How Tech Made a Difference in 2025
From helping local communities and improving productivity to keeping us safe and fostering entrepreneurship, tech has made a positive impact in 2025. Learn about some of the recent ways TechNet members have made a difference in this week’s Tech at Work. You can also see how our member companies have driven innovation and continue to deliver real-world positive impact all year long here.
Business, Markets, and Entrepreneurship
Accel launched the third season of its podcast exploring how companies are built from the people who founded and lead them.
Amazon upskilled over 700,000 employees globally through prepaid education and training programs.
Carta published a no-fluff guide to the 409A valuation process to help founders navigate equity decisions.
Nasdaq celebrated ten years of its Entrepreneurial Center that has reached 125,000 business leaders across America and around the world.
StubHub released its 2025 Year in Live Experiences report, revealing how fans are reshaping the global live events economy.
AI Impact
Apple’s Manufacturing Academy launched virtual programming to train more American businesses to innovate and adopt advanced technologies.
Indeed offered an early look at Indeed Connect, its new program designed to make hiring easier for employers of all sizes.
Nebius announced the winners of the 2025 Nebius Robotics and Physical AI Awards, created to spotlight and accelerate global startups pioneering the next frontier of physical AI.
ZipRecruiter released its Third Annual Employer Survey showing how AI is reshaping hiring, what’s next for the labor market, and how pay, benefits, and skills continue to evolve.
Zoom debuted a simplified, more intuitive AI-first experience to make daily work easier, faster, and more productive.
Accessibility, Safety, and Community Impact
Discord introduced updates to its Family Center, giving guardians more visibility into teens’ usage patterns and purchases.
Netflix announced the fourth cycle of its 1IN4 Writers program connecting Hollywood creatives with writers to expand authentic disability representation on screen.
TechNexus spotlighted Chicago food startups advancing ethics, health, and inclusivity at its Future of Food breakfast.
Uber advanced systemic efforts to prevent gender-based violence through its Driving Change initiative.
Volkswagen Group of America introduced smartwatch integration for myVW app users, giving customers quick, on-the-go access to essential vehicle functions directly from their smartwatches.
1-800 Contacts launched The Framery, a new online eyewear retailer focused on affordable, high-quality glasses.
New in Tech
Google is bringing state-of-the-art Gemini translation abilities to Google Translate
Google announced it’s bringing Gemini’s state-of-the-art translation capabilities to Google Translate, launching a beta version of live translation, which brings real-time, natural sounding translations right to your headphones. Additionally, Google Translate now uses advanced Gemini capabilities to better improve translation on phrases with more nuanced meanings like idioms, local expressions, or slang in nearly 20 languages.
Tech Spotlight
Ro published the first study to evaluate both the long-term weight loss and safety outcomes of treatment with semaglutide via telehealth. The peer-reviewed study, published in the official journal of The Obesity Society, showed that patients getting care through Ro’s platform were able to achieve weight loss outcomes and a safety profile consistent with clinical trials. The study is the largest sample of patients with overweight or obesity treated with semaglutide for more than a year via telehealth.
