The new executive role means that AI is no longer a “side experiment” for news publishers
Publishers have come a long way since working with the task force to experiment and test AI tools. Now they are creating new executive roles and teams to manage AI strategies across the organization.
Last week, Forbes announced a new AI-focused executive and 24-man team. Newly promoted Chief Business and Strategy Director Kyle Vinansky will oversee the division called “AI & Strategic Platforms Group.”
In June, Samhan was promoted to the new role of Chief AI Officer of the Washington Post, and is currently leading AI product development across the company. Meanwhile, Rob Lang has been appointed as the new role of Reuters Newsroom AI Editor. And in May, Business Insider appointed Julia Hood as the new newsroom AI lead.
The first wave of AI's role within the newsroom began in 2023. That was when former Quartz Zack Seward was appointed editorial director for the AI Initiative, which oversees AI-related principles, testing and training in the New York Times newsroom. Madhumita Murgia became the first AI editor for the Financial Times.
The Washington Post's expansion of CAIO and Forbes AI and Platform Teams shows a turning point for how publishers view and operate AI. These moves suggest that rather than treating it as a series of experiments or newsroom novelties, AI is seen as a core infrastructure, requiring inter-departmental coordination and more centralized surveillance.
These new executive and leadership roles mean that AI technology is “no longer becoming a part of the core business infrastructure, not side-experimentation or siloed tools,” says Sean Puddle, North American Managing Director at Robert Walters of Talent Search Firm.
“This illustrates a mature approach to AI, especially among media companies seeking to eradicate the future of their models,” he added. “AI is now considered a strategic asset, which calls for ethical leadership, cross-functional integration and long-term governance.”
According to Puddle, new titles like CAIO and the Vice President of AI Strategy are becoming more common, but the volume is “not a big one yet.” In fact, job search platform economist Alison Srivastaba said job offers “incredible growth” that refers to generative AI, but they still account for a small share of the posts overall.
In fact, there has been an expansion beyond software development to other sectors, but Srivastava believed that it would take some time for these jobs to appear widely.
“The rise of these roles in recent months demonstrates the industry's deeper commitment to reshaping not just a technological transition, but also how media generation, distribution, and how it changes and monetizes in the age of generation AI,” Puddle said.
According to Tony Filson, founding partner and CEO of media Filcro Media Staffing, publishers are appointing dedicated roles and teams to create an internal hub of expertise to guide implementation and act as a resource for the entire organization.
“We're actually putting people in place that make these resources available across the company, all departments,” Filson said. They ensure that new technologies are integrated throughout the organization. It's also a marketing tactic, Filson said. It helps publishers seem to be at the forefront of the new age of AI.
Part of Vinansky's authority is to expand existing transactions with AI companies and find new ones, Forbes CEO Sherry Phillips told Digiday. Forbes is one of 200 publishers that have deals with Amazon, allowing users of AI smart speaker Alexa to retrieve news and information from these publishers.
“What this department actually does is identify, build and scale revenue for the next generation of Forbes and the next generation. So it works collaboratively across the organization, but focuses on both the product side and the business side. This department actually functions as a strategic glue,” Phillips said.
Publishers began dabbing in generator AI technology in late 2022 and early 2023 shortly after Openai launched ChatGPT. It grew into forming a new team by spring dedicated to overseeing AI initiatives. These teams were usually sensual and had representatives from departments such as editorial, business, sales, marketing, engineering, product, HR, and law.
However, according to Phillips, this approach has deepened the silos within media organizations. Forbes partnered with an AI-tech company (she rejected her name), whose sales team worked with them at the same time as the product team, unaware that neither team was communicating with them.
“We need to be accountable to make sure we're communicating with some of these large tech organizations,” Phillips said.
Vinansky and his team will be accused of filling some of those gaps, she said. We also look at revenue opportunities across other platforms, including events, licensing, e-commerce, social media, and creators.
Paul Farch, a veteran Washington Post reporter who covered the media, said: “In adapting to the internet, I was slow to reach social media and video. [publishers] When it is said to be “the next big thing,” you may have finally learned the lesson. ”
However, this formalization is done alongside calculations of different types of AI. Some publishers, including Fortune and Business Insider, have recently cut staff, pointing out the role of AI in reshaping workflows and reducing content production needs. Together, these moves highlight the retention between AI as a strategic investment and AI as a cost-cutting tool, and the urgency of defining how publishers integrate technology.
So far, in Fahh's opinion, the driving force behind news publishers to integrate more AI technologies into organizations has not yet been a “game changer.”
“Maturity may be too strong for where the news industry with AI is currently, but the growth process is ongoing,” he added.
What we've heard
“We saw it. We're not going to launch it. We didn't see it as something we wanted to introduce to our audience at this point.”
– Mark Howard, Chief Operating Officer of ON Time Google's new offer wall products.
Numbers you should know
1%: According to new Pew survey data, when users click on the source of AI-generated summary, Google's AI summary percentage.
5%: According to the company's latest revenue, Future PLC's US advertising revenue growth is growing year-on-year.
10%: Percentage of Fortune's global workforce getting a pink slip.
$200 million: Sale Price Bali Weiss is looking for her media startup.
$10 Billion: The amount President Donald Trump seeks from the Wall Street Journal and owner Rupert Murdoch in a honourable loss lawsuit over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
What we covered
Newsweek is making revenue beyond traffic
- Newsweek is launching more subscription products and expanding its non-advertising revenue streams in preparation for a future where AI Answer Engines will replace traditional searches.
- Newsweek CEO Dev Pragad said that while Google AI overview and AI platforms generally do not cause significant traffic erosion, publishers want to reduce their reliance on digital advertising, splitting them from 63% of overall revenue to 55% next year.
Learn more about Newsweek's strategy here.
Comms exec's confession about exploring conservative media partnerships in a bipartisan era
- Large brands and their agency partners have largely avoided advertising on conservative channels, citing the fear of brand safety.
- However, one diverse and inclusively driven Comms Agency is taking on a conservative, faith-based media client, seeking to better understand right-wing media so that clients can adapt to the new, bipartisan normal.
Read the conversation here.
Important Terms to Know About AI Bot Traffic and Monetization
- Generated AI is emerging new vocabulary in the media industry as it shapes how content is surfaced, scraped, summed up and monetized.
- This is a professional buster that will help you understand the new vocabulary of AI-Media Economics, what these terms mean, and why they are important now.
For more information about the terminology, please see here.
YouTube's AI Slop Crockdown involves creators, and marketers support them
- YouTube recently updated its creator policy for its YouTube Partner Program to cover more widely “fraudulent content” including repeated uploads of slideshows with similar narration.
- While some creators are wary of YouTube's AI slop cleanup, marketers see it as a platform victory.
Click here to see the response to the crackdown.
Publishers identify top trends among Gen Z leaders
- Gen Z has a very small percentage of publishers' readers as of the second quarter of 2025, according to the recent Digiday+ Research.
- 71% of publishers' strengths told Digiday, while Gen Z accounts for between 0% and 25% of viewers.
Read the report here.
What we're reading
Google is about to sign a license agreement with news publishers
Google hopes news publishers will take part in the AI license pilot project, Bloomberg reported. Tech Giant is hoping that around 20 news outlets are part of its initiative.
La Times owners want to open their company
In an interview with “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart, La Times owner, La Times owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong said he hopes to open the company within next year.
Washington Post's “Tictock Guy” leaves
The New York Times reported that Dave Jorgenson, who has become the face of the Washington Post's Tiktock presence, has left the publication to set up his own video company. The Post's video director has also left to join Jorgenson's company.
News/Media Alliance shakes 12ft.io
The News Publisher Trade Association said it has successfully shut down 12ft.io, a website that helps users bypass the paywall and view web pages without ads.
404 Media co-founder Jason Kaebler thinks he doesn't think the media's pivot to AI will work
Koebler explains in OP-ED why he thinks pivoting to AI is a stupid business strategy and won't succeed. Instead, publishers should focus on building direct relationships with their readers. (ChatGpt introduced only one person to become a paid subscriber to 404 Media in May.)
