Access Point: News Roundup For Midmarket IT Executives – Week Of Aug.1, 2025

Access Point is a weekly roundup of major tech news for midmarket IT executives on the go.

In this week’s roundup: The 10 most in-demand AI skills; ransomware attacks are getting more aggressive; this is how much organizations are spending on AI, including midmarket organizations; is Windows 11’s ‘Copilot Vision’ spying on your screen?; and more in this week’s news roundup.

Windows 11’s 'Copilot Vision' Watches Your Screen In Real Time

Billed as an "AI-powered true companion," Copilot Vision is designed to help users interact with their PCs more intuitively, according to the company. But the way it works is making some observers uncomfortable.

Allianz Life Breach Blamed On Social Engineering

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America was attacked by hackers who exposed the personal information of millions of the company’s customers.

The Minneapolis-based Allianz Life, which is a subsidiary of Germany-based Allianz SE, said the attack occurred on July 16 and that “a malicious threat actor gained access to a third-party, cloud-based CRM system.

The Top 10 Most AI-Dominant Countries In 2025: Report

A new report looks at the countries that are most AI-dominant by comparing which ones are leaders in providing AI supercomputing power, have the most AI clusters, have the highest total AI power capacity, and which ones have the highest AI-related engagement, expressed as a percentage of the AI workforce.

Analysis: Is Microsoft Too Big To Fail?

Is the world so dependent on Microsoft that it would need bailing out in the event of a catastrophe?

How Much Are Organizations Spending On AI? A New Report Sheds Some Light

Midsized organizations are more likely to use third-party tools to monitor costs, according to the report.

ServiceNow Projects $100M Savings In AI-Driven Job Cuts

Automation software giant ServiceNow is on track to save $100 million in staffing costs this year, attributing the windfall to internal AI deployment.

Report Reveals Shocking Details On Ransomware Attacks

The report shows that ransomware attacks are on a slight decline, but attacks are getting more aggressive.

The 10 Most In-Demand AI Skills In 2025

While AI is an emerging, rapidly evolving technology, some of the skills to support it are surprisingly, quite legacy ones.