8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.

Registration and breakfast

Collect your registration credentials and meet your tour mates over breakfast.

8:30 a.m - 10:00 a.m.

Introduction to the study tour and Silicon Valley ecosystem

In the opening session, we will have a welcome address for the tour, icebreakers to get to know each other, and a briefing on the intersection of Silicon Valley, media, and technology.

Jodie Hopperton

Lead, Product & Tech Initiative, INMA

Craig Forman

Executive Chair CNTI, General Partner, Next News Ventures, Former CEO McClatchy (USA)

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Travel to Silicon Valley

11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Silicon Valley thinking: what media leaders can learn from Stanford

At the heart of Silicon Valley, Stanford University plays a vital role in shaping the ideas, leaders, and technologies that drive global innovation. In this visit, we’ll hear from two of its leading thinkers. Nate Persily will unpack how tech platforms and AI tools are reshaping news visibility and trust, exploring regulatory shifts, bias in algorithms, and what media companies can do to respond. Meanwhile, Baba Shiv will offer a leadership lens, drawing on Stanford’s executive programmes to share how today’s product and tech leaders can navigate disruption, drive innovation, and build emotionally resonant brands in a rapidly evolving landscape.

Nate Persily

McClatchy Professor of Law, Stanford Law School

Baba Shiv

Professor of Marketing, Stanford Graduate School of Business

2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Visit Stanford, including the famous Stanford store

2:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Travel to You.com

3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

On-site answer engines and AI agents: rethinking research and workflow

Address:  TBC Palo Alto, CA 94301

This session will deep dive into on-site answer engines, including a look at both knowledge and action-oriented AI agents. We’ll discuss You.com’s innovative AI agents — like ARI — and explore how their chat-first assistant is revolutionising media research, content strategy, and workflow efficiency. We’ll discuss how editorial teams are leveraging intelligent agents (e.g., fact-checkers, headline generators, trend trackers) to automate routine tasks and surface valuable insights across hundreds of sources in minutes.

4:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Travel to next stop

5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

The future of New York Times Games

Discover how the New York Times’ head of games is steering an incredible journey — from record-breaking engagement to groundbreaking product evolution. Experience firsthand how NYT Games has become a cultural phenomenon with crossword records shattered, Wordle crazes fueled, and new puzzle titles captivating millions. Now, with emerging AI tools and tech breakthroughs, NYT Games is entering its next era. Learn how AI is enhancing personalisation, enriching user experience, and inspiring smart, adaptive gameplay — while maintaining the human creativity and editorial quality at its heart.

Jonathan Knight

Head of NYTimes, Games

5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Drinks and snacks with Jonathan and debrief from the day.

6:30 p.m.

Return to San Francisco

8:30 a.m.

Please arrive in time for a sharp 8:30 a.m. departure from the hotel.

9:00 a.m - 10:30 a.m.

What media needs to know about AI scraping and enforcement: visit with Cloudflare

Address:  101 Townsend St, San Francisco, CA 94107

Many publishers aren’t sure which bots are scraping their sites, meaning their content could appear anywhere. In this session, we’ll hear from Cloudflare, a company at the front lines of AI scraping, playing a critical role in how internet infrastructure can protect publishers’ content in an era of rapid model training and data harvesting. This session will go deep on how Cloudflare audits, sets policy, and enforces protections against unauthorised AI scraping, offering media executives a rare look under the hood of these complex systems. This visit will equip participants with practical insights on safeguarding content, shaping access policies, and navigating the balance between openness and control in the AI age.

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

OpenAI, the forefront of AI innovation

Address:  1455 3rd St, San Francisco, CA 94158

Arguably, the company that has pushed Generative AI to the forefront, OpenAI has led the way for mass consumer adoption. In this session, we’ll talk with OpenAI about the future of the technology and how they see AI and news working together.

Varun Shetty

Head of Media Partnerships

12:00 p.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Bus to lunch

12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Lunch at Microsoft

1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Inside MSN’s AI evolution: integration, engagement, and impact

During this session, we’ll explore how MSN is integrating AI across its platform and what it means for news publishers. The team will share updates on its “gem” feature — offering AI-powered summaries of summaries that drive users to original content — and how this aligns with tools like Copilot Daily. We’ll also examine improvements to format and consumer experience, as well as MSN’s strategies for engaging Gen Z audiences. The session will cover data and metrics on the impact of these AI initiatives.

3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Why LinkedIn is emerging as a news discovery platform for professional news audiences

Address:  Microsoft

LinkedIn is rapidly becoming a key top-of-funnel channel as search traffic declines, offering media companies a growing opportunity to reach professional audiences at scale. On this visit, we’ll explore how the platform is evolving its news experience — from a curated headlines tab and executive-driven updates to a high-performing news trends module and new video formats. With a broader definition of news that now includes world events through a professional lens, LinkedIn is positioning itself as a vital distribution and engagement platform for publishers seeking relevance and reach in a changing discovery landscape.

Catherine Taibi

Senior Business Development Manager at LinkedIn

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

What it takes to bring AI innovation to a media company

At this stop, you’ll meet a leading media executive who is driving some of the most innovative AI work in the industry. Known for his ability to balance forward-looking vision with practical execution, he brings a sharp perspective on both the opportunities and real-world challenges AI presents for news organisations today. This session promises thoughtful insights from someone shaping the future of media, while staying grounded in what it takes to get there.

8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

Demystifying the black box: copyright, brand safety, and AI accuracy in newsrooms, CTGT

Address:  550 California

Cyril Gorlla, Stanford-trained AI researcher and founder of CTGT, works with Fortune 500 companies and cybersecurity leaders to bring transparency to high-risk AI deployments. In this session, he’ll explore how media companies can apply the same rigor to newsroom AI. Drawing on CTGT’s proprietary system for analysing the “anchors” large language models (LLMs) rely on, Cyril will address two urgent challenges: first, a cost-effective method to assess how much copyrighted material is embedded in any given model; second, how to ensure newsroom AI tools are accurate, brand-safe, and hallucination-free. With examples from live partnerships and insights from national security work, Cyril will make a compelling case for why transparency and auditability in AI aren’t optional — they’re essential.

Cyril Gorlla

Co-Founder and CEO at CTGT

10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

AI-powered efficiency for media, marketing, and social, Canva

Address:  440 Pacific Ave, SF

Canva is rapidly evolving into an all-in-one AI design platform that empowers media companies to boost efficiency across marketing, audience engagement, and social content production. In this session, we’ll explore how Canva’s latest GenAI feature — like AI-powered design, smart editing, and data-integrated visuals — are helping newsrooms and marketing teams scale high-quality creative output with fewer resources. From social templates that adapt in seconds to AI-generated reports and graphics, Canva offers a glimpse into how media brands can streamline workflows, maintain brand consistency, and meet growing content demands with speed and ease.

12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

What’s possible with AI: AWS perspectives on media & entertainment

Canva is rapidly evolving into an all-in-one AI design platform that empowers media companies to boost efficiency across marketing, audience engagement, and social content production. In this session, we’ll explore how Canva’s latest GenAI feature — like AI-powered design, smart editing, and data-integrated visuals — are helping newsrooms and marketing teams scale high-quality creative output with fewer resources. From social templates that adapt in seconds to AI-generated reports and graphics, Canva offers a glimpse into how media brands can streamline workflows, maintain brand consistency, and meet growing content demands with speed and ease.

Michael Schmidt

M&E Global Directors, AWS

Demian Hess

Senior Partner Solution Architect, AWS

2:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Travel to next stop

3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Inside a big tech giant

We’ll visit one of the world’s largest technology companies. Hearing from multiple executives about how technology is changing and the effect on their business and our industry.