I am just back from Napa, California, where INMA hosted its annual CEO Roundtable. We spent three days with 40 CEOs of media companies from across the world. They came from Australia and New Zealand, Singapore, Kenya, and Brazil, and from across Europe and North America. They shared their thoughts, ideas, and fears with each other.

What is on their minds as they formulate their AI strategies for the year ahead? We did a couple of exercises with Post-it notes, and here’s what we found, along with some resources for you in case any of these questions cross your desk. (All of these Webinars, blog posts, and reports are free for INMA members.)

AI use cases

Many of your bosses wanted concrete examples of AI being used in the media industry, particularly for driving productivity and in the newsroom. 

• Regular readers of this newsletter will know it is all about use cases and best practices. But if you need some quick reference material that pulls it all together, please feel free to quickly skim these three reports I have written, featuring use cases that work. (I’ve got another one coming out soon and will flag it for you once it’s ready.)

• There was a particular interest in using AI for storytelling and investigations. We recently hosted a Webinar on this topic, featuring two stellar examples. But if you need a quick writeup summarising what our speakers said, you can find them here and here.

• There are also some excellent examples of Pulitzer Prize-winning examples — and a spectacular failure — here.

AI and advertising

There were a large number of questions around advertising. How can one use AI in advertising to monetise audiences better? What is the future of advertising in a zero-click future? How can publishers diversify their revenue streams as we head towards this future?

• Here are a couple of examples of publishers such as The New York Times and Dotdash Meredith (now People) successfully using AI to target and monetise their audiences more effectively.

• This is how a large Indian publisher, HT Media, is building AI into its ad tech stack.

• These are some good examples of news publishers who have fundamentally restructured their approaches to revenue beyond the traditional model from my insightful colleague Gabriel Dorosz, who heads up the INMA Advertising Initiative.

• In fact, it was precisely to answer questions such as this that INMA set up the Advertising Initiative. You can read Gabe’s analysis of various issues here or contact him directly.

AI adoption and structure within an organisation

What is the best way to organise a team to plan and execute on AI? Or, as one CEO put it: “How do I get employees to love AI?”

To be clear, executives have pointed to this as a challenge for months now.

• Here is how some companies, such as Thomson Reuters, Business Insider, and Mediahuis, are approaching the issue. 

• And here is an example of how one publisher got more than half of its journalists to use GenAI tools. (You can also watch the Webinar where they were speaking if you prefer.)

• And here’s a great example from Switzerland, where 70% of Tamedia’s 700 journalists now use AI tools.

• We’ve also got some advice from The New York Times on scaling and adoption. 

AI and news consumption

A great deal of the discussion at the roundtable focused on how AI is going to change the news ecosystem and consumers’ habits.  

You’ve read recently about bots circumventing paywalls and new devices that will change the entire news experience.

• And here is what the CEOs of Dow Jones and The Atlantic said about the changing news ecosystem.

• My brilliant colleague Jodie Hopperton, who runs INMA’s Product and Tech Initiative, often writes about this through the lens of user experience and new products. 

• There was overwhelming agreement that it was imperative to build a direct relationship with audiences so that we, as an industry, are less and less reliant on search referral traffic. 

Of course, if any of these questions actually do end up in your inbox, you have another handy resource at your fingertips: Our Ask INMA chat product. If you haven’t tried it yet, please do, and tell us how it’s working for you.

If you’d like to subscribe to my bi-weekly newsletter, INMA members can do so here.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .