Building Online Trust

For decades, buying something has relied on a simple, visible sign of intent. You tap your card or hit “buy” online, and everyone knows exactly what you agreed to. That clear moment of yes is what’s made commerce work.   But what happens when that equation changes? What’s required is not just smarter tech, but a new model of trust, with privacy at the center.   As agents take on more tasks for us, trust can’t rely on a single click or tap. It must be recorded verified, and shared. Mastercard is working with partners like Google, Adyen, Checkout.com, Fiserv, Worldpay, IBM, Getnet, and Basis Theory to keep people in control and businesses confident agents are authorized to transact.     In a world where we delegate actions, intent must be clear and easy to verify.

Not ads. Not influencers. This is what builds a D2C brand. 8 years ago, when Varun Alagh and I launched Mamaearth, we weren’t the biggest brand. We didn’t have endless budgets or massive influencer deals. What we had was intent. We replied to every DM ourselves. Took feedback personally. And obsessed over what one customer was trying to say, not how many followed us. I myself talked to over 3,000 mothers to understand what they want in a baby product. That’s what most people miss about D2C: The consumer doesn’t just buy your product. They buy your intent. 🔹They notice when you make changes based on their reviews. 🔹They remember how fast you responded when they had a concern. 🔹They talk about your brand when you listen to them like a person, not a number. The edge in D2C isn’t speed or scale. While those are important too, what tops the list is how real your relationship with your consumer feels. If you're in the D2C space, don’t chase virality before you’ve built trust. And don’t confuse transactions with loyalty. What’s one lesson that’s shaped how you show up for your consumer? #Entrepreneurship #MondayMotivation #LeadershipLesson #D2C

Explaining the Evaluation method LLM-as-a-Judge (LLMaaJ). Token-based metrics like BLEU or ROUGE are still useful for structured tasks like translation or summarization. But for open-ended answers, RAG copilots, or complex enterprise prompts, they often miss the bigger picture. That’s where LLMaaJ changes the game. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘁? You use a powerful LLM as an evaluator, not a generator. It’s given: - The original question - The generated answer - And the retrieved context or gold answer 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀: ✅ Faithfulness to the source ✅ Factual accuracy ✅ Semantic alignment—even if phrased differently 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: LLMaaJ captures what traditional metrics can’t. It understands paraphrasing. It flags hallucinations. It mirrors human judgment, which is critical when deploying GenAI systems in the enterprise. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗟𝗠𝗮𝗮𝗝-𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀: - Answer correctness - Answer faithfulness - Coherence, tone, and even reasoning quality 📌 If you’re building enterprise-grade copilots or RAG workflows, LLMaaJ is how you scale QA beyond manual reviews. To put LLMaaJ into practice, check out EvalAssist; a new tool from IBM Research. It offers a web-based UI to streamline LLM evaluations: - Refine your criteria iteratively using Unitxt - Generate structured evaluations - Export as Jupyter notebooks to scale effortlessly A powerful way to bring LLM-as-a-Judge into your QA stack. - Get Started guide: https://lnkd.in/g4QP3-Ue - Demo Site: https://lnkd.in/gUSrV65s - Github Repo: https://lnkd.in/gPVEQRtv - Whitepapers: https://lnkd.in/gnHi6SeW

If you want to be rich, learn sales. I used to think sales was sleazy until I realized the world revolves around it. Sadly, most people don’t have the skillset. Here’s the sales framework that’s helped me sell $100M+ in products & services: Contrary to popular belief, sales isn’t about convincing people. It’s about reflection, not manipulation. Then buying becomes their idea, not yours. The TRUST framework helps you do that in five steps: 1. Tune In Most people think they're good listeners - they're not. Real listening means shutting up and taking notes. It means starting a conversation with questions like: • What made you reach out? • What's your #1 goal right now? • What's broken in your world? Your only job here is to understand their pain better than they do. 2. Reflect Now mirror back what you heard. "So it sounds like you're struggling with X and Y. Is that right?" When they say "Yes, exactly", you just earned trust. They've admitted their pain in their own words. The pitch should come after you’ve confirmed you understand their problem, not before. 3. Uncover This is where you dig deeper. Assume other people have already tried to fix their problem. So ask things like: • Am I the first person you've spoken to? • What have you tried already? • Why do you think it didn't work? Your goal is to help them realize they can't solve this alone AND surface why past solutions failed. This sets up the next step. 4. Share Stories beat a sales pitch any day. Use the pain points they just admitted to craft a story about someone exactly like them who got results: "We had a client with the same problem. Tried everything, felt stuck. Then we implemented one system that doubled their conversions in 60 days." Stories let them picture themselves in the solution. 5. Trade Lastly, frame your offer as the missing piece of the puzzle: "Your goal is X. The problem is Y. You've tried Z. The missing piece is [solution]. Here's how we'll do it in [timeframe]." Then finish up with a "Does that sound like what you need?" This makes you as a collaborator in their eyes. To them, you're not selling - you're solving. Ultimately, sales isn't about being slick. It's about being human. Listen more than you talk. Make them feel heard. And don’t forget the money is in the follow up. ↓ ↓ ↓ P.S. If sales is one of the bottlenecks in your biz, you might benefit from this... Me & my team are hosting an in-person Growth Accelerator in September. It's in Austin. 2.5 days. Sep 26–28. • Who it’s for: founders & operators moving fast, on the way to $1M-$10M revenue, ready for real-time laser coaching • Who it’s not for: pre-revenue owners, wantrepreneurs, consultants, or anyone looking for a traditional passive conference We helps owners scale and remove their bottlenecks. Not for everyone, but maybe for you: https://lnkd.in/eeS4zw-f

Do people still care about websites? Enough to spend six-figures on a product without even talking to someone. This question came up recently, and it’s fair—things have changed. But websites are still prime real estate for any business or brand. 75% of online users judge a company’s credibility based on design alone. Buyers expect a seamless, informative experience that builds trust. They do their own research, and often make purchasing decisions off that information. There’s data now showing that the majority of buyers are willing to spend over $50,000 on a self-service purchase and 15% would drop over a million. Either way, a thoughtful, buyer-centric website eases the selling process, so that when sellers do get on the phone with a prospect, they can avoid the overview, feature spiel, etc, and narrow in on what the buyer has already identified is relevant. Social media is great, but it’s also messy. Feeds are littered with AI-generated content and opinion wars, and shifting public perception of these platforms makes it harder to direct the narrative. Your website offers a controlled environment to educate, convert, and reinforce your brand’s credibility. It's worth the effort to develop digital content, invest in SEO, and build something engaging. Don’t treat it like an afterthought. 

How to sell (without feeling salesy): First, understand the Ethical Wealth Formula: (Value First × Trust Building) × Authentic Positioning  ———————————————————  Frequency of Asks × Pressure Tactics This isn't abstract theory. It's practical math: • Increase the numerator: deliver more value, build more trust, position more authentically • Decrease the denominator: reduce frequency of asks, eliminate pressure tactics • Watch revenue soar while your integrity remains intact Ethical doesn't mean unprofitable. It means sustainable. Principle 1: Value-First Monetization The approach that generates $864,000 monthly without a single "hard sell": • Deliver so much value upfront that buying feels like the obvious next step • Create free content so good people say "If this is free, imagine what's paid" • Solve small problems for free, big transformational problems for a fee Give until it feels slightly uncomfortable. Then give a little more. Principle 2: Trust Through Consistency I've never missed weekly content in 3 years, through vacations, illnesses, market crashes. The trust-building machine that works while you sleep: • Show up reliably when competitors disappear during tough times • Do what you promise, when you promise it • Maintain quality across every touchpoint One founder implemented this and saw conversions increase 74% in 30 days, without changing offer or price. Trust isn't built in grand gestures. It's built in boring consistency, most won't maintain. Principle 3: Authentic Positioning The approach that helped me raise prices 300% while increasing sales: • Own your expertise unapologetically, confidence is not arrogance • Speak to specific problems you solve, not vague benefits you provide • Tell detailed stories of transformation instead of listing features You don't need to be perfect to sell effectively. You need to be authentic about how you help. Principle 4: Invitation Vs. Manipulation The ethical alternative to high-pressure tactics: • Invite people when they're ready, don't push when you're ready • Create genuine scarcity (limited capacity) not fake urgency (countdown timers) • Respect "no" as "not now" rather than objection to overcome My most profitable sales sequence has zero countdown timers, zero artificial scarcity, zero pressure. Ethical selling feels like extending help, not hunting prey. — Enjoy this? ♻️ Repost it to your network and follow Matt Gray for more. Want to improve your sales strategy? Join our community of 172,000+ subscribers today: https://lnkd.in/eTp4jain

What happens if AI makes the wrong call? - This is a scary question, with an easy answer. Yes, we’re all excited about AI’s potential but what if it takes the wrong decision, one which can impact millions of dollars or thousands of lives - we have to talk about accountability. It’s not about: Complex algorithms. Elaborate protocols. Redtape. The solution is rooted in how AI and humans work together. I call it the 3A Framework. Don't worry, this isn't another buzzword-filled methodology. It's practical, and more importantly, it works. Here's the essence of it: 1. Analysis: Let AI do the heavy lifting in processing and analyzing vast amounts of data at incredible speeds. This provides the foundation for informed decision-making. 2. Augment - This is where the magic happens. Your knowledge workers, with all their experience and intuition, step in to review and enhance what the AI has uncovered. They bring the contextual understanding that no algorithm can match. 3. Authorization - The final step is establishing clear ownership. No ambiguity about who makes the final call. Let your specific team members have explicit authority for decisions, ensuring there's always direct accountability. This framework is copyrighted: © 2025 Sol Rashidi. All rights reserved. This isn't just theory - it's proven in practice. In one financial institution, we built a system for managing risk decisions. AI would flag potential issues, experienced staff would review them, and specific team members had clear authority to make final calls. We even built a triage system to sort real risks from false alarms. The results? - The team made decisions 40% faster while reducing errors by 60%. - We didn't replace the workforce; instead, we empowered the knowledge workers. - When human wisdom and AI capabilities truly collaborate, the magic happens. Accountability in AI is about setting up your team for success by combining the best of human judgment with AI's capabilities. The future is AI + human hybrid teams - how are you preparing for it?

🚨 JOB SEEKERS — PLEASE READ THIS. Today, someone very close to me received what appeared to be a wonderful job offer. The company was real. The person conducting the interview was impersonating a real HR executive. The interview questions were legitimate and professional. The entire process felt real. Then came the congratulations: “We’d like to offer you the position.” There was excitement. Relief. Hope. And then something didn't feel right. They explained that a check would be sent to purchase work-from-home equipment through an “approved vendor.” 🚩 That was the red flag. We started digging. The email domain was almost identical to the real company's domain, just a tiny difference that would be incredibly easy to miss. It was a scam. Thankfully, we caught it before any money was lost or sensitive banking information was shared. I'm glad I was able to help and stop the scam before it actually happened. But this one made me angry. As someone who works in recruiting, I know how difficult the job market already is. People are applying, interviewing, waiting, hoping…and now scammers are taking advantage of that hope. So please: . Check the FULL email address. . Verify the recruiter independently. . Go directly to the company's official career site. . Never deposit a check to purchase equipment from an employer's “vendor.” And don't assume something is legitimate simply because the company — or the person contacting you — actually exists. Someone can impersonate both. Please share this with someone who's looking for work right now. ❤️ Job seekers have enough to worry about. Getting scammed shouldn't be one of them. #jobscams #recruiting #scams #hiring

This question sounds quite simple until you actually think about it. The first thing that comes to my mind is that if your system is purely stateless, you cannot surgically kill that one token. That is the trap in the question. A lot of candidates try to bluff here and say, “We will invalidate it on the server.” But invalidate what? If there is no server-side session, no token ID tracking, no revocation list, and no session version, then the server has nothing to look up. The token is signed. The signature is valid. The expiry is still 30 minutes away. So every service will accept it. At that point, you have only a few options, and none of them are pretty. [1] Wait for expiry This is why access tokens should be short-lived. If the token lives for 5 minutes, the damage window is small. If it lives for 30 minutes or 2 hours, you gave the attacker a usable session. [2] Rotate the signing key This kills the stolen token, but it also kills every other token signed with that key. That is a big hammer. Useful if the signing key itself is compromised, but painful if only one user’s token was stolen. [3] Add state back into the system This is what some systems usually do. They keep JWTs mostly stateless, but add controlled state where it matters. For example, include a jti token ID and maintain a revocation list with TTL. Or store a user session version, and reject tokens whose version is older than the current one. Or validate high-risk actions through an auth service instead of trusting the JWT blindly everywhere. Now you can say: this specific token, device, or session is dead. [4] Revoke the refresh token Most modern systems use short-lived access tokens and longer-lived refresh tokens. If the access token is stolen, you may not be able to kill it instantly without revocation checks, but you can stop it from being renewed. That means the attacker’s access dies when the short-lived token expires. You do not solve stolen JWTs after the fact but design for revocation before the incident happens. – Short-lived access tokens. – Stateful refresh tokens. – Session versioning. – Revocation lists for high-risk cases. – Step-up auth for sensitive actions. JWTs are useful because they reduce central lookups on every request. But the moment you need logout, account takeover response, device removal, or admin revocation, pure statelessness becomes a liability. That’s the tradeoff you should keep in mind. -- Follow saed Want to get a job in cybersecurity: join.theengineers.club

I used to think my portfolio had to impress other designers. So I filled it with sleek mockups, polished animations, and endless case studies. It looked beautiful...But it didn’t land me clients. Why? Because clients don’t hire you for aesthetics. They hire you for outcomes. 🚫 Too many portfolios still look like it’s 2015: → Pretty mockups → Trendy layouts → 10-second Behance loops But here’s the hard truth: Clients don’t care how cool it looks. They care what it does. 💡 Ask yourself: → Does my portfolio solve real business problems? → Am I showing results or just visuals? → Is it written for clients or for other creatives? What actually works in 2025: ✅ Highlight before/after results (data if possible) ✅ Explain your thinking, not just your tools ✅ Tailor your portfolio to your ideal client, not your peers Because great design isn’t just about craft It’s about clarity, strategy, and trust. ✨ Your portfolio shouldn’t be a gallery. It should be a sales tool. One that shows the value you bring, not just the vibe. 💬 Got a portfolio tip that worked for you? Drop it in the comments, let’s help each other grow. 📌 Save this if you’re about to redesign yours. It’s not about looking good. It’s about landing the right kind of work.