Firstup names Ian Winkler Chief Financial Officer. Former Google One Head of FP&A joins Firstup to support the company's next phase of AI-driven growth SAN FRANCISCO - October 14, 2026 - Firstup, the pioneer of intelligent communication and engagement platforms for the workforce, today announced that Ian Winkler has joined the company as Chief Financial Officer. Winkler brings deep Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) and strategic finance expertise from high-velocity SaaS and AI companies, including building Google One's finance function from pre-launch to a multibillion-dollar business. As CFO, Winkler will lead Firstup's finance, legal, and IT teams and serve as a member of the company's executive leadership team. In the CFO role, he will help shape the company's corporate strategy, capital allocation, and priorities. He will also drive the use of AI across finance and back-office operations, helping the company make faster, data-driven decisions to fuel profitable growth. "Ian joins Firstup at an important point in our journey. We are excited about the strategic perspective, financial rigor, and strong business partnership he will bring as we pursue our next stage of growth and continue building a company of consequence," said Bill Schuh, CEO of Firstup. Most recently, Winkler was Senior Vice President of Finance at Medable, an AI-driven life sciences technology company, where he focused on enterprise value creation, strategic FP&A, and disciplined capital allocation. Previously, Winkler spent more than eight years at Google, including five years as Head of FP&A for Google One. As the business's first finance hire, he built and led the finance team that helped grow Google One into the highest-grossing app on the Google Play Store. Before that, he led financial planning for Google's legal and trust and safety teams. "Firstup has a strong leadership team, a product customers clearly value, and a big opportunity at the intersection of employee experience, enterprise communications, and AI," said Ian Winkler, Chief Financial Officer at Firstup. "I'm excited to join Firstup at this transformative moment and look forward to contributing to the significant opportunity ahead." Winkler's appointment follows a strong first half of 2026, in which Firstup delivered 60% more capability to customers than a year earlier. Firstup's platform reaches millions of employees in more than 180 countries. About Firstup Firstup is the leading platform for intelligent communication and engagement that powers meaningful business outcomes. As a true "mission control" for workforce communications, Firstup is built for organizations with critically important frontline employees, delivering the right message to the right person at the right time. The platform enables hyper-personalized, data-driven journeys across channels (email, mobile, intranet, digital signage, and more), bringing alignment, clarity, and engagement to every level of the organization. With integrations to core HR, IT, and business systems, Firstup reduces digital noise, surfaces actionable insights, strengthens employee experience, and helps clients maximize productivity and retention. Trusted by large enterprises worldwide, Firstup transforms internal communication into measurable impact. Learn more at www.firstup.io.

Unily launches Content Studio to drive simple, accurate employee communication. Unily Group Ltd., an employee experience platform, today announced the launch of Content Studio, a new artificial intelligence-powered product that allows organizations to generate podcasts, videos, infographics and other communications in minutes. Internal communications take up a lot of time for employees and management. That's because distributing information meaningfully requires experts to provide knowledge and a team to turn it into a format the audience can best understand. Employees also want to receive communication in media and a format they prefer to consume. Producing the same instructions across text, audio, video, slides and multimedia could become an impossible venture for even the most well-staffed enterprise. As a result, departments must curate what information to condense into what formats and how to distribute it. This risks information being missed. "In today's workplace, competitive advantage belongs to organizations that can turn trusted information into action faster than everyone else," said Chief Executive Lokdeep Singh. Singh added that Content Studio takes what a company already has within its tribal knowledge and augments it by helping employees transform knowledge into engaging formats. It also maintains accuracy and consistency while allowing human oversight. General-purpose AI tools might get a team most of the way there, but the company's platform is designed to deepen employee knowledge and keep it up to date. Users remain in direct control by selecting which resources adjust outputs, specifying what to emphasize or exclude, and applying brand, tone, and editorial standards. Products on the market already can produce AI-generated infographics, podcasts, and video slides such as Google LLC's Gemini Notebook, but they're not built specifically for governed internal communications. Similar enterprise products that Unily and Content Studio compete with include Haiilo's internal communications platform, Staffbase SE and Firstup Inc. Chief Technology Officer Sam Hassani argued that current AI-driven products on the market ask users to trust outputs, but Content Studio is designed to work with trusted knowledge, not replace employee attention. "By combining source-grounded AI with enterprise governance, organizations can move faster in content creation for their internal teams without diminishing accuracy, transparency or control," he said. Unily said early customer previews showed strong results in transforming trusted information into easier-to-consume content. Velcro Cos., the original manufacturer of the hook-and-loop fasteners, reduced infographic creation from about 60 minutes to three minutes. And Amer Sports Canada Inc.'s outdoor apparel and equipment subsidiary Arc'teryx turned a calendar's worth of internal communications into one podcast, saving 84 minutes per employee per month. Content Studio is a standalone product that works without requiring the Unily experience platform. When connected to the entire Unily platform, organizations can extend into governed knowledge sourcing through content creation, targeted delivery and impact measurement. Image: Unily. A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE: Support its mission to keep content open and free by engaging with theCUBE community. Join theCUBE's Alumni Trust Network, where technology leaders connect, share intelligence and create opportunities. * 15M+ viewers of theCUBE videos, powering conversations across AI, cloud, cybersecurity and more * 11.4k+ theCUBE alumni - Connect with more than 11,400 tech and business leaders shaping the future through a unique trusted-based network Are you an AWS customer? Support SiliconANGLE financially by buying your AWS services from its Marketplace portal page and links: https://siliconangle.com/aws-marketplace/. About SiliconANGLE Media. SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation, uniting breakthrough technology, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios - with flagship locations in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange - SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology and AI. Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a dynamic ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands that reach 15+ million elite tech professionals. Its new proprietary theCUBE AI Video Cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.

Firstup extends AI leadership with award-winning AI Search, Copilot and ChatGPT integrations, and ISO/IEC 42001:2023 Certification for Responsible AI Governance. Sep 02, 2026, 09:01 ET Firstup's latest release pairs independently certified AI governance with new Model Context Protocol (MCP) capabilities that bring workforce communications directly into the AI assistants employees already use - extending a year of innovation that has the company on pace to deliver 60% more capability than in 2025 SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Firstup, the pioneer of intelligent communication and engagement platforms for the workforce, today introduced its latest platform release, following a first half of award-winning AI innovation that puts the company on track to deliver 60% more capability to customers in 2026 than in 2025. The release meets employees in the tools they already use, connects Firstup to the enterprise systems they rely on, and sharpens the everyday employee experience. Many of the headline release features were drawn directly from Firstup's customer Idea Portal, a reflection of the company's commitment to customer-centricity. "While much of our industry slows down for the summer, we've increased our pace of innovation," said Bill Schuh, CEO of Firstup. "Through 1H, we delivered 60% more capability than a year ago, including significant advances in AI backed by enterprise-grade quality, availability, and security. Our Q3 release enhances our ability to deliver the right message with the right role-relevant context to the right person at the right place and time - so employees can act on it. That's how communication drives measurable business impact." ISO/IEC 42001:2023 Certification for Responsible AI Governance In August, Firstup achieved ISO/IEC 42001:2023 certification for its Artificial Intelligence Management System (AIMS), following an independent audit of the company's approach to governing AI-related activities. The certification reflects Firstup's structured approach to AI governance, including risk assessment, defined accountability, operational controls, and ongoing monitoring and improvement. "As AI rapidly evolves, enterprises need credible assurance that the systems they rely on are governed responsibly," said Vinod Malhotra, Chief Technology Officer of Firstup. "ISO/IEC 42001 certification independently validates Firstup's disciplined approach to AI governance, including human oversight, privacy and data protection, transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement. It reinforces our commitment to building AI solutions that are not only powerful, but also secure, trustworthy, and designed to scale responsibly." Firstup Content Inside Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT Using Model Context Protocol (MCP), employees can search their organization's Firstup communications, topics, and people directly inside Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT - asking questions such as, "Did we announce anything about open enrollment?" and getting the actual company communication, cited, instead of a guess. Every answer is securely scoped to content that the employee already has permission to access in Firstup, preserving existing access controls when Firstup content is surfaced through external AI assistants. Organizations connect Firstup to the enterprise Copilot or ChatGPT they already use, so there is no new tool to roll out. Fully Connected to Your Systems The release also delivers efficiency and productivity gains by connecting Firstup to the enterprise systems employees rely on daily, so basic tasks get done in seconds instead of requiring separate logins: * SAP SuccessFactors Integration - Employees and managers can complete HR tasks inside Firstup, such as submitting time off, approving requests and updating personal details, with every change saved back to SAP automatically * Dayforce Integration - Employees can view payslips, time-off requests and balances from Dayforce right inside Firstup on web or mobile, delivering a more seamless experience A Smarter, More Trusted Experience Rounding out the release are enhancements that personalize, measure, and secure every interaction across the platform: * Custom Homepage Enhancements - Employees set their own shortcuts, admins keep critical links pinned, and a refreshed layout keeps high-value content above the fold * AI Search Enhancements - Chat history for employees and a real-time AI Usage Report that gives leaders greater visibility into AI adoption and usage, extending Firstup's award-winning AI Search * Alias Commenting - Enables users to comment as the brand, a team, or persona with full admin accountability behind the scenes * Email Reachability Management - A new Email Management page that shows exactly who is unsubscribed and why, with one-click bulk resubscribe "Employees shouldn't have to hunt through apps to find an answer or finish a task," said Cheryl Chavez, Chief Product Officer of Firstup. "With this release, trusted company content shows up right inside Copilot and ChatGPT, and employees can complete HR tasks like submitting time off without ever leaving Firstup. That's communication that gets things done, in the places people already work." Co-Designing the Future With Customers Firstup also announced its Customer Innovation Program, a partnership with key customers to co-design new platform capabilities. The program pairs Firstup product teams directly with enterprise leaders in communications, HR, and IT to shape important new products from concept through release, building on the customer-driven roadmap that powered the first half of 2026. Recent Recognitions The release caps a first half of sustained momentum and industry recognition for Firstup's AI-driven innovation: * Forrester's Total Economic Impact(TM) study found Firstup's intelligent workforce communications platform delivered $8.9 million in benefits and 398% ROI for a composite organization representative of interviewed customers with experience using Firstup * Firstup AI Search was named "Overall AI Search Platform of the Year" in the 2026 AI Breakthrough Awards program * Firstup was named a finalist in The 2026 SaaS Awards in the "Most Innovative SaaS Solution" category * Firstup won the Lighthouse Tech Award for Employee Experience Platform Innovation That momentum is matched by scale. Firstup reaches millions of employees across more than 180 countries. All Q3 features are available today. For more information, visit our blog. About Firstup Firstup is the leading platform for intelligent communication and engagement that powers meaningful business outcomes. As a true "mission control" for workforce communications, Firstup is built for organizations with critically important frontline employees, delivering the right message to the right person at the right time. The platform enables hyper-personalized, data-driven journeys across channels (email, mobile, intranet, digital signage and more), bringing alignment, clarity and engagement to every level of the organization. With integrations to core HR, IT and business systems, Firstup reduces digital noise, surfaces actionable insights, strengthens employee experience and helps clients maximize productivity and retention. Trusted by large enterprises worldwide, Firstup transforms internal communication into measurable impact. Learn more at www.firstup.io. SOURCE Firstup