Media and entertainment leaders drive innovation with generative AI

Media and entertainment (M&E) companies face unprecedented challenges in today’s digital landscape. The pressure to deliver more content faster, while reducing costs and enhancing audience experiences, demands an innovative mindset and creative solutions.

To examine these challenges, we hosted a moderated panel webinar, Maximizing transformation with generative AI in media and entertainment, featuring industry innovators.

 We chose panelists who are comfortable presenting big ideas and challenging industry norms. They bring both vision and practical approaches to building sustainable frameworks for change.

The discussion centered on Forrester’s latest survey findings, exploring:

• Getting started with generative AI
• Common implementation challenges
• Accelerating organizational transformation

Will McKeon-White, senior analyst at Forrester, presented groundbreaking research on the adoption trends of generative AI and their impact on M&E organizations. Our three panelists included:

• Vered Horesh, Chief of AI Strategic Partnerships, Bria AI
• Victoria Milo, SVP, Media Solutions & Emerging Technologies, Monks
• Travis Couture, Founding Solutions Architect, Twelve Labs

These experts shared practical approaches for implementing generative AI in the M&E space. Their real-world examples demonstrated how organizations are successfully navigating common barriers. Their insights provide a clear path forward for companies beginning this journey.

Key findings from Forrester

Forrester’s research revealed, as shown in Figure 1, both the strategic priorities driving the adoption of generative AI and the key challenges organizations face when implementing it. Generative AI is viewed as a critical future differentiator by 76 percent of decision makers. Organizations are primarily focused on three key objectives, with results showing the following:

• 61 percent of decision makers want to accelerate content production and reduce costs
• 51 percent aim to improve customers’ experiences
• 49 percent seek to drive innovation across their operations

Figure 1: Forrester survey summary

However, adoption challenges persist. The study found, as shown in Figure 2, that 65 percent of organizations struggle with poor generative AI performance and quality issues. Over half lack the necessary datasets to effectively implement generative AI solutions.

Figure 2: Forrester survey summary

Legacy systems and data management issues continue to hinder progress for many organizations. These challenges often appear simultaneously, creating complex barriers to adoption. While these adoption challenges are significant, our panel experts offered practical approaches to overcome them.

Overcoming challenges in generative AI adoption

Our panelists emphasized the importance of starting small while thinking big. Victoria Milo recommended integrating generative AI into existing campaigns. “We look at what’s going on and try to find an area of an existing campaign they’re already going to invest in,” she explained.

Vered Horesh highlighted how their platform’s attribution technology “allows us to compensate content creators based on measured contribution.” Their solution ensures compliance through models “trained exclusively on licensed data” that “respect copyrights” and “follow studio guidelines.”

Travis Couture demonstrated how their video understanding capabilities help organizations unlock value from content archives. Their approach allows rapid discovery and clip assembly while maintaining data quality. “It’s our responsibility to show them the bare minimum concept of what this could look like in reality,” he noted.

Business leaders are ready for generative AI adoption, with Horesh noting, “The executives we are seeing today come very focused, with presentations of use cases they want to solve.” Their primary concern is implementation. “The only question is how to do this safely, without legal exposure and ensure employees are protected.”

The panel stressed the importance of collaborating with partners who understand media industry workflows and compliance requirements. As organizations overcome initial implementation hurdles, exciting opportunities emerge.

Future state, trends, and opportunities

Generative AI transforms how audiences discover and interact with content. Travis Couture envisions the possibilities, “We can create hyper-personal experiences from a streaming perspective, letting consumers interact with vast content archives.”

Horesh predicts fundamental changes ahead, “Content experiences are going to be very different. We’re in the content creation revolution.”

Operational efficiency

Generative AI streamlines production workflows while improving content organization. Horesh explains the evolving creator role, “Now my job changes from creation to curation, with 20 potential assets generated overnight.”

Revenue generation

Generative AI opens new monetization opportunities through personalized content and advertising. Horesh highlights the business impact, “IP franchises will monetize more effectively through these models, streamlining both compliance and licensing processes.”

Milo points to smarter ad placement, “We analyze footage frame by frame to match ads with viewer attention levels and emotional resonance.”

Key recommendations

The webinar discussion yielded clear guidance for organizations looking to adopt generative AI. Success begins by implementing a federated strategy. This approach balances central control and business unit autonomy. Organizations should partner with trusted providers who understand M&E industry needs, focusing primarily on augmenting employee workflows.

It is crucial to invest in foundational data management and governance frameworks. Starting with small, targeted projects helps demonstrate value quickly while building momentum for broader transformation.

Panel discussion highlights

The conversation revealed rich insights from each expert about successful generative AI implementation in M&E organizations.

Victoria Milo shared practical adoption strategies:

• Begin with existing campaigns to demonstrate immediate value
• Maintain close collaboration with legal teams for compliance
• Transform advertising through generative AI-powered content analysis
• Create new opportunities through emotional resonance matching

Vered Horesh focused on organizational transformation:

• Approach generative AI adoption as a change-management initiative
• Implement attribution technology for fair content creator compensation
• Balance workflow augmentation rather than undertake a complete transformation
• Allow effective IP monetization through content generation

Travis Couture provided technical innovation guidance:

• Use multi-modal generative AI for enhanced content understanding
• Start with internal use cases before customer-facing applications
• Transform content discovery through advanced video analysis
• Create hyper-personalized experiences through generative AI capabilities

Conclusion

The M&E industry stands at a pivotal moment in its technological evolution. Generative AI offers unprecedented opportunities to streamline operations and enhance audience experiences.

But success needs a balanced approach: Start small, choose trusted partners, and maintain focus on your business objectives. Your organization must also prioritize responsible AI practices and data management.

As technology matures, organizations that thoughtfully embrace generative AI will have significant competitive advantages. Those who address fundamental challenges early will lead the transformation.

About AWS Marketplace and next steps

AWS Marketplace offers solutions like Bria AI, Monks, and Twelve Labs that help drive innovation with generative AI. These partners represent a small sample of more than 15 thousand solutions available across 80 categories.

AWS Marketplace is a curated digital catalog that makes it easy to find, buy, and deploy third-party software, services, and data. Independent research from Forrester estimates it takes half the time to find, buy, and deploy solutions through AWS Marketplace compared to other sales channels.

AWS Marketplace offers flexible pricing options like free trials and pay-as-you-go models to help organizations meet their budgetary needs. It also offers multiple deployment options, including software as a service (SaaS), artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) models, and containers to align with your security and governance requirements.

Visit the Media & Entertainment Solutions in AWS Marketplace to learn more about available M&E cloud solutions. Watch Maximizing transformation with generative AI in media and entertainment on demand to explore these topics further and gain additional insights from our expert panel discussion.

Contact an AWS Representative to know how we can help accelerate your business.

About the author

Jack Wenzinger is a global leader for M&E film/TV and generative AI partners at AWS. Jack has 20+ years spent shaping media supply chains and content workflows. As an innovator in cloud and AI spaces, he guides partners to new frontiers, transforming challenges into triumphs. When not conferring on cinematography in the cloud, he may be engrossed in Rush’s cerebral lyrics or wind-racing on his motorcycle.