When it comes to implementing daunting new technologies, media, sports, and entertainment leaders shouldn’t be afraid to do the hard things.
that was the important point variety The Strictly Business podcast live, presented by AWS and Deloitte, took place this week at Cannes Lions (under the blazing sun!). A special recording of Strictly Business entitled ‘From data to decision-making: How technology is transforming operations across media, sport and entertainment’ featured Michelle McGuire, Principal and Chief Data and AI Officer, Olympic and Paralympic Partnerships at Deloitte. Ruba Borno, AWS Specialist, Partner, Vice President of AWS Marketplace. Pete Wood, executive vice president of consumer platforms and services at Sony Pictures Entertainment.
“I don’t think we need to be afraid of AI or technology, right?” McGuire said. “Start upskilling your employees so they can engage with it, understand it, and actually use it.” Her advice is for companies to “start tackling the hard problems.” This way, companies can not only understand the benefits of optimizing existing processes, but also apply AI to do things that were not possible before.
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Borno pointed out that: [using AI to go after] This is a low hanging fruit and solves the problem of understanding data infrastructure. ” She said that once an organization has the underlying infrastructure in place, such as security and governance, and its leaders understand the change management process, “the rest is much easier.”
And while the move to cloud services was “very much a bottom-up transition,” deploying AI across the organization requires a “top-down push.” Because the biggest gains come from rethinking workflows on an end-to-end basis.
Sony Pictures’ Wood framed the innovation discussion in the context of Hollywood’s transition from DVD to streaming distribution. “The internet has actually allowed us to find better ways to engage with consumers,” he said. The use of advanced data is “just another way we’re enabling better workflows and efficiencies throughout the process. Don’t do this: It doesn’t replace what our creators are doing, which is creating great, compelling content around our branded IP and franchises. That’s why we’re transparent about when and how data is used, and we’re a human-driven company.”
Based on Deloitte’s research on how AI is impacting businesses, McGuire said, “What we’ve come to is that AI is not going to replace humans. To have real impact, machines and humans need to work together in harmony.” The promise is that it will be able to engage sports and entertainment fans “in a way that historically wasn’t possible without technology.”
The potential benefits of using AI across the enterprise are huge, McGuire said. For example, only 14% of companies currently have a unified profile of their customers. “Think about the freedom that businesses have in targeting their customers,” she said. “By the way, consumers want things that are relevant to them.” According to Deloitte research, 82% of consumers prefer personalized experiences, whether it’s ads or video content.
One area of particular opportunity for Sony Pictures is helping viewers find what they want to watch faster, Wood said. The average consumer spends 10 to 12 minutes each night deciding what to watch. “The scary statistic is that one in five consumers has actually given up,” he said.
AWS’s Borno likened AI innovation to a sport. When wooden tennis rackets were replaced by titanium models and steel poles were replaced by fiberglass poles in pole vaulting, the performance level in each of these sports rose to new levels.
“I’m not going to sit there and say a tennis racket made me a tennis player. I don’t say a pole vaulter made me a pole vaulter,” she said. “It’s not replacing humans; it’s superpowering the humans who were using it so they can compete. And what’s interesting is that if you’re not using these new tools, you can’t actually compete anymore. This sets a new standard.”
What is “strict business”? Variety’A weekly podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. (Click here to subscribe to our free newsletter.) New episodes can be downloaded or streamed on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Play, SoundCloud, and more.
Top photo (left to right): Michelle McGuire of Deloitte. Pete Wood of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Luba Borno of AWS
