytics and streamline its data sources into one platform, increasing agility, enhancing analytics and accelerating processes.
7. Cineplex is developing innovative automation solutions for finance, guest services and other departments, saving the company over 30,000 hours a year in manual processing time.
8. ClearBank moved its services to Microsoft Azure to gain scalability and efficiency, pushing out 183% more monthly system releases, gaining both scalability and efficiency.
9. Danske Statsbaner increases productivity up to 30% with help from Microsoft AI solutions.
10. Dentsu implemented Microsoft Azure AI Foundry and Azure OpenAI Service to build a predictive analytics copilot that supports media insights, cutting analysis time by 80% and overall time to insight by 90%, reducing analysis costs.
11. Dow implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to empower teams with AI-driven insights and streamline essential workflows by automating tasks across departments, saving millions of dollars on shipping operations in the first year.
12. Eastman implemented Microsoft Copilot for Security realizing the benefits of accelerated upskilling, step-by-step guidance for response and faster threat remediation.
13. Fast Shop migrated to Microsoft Azure creating a self-service culture of access to data, eliminating delays, reducing costs and increasing leadership satisfaction with data while providing more agility in reporting.
14. Florida Crystals adopted a value-added solution across Microsoft products including Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce telecom expenses and automate industrial process controls.
15. GHD is reinventing the RFP process in construction and engineering with Microsoft 365 Copilot.
16. GovDash is a SaaS platform that leverages artificial intelligence to streamline the entire business development life cycle for government contracting companies using Azure OpenAI.
17. Grupo Bimbo is deploying Microsoft’s industrial AI technologies to modernize its manufacturing processes, optimizing production and reducing downtime, driving significant cost savings, and empowering global innovation.
18. Insight Canada implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline business operations, with 93% of users realizing productivity gains in functions including sales, finance and human resources.
19. Intesa Sanpaolo Group enhanced its cybersecurity with AI-enabled Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Copilot for Security, resulting in faster threat detection, increased productivity and reduced storage costs.
20. Kaya deployed a custom implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power BI to modernize its supply chain, leading to enhanced visibility, improved planning and streamlined inter-department operations.
21. Lenovo leveraged Dynamics 365 Customer Service to rapidly manage customer inquiries by streamlining repetitive tasks, boosted agent productivity by 15%, reduced handling time by 20% and reached record-high customer satisfaction.
22. Lionbridge Technologies, LLC is using Microsoft Azure and Azure OpenAI Service to accelerate its delivery times and improve quality, reducing project turnaround times by up to 30%.
23. LTIMindtree integrated Microsoft Copilot for Security, offering automated incident response, integrated threat intelligence and advanced threat analysis.
24. Mania de Churrasco used Microsoft Azure, Power Platform and Microsoft 365 to achieve high efficiency, security and scalability in its operations, in addition to improving its data intelligence, which indirectly participated in a 20% increase in sales year on year.
25. National Bank of Greece built an Azure-powered Document AI solution to transform its document processing, improving the bank’s accuracy to 90%.
26. Nest Bank has revolutionized its operations by integrating Microsoft 365 Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service, resulting in doubled sales and increased daily transactions from 60,000 to 80,000, showcasing the transformative impact of generative AI in the financial sector.
27. Network Rail modernized their data analytics solution with Microsoft Azure, helping engineers understand data 50% faster than before and improve efficiency, passenger experiences and safety — all while saving costs.
28. Nsure developed an AI-powered agent that uses Copilot Studio and Power Automate to reduce manual processing time by 60% while also reducing associated costs by 50%.
29. Oncoclínicas implemented Microsoft Azure to transform its entire data ecosystem with a web portal and mobile application that performs all image processing and storage.
30. Operation Smile used Azure OpenAI Service, Fabric and Power Apps to eliminate manual data entry, resulting in reduced translation errors by about 90% and the time required for completing reports from four to five hours to just 15 to 20 minutes.
31. Pacifico Seguros has adopted Microsoft Copilot for Security to optimize its security operations and anticipate and neutralize threats more efficiently and effectively.
32. Parexel adopted Azure Databricks and Microsoft Power BI, achieving an 85% reduction in data engineering tooling costs, a 30% increase in staff efficiency and a 70% reduction in time to market for data product delivery.
33. Paysafe used Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline meetings, information management and document creation, addressing language barriers, eliminating time-consuming tasks and boosting creativity along the way.
34. Planted is integrating Azure OpenAI to manage everyday tasks more efficiently and facilitate the search for information for innovative process development.
35. Presidio realized dramatic productivity gains saving 1,200 hours per month on average for the employees using Microsoft 365 Copilot and created 70 new business opportunities.
36. Qatar Charity used Copilot Studio to increase its call center efficiency, reducing average handle time by 30%, increased customer satisfaction by 25%, and achieved a 40% reduction in IT maintenance costs.
37. Saphyre uses Microsoft Azure and AI to provide an intelligent cloud-based solution that automates and streamlines financial trading workflows around client and counterparty life cycle management, reducing manual efforts by 75%.
38. StarKist Foods used Azure to effectively unite production and demand processes with finance, reducing the planning cycle from 16 hours to less than one.
39. Swiss International Air Lines migrated and modernized with Microsoft Azure, achieving up to 30% cost savings, a remarkable boost in platform stability along with enhanced security visibility.
40. ZEISS Group uses Microsoft Fabric to create a secure and trusted data supply chain that can be shared effortlessly across a range of business units.
41. ZF Group builds manufacturing efficiency with over 25,000 apps and 37,000 unique active users on Power Platform.
Bending the curve on innovation

Generative AI is revolutionizing innovation by speeding up creative processes and product development. It’s helping companies come up with new ideas, design prototypes, and iterate quickly, cutting down the time it takes to get to market. In the automotive industry, it’s designing more efficient vehicles, while in pharmaceuticals, it’s crafting new drug molecules, slashing years off R&D times. In education, it transforms how students learn and achieve their goals. Here are more examples of how companies are embracing generative AI to shape the future of innovation.

New Stories:
1. Agricultural Development Trust (ADT) of Baramati is analyzing water, weather, nutrient, pH data and more with AI to increase crop yields in India.
2. DrumBeat.AI is using Microsoft AI services to predict, identify and treat ear diseases in communities that are both rural and remote, helping to prevent hearing loss among Indigenous communities in Australia.
3. Dynamic Health Systems created its VitruCare365® platform on the Microsoft Cloud for healthcare technologies to enable motivational care planning. Built on Microsoft Azure, FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) and Dynamics 365, it provides personalized apps powered by Azure OpenAI Service to each patient and is deployed as an extension to the Microsoft 365 tools clinicians use every day.
4. Cities can use Esri’s ArcGIS geospatial platform to create environmental digital twins that simulate heavy rainfall and apply hot spot analysis to highlight flooding. Adding Azure AI to the geospatial digital twin will reveal insights in impossible amounts of data.
5. Digital employment agency Gojob developed Aglae, a virtual assistant based on Azure OpenAI Service, to pre-qualify candidates within 15 minutes, enabling recruiters to achieve record employment placement rates.
6. Institut Curie and Microsoft partner Witivio developed Copilot for Researcher, an agent that can help researchers with some of the administrative tasks in their jobs so they have more time to spend on actual new ideas in the fight against cancer.
7. NASA created Earth Copilot to transform how people interact with Earth’s data.
8. Parity is helping women athletes use data and AI to help improve their well-being, performance and careers.
9. Petbarn created “PetAI” using Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search and Azure App Service to provide Australian pet owners highly personalized advice and product recommendations.
10. Project Guacamaya is using daily satellite images and various AI models tailored to the Amazon ecosystem to help prevent its deforestation, allowing for quicker action to be taken in at-risk areas.
11. Properstar developed a solution to simplify the analysis of unstructured real estate data and create a dynamic, AI-powered filtering system that provides more nuanced search results.
12. RadarFit is using generative AI and a unique gamification strategy to encourage healthy habits in Brazil, with a comprehensive health and wellness program aimed at helping companies reduce chronic disease rates.
13. SEDUC is using Microsoft 365 Copilot for administrative tasks — such as generating legal documents and handling administrative inquiries — and has expanded to include AI usage with students and teachers, including personalized learning to cater to individual student needs and help them recover from learning losses during the pandemic.
14. Indonesia’s Universitas Terbuka used Microsoft Azure OpenAI services and Azure AI Foundry to build an AI tutor that delivers accurate, curriculum-aligned responses and streamlines student assessment. The tutor currently supports 500 classes and some 100,000 students.
15. World Traveler is using AI including Microsoft Reading Progress and Microsoft Immersive Reader to help teachers reach its globally and educationally diverse students with personalized learning experiences.
16. South Korean startup Wrtn Technologies brings ATI close to people, with a “superapp” that compiles an array of AI use cases and services, but localized for Korean users to integrate AI into their everyday lives.
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1. Air India has incorporated Microsoft 365 Copilot into multiple departments, unlocking a new realm of operational insights that not only provides critical data on flight punctuality and operational hurdles, but also empowers proactive, collaborative decision making.
2. Agnostic Intelligencedeployed Azure OpenAI Service to eliminate time-consuming tasks, saving users up to 80% of their time, and enabling IT managers to focus on innovation and quality assurance.
3. Albert Heijn is using Azure OpenAI for everything from customer personalization to demand forecast and food waste projects, making it easier for its customers to change their lifestyle.
4. Amgen is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to boost productivity and has the potential to speed up drug development and support advancements in their business processes.
5. APEC leverages Microsoft Azure and deep neural network algorithms to develop an app that enables healthcare providers to capture retinal images, increasing the accuracy to identify Retinopathy of Prematurity (RoP) to 90%.
6. ASOS is using Azure AI Studio to help customers discover new looks with genuine shopping insights, personalized conversations, naturalism and even humor to enliven the shopping journey.
7. Auburn University is incorporating Microsoft Copilot to promote AI literacy, accessibility and collaboration, with the aim to expand educational and economic opportunities for its entire academic community with AI-centric tools.
8. B3 launched an AI assistant using Azure OpenAI Service that aids 10,000 users a day to answer Brazilians’ questions about how to start investing.
9. Basecamp Research aims to build the world’s largest database of national biodiversity and apply AI and machine learning to advance bioscience.
10. Bayer is using Microsoft Copilot to contribute to feeding a growing global population and helping people lead healthier, disease-free lives.
11. BMW AG implemented Azure AI to develop a mobile data recorder copilot for faster data management helping engineers reduce the lead time for insights from days to hours or sometimes minutes.
12. Brembo leveraged Azure OpenAI to develop ALCHEMIX, a solution to generate innovative compounds for its brake pads, drastically reducing the development time of new compounds from days to mere minutes.
13. Canary Speech can now train new vocal models in as little as two months and handle millions of transactions per month with Microsoft Azure.
14. CapitaLand simplified internal processes increasing efficiency to more than 10,000 man-days saved per year and deployed Azure OpenAI Service to build the first AI hospitality chatbot for its lodging business.
15. Cassidy is using Azure OpenAI Service to enhance efficiency across various industries, supporting over 10,000 companies.
16. Coca-Cola is implementing Azure OpenAI Service to develop innovative generative AI use cases across various business functions, including testing how Microsoft 365 Copilot could help improve workplace productivity.
17. Denso is developing “human-like” robots using Azure OpenAI Service as the brain to help robots and humans work together through dialogue.
18. eFishery is using Azure OpenAI for farmers to get the data and insights on fish and shrimp farming, including more precise feeding and water quality monitoring.
19. EY developed an application that automatically matches and clears incoming payments in SAP, resulting in an increase from 30% to 80% in automatically cleared payments and 95% matched payments, with estimated annual time savings of 230,000 hours globally.
20. EY worked with Microsoft to make Azure AI Foundry more inclusive for all, serving the 20% of the global workforce identifying as neurodivergent.
21. FIDO is using Azure OpenAI Service to develop an AI tool that uses sound to pinpoint leaky pipes, saving precious drinking water.
22. Georgia Tech is using Azure OpenAI Service to enhance the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, achieving rapid data classification and predictive modeling, highlighting the reliability of networked chargers over non-networked ones.
23. GigXR developed a solution to create the intelligence for specific AI patients using Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service and other Azure services.
24. GoTo Group is significantly enhancing productivity and code quality across its engineering teams by adopting GitHub Copilot, saving over seven hours per week and achieved a 30% code acceptance rate.
25. GovTech used Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to create LaunchPad, sparking more than 400 ideas and 20 prototypes, laying the foundation for the government to harness the power of generative AI.
26. H&R Block is using Azure AI Studio and Azure OpenAI Service to build a new solution that provides real-time, reliable tax filing assistance.
27. Haut.AI provides skin care companies and retailers with customizable, AI-based skin diagnostic tools developed with the help of Microsoft AI.
28. Helfie is building a solution that caters to healthcare providers who can arm their patients with an application to more quickly and accurately access the care they need.
29. Hitachi will implement Azure Open AI Service, Microsoft 365 Copilot and GitHub Copilot to create innovative solutions for the energy, mobility and other industries.
30. Icertis is providing AI-based tools that will recognize contract language and then build algorithms to automatically choose the right approach based on the content of the contract.
31. Iconem leveraged AI-generated imagery to process and analyze a vast amount of photogrammetry data used to create the 3D digital twin of St. Peter’s Basilica, allowing visitors to explore every intricate detail from anywhere in the world.
32. ITOCHU is using Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Studio to evolve its data analytics dashboard into a service that provides immediate recommendations by automatically creating evidence-based product proposals.
33. IU International University of Applied Sciences (IU) is using the power of Azure OpenAI Service to develop Syntea, an AI avatar integrated into Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 Copilot, making learning more personalized, autonomous and flexible.
34. Khan Academy has partnered with Microsoft to bring time-saving and lesson-enhancing AI tools to millions of educators.
35. Lufthansa Group developed an animated 3D avatar called Digital Hangar to help guide passengers from initial travel inspiration to flight booking through an exchange with an Avatar in natural language.
36. Mia Labs implemented Azure OpenAI to produce and protect its conversational AI virtual assistant Mia that provides fast support from investors, along with the sophisticated security posture and threat protection capabilities for AI workloads.
37. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is using Azure OpenAI Service to help accelerate digital innovation in power plants.
38. Molslinjen has created an AI analytics toolbox that has reduced fuel emissions, improved customer satisfaction and brought in millions of additional revenue.
39. New Sun Road implemented AI into a local controller for energy systems to balance the supply, storage and use requirements. This optimized loads to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy for local clean power for communities.
40. Novo Nordisk recently published initial results with predictive AI models for advanced risk detection in cardiovascular diseases, including an algorithm that can predict patients’ cardiovascular risk better than the best clinical standards.
41. Ontada implemented Azure AI and Azure OpenAI Service to target nearly 100 critical oncology data elements across 39 cancer types and now accesses an estimated 70% of previously unanalyzed or unused information, accelerating its life science product development, speeding up time to market from months to just one week.
42. Paige.AI is using AI and Microsoft Azure to accelerate cancer diagnoses with data from millions of images.
43. Pets at Home created an agent to help its retail fraud detection team investigate suspicious transactions.
44. Plan Heal is using Microsoft AI to create solutions that enable patients to monitor and report health metrics so care providers can better serve them.
45. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is testing a new battery material that was found in a matter of weeks, not years, as part of a collaboration with Microsoft.
46. Rijksmuseum is harnessing the power of Copilot to make art accessible at scale by joining forces with Microsoft to improve and expand the art experience for blind and low-vision community members.
47. Royal National Institute of Blind People is using Azure AI services to develop an AI-based solution that quickly and accurately converts letters to braille, audio, and large print formats.
48. Schneider Electric provides productivity-enhancing and energy efficiency solutions and is using a whole suite of AI tools to hasten its own innovation and that of its customers.
49. SPAR ICS created an award-winning, AI-enabled demand forecasting system achieving 90% inventory prediction accuracy.
50. SustainCERT deployed GenAI and machine learning for automated data verification, extraction from documents and to accelerate auditing processes to enable verifying the impacts and credibility of carbon credits.
51. Suzuki Motor Corporation is adopting Azure OpenAI Service for data security, driving company-wide use with five multipurpose apps.
52. Tecnológico de Monterrey created a generative AI-powered ecosystem built on Azure OpenAI Service with the goal to personalize education based on the students’ needs, improve the learning process, boost teachers’ creativity and save time on tedious tasks.
53. TomTom is using Azure OpenAI Service, Azure Cosmos DB and Azure Kubernetes Service to revolutionize the driver experience.
54. Toyota is deploying AI agents to harness the collective wisdom of engineers and innovate faster in a system named “O-Beya,” or “big room” in Japanese. The “O-Beya” system currently has nine AI agents — from a Vibration Agent to a Fuel Consumption Agent.
55. Unilever is partnering with Microsoft to identify new digital capabilities to drive product innovation forward, from unlocking the secrets of our skin’s microbiome to reducing the carbon footprint of a multibillion-dollar business.
56. Unity used Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to build Muse Chat, an AI assistant that can guide creators through common questions and help troubleshoot issues to make game development easier.
57. University of South Florida is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to alleviate the burden of repetitive, time-consuming tasks so faculty and staff can spend this time creatively solving problems, conducting critical research, establishing stronger relationships with peers and students and using their expertise to forge new, innovative paths.
58. Utilidata built the first distributive AI and accelerated computing platform for the electric grid allowing flexible transformation and dynamic infrastructure to increase electrification and decarbonization.
59. Visma has developed new code with GitHub Copilot, Microsoft Azure DevOps and Microsoft Visual Studio as much as 50 percent faster, contributing to increased customer retention, faster time to market and increased revenue.
60. Wallenius Wilhelmsen is implementing Microsoft 365 Copilot and using Microsoft Viva to drive sustainable adoption, streamlining processes, empowering better decision making and cultivating a culture of innovation and inclusion.
61. Wipro is committed to delivering value to customers faster and improving the outcomes across the business by investing $1 billion in AI and training 200,000 employees on generative AI principles with Microsoft Copilot.
Read more:

IDC InfoBrief: sponsored by Microsoft, 2024 Business Opportunity of AI, IDC# US52699124, November 2024

Tags: AI, AI Azure, Azure OpenAI Service, Copilot, Copilot Studio, Microsoft 365 Copilot
MIL OSI Economics –
February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: AI Data Drop: Handling risky business in half the time

Source: Microsoft

Headline: AI Data Drop: Handling risky business in half the time

This story is featured in the WorkLab newsletter. Sign up for it here.

Every company needs to be able to assess where and how mistakes get made. Let’s say a banking customer experiences delays when they’re applying for a new loan. That dissatisfaction means that customer service employees, in turn, spend valuable time dealing with complaints and inquiries. Figuring out why those delays happen—and fixing the issue—can directly affect the bottom line.

For an institution like Australia’s Bank of Queensland, with a few thousand employees serving 1.4 million customers, identifying overlooked risks is critical to reducing costly errors in the future. To do this, it uses a common problem-solving method: root cause analysis. “The process is essential for maintaining high standards of customer satisfaction and operational excellence,” says Bank of Queensland’s Head of Partner Programs for Group Tech, Bernadette Demasi. But it’s also resource-intensive. Our researchers at Microsoft teamed up with the bank to explore how AI could improve speed and efficiency.

Their findings: AI access—along with custom, targeted prompt development—can help diagnose those bottom line–busting issues more quickly and accurately.

What we did: Our researchers gave 14 people access to Copilot, while a control group of 21 did not have it. Participants were asked to analyze a simulated “risk event”—loan approval delays—and tasked with identifying and cataloging the potential reasons for the delay.

Because we know there’s a learning curve with AI, we also wanted to see whether giving targeted guidance could help Copilot users hit the ground running. The treatment group received tips on task-specific optimization, including sample prompts that encouraged asking for narrative responses (“imagine telling the story…”) and “think-aloud” prompts (“imagine you’re thinking it through with a colleague…”).

After both groups were finished, the research team compared the quality of the analyses and how long each group took to write them.

What we found: Analysts using Copilot were able to determine the root cause 51.8% faster, a remarkable result. In fact, more than half of the analysts with AI access completed the task more quickly than the fastest analyst without access to AI. Despite the relatively small sample size, the performance differences between the treatment and control groups were so pronounced and uniform that the results are statistically significant.

Bankers Work Twice as Fast with Copilot

In a Microsoft study at Bank of Queensland, analysts using Copilot were able to finish a difficult analysis 51.8% faster than those without Copilot.

We also saw that analysts with access to Copilot had consistently high-quality outcomes compared to the more variable quality from the non-Copilot users. And using AI significantly improved the effectiveness and clarity of the analyses.

Survey results also suggest that AI users had a much better experience. More than a third of analysts with Copilot found the task less draining than did those without, which suggests that Copilot significantly reduced their cognitive load. Other positive results were even more uniform: 93% of the treatment group agreed that Copilot improved the quality of their root cause analysis and reduced the effort involved in completing it. Every participant with access to Copilot agreed that it helped them answer questions about contributing factors for the risk event, and that going forward they wouldn’t want to do this type of analysis without it.

What it means: Completing root cause analyses improved Bank of Queensland’s ability to identify and manage risks, and using Copilot has reduced the company’s analyst time significantly. They estimate that equipping 1,000 employees with Copilot could enhance productivity so much that it is equivalent to adding 120 new employees. “We have more work to do than people to do it,” Demasi says. “Adding capacity through AI allows us to work through resource constraints and supports our teams to gain the capacity to focus on higher-value work.”

Just as important: The results indicate that it’s not sufficient to simply give your people access to AI with no guidance. To get great results, you need to work together with your teams to give targeted direction on how to adopt the technology, supporting them to push the boundaries on how to use it to their best advantage.

MIL OSI Economics –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Enhancing Teams video quality with Super Resolution, now in public preview

Source: Microsoft

Headline: Enhancing Teams video quality with Super Resolution, now in public preview

Microsoft Teams continues to evolve to provide users with the best possible experience in virtual communication. One of the latest advancements is the introduction of Super Resolution (SR) support for Teams that we announced in Microsoft Ignite 2024. It is now available in public preview and will be general available in March. This feature, initially rolled out for Snapdragon X-based Copilot+ PCs, enhances video quality, especially under poor network conditions.

Network conditions can pose a challenge during high-traffic Teams meetings. Limited network bandwidth can force the transmission of lower-resolution videos, leading to decreased video quality. Traditionally, Teams would upscale these videos using conventional methods, which can result in blurry visuals.

Super Resolution for Teams leverages the power of Copilot+ PC AI to restore video resolution. Instead of relying on conventional upscaling methods, which fall short in delivering clearer images, Teams uses AI to enhance video resolution, producing notably improved video.

The following video clip shows a 2-participant Teams call with low resolution (360p) incoming video and compares the call quality before and after Super Resolution is enabled.

The following screen captures zoom into the video to highlight the differences and improvements between the two.

Figure 2: Zoomed in comparison of with and without super resolution enabled.

We conducted a subjective video quality assessment of a two-participant end-to-end Teams call. The call received several 360p resolution videos, which needed to be viewed at approximately 720p viewport size. The results indicated an average increase of +0.6 CMOS in quality (Comparative Mean Opinion Score), where users rated the quality difference on a scale from -3 (Much Worse) to +3 (Much Better). Additionally, 68% of users rated the super-resolution (SR) results as superior.

Most video calls are stable and transmit the required resolutions without needing upscaling. Super Resolution remains disabled in those scenarios. However, if bandwidth is limited, Teams will automatically enable Super Resolution for videos that do not meet the receiver’s viewing sizes. The effectiveness of SR depends on the level of upscaling needed, being more noticeable in severely degraded videos (such as the example above) than those needing slight upscaling. Thus, the feature’s performance varies with bandwidth constraints.

By default, the feature is enabled for devices connected to a power supply. This ensures that users benefit from the enhanced video quality without worrying about battery consumption. When devices are running on battery power, Super Resolution is switched off to conserve energy, allowing users to stay mobile without draining their battery. Users may also disable this feature manually via a toggle button in the “Video settings” dialog.

The current release is exclusive to the Teams Windows app on Snapdragon X based Copilot+ PCs, and supported on all OEM Copilot+ PC platforms: Surface, Dell, HP, Asus, Acer, Samsung, Lenovo. Teams will continue improving the feature’s performance, as well as expand this capability to other devices sporting capable NPUs. This includes Intel and AMD Copilot+ PCs. The vision is to make Super Resolution a standard feature across various platforms, ensuring all users can experience superior video quality.

The introduction of Super Resolution for Teams marks a significant milestone in enhancing virtual communication. By addressing the limitations of conventional upscaling methods and leveraging the power of AI, users can look forward to clearer, more detailed video streams, even in challenging network conditions. Stay tuned for further updates and experience the difference with Super Resolution in public preview.

MIL OSI Economics –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Cassidy, Blackburn, Colleagues Introduce Bills to Make Federal Government More Efficient, Slash Wasteful Spending

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and colleagues introduced two bills to hold the federal government accountable for managing taxpayer dollars. The Commission to Relocate the Federal Bureaucracy Act would establish a commission to send a report to Congress on moving non-national security related agencies out of the Washington D.C. metropolitan area based on a variety of factors and instruct the commission to develop the report with an aim of relocating at least 100,000 federal employees out of the D.C. metro area.
“Just like agencies such as the FAA is in Oklahoma City, and CDC is in Atlanta, then other federal agencies can be scattered across our nation,” said Dr. Cassidy. “That will work better to connect those agencies with the Americans they are serving and also help other communities benefit from the economic development of having highly skilled workers in their community.”
“Under President Trump’s leadership, Republicans have the opportunity to slash wasteful spending and rein in outsized bureaucracy,” said Senator Blackburn. “The DOGE Acts would get the federal government back on track by requiring federal employees to return to the office, move federal agencies into the heartland of America, cut bloated federal spending, lower taxes on social security for seniors, and freeze federal hiring and salaries until we can right size the federal government.”
The Stopping Home Office Work’s Unproductive Problems (SHOW UP) Act would require government agencies to reinstate their pre-COVID telework policies within 30 days and direct agency heads to submit to Congress a report on the adverse impacts of agencies’ expansion of telework policies for employees during COVID. Further, it would prevent federal agencies from permanently expanding telework without submitting to Congress details on how remote work policies will bolster agency mission performance.
“When someone calls the Social Security office and is put on hold and stays on hold and then the call drops, they understandably believe that if workers were in the office, there would be more oversight and quality control,” said Dr. Cassidy.
Cassidy and Blackburn were joined by U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Pete Rickets (R-NE) in introducing the Commission to Relocate the Federal Bureaucracy Act.
Cassidy and Blackburn were joined by U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in introducing the SHOW UP Act.
Background
In January, Cassidy introduced the Federal Employee Return to Work Act would exclude certain federal employees who telework at least one day a week from receiving raises and special locality bonuses for their office location being in a high-cost-of-living area despite working from home.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Cassidy, Cramer Reintroduce Fair Access to Banking Act to Protect Legal Industries from Debanking

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and 39 Republican colleagues reintroduced the Fair Access to Banking Act, which protects fair access to financial services and ensures banks operate in a safe and sound manner. The legislation requires that lending and services decisions must be based on impartial, risk-based analysis, not political or reputational favoritism.
“It’s wrong for banks to single out individuals or industries for political and social reasons,” said Dr. Cassidy. “This legislation guarantees fairness for essential employers in Louisiana, such as oil and gas development.”
“When progressives failed at banning these entire industries, what they did instead is they turned to weaponizing banks as sort of a backdoor to carry out their activist goals,” said Senator Cramer. “Financial institutions are backed by taxpayers, for crying out loud! They should be obligated to provide services in an unbiased, risk-based manner. The Fair Access to Banking Act ensures that banks provide fair access to services and enacts strict penalties for categorically discriminating against legal industries and individuals.”
In recent years, prominent American banks have engaged in a discriminatory practice, referred to as debanking. Banks and financial institutions use their economic standing to categorically exclude law-abiding, legal industries by refusing to lend or provide services to them. This includes industries such as firearms, ammunition, crypto, federal prison contractors, as well as energy producers.
Specifically, this legislation penalizes banks and credit unions with over $10 billion in total consolidated assets, or their subsidiaries, if they refuse to do business with any legally compliant, credit-worthy person. It also prevents payment card networks from discriminating against any qualified person because of political or reputational considerations. The bill requires qualified banks to provide written justification for why they are denying a person financial services. Further, the Fair Access to Banking Act would penalize providers who fail to comply with the law by disqualifying institutions from using discount window lending programs, terminating status as an insured depository institution or credit union, or imposing a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation.
The bill is based on President Trump’s Fair Access Rule, which was introduced during his first administration and required financial institutions to make individual risk assessments rather than broad decisions regarding entire industries or categories of customers. The Fair Access to Banking Act codifies these protections. The Biden administration paused the rule’s implementation in early 2021.
The legislation is a response to United States banks and financial institutions increasingly using their economic standing to categorically discriminate against legal industries and conservatives. For example, Citigroup instituted a policy in 2018 to withhold project-related financing for coal plants, and in 2020, five of the country’s largest banks announced they would not provide loans or credit to support oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, despite explicit congressional authorization. Such exclusionary practices also extend to industries protected by the Second Amendment, with Capital One, among other banks, previously including “ammunitions, firearms, or firearm parts” in the prohibited payments section of its corporate policy manual, and payment services like Apple Pay and PayPal denying their services for transactions involving firearms or ammunition. First Lady Melania Trump and technology companies alike allege banks have debanked them or refused to do business. During his address to the World Economic Forum in January, President Trump highlighted big banks and their discriminatory practices of targeting conservatives.
Cassidy and Cramer were joined by U.S. Senators Jim Banks (R-IN), John Barrasso (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Boozman (R-AR), Katie Britt (R-AL), Ted Budd (R-NC), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), John Curtis (R-UT), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), John Hoeven (R-ND), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Jim Justice (R-WV), John Kennedy (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Dave McCormick (R-PA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Bernie Moreno (R-OH), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Jim Risch (R-ID), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), Tim Sheehy (R-MT), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and Roger Wicker (R-MS) in cosponsoring the legislation. U.S. Representative Andy Barr (R-KY-06) introduced similar legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Support for the Fair Access to Banking Act has grown every Congress. At the state level, Florida and Tennessee passed Fair Access laws and similar legislation was introduced in Louisiana, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, and South Dakota. Banks have dropped membership in discriminatory groups which were aimed at starving specific industries.
The Fair Access to Banking Act is endorsed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, National Rifle Association, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, The Digital Chamber, Blockchain Association, Independent Petroleum Association of America, Online Lenders Alliance, Day 1 Alliance, GEO Group, Lignite Energy Council, National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, and National Mining Association.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Durbin, Duckworth Join Kaine In Raising Alarm Over Trump Administration Chaos At Critical National Security Agencies
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin

February 05, 2025

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, joined U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-IL), along with 34 of their Senate colleagues, in sending a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressing their deep concern regarding the growing chaos and dysfunction at the U.S. Department of State and the Trump Administration’s illegal attempt to destroy the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

USAID is a critical pillar of U.S. national security strategy, providing lifesaving aid and development support around the world to help ensure stability. Earlier this week, personnel at USAID were not permitted to enter the agency’s headquarters, and Elon Musk announced that President Donald Trump agreed to close the agency and move it under the State Department – which Trump has no legal authority to do. The Trump Administration, led by Musk, has also furloughed thousands of senior career civil servants, including two top security officials who denied Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency access to classified documents and systems.

“We are deeply concerned by reports of not only growing chaos and dysfunction at the Department of State, but the Administration’s brazen and illegal attempts to destroy the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Mass personnel furloughs of dubious legality and abrupt, blanket stop-work orders without regard to relevant appropriations laws are causing immediate harm to U.S. national security, placing U.S. citizens at risk, disrupting life-saving work and breaking the U.S. government’s contractual obligations to private sector partners,” wrote the Senators.

The Senators continued, “The Administration’s failure to consult with Congress prior to taking these steps violates the law and impedes Congress’s constitutional duty to conduct oversight of funding, personnel and the nation’s foreign policy. The Administration’s failure to expend funds appropriated on a bipartisan basis by Congress would violate the Impoundment Control Act.”

“Foreign assistance is critical to supporting U.S. strategic interests around the world. Foreign assistance protects U.S. national security, advances U.S. values, and ensures the U.S. is the partner of choice for everything from defense procurement to cutting edge scientific research. China, Russia and Iran are already moving rapidly to exploit the vacuum and instability left by the U.S.’s sudden global retreat,” wrote the Senators.

They continued, “Every Administration has the right to review and adjust ongoing assistance programming. However, attempting to arbitrarily turn off core functions of a critical U.S. national security agency, without Congressional consideration or any metric-based review and absent legal authority to do so, is unprecedented and deeply disturbing.”

The letter is signed by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Gary Peters (D-MI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Angus S. King (I-ME), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI).

The full text of the letter is available here and below:

February 4, 2025

Dear Secretary Rubio:

The effective administration of U.S. foreign assistance is critical to advancing core U.S. national security priorities, including countering the influence of China, Russia and Iran. As you acknowledged at your confirmation hearing, pushing back on China in particular is a top bipartisan priority.

As such, we are deeply concerned by reports of not only growing chaos and dysfunction at the Department of State, but the Administration’s brazen and illegal attempts to destroy the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Mass personnel furloughs of dubious legality and abrupt, blanket stop-work orders without regard to relevant appropriations laws are causing immediate harm to U.S. national security, placing U.S. citizens at risk, disrupting life-saving work and breaking the U.S. government’s contractual obligations to private sector partners.

The Administration’s failure to consult with Congress prior to taking these steps violates the law and impedes Congress’s constitutional duty to conduct oversight of funding, personnel and the nation’s foreign policy. The Administration’s failure to expend funds appropriated on a bipartisan basis by Congress would violate the Impoundment Control Act.

Foreign assistance is critical to supporting U.S. strategic interests around the world. Foreign assistance protects U.S. national security, advances U.S. values, and ensures the U.S. is the partner of choice for everything from defense procurement to cutting edge scientific research. China, Russia and Iran are already moving rapidly to exploit the vacuum and instability left by the U.S.’s sudden global retreat.

Every Administration has the right to review and adjust ongoing assistance programming. However, attempting to arbitrarily turn off core functions of a critical U.S. national security agency, without Congressional consideration or any metric-based review and absent legal authority to do so, is unprecedented and deeply disturbing.

We request immediate clarification on the following:

Status of USAID:
1. Confirmation of your understanding that any effort to abolish USAID or merge USAID into the Department of State absent Congressional consultation and approval is illegal.
2. Confirmation of your understanding that adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran are quickly moving into the vacuum left by suspended USAID programs.
3. The Department of State’s assessment of Mr. Elon Musk’s financial ties to China and the impact of these ties to the decision-making process of Mr. Musk and his employees.
4. Confirmation that neither you nor any member of your leadership team are taking direction from Mr. Musk with regards to the work of the Department of State or USAID, personnel or financial decisions for either agency, or any other matters relevant to U.S. national security.
5. Confirmation of the names and employment status of individuals directed by Mr. Musk to engage with USAID staff, the qualifications of these individuals, and the level of their security clearances – if any.
Personnel:
1. Confirmation of your understanding that any unauthorized access by or disclosure of classified information to individuals without appropriate security clearance could be considered a criminal offense.
2. The legal authority and rationale under which, on January 28, more than 50 senior career civil and foreign service USAID officials were placed on administrative leave. This move was not only unprecedented, but also inconsistent with the Office of Personnel Management’s own guidelines for the use of administrative leave.
3. The legal authority under which, on January 28, approximately 390 USAID Institutional Support Contractors (ISCs) were given stop-work orders, and clarification of which Administration official directed the implementation of this termination.
4. Whether any Department of State career civil and foreign service or contractors have been placed on administrative leave or removed from their roles as a result of or relating to the assistance freeze or any directives from the Office of Foreign Assistance.
5. Clarification of which Administration official directed the implementation of this mass furlough.
6. Clarification of whether these individuals were directed to be terminated without cause.
7. Confirmation that personnel will not face retaliation or retribution for performing their duties under the previous Administration’s policy direction.
8. Under what authorities and by which official’s directive career civil service, foreign service, and Personal Services Contractors (PSC), and those under other hiring authorities have been removed from their roles or limited in their ability to execute their work.
9. Confirmation that further career civil service, foreign service and USAID contractors will not be removed from their roles without cause or receive stop work orders.
10. Whether, upon full resumption of legally mandated foreign assistance activities, the Administration intends to re-hire contractors who have been removed from their roles.
11. Any additional guidance provided to State and USAID staff regarding the foreign assistance freeze, including confirmation of whether direct hires, contractors, or implementing organizations have been directed not to speak publicly about the foreign assistance freeze.
12. Public identification of the individual currently serving as the Director or Acting Director of the State Department’s Office of Foreign Assistance and as Acting Deputy Administrator of USAID, and the dates upon which this individual was appointed to each position.
13. Confirmation of your understanding that the State Department’s Director of Foreign Assistance has no authority to issue personnel directives for USAID.
Resumption of Foreign Assistance:
1. The specific process and anticipated timeframe for activities to receive exemptions or waivers, as referenced in your January 28, 2025 directive to State and USAID staff.
2. The mechanisms and metrics established for this waiver process.
3. The timeline for full resumption of legally mandated foreign assistance activities.
4. Clarification of what risk assessment or analysis of potential risk to U.S. national security interests were conducted prior to the decision to freeze foreign assistance activities.
5. Confirmation of the Department of State’s obligation to comply with U.S. contract law and your responsibility as Secretary of State ensure the Department honors its commitments to contracting partners.
We welcome your urgent attention to these questions. We and our staff stand ready to work with you to ensure U.S. foreign assistance funding continues to be deployed effectively to protect American citizens, at home and abroad.

Respectfully,

-30-
MIL OSI USA News –
February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: News 02/5/2025 Blackburn, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Protect Supreme Court Justices from Intimidation
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) introduced the Protecting Our Supreme Court Justices Act to increase the maximum term of imprisonment for those who attempt to intimidate and influence the decision-making process of a judge.

Introduction of this bill follows a recent report detailing new and concerning information about a suspect who hatched a plan to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Prior to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) attempted to intimidate Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh by name on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Supreme Court Justices must be able to do their jobs without fear of intimidation, harm, or violence against them or their families,” said Senator Blackburn. “The Protecting Our Supreme Court Justices Act will deter intimidation of our Justices and send a clear message that anyone who attempts to harm them will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”

“The integrity of our judicial system is dependent on justices being able to interpret the law freely and impartially,” said Senator Cruz. “I am proud to join my colleagues in re-introducing the Protecting Our Supreme Court Justices Act to ensure that those who attempt to coerce or intimidate Supreme Court justices face penalties for interfering in the administration of justice. No member of the Court should fear for their or their family’s safety while carrying out their constitutional duty.”

“Supreme Court Justices have faced a disturbing number of threats seeking to change the outcomes of cases for political ends,” said Senator Lee. “This assault on the rule of law and an independent judiciary cannot stand. Congress must be crystal clear: attempting to intimidate justices and their families will land you in prison for a long time.”

“It is essential that the judicial branch be able to perform its duties free from threats, fear, intimidation, or coercion,” said Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. “Threats and protests against Supreme Court justices and federal judges are blatant attempts to undermine their independence. I’m proud to once again support this legislation that sends a crystal clear message that these actions will not be tolerated and those responsible will face serious legal consequences.”

“Supreme Court Justices continue to be a target of politically motivated violence and threats of violence,” said Senator Cotton. “This bill makes clear that anyone who engages in this unlawful activity will face the full extent of the law.”

BACKGROUND:
- In the aftermath of the unprecedented May 2022 leak of the draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, far-left protesters immediately began demonstrating outside of the private residences of Supreme Court Justices. Subsequently, a map with the home addresses of five Republican-appointed Justices—Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett—was posted online.
- Federal law explicitly prohibits attempts at influencing the decision-making process of a judge. Specifically, 18 U.S.C. § 1507 states that any individual who, “with the intent of influencing any judge . . . in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades . . . in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge” is subject to criminal monetary penalties or a maximum of one year of imprisonment, or both. Section 1507 was intended to enable our judges to carry out their duty to uphold the rule of law, without fear of intimidation or retribution for doing so.
- Under President Biden and Attorney General Garland, following the Dobbs leak, zero protesters outside of Supreme Court Justices’ homes were arrested for violating Section 1507. Just as troubling, the Biden Department of Justice did not issue any guidance on enforcing this statute. The Supreme Court Marshal, as well as Virginia Governor Youngkin and then-Maryland Governor Hogan, implored Attorney General Garland to enforce Section 1507.
- With President Trump back at the helm, the Justice Department will finally return to focusing on law and order and enforcing our criminal laws. Nevertheless, it’s still critical that Congress act to deter this intimidation of our federal judiciary.
PROTECTING OUR SUPREME COURT JUSTICES ACT:
- The Protecting Our Supreme Court Justices Act would increase the maximum term of imprisonment for violation of Section 1507 from one year to five years. Increasing the maximum jail time for a protester under Section 1507 is an effective way to deter this intimidation of our Supreme Court Justices.
- Additionally, now that we have a presidential administration that is committed to enforcing federal law, increased criminal penalties will send a strong message to these far-left protesters that Supreme Court Justices must be allowed to do their jobs without fearing for the safety of themselves or their families.
Click here for bill text.
MIL OSI USA News –
February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Senators Marshall, Blackburn Introduce Bill to Reduce Excessive Taxation on Social Security Benefits

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Kansas Roger Marshall

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Roger Marshall, M.D. and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced the Reducing Excessive Taxation and Inefficiencies by Reforming Elder Exemptions to Support Fairness, Inflation Relief, and Simple Taxes (RETIREES FIRST) Act. This legislation will lower the tax burden on Social Security benefits for seniors and offset this tax relief by redirecting funds from inefficient non-security discretionary programs, safeguarding the Social Security and Medicare trust funds while prioritizing retirees.
Historically, Social Security benefits were entirely exempt from federal income tax. Current tax exemptions have not been adjusted for inflation, causing “bracket creep” that increasingly taxes middle-income retirees. Today, nearly 56% of retirees pay taxes on their Social Security benefits, compared to less than 10% in 1984. Many retirees rely on Social Security as their primary source of income. The added tax burden on Social Security benefits reduces their quality of life, especially as inflation erodes the value of their benefits.
“After four years of record-high inflation, the current tax on Social Security has been devastating to America’s retirees,” said Senator Marshall. “By cutting taxes on Social Security, this bill will ensure America’s seniors can keep more of their hard-earned money and fix a fundamental flaw in our tax system.”
To read the full text of the bill, click HERE.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Senator Marshall on Newsmax: President Trump is Protecting Women’s Sports, Another Promise Made, Promise Kept

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Kansas Roger Marshall

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. joined National Report on Newsmax to discuss the Senate advancing the nomination of RFK, Jr. to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Prayer Breakfast, and National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

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You may click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall’s full interview.
Highlights from Senator Marshall’s interview include:
On HHS Secretary nominee RFK, Jr. getting across the finish line:
“I think that he’ll make it across the finish line. This may be down partisan lines, but I just want to thank all the people that reached out to their Senators in support of Bobby Kennedy, Jr. Look, he’s going to be a great disruptor. He’s going to focus on chronic health and trying to make people healthy again by preventing these diseases, by focusing on proper nutrition, by decreasing the toxins we are exposed to. I think he’s going to be a game-changer.”
“So, yeah, the Democrats are going to bring out all the all the tools that they’ve got. They’re just really hung up on a couple issues. It feels like a barroom brawl here in DC right now, but we’ll get him across the finish line.”
On history, importance of the National Prayer Breakfast:
“America’s faith has provided a moral compass for this nation since its beginning. This country was founded by people of faith, and from President Washington to President Lincoln and then President Eisenhower, who really kicked this thing off in 1953 have all been people of faith that have turned to their faith in those most crucial moments in history.”
“And I just want to take people back to 1953 President Eisenhower, former five-star Supreme Allied Commander, is now the president of the United States, and a senator from Kansas reaches out to the President. Says, How are you doing, Mr. President? And he says, Look, this is the loneliest job in the world right now. They invite him to a prayer breakfast that turns into this National Prayer Breakfast, a day when this country gets on our knees and says, Look, God, we’ve fallen short. We’ve drifted away. We need you. We want to be on your side. And I think that’s the theme you’re going to hear tomorrow is that America is on God’s side, and we’re just so grateful, and just want to be that shining city on the hill again. So faith a very important his part of this nation’s history.”
On President Trump protecting women and girls in sports:
“I just appreciate the President leadership’s once again, that he’s doing what he said he was going to do. Promises made, promises kept.”
“I was in middle school when Title IX was passed, 1972 and I think many people, everyone would agree with me that it was day and night when that happened, and all of a sudden there were more opportunities for young ladies to compete in sports.”
“I have yet to meet a person that thinks it’s okay for boys to compete against girls, let alone boys be in the girls’ locker rooms…It’s not safe for boys to compete in girls’ sports, and it’s not fair. This country was built on fairness enough. So I appreciate President Trump’s leadership. Once again, promises made, promises kept from Donald J. Trump.”

MIL OSI USA News –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Senator Marshall Introduces Bill to Cut Regulatory Red Tape for Main Street Grocery Stores

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Kansas Roger Marshall

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senator Marshall introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval to block the implementation of the Biden Administration’s EPA “management” rule related to phasing out hydrofluorocarbons used in refrigeration units. The EPA’s rule goes way too far and would raise operational costs for Main Street grocery stores, which are already facing high labor, utility, and merchandise costs. Representative Dunn introduced a similar bill in the House.
“My Main Street grocers are already operating on tight margins,” said Senator Marshall. “The massive increase in costs associated with this rulemaking will force grocers to increase their prices, or in more dire circumstances, close completely. Gone are the days of the Biden Administration’s inflationary, burdensome rules and the heavy hand of the federal government hounding our mom-and-pop shops.”
“I’m incredibly thankful to Senator Marshall for introducing this important resolution,” said Jenny Osner, owner of Hired Man’s Grocery & Grill in Conway Springs, Kansas. “As the only grocer in town, people depend on us to help feed their families. The financial strain from these regulations will put our dependability and community’s ability to access fresh food in jeopardy.”
“The EPA’s refrigeration regulations put the viability of our nation’s independent supermarkets in significant danger,” cautioned Chris Jones, NGA’s chief government relations officer. “These mandates will inflict crippling costs upon an industry that already operates on razor-thin margins. This kind of overreach will inevitably translate to higher food prices for consumers and, in the direst of circumstances, could force the closure of community grocery stores. NGA wholeheartedly applauds Senator Marshall’s defense of independent community grocers and his strong commitment to averting these potentially catastrophic consequences.”

MIL OSI USA News –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: Secretary-General’s remarks to the opening of the 2025 session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People [as delivered]

Source: United Nations – English

r. Chair, Ambassador Coly Seck,

Bureau members,

Let me begin by congratulating you on your election.

I want to salute this Committee for its work.

At its essence, the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people is about the right of Palestinians to simply live as human beings in their own land.

We have seen the realization of those rights steadily slip farther out of reach.

We have seen a chilling, systematic dehumanization and demonization of an entire people.

Of course, nothing justifies the horrific Hamas attacks of October 7.

And nothing justifies what we have seen unfold in Gaza over the last many months.

We all know too well the catalogue of destruction and unspeakable horrors.

The nearly 50,000 people — 70% of them women and children — who have been reported killed.

The majority of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure — hospitals, schools, and water facilities – that has been destroyed.

The overwhelming majority of the entire population who have faced displacement after displacement, hunger, and disease.

Children, out of school for over a year.

A generation, left homeless and traumatized.

I welcome the ceasefire and hostage release deal.

I thank the mediators —Egypt, Qatar, and the United States— for the continued efforts to ensure implementation.

Now it is time to be crystal clear about objectives going forward.

First, we must keep pushing for a permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages without delay.

We cannot go back to more death and destruction.

For our part, the UN is working around the clock to reach Palestinians in need and scale up support.

That requires humanitarian access that is rapid, safe, unimpeded, expanded, and sustained.

I call on Member States, donors, and the international community to fully fund humanitarian operations and meet urgent needs.

And I once again urge Member States to support the essential work of UNRWA.

Second, in the search for solutions, we must not make the problem worse.

It is vital to stay true to the bedrock of international law. It is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing.

Third, we must reaffirm the two-State solution.

Any durable peace will require tangible, irreversible and permanent progress toward the two-State solution, an end to the occupation, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, with Gaza as an integral part.

A viable, sovereign Palestinian State living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel is the only sustainable solution for Middle East stability.

Excellencies,

Beyond Gaza, the situation continues to unravel in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

I am gravely concerned by rising violence by Israeli settlers and other violations.

The violence must stop.

As affirmed by the International Court of Justice, Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territory must end.

International law must be respected, and accountability ensured.

We must work toward preserving the unity, contiguity, and integrity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the recovery and reconstruction of Gaza.

A strong and unified Palestinian governance is crucial.

The international community must support the Palestinian Authority to this end.

Excellencies,

The UN is fully committed to peace, stability, and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.

I commend this Committee for its steadfast dedication to these goals and call on the international community to fully support these efforts.

And I thank you.

MIL OSI Africa –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Workers have to come before profit in Employment Rights Bill

Source: Scottish Greens

05 Feb 2025 Economy

Workers rights are crucial to a greener economy.

More in Economy

Keir Starmer must not bend the knee to big business interests over the upcoming Employment Rights Bill, says Scottish Greens MSP, Maggie Chapman.

The Employment Rights Bill, which is meant to improve workers’ rights and ban zero-hours contracts, has come under pressure as Tories and large corporate lobbying groups try to water down the bill.

Scottish Greens have long called for many of the provisions included in the bill, but are determined to see it go further, including protecting hospitality and retail workers from unpaid trial shift exploitation, increasing the minimum wage to at least the real living wage and taking steps to normalise a four-day work week with no loss of pay.

Union leaders have called on the Labour government to ignore calls from lobbyists and work to strengthen workers’ rights.

Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman said:

“Workers deserve better. For too long, big businesses across the country have exploited and used workers to put profits into their shareholders’ pockets.

“Scottish Greens have been calling for years to improve workers rights here in Scotland because we know things must change. But when Labour had the chance to back our calls to devolve workers’ rights to the Scottish Parliament, they failed. They lacked the courage to stand up for Scottish workers.

“Now, Labour must have the courage to stand up against corporate lobbyists who want to water down this crucial Employment Rights Bill. This bill is far from perfect, but it can make crucial progress towards a better deal for workers and implement many of the policies that Scottish Greens want to see delivered here in Scotland.

“Whilst the Tories and big business try to water down the bill, it’s more important than ever that all MPs put the rights of workers before profit.”

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Experts of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Commend Nepal on Increased Representation of Women in the Public Sector, Raise Questions on the “Chhaupadi” Practice and Women’s Right to Confer Citizenship

Source: United Nations – Geneva

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today concluded its consideration of the seventh periodic report of Nepal, with Committee Experts commending the State for increasing the representation of women in the public sector, while raising questions on the “Chhaupadi” practice affecting menstruating women and girls, and Nepalese women’s right to confer citizenship to their spouses and children.

Hiroko Akizuki, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for Nepal, reading questions on behalf of another expert, commended Nepal for its recent increases in the representation of women in the public sector, increasing over the last decade from just 8 per cent to almost 30 per cent now, with targets to increase this to 35 per cent by 2030.

Another Expert said the Chhaupadi practice forcibly exiled menstruating women and girls from their homes to menstruation huts. Although this practice had been criminalised, its practise continued, and this had resulted in the deaths of menstruating women and girls from animal attacks. What was being done in this area and in the area of period poverty? How could the engagement of men and boys be mobilised against Chhaupadi?

A Committee Expert noted that despite recent amendments to the Constitution, many discriminatory provisions still caused immense hardship to women, girls and their families, particularly when it came to passing on citizenship. Did the State party plan to address this gross violation of women’s rights by repealing several articles in the Constitution, allowing Nepalese women to transfer their nationality to their spouses on equal terms? How would the State party enable stateless children to access social services? Were there plans to ensure universal birth registration in the State party, and to ratify the two United Nations conventions on statelessness?

The delegation said the Government had conducted many programmes in the provinces where practices of Chhaupadi were practised. Ending traditional, harmful practices in society was not easy, and it took time to bring about change. The State had developed Chhaupadi guidelines in 2007 and was developing guidelines for the concept of dignified menstruation.

The delegation said Nepal’s Constitution ensured that women had equal rights to confer citizenship to their children. In January 2025, the Government submitted the citizenship bill to address challenges for individuals and children whose mothers had passed away. If the father’s identity was unknown, citizenship could be granted based on the maternal line. This amendment aimed to confer citizenship to those born to a Nepalese mother outside Nepal’s borders. If the father of a child was not identified, the mother could register her family name at the birth of the child.

Introducing the report, Nawal Kishor Sah Sudi, Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens of the Government of Nepal, said the State was proud to have four high-ranking women policymakers of the Government of Nepal in the delegation, as well as Ms. Bandana Rana, as a distinguished Committee Member of this Committee. Since the promulgation of the Constitution, the Federal Parliament had enacted 16 different laws related to fundamental rights, including the rights of women. The State had also made notable progress in women’s political representation and participation, with women holding 34 per cent of seats in the Federal Parliament. The Government also recently appointed its first woman Chief Secretary and the first woman Registrar in the Supreme Court of Nepal in history.

In closing remarks, Ram Prasad Subedi, Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said the dialogue had been wonderful and constructive. The participation of all stakeholders was greatly appreciated. The Government was fully committed to upholding the Convention’s objectives.

In her closing remarks, Nahla Haidar, Committee Chair, thanked the State party for its commitment and political will, and for the constructive dialogue.

The delegation of Nepal was comprised of representatives of the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens; the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs; the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers; and the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’s ninetieth session is being held from 3 to 21 February. All documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage . Meeting summary releases can be found here . The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings can be accessed via the UN Web TV webpage.

The Committee will next meet at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 6 February to consider the ninth periodic report of Belarus (CEDAW/C/BLR/9).

Report

The Committee has before it the seventh periodic report of Nepal (CEDAW/C/NPL/7).

Presentation of Report

NAHLA HAIDAR, Committee Chair, said the Committee was proud to have Ms. Bandana Rana as a member of the Committee from Nepal.

NAWAL KISHOR SAH SUDI, Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens of the Government of Nepal, said the State was proud to have four high-ranking women policymakers of the Government of Nepal in the delegation, as well as Ms. Bandana Rana, as a distinguished Committee Member of this Committee. Nepal remained fully committed to the implementation of the Convention and had made substantial progress in developing a robust legal and policy framework that supported the empowerment of women and girls.

Since the promulgation of the Constitution, the Federal Parliament had enacted 16 different laws related to fundamental rights, including the rights of women. These laws comprehensively addressed women’s rights and reflected the State’s commitment to strengthening legal protections. The Government of Nepal had commenced its sixteenth Periodic Plan (2024/25–2028/29) in 2024, which recognised the critical importance of gender-sensitive policies and prioritised gender equality and women’s empowerment as fundamental pillars of its development agenda.

The citizenship (amendment) bill had been registered in Parliament, aiming to address citizenship challenges for individuals whose mothers had died early or were out of contact. Provisions ensured that if a father’s identity was unknown, citizenship could be granted based on maternal descent. Nepal had ratified the United Nations Palermo Protocol in 2020, and in 2024, an act to amend some of Nepal’s laws had been amended by widening the definition of trafficking to include foreigners and immigrants, and also criminalising human smuggling.

Nepal was the second country in Asia to recognise same-sex marriage. Other legal processes, including marriage and identity cards for sexual and gender minorities, were underway. The Nepal Law Commission, an autonomous research body of the Government, was currently conducting a comprehensive study on discriminatory laws against the rights of gender and sexual minorities to initiate necessary legal reform in this regard. The State had also made notable progress in women’s political representation and participation, with women holding 34 per cent of seats in the Federal Parliament. The Government also recently appointed its first woman Chief Secretary and the first woman Registrar in the Supreme Court of Nepal in history.

Nepal remained committed to combatting gender-based violence and had established women, children, and senior citizen service centres in 1996 as part of a dedicated unit within the Nepal Police to investigate gender-based violence cases effectively. Today, 232 fully functioning centres operated across the country, strengthening Nepal’s law enforcement response to violence against women.

The Government provided free physical and mental healthcare services and protective measures. Currently, 94 government health institutions functioned as one-stop crisis management centres, alongside 21 service centres that served as transit homes, and 276 additional support centres. The Government of Nepal had established long-term rehabilitation centres, one at the national level and another at the provincial level. There were also 10 dedicated rehabilitation centres for victims of human trafficking and 53 community-based safe shelters, operating in collaboration with provincial governments, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders. Over 6,000 community-based networks were actively engaged in the fight against gender-based violence, reflecting Nepal’s strong commitment to protecting vulnerable groups and ensuring justice to the survivors.

Nepal recognised the link between climate change, natural disasters, and gender equality, and had strengthened disaster preparedness to support and protect women, especially in vulnerable communities. The September 2024 floods in Kathmandu and nearby areas saw effective disaster management, ensuring shelter, healthcare, and essential services for affected communities. Nepal continued to integrate gender considerations into national climate policies to build long-term resilience.

Nepal remained committed to ensuring justice for victims of past human rights violations, particularly in cases affecting women. The third amendment to the enforced disappearances enquiry, truth, and reconciliation commission act 2014, approved in August 2024, now explicitly included serious human rights violations in its amendment such as rape and grave sexual violence, intentional or arbitrary killings, enforced disappearances, inhumane or cruel treatment, and torture. A Special Court had been designated to adjudicate these cases and a dedicated investigative unit for sexual violence cases had been established.

Nepal remained steadfast in its commitment to gender equality, women’s empowerment, and social justice. The State aimed to expand access to quality education for girls, particular in rural areas, enhance women’s economic independence, strengthen maternal health and gender-based violence support services, develop gender-sensitive infrastructure, and promote women’s leadership. While challenges remained, the State’s resolve was stronger than ever, and the Committee’s guidance was welcomed.

Statement by the National Human Rights Institution

LILY HAJUR BASNYAT THAPA, National Human Rights Commission of Nepal, said it was crucial to acknowledge progress made by the State. The affirmative actions taken by the Government of Nepal were highly appreciated. Despite constitutional guarantees, Nepal’s legal framework still contained critical gaps. Nepalese laws lacked comprehensive definitions of discrimination, particularly around direct, indirect, and intersectional forms of discrimination affecting women. While some protective measures existed, implementation remained inconsistent. A distinct legal provision with a comprehensive definition of discrimination was essential to ensure justice for women facing severe discrimination. More action needed to be taken to strengthen the institutional mechanism, the National Women’s Commission.

The legal prohibition of entrenched harmful practices such as child marriage, Chhaupadi, discrimination against widows, and dowry, continued to persist. The Government of Nepal had expedited its efforts to amend almost a dozen laws to make them compatible with the Palermo Protocol, but it was too late to make amendments to the laws related to human trafficking. Furthermore, women often faced significant barriers in employment and migration. In sectors like tea plantations, where women constituted 80 per cent of the workforce, they lacked adequate maternity protections and faced potential wage cuts during pregnancy. Migrant women workers were particularly vulnerable, experiencing exploitation in destination countries with insufficient pre-departure training and reintegration support. Similarly, critical challenges persisted in sexual and reproductive healthcare. Rural and Madhesi women faced limited access to family planning and safe abortion services. Moreover, a deeply entrenched son preference continued to drive sex-selective practices, with statistics showing 112 boys born for every 100 girls in 2021.

Several critical areas demanded immediate attention. Women faced substantial restrictions in conferring citizenship to children and spouses, unlike their male counterparts. Rural women had limited access to sexual and reproductive health services, and comprehensive sexuality education remained restricted. Indoor pollution where 80 per cent of rural cooking happened without ventilation, caused around 7,500 annual deaths, disproportionately affecting women. The Commission proposed several critical interventions including to enact comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, establish robust mechanisms for women’s protection, strengthen political representation through practical measures, improve migrant worker protections, enhance sexual and reproductive healthcare access, and address systemic gender stereotypes. The Committee was urged to strongly recommend the full and immediate implementation of women’s constitutional and legal rights in line with the Convention and the Committee’s previous recommendations.

Questions by a Committee Expert

HIROKO AKIZUKI, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for Nepal, said the Committee commended Nepal for its commitment to fulfilling its obligation and participation in the exchange despite repeated earthquakes and natural disasters. What efforts had been taken to adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, including a definition of discrimination against women, in both the public and private spheres? How did the State party address cross-cutting discrimination against women, including women with disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex women, indigenous women, and elderly women, among others? What measures had been taken to ensure the effective implementation of laws? What was the status and content of the special opportunity bill? Were women’s rights organizations participating in the drafting of the bill? What measures had been implemented to enhance women’s awareness of their rights, and the legal remedies available under the Convention? Were human rights being recognised as including the collective rights of indigenous women?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said Nepal was doing its best to implement legal reforms with a legal perspective. The State had a plan for an integrated gender-based violence act, which was underway and moving in a positive direction. Nepal’s Constitution provided the framework for fighting all acts of discrimination. The State was aware that there should not be any multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. Nepal had several special laws which provided remedy for discrimination, including the human trafficking act, the domestic violence act, the sexual harassment at work act, the witchcraft accusation act, the labour act, and the victim crime act, among others, along with the Criminal Code, which provided no room for discrimination on any ground.

At present, there were special opportunity provisions scattered in various laws. It was expected that the special opportunity bill would soon be enacted by the Parliament. There were paid lawyer systems in the court, and more than 41,000 people received these services last year. It was required that for any lawmaking, there should be consultation with stakeholders with all three tiers of Government, to ensure a participatory approach. This would be occurring with the legal aid bill in a few weeks. In 2024, 200 young lawyers were mobilised, with 121 being women, to provide legal aid. The State had begun to have a roster of pro-bono lawyers within the Nepal Bar Association, already this year they had provided 79 victims with pro-bono support, 79 of whom were women. There was no special law concerning the rights of indigenous women, but scattered laws covered these rights.

Questions by Committee Experts

A Committee Expert asked what plans were in place to provide necessary resources to implement the national gender equality policy? Were there plans to establish provincial offices of the National Women’s Commission? What measures had been taken to address recommendations of the National sub-Committee, so it could fully comply with the Paris Principles? There were allegedly issues with financing for the resources assigned to the Ministry of Women; could more light be shed on this issue? How was the budget distributed and how were the issues dealt with? How effective were the decisions taken by the National Women’s Commission? Were their decisions binding?

Another Expert said temporary special measures were essential for ensuring equal opportunities for women in economic and social life. Could more information be provided about the State’s gender quotas? When would a gender equality principle be implemented directly into the Election Code of Conduct? How could temporary special measures be used to mitigate specific discrimination faced by minorities?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said the Government was actively implementing the gender equality policy, but faced challenges in this regard, including a lack of resources. Financial resources were being prioritised by the plan. After the federal election in 2017, 16 parliamentary panels were formed to monitor the Government’s work. A division was responsible for monitoring and implementing recommendations from the treaty bodies.

Recently, Nepal had been taking many steps in the area of temporary special measures. In line with the Committee’s previous recommendations, the Government had enacted temporary special measures to accelerate women’s participation at all levels, particularly in the decision-making processes. One of the most notable achievements had been the gender balance in leadership at the highest level of the Government. It was mandated that the House of Representatives needed to include at least one woman. At the recent elections of the local level, it was mandated that at least one nominee for the position of Mayor or Deputy Mayor should be a woman. In the 2022 elections, over 40 per cent of women were elected as representatives, a notable improvement from the 2017 elections. In the Office of the Prime Minister, there was a committee to facilitate the recommendations of the National Human Rights Commission.

Nepal had seven provinces and budgets were allocated at federal, provincial and local levels. The budget at the federal level was a bit low. The proposed civil services bill had proposed initiatives for indigenous women and other minorities. The provincial services act already sought to provide for minorities.

Questions by Committee Experts

A Committee Expert said Nepal had a new opportunity to address historical conflicts in ways which would set an example to other countries in the sub-continent. Despite the reconciliation commission and the commission on enforced disappearances, impunity for conflict-related violations persisted. There should be no amnesty or sentence reductions for rapists. Nepal’s long awaited transitional justice law was adopted in 2024, and the Committee congratulated the State on its many positive elements. But Nepal was encouraged to go further along the women, peace and security agenda. Was Nepal providing reparations for victims of conflict-related sexual violence? Had the law been changed? Nepal was the first Asian country to safeguard the rights of sexual and gender minorities which should be applauded. Nepal’s climate-related gender-based violence was correlated to climate crisis and this should be recognised and included in climate change action plans. How could the laws in Nepal be brought in line with the United Nations treaty on cybercrimes?

The Chhaupadi practice forcibly exiled menstruating women and girls from their homes to menstruation huts. Although this practice had been criminalised, its practise continued, and this had resulted in the deaths of menstruating women and girls from animal attacks. What was being done in this area and in the area of period poverty? How could the engagement of men and boys be mobilised against Chhaupadi? How could the Kumari practices be modernised in line with modern sciences?

A Committee Expert took note that the State party had ratified the Palermo Protocol in 2020. When was full compliance with the Protocol expected? Would the State party consider removing a provision which allowed the judiciary to fine victims if they failed to appear in court? Was the State party planning to change the provision which conflated trafficking with sex work? What steps were being taken to ensure trafficking cases were being dealt with in an acceptable time frame? The Committee noted with concern that the Government continued to impose restrictive age bans for women under 24 seeking domestic work, making them at a higher risk of becoming victims of trafficking. Would the State consider lifting these bans. How were migrant women’s needs addressed in bilateral labour agreements? Was pre-departure training provided for women migrants on labour rights or gender specific challenges?

No progress seemed to have been made to secure the rights of adult sex workers. How and when would the State party formulate a comprehensive policy and legislative framework to ensure the protection of women in prostitution? How would Nepal punish law enforcement officers who targeted sex workers? How would the State support sex workers in leaving the profession and seeking new forms of work.

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said the Government had conducted many programmes in the provinces where practices of Chhaupadi were practised. Ending traditional, harmful practices in society was not easy, and it took time to bring about change. The State had developed Chhaupadi guidelines in 2007 and was developing guidelines for the concept of dignified menstruation.

Nepal had ratified the Palermo Protocol in 2020, and an act amended in 2024 widened the definition of trafficking. A draft policy and action plan aimed to address several elements of trafficking, including providing for reparations for victims and training for police and judges in human trafficking cases.

The amended law had provided specialised scope to examine the issue of sexual violence, and had provided for a special court for cases of sexual violence. The amendment included the victim-centric approach, and aimed to ensure victims were satisfied with outcomes, including reparations.

Nepalese law did not recognise prostitution. The Nepalese police were taking legal measures to criminalise the clients of prostitutes. The State was aware of the rights of sex workers, which needed to be protected. The 35 day statute of limitations had been abolished and extended to three months. Sex workers were equally entitled to enjoy their rights under the Nepalese Constitution.

The State was in the process of amending the domestic violence act and would consider the aspect of technology-related gender-based violence. Legal reform was not the only means to intervene in harmful practices. For example, the Government, in cooperation with civil society organizations, was dedicated to controlling the exploitation of sex workers. Public awareness campaigns were being launched in the adult entertainment sector, and multiple efforts had been made to reduce the demand for prostitution through the distribution of leaflets and other media. Collaborative efforts were being made in border areas to monitor human trafficking issues.

The Government, in support with partners, was working to implement programmes in the provinces with regard to child marriage, including through declaring “child marriage free areas”.

Questions by Committee Experts

HIROKO AKIZUKI, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for Nepal, reading questions on behalf of another expert, said last session the Committee adopted its latest general recommendation on parity in politics. The State party was commended for its implementation of electoral quotas; however, the low numbers of representation were concerning. What measures was the State party taking to address the low representation of women, particularly from minority groups? In the 2022 election, male voters greatly outnumbered female voters. Did the State party take any measures to ensure political literacy, and engagement among women and girls, to encourage their participation in democratic processes?

Nepal was commended for its recent increases in the representation of women in its public sector, increasing over the last decade from just 8 per cent to almost 30 per cent now, with targets to increase this to 35 per cent by 2030. Could current data on the gender breakdown of management and decision-making positions in the public sector be provided, as well as any plans in place to increase these figures? Did the State party have any data on women in board and management positions in Nepal and what was being done to increase these figures? What was being done to protect women human rights defenders in the digital sphere?

Another Expert said despite recent amendments to the Constitution, many discriminatory provisions still caused immense hardship to women, girls and their families, particularly when it came to passing on citizenship. Did the State party plan to address this gross violation of women’s rights, by repealing several articles in the Constitution, allowing Nepalese women to transfer their nationality to their spouses on equal terms. How would the State party enable stateless children to access social services? Were there plans to ensure universal birth registration in the State party, and to ratify the two United Nations conventions on statelessness? Was there a special arrangement in the new proposed bill which addressed Nepalese women married to refugees?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said the Government had introduced many special measures to accelerate gender equality. Recently, the Government had introduced issues of intersectional disparity, with bills drafted in this regard. Currently, the level of Nepalese female diplomats was low. The Government had taken steps last year to foster inclusivity in international representation, to encourage more diverse representation in foreign engagement. Nepal’s Constitution ensured that women had equal rights to confer citizenship to their children. in January 2025, the Government submitted the citizenship bill to address challenges for individuals and children whose mothers had passed away. If the father’s identity was unknown, citizenship could be granted based on the maternal line. This amendment aimed to confer citizenship to those born to a Nepali mother outside Nepal’s borders. If the father of a child was not identified, the mother could register her family name at the birth of the child.

Nepal’s representation of women in the public sector had significantly improved, and the Government was making efforts to improve women’s participation in the private sector.

Questions by a Committee Expert

A Committee Expert said the Committee had noted with satisfaction significant progress made in the field of education, particularly the act approving compulsory, free education in 2018. The Committee also noted with satisfaction the adoption of the 10-year school education plan to 2032, prioritising female education and gender equality. What measures had been taken to strengthen the institutional capacities of local Governments, including dissemination in local languages? What measures were being taken to ensure access to education for all children, regardless of their caste or citizenship status, including girls of all ethnic or religious groups? The high prevalence of child marriage in certain provinces had resulted in a high dropout rate from schools. What measures were being taken to ensure pregnant and married girls could continue their education?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said every citizen had the right to access education. Persons with disabilities had the right to free education and every Nepalese community had the right to receive education in their mother tongue. Nepal had adopted the policy of no discrimination in education, whatever the status of citizens. There were some difficulties with children who did not have citizenship, but it was hoped the citizenship bill, currently under review by parliament, would rectify this issue. The Government had to provide free textbooks and other logistic support under the act on education for all. The central Government was providing around 11 per cent of the total budget to education, with around seven per cent being allocated to local levels. This allocation had been steadily increasing over recent years.

In 2016, the median marriage age of Nepalese women was 17.9; it had now risen to 18.3 years. There were some cases of early marriage, and the State acknowledged this. The legal age of marriage had now been raised to 20. Other measures to combat early marriage included night school, counselling programmes, and youth programmes, which contributed to raising awareness and mitigating this issue.

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said the Education Act prioritised education for marginalised communities. The State strove to ensure that education was inclusive for children with disabilities. Many scholarships were provided at local levels and there were policies for providing special grants in 2025. A commitment had been adopted which aimed to eradicate discrimination in education.

Questions by a Committee Expert

A Committee Expert commended the State party for policies and legislation in the field of employment, including the labour act, the social security act and the five-year strategic national action plan to 2025 on moving workers in the informal sector to the formal sector. However, there were still discrepancies, including the much lower level of female employment rate, compared to males. What measures had been taken to address the low representation of women in the workforce? What was the timeline for ensuring full payment for women in all sectors? Were enhanced provisions for equal sharing of work for women being envisaged with the new national action plan?

Women made up only around 10 per cent of migrant workers. What was the timeline to remove the ban and preconditions for women going abroad for domestic work? What protection measures were available for women from online harassment? When would the State party amend the law on sexual harassment and ensure justice for women victims and access to legal aid? How many cases of sexual harassment were prosecuted in the past two years and how many convictions were issued? What measures were envisaged to ensure equal opportunities for women and girls, including those with disabilities, in the digital economy?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said an employment service centre supported women’s participation in the workforce. Nepal had made substantial progress in reducing the wage gap and promoting equal opportunities, but challenges still persisted. Women were overrepresented in lower sectors and underrepresented in leadership positions. To address these challenges, Nepal was introducing gender responsive policies and conducting leadership training, among other measures. The Government conducted monitoring through regulatory oversight and audits, supported by trade unions and workers. Collaboration was also undertaken with partners, including the World Bank and the International Labour Organization.

Nepal’s five-year national action plan sought to integrate vulnerable groups into the formal economy through skills training and offering opportunities for workers to formalise their employment. The social security scheme provided support to women in the informal sector and assisted them to transfer to formal employment.

Nepal was committed to protecting all its citizens, including female migrant workers. Equal treatment policies were in place for both men and women, prioritising their security and health. Nepal was working closely with destination countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, to ensure the safety of its workers. Nepal was incorporating assistive technology to address the needs of persons with disabilities. Specific programmes were being developed to provide training and employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.

Recently, Nepal had adopted an action plan on business and human rights, which provided a human rights friendly approach for all workers. The State was also implementing the fifth national human rights action plan, which covered employment as a major issue.

The sexual harassment at workplace act allowed for cases of sexual harassment to be reported, and cases could also be reported to the police. However, it was hard for the Government to collect data on this topic. The safe motherhood and reproductive health act also provided paternity leave to fathers. This equally applied to the public and private sectors. The legal provisions were there but people were often not aware of their rights under these acts.

Questions by a Committee Expert

A Committee Expert said since the last review, Nepal had made significant progress in its health policy, particularly in sexual and reproductive health, with the adoption of the national strategy against discriminatory sex selection. However, the maternal mortality rate remained high and there were serious deficiencies in care and health centres. Some women refrained from using contraception unless they gave birth to a male child, putting them at risk of sexually transmitted diseases. The stigma around these diseases and HIV/AIDS prohibited women from seeking timely access to healthcare. What measures did the State intend to adopt to confront these challenges? What would be done to improve maternal mortality and prevent women from contracting venereal diseases and HIV/AIDS? How would it be ensured that women and girls had access to family planning and reproductive health services?

Abortion services were not easy to obtain or affordable for many women. What would be done to ban selective abortions? What mental health and suicide prevention services were available for women in Nepal? Would the invasive treatment of intersex persons be criminalised? Would forced sterilisation be criminalised, including against women and children with disabilities? How would free, prior and informed consent for women be guaranteed, including with respect to abortion?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said Nepal had begun a vaccination programme against the human papilloma virus for all women and girls across the country. There were several programmes in place which focused on sexual and reproductive health, including the Safe Motherhood Programme and the Safe Abortion Programme. Any woman could undertake an abortion up to 12 weeks without issue. Safe abortions were available in all seven provinces of the country. The Government acknowledged the importance of mental health support for women. Healthcare providers were provided with training to offer support to women who were navigating fertility issues.

There were inconsistencies between the sexual and reproductive health act and the Criminal Code. Because of this, the process of the amendment of the Criminal Code had been enacted, in line with the safe motherhood act. Dignified menstruation guidelines had been introduced, and work was being done to ensure the school curriculum covered sexual and reproductive health education.

Nepal had no record of cases in regard to forced sterilisation of persons with disabilities. A social service unit programme provided access to free health services for specific groups, including women and girls with disabilities.

Questions by a Committee Expert

A Committee Expert said in December 2024, the National Planning Committee introduced a framework to increase access to social security programmes for those from marginalised groups. However, women in Nepal still faced significant financial challenges when it came to property ownership, obtaining bank loans, and accessing credit. Family benefits such as pensions and social security were often controlled by male family members, leaving women financially dependent. How did the Government monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of laws and policies aimed at eliminating discrimination in economic and social life? What steps were being taken to address the gaps between legal provisions and their implementation? How were women’s equal inheritance and property rights being enforced? How did the Government ensure women from marginalised communities had equal access to economic resources? What measures were in place to ensure single mothers received the social security benefits they were entitled to? How did the Government ensure pensions and other benefits reached the rightful female beneficiaries rather than be controlled by male relatives?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said Nepal had launched several programmes for economic empowerment in different areas, with different financial incentives. A programme had supported 90,000 entrepreneurs, with 70 per cent of them being women. The integrated subsidised loan scheme for women entrepreneur development aimed to enhance women’s economic empowerment.

Questions by Committee Experts

A Committee Expert said agriculture contributed to one third of Nepal’s gross domestic product. However, most elements within the sector remained male dominated. What measures had been implemented to ensure equal measures to credit and financial support for women? How was their financial literacy being enhanced? What was being done to introduce agricultural tools specifically for women? How was rural women’s access to information being improved? What steps were being taken to mitigate regional disparities? Indigenous women and girls, including those with disabilities, remained largely invisible. What measures had been taken to collect disaggregated data by sex, location and other factors to fully understand the challenges faced by indigenous women and girls? What was being done to recognise indigenous women as a distinct group in laws and policies, and to address their unique vulnerabilities and exclusion?

Another Expert said Nepal was ranked among the countries most impacted by climate change. Significant rainfall had led to major challenges, including landslides and floods. Could more information be provided on the national action plan 2023? How did it address the negative impact of climate change on women? How did the plan ensure the full and effective participation of indigenous women and recognise their crucial role as caretakers and agents of change?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said different financial literacy programmes had been introduced for women in different provinces. In one programme, whenever a girl was born, a bank account was opened and the provincial government would contribute 500 Nepalese rupees a month for up to 20 years to support her education and wellbeing. A programme supported vegetable production and was making technology more accessible to women and girls. The Government of Nepal was committed to implementing the Convention. The national gender equality policy 2027 emphasised gender equality in all areas, including indigenous women. In the House of Representatives, the deputy speaker belonged to an indigenous group, and quotas were in place to ensure indigenous women’s representation in politics.

Nepal was a victim of the climate crisis; the country protected the environment but felt the impact of climate change. Women and indigenous women were disproportionately affected.

Questions by Committee Experts

A Committee Expert asked who was eligible for legal aid and for what legal matters? Did legal aid include representation in court? How did women, particularly those from marginalised communities, learn about the right to legal aid? Was legal aid provided through a gender lens? What measures were in place to provide targeted support to marginalised women facing intersectional discrimination, such as sex workers, to access legal aid? Could non-citizens access legal aid in some circumstances?

Only 52 cases of child marriage were handled by the Nepalese police in 2023. What explained the wide gap between the figures and enforcement? What was being done to protect child brides from being prosecuted? What was being done to eradicate the practice of dowry? Could the delegation clarify the status of gay marriages? How was the safety of inter-caste couples ensured? What legal measures were in place to protect the rights of women in unregistered marriages, such as polygamous marriages?

Responses by the Delegation

The delegation said the free legal aid act had been enacted in 1997. Under the act, low earners, victims of domestic violence, and senior citizens could receive free legal aid. The State was working to change the criteria to ensure more vulnerable groups of people could receive access to free legal aid. Legal aid services included the preparation of documents, pleading in front of the court, and different administrative services. There was no particular law to provide non-citizens with legal aid, but this was a fundamental right for everyone.

Same sex marriage was valid but there was no legal instrument legalising these marriages yet. The State was assessing laws and how they could be reformed to better protect the rights of this community. All marriages had to be registered. There was no discrimination on the grounds of sex when it came to properties; men and women had equal rights. The dowry system had been criminalised by the National Criminal Code. Nepal was committed to having a collaborative approach with civil society and other partners to eliminate harmful practices and sensitise people at the grassroots level. This was a continuous effort.
Closing Remarks

RAM PRASAD SUBEDI, Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said the dialogue had been wonderful and constructive. The participation of all stakeholders was greatly appreciated. Nepal had made significant progress in certain areas, including on the Committee’s past recommendations. While there was a lack of data, there was not a lack of action. The Government was fully committed to upholding the Convention’s objectives.

NAHLA HAIDAR, Committee Chair, thanked the State party for its commitment and political will, and for the constructive dialogue. The Committee would send specific recommendations through for immediate follow-up.

Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media;
not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.

CEDAW25.003E

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Human Rights Council to Hold Special Session onthe Democratic Republic of the Congo on 7February

Source: United Nations – Geneva

The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold a special session on the human rights situation in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Friday, 7 February 2025.

The session will start at 10 a.m. in room XX of the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The meeting will be webcast live in the six official languages of the United Nations.

The special session is being convened per an official request submitted on Monday evening, 3 February, by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has been supported by 27 States thus far.

For a special session to be convened, the support of one-third of the 47 members of the Council – 16 or more – is required. This request is thus far supported by the following States members of the Council (27): Algeria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Burundi, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czechia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Ghana, Iceland, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Morocco, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, the Republic of Korea, Romania, South Africa, Spain and Switzerland.

The request is also supported by the following 21 observer States: Australia, Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The list of signatories remains open up to the holding of the special session. Therefore, the above list of States is to be considered provisional.

In connection with this special session, the Council will convene an organizational meeting on Thursday, 6 February at 10 a.m. when specific details on the special session and its scenario will be announced. This organizational meeting will also be webcast live.

This will be the thirty-seventh special session of the Human Rights Council. On 28 November 2008, the Council held a special session on the situation of human rights in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The full list of special sessions of the Human Rights Council can be seen here .

Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media;
not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.

HRC25.001E

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 6, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Secretary-General’s remarks to the opening of the 2025 session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People [as delivered]

Source: United Nations secretary general

Mr. Chair, Ambassador Coly Seck,

Bureau members,

Let me begin by congratulating you on your election.

I want to salute this Committee for its work.

At its essence, the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people is about the right of Palestinians to simply live as human beings in their own land.

We have seen the realization of those rights steadily slip farther out of reach.

We have seen a chilling, systematic dehumanization and demonization of an entire people.

Of course, nothing justifies the horrific Hamas attacks of October 7.

And nothing justifies what we have seen unfold in Gaza over the last many months.

We all know too well the catalogue of destruction and unspeakable horrors.

The nearly 50,000 people — 70% of them women and children — who have been reported killed.

The majority of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure — hospitals, schools, and water facilities – that has been destroyed.

The overwhelming majority of the entire population who have faced displacement after displacement, hunger, and disease.

Children, out of school for over a year.

A generation, left homeless and traumatized.

I welcome the ceasefire and hostage release deal.

I thank the mediators —Egypt, Qatar, and the United States— for the continued efforts to ensure implementation.

Now it is time to be crystal clear about objectives going forward.

First, we must keep pushing for a permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages without delay.

We cannot go back to more death and destruction.

For our part, the UN is working around the clock to reach Palestinians in need and scale up support.

That requires humanitarian access that is rapid, safe, unimpeded, expanded, and sustained.

I call on Member States, donors, and the international community to fully fund humanitarian operations and meet urgent needs.

And I once again urge Member States to support the essential work of UNRWA.

Second, in the search for solutions, we must not make the problem worse.

It is vital to stay true to the bedrock of international law. It is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing.

Third, we must reaffirm the two-State solution.

Any durable peace will require tangible, irreversible and permanent progress toward the two-State solution, an end to the occupation, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, with Gaza as an integral part.

A viable, sovereign Palestinian State living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel is the only sustainable solution for Middle East stability.

Excellencies,

Beyond Gaza, the situation continues to unravel in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

I am gravely concerned by rising violence by Israeli settlers and other violations.

The violence must stop.

As affirmed by the International Court of Justice, Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territory must end.

International law must be respected, and accountability ensured.

We must work toward preserving the unity, contiguity, and integrity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the recovery and reconstruction of Gaza.

A strong and unified Palestinian governance is crucial.

The international community must support the Palestinian Authority to this end.

Excellencies,

The UN is fully committed to peace, stability, and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.

I commend this Committee for its steadfast dedication to these goals and call on the international community to fully support these efforts.

And I thank you.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 6, 2025

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