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April 21, 2020
Nothing Can Mask the Need for Protection for Health Care Workers
During the Revolutionary War it was common for fledging Americans to melt lead and pewter household implements and recast the liquid into ammunition. It was a simple call: You didn’t send soldiers into battle unarmed. Today’s musket balls are the masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) that shield our incredibly courageous health care workers on the frontline of COVID-19. This PPE is in short supply both nationally and worldwide. America remains committed to putting the right tools into the hands of those who are doing so much to protect us. And the 100 Million Mask Challenge is a big step in that direction. Originally launched by Providence, in Washington State, the 100 Million Mask Challenge now calls on manufacturers, the business community and individuals nationwide to coordinate their efforts to rapidly produce PPE on the large scale needed by our nation’s caregivers. Since scaling this initiative nationwide, tens of thousands of visitors have checked out AHA’s expanded website, many of which have been manufacturers downloading the specs to make masks, face shields and gowns, or hospitals seeking the latest guidance on hand sanitizers and best practices from around the field for PPE decontamination. As AHA continues to grow the…
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July 31, 2025
5 questions I frequently get asked about automating operations with AI
Special Guest Blog Post written by Parabola Founder & CEO, Alex Yaseen Operators are under pressure. They’re expected to move faster, do more with less, and somehow keep everything running smoothly while their systems, tools, and data are a mess. Now, AI is adding a whole new layer. On one hand, it’s exciting. The potential is real. On the other, a lot of teams feel stuck. They know they should be using AI, but they’re not sure where it fits into their day-to-day work. These are the five questions I get asked most often—whether someone’s trying to get started with automation, or trying to figure out how AI actually helps. 1. Can we automate this, or is it too messy? This question usually comes from someone deep in a spreadsheet that was never meant to scale. The short answer is: yes, you can probably automate it. But the longer answer is that you’ll need to rethink the process first. AI can help summarize, transform, and clean data—but it won’t fix a broken workflow. That’s on you. The best teams pair structured automation with lightweight AI to get leverage. Think: using rules and logic to standardize a workflow, and AI…