Category: Events

The JEGI CLARITY team had the privilege of co-producing the annual Outsell Signature Event, which recently took place at the Four Seasons Hotel, in Hampshire, UK. 

The conference is a seminal event for senior leaders in the data and information industry.  It provides a platform for discussing key trends and their implications for the industry, while providing guests with an opportunity to make valuable connections within the sector. Full agenda and speaker list can be found here.

Key Takeaways

Generative AI for some but not necessarily for all

Throughout the event, there was an acknowledgement that your business model, offering and client base will likely drive what stage you are at in the ‘AI journey’. Some have been using AI for decades, while others are just beginning to explore its potential.

Understanding whether AI will be focused internally in driving efficiencies or speed to market, or focused externally, for example on enhancing product solutions will be a key part of determining the extent to which AI is deployed into your business.

For some businesses, the use of generative AI might be excessive and unnecessary to attain their goals. It’s essential to have a clear understanding of your objectives before determining whether these tools will genuinely contribute to reaching them, and many organizations are grappling with understanding this.

Many leaders in the room cautioned against rapid investment into AI without a framework covering a true understanding of your organization’s data and processes, your clients’ view and use of AI and the AI development approach, including ROI at each stage.

The importance of organizational buy-in

The transition to leveraging AI needs to be led by executive and senior management, but with a measured approach of proof testing, reviewing, evolving, and continually verifying.

Organizational buy-in is viewed as critical even at the testing stage so people and teams across the organization understand what the AI can potentially deliver, and what the aims and benefits are. Without this, it will be very difficult to meaningfully leverage AI.

It was noted that the regulatory framework around AI must catch up with the rapid pace of the technology, inevitability leading to a growing industry of regulations and policies. How the regulatory environment intersects with an individual business, and the organization, will be critical and at the moment, this intersection is unclear.

More than a hype bubble

What was resounding across the two days was the profound impact of AI on the knowledge economy. Attendees were aware that change is coming and fast, and that although there were parameters to establish how the industry integrates AI into it, the opportunities it presents are impossible and dangerous to ignore.

Indeed, the prevailing theme of the event reflected what we are hearing across our industry, and many others: how AI, and specifically the latest wave of generative technologies, can be augmented into businesses. There is a clear recognition, however, that while there are potential benefits, how these can be achieved is a work in progress for many.

Are we ready?

Considerable debate centered on some of the perceived risks as well. IP infringement, plagiarism, erosion of jobs, bias; all areas that need monitoring and care. The importance of clear policies and compliance frameworks both internally and externally underpinned by an understanding of the technology will be crucial for all businesses in the sector and beyond.

The M&A viewpoint  

Wilma Jordan, Founder and CEO, North America at JEGI CLARITY presented an insightful overview of the M&A marketplace offering projections for the future in light of economic outlook, high interest rates and pressure on cash and profits.

Describing green shoots appearing from those businesses that have real understanding of the use of data, she also outlined how AI is already driving a wave of investment that will continue to gather pace in the next 12 months. 

With 2023 already a record year for investment in generative AI start-ups, with equity funding estimated to have reached $14.1 billion*, there is no doubt that those companies within the AI arena will continue to power this pace.

If you would like to receive a copy of our presentation on the M&A viewpoint, please contact us.

[*] https://www.cbinsights.com/research/generative-ai-funding-top-startups-investors/

JEGI CLARITY and Stax held an Executive Leadership Breakfast on October 11th at the Stax offices in New York City. This event was structured as roundtable discussions and provided a stimulating morning of great conversation and networking.

This breakfast was titled “Making the Most of AI, First Party Data and Community.” The roundtable discussion was led by Kathleen Thomas, Managing Director at JEGI CLARITY, and Denzil Rankine, Managing Director at Stax, who shared their perspectives on the role of community and how AI and first party data are impacting the B2B Media and Marketing landscape.

Daniel Hart, JEGI CLARITY Vice President, attended the Generative AI conference as part of the AI Summit in London, targeted at the media, marketing, and creative industries. With artificial intelligence (AI) on the top of every senior leader’s agenda, below are the seven key takeaways from the event of the impact, the opportunities and of course, the challenges of AI to businesses in this sector.

1. Importance of the Human Touch

The significance of the human touch in storytelling emerged as a central theme throughout the conference. The consensus was that human connection and emotional resonance remain highly valued by people, emphazising its continued importance in creative endeavors to capture emotions and engage audiences.

2. Efficiency rather than replacement

This phydigital concept suggests that rather than replacement of humans, AI will free up resources and allow for focused creativity. It was clear from both the speaker presentations and the discussions with delegates, that this is already happening with AI tools being incorporated into workflows, enabling efficient ideation, storyboarding, and empowering creative teams to explore new ways of delivery value – all resulting in increased efficiency and productivity.

3. Fact checking and factual accuracy

The importance of human intervention in AI created content to ensure accuracy and integrity was also highlighted with the overreliance on AI bringing with it an increased risk of misreporting or factual inaccuracies noted.

4. IP/confidentiality and plagiarism concerns

Attendees agreed that blockchain technology, particularly using smart contracts, could play a leading role in protecting original artists’ rights and ensuring appropriate compensation to counter concerns regarding copyright and plagiarism. Transparency was emphasized as a critical factor, allowing stakeholders to understand the extent to which AI was used in any given output.

5. Bias and discrimination

The potential for bias and stereotyping in generative AI tools was acknowledged, and an awareness of how essential using the appropriate prompts and actively monitoring the outputs are to ensure an adherence with EDI policies.

6. Hiring and emergence of new roles

Creation of prompt engineers, fact-checkers ensuring content accuracy, AI managers to maintain consistency, monitoring inputs and outputs and overseeing the reusable nature of AI tools were all mooted as possible new roles that the AI industry could generate.

7. New monetization possibilities or enhanced experiences

AI tools introduce exciting possibilities for monetization and enhanced experiences. The ability to offer personalized and interactive entertainment experiences, as well as the digitization of art collections and virtual tours, could create new revenue streams and enrich user experiences.

Conclusion

We know that AI is already disrupting the marketing, media, and creative industry landscape and with change will come challenges and opportunities in equal measure.

In our role bridging the relationship between investors and senior industry stakeholders, these are some of the key questions raised that resonate with us all:

• What training and technology investment will be necessary to keep up/ stay ahead of the curve?
• Will the cost efficiencies driven by AI boost margins?
• Will the replacement of certain roles allow those employed to focus on innovation and creative excellence, increasing quality of output?
• What new creative frontiers will we be able to enter leveraging the new tools available?
• Will the technology lower barriers to entry, drive increased competition and lead to pricing pressure?
• Will clients demand more for less? Ultimately, will AI add or devalue my businesses?

It is still early days for any of us to have any definitive answers, and no doubt the answer will be a balance of all the above, but listening and talking to both sides of the investment relationship will result in an understanding of how the market will play out, where investment might be needed and help businesses unlock new opportunities for this investment.

If you have any queries or would like to have an in depth discussion on this topic or the broader market contact us. 

Leveraging AI as a product differentiator to capture market share and to scale rapid growth is no longer a nice to have – it is imperative. We are already seeing companies within media, marketing, information and technology outpace their competition and reshape their marketplaces, with a significant impact on valuations.

During our webinar, we discussed how companies can create greater value with AI and its impact on M&A. JEGI CLARITY Managing Directors Hugh Boston and Rich Kanefsky were joined by Dr Benjamin Herndon, Chief Strategy Officer at KUNGFU.AI. Dr Herndon has over 30 years in the practice and science of organizational transformation. He is the former Director of AI Strategy at Vista Equity Partners and the first Chief Analytics Officer at the US Internal Revenue Service. 

Please use the link below to watch a recording of the webinar and feel free to contact us if you would like to discuss this topic or the broader market in greater detail. 

JEGI CLARITY held its second Executive Leadership Dinner of 2023 on May 31st at the Pierre in New York starting at 6PM with cocktails. These events are structured as roundtable discussions and provide a stimulating evening of great conversation and networking.

This Dinner was titled “How The Business Of Legal Services Is Changing And Why PE Is So Excited About It.” The roundtable discussion was led by Matt Sunderman, Chief Executive Officer of HBR Consulting + LAC Group + Wilson Allen, who shared his perspectives on the evolving legal services landscape, the impact of AI on the legal profession, and trends in both the business and practice of law as well as private equity and other non-lawyer ownership.

The Dinner brought together approximately 35 senior executives from a mix of large global corporations and emerging companies.

Cannes Lions celebrates, facilitates, and substantiates creativity in all its forms – helping to prove its effectiveness, shape its future, and connect the future leaders of the industry.

As longstanding advisors to this community, we continue to deliver numerous landmark transactions across the Global Advertising, Marketing and Communication sectors.

Contact Marcus Anselm or Jonathan Davis to arrange a meeting to discuss M&A in the sector as well as explore how we might be useful to you and your business. 

Maintaining a Winning Mindset

Our 19th annual Media & Technology Conference was a pre-eminent, can’t-miss event for over 500 senior executives across the media, marketing, information and technology sectors.

The theme of the conference this year was Maintaining a Winning Mindset. Attendees heard intimate discussions from an array of world class leaders and executives who shared their experiences managing through today’s fast-paced and rapidly evolving landscape as well as their strategies for success in the year ahead.

Click Here for the 2023 Conference Program

Click Here for the 2023 Speaker Bios

Select Speaker Presentations:

JEGI CLARITY Sector Insights – JEGI CLARITY Leaders
US Advertising Forecast, Spring 2023 – Vincent Létang, EVP, Managing Director, Global Market Intelligence, MAGNA
Recent Legal Developments in the Transactional World – Robert Dickey, Partner, Morgan Lewis

Speakers

David Tyree, Entrepreneur, Sports Analyst & Former NFL Player

David Williams, Founder, Chairman & CEO, MRE Capital

Gurman Hundal, CEO & Co-Founder, MiQ

Tod Johnson, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Duo Partners Consulting

Karyn Schoenbart, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Duo Partners Consulting

Neil Vogel, Chief Executive Officer, Dotdash Meredith

Derek Correia, President, ReserveBar

Robert Dickey, Partner, Morgan Lewis

Carl Fremont, Chief Executive Officer, Quigley

Guy Gadney, CEO & Co-Founder, Charisma Entertainment

Lisa Hannant, Chief Executive Officer, Clarion Events

Heather Holst-Knudsen, CEO & Founder, H2K Labs

Jeffery Hudson, SMD Institutional Distribution & Origination, Libertas Funding

Chris Kuenne, Founder & CEO, Rosemark

Vincent Létang, EVP, Managing Director, Global Market Intelligence, MAGNA

Paul Miller, Chief Executive Officer, Questex

Colin Morrison, Founder, Publisher & Editor, Flashes & Flames

Jonathan Roberts, Principal, Transaction Advisory Services, BDO

John Rose, Managing Director & Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group

Keith Schwartz, Co-Founder & CEO, Bounteous

Mark Taylor, Global Practice Lead, Digital Experience, Cognizant

Adam White, Founder & CEO, Front Office Sports

Mark Williams, Chief Revenue Officer, Americas, Datasite

Matt Yorke, Global Chief Revenue Officer, Foundry

We would like to thank our valued, blue-chip sponsors for supporting the event

JEGI CLARITY held its first Executive Leadership Dinner of 2023 on March 1st at the Pierre in New York starting at 6PM with cocktails. These events are structured as roundtable discussions and provide a stimulating evening of great conversation and networking.

This Dinner was titled “Demystifying Private Equity: A Candid Conversation About Partnering with Private Equity” and the roundtable discussion was led by Scott Peters, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Growth Catalyst Partners, who shared his perspectives on what PE investors are looking for, how to optimize your business for a successful PE investment, and the advantages and disadvantages of a strategic vs PE exit.

The Dinner brought together approximately 35 senior executives from a mix of large global corporations and emerging companies.

Patricia Vicente (Director, EMEA) and Jonathan Goodale (Chief Business Development Officer, EMEA) attended Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain.

The event remains the largest Mobile Technology and ‘Connectivity’ gathering globally, and we were particularly focused on meeting businesses across the Mobile Software and Services ecosystem as well as learning more about new innovations and topics occupying decision makers in 2023.  

Below are some of our key takeaways from the event: 

• Velocity was the conference’s theme this year, a positive message in a time of mixed political and macro factors and signaling that the pace of technological innovation and demand for digital experiences has not been muted.
• With an estimated 80,000 attendees the event was back to nearing pre-COVID interest levels.
• Unsurprisingly there was much talk about the Metaverse and Web 3.0, particularly questions around what happens if we do arrive at a consumer adoption tipping point for the technology, and how the current 5G infrastructure will cope.
• Cue whispers of 6G; the next generation of mobile infrastructure. However, with a planned roll out no sooner than 2030, questions remain as to whether we would logistically be ready for mass Web 3.0 adoption in the near term.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ChatGPT were also front of mind for many. All players we spoke with, including corporates/brands, tech vendors as well as service providers, are toying with what it means for them. One vendor we spoke with who provides App Store Optimization tools to global brands is looking at using AI/ChatGPT to allow their product to make decisions for customers rather than just prescriptions based on data and analytics. Clearly for this type of tool to work, it relies on customers trusting the technology and it will be fascinating to see how far into decision making AI automation will be allowed to go.
• The impact of macro and political events on the mobile tech world and its supply chain was more evident than ever this year. S4 Capital’s Chairman and WPP Founder, Sir Martin Sorrell commented on how companies are having to reconsider supply chain and workforce distribution carefully in the face of global political uncertainty.
• The 4YFN (4 Years From Now) startup arena was full of innovative young businesses alongside earlier stage investors from across the world. The 4YFN Startup Award was won by Spanish employee payment technology provider Payflow whose salary advance platform aims to improve the employee experience and allow financial flexibility for workers through technology.
• General sentiment was that investment in start-ups is still active but more selective with founders and owners needing to demonstrate they are prepared and ready for investment to differentiate themselves from the crowd.

JEGI CLARITY held its fourth Executive Leadership Dinner of 2022 on November 30th at the Pierre in New York starting at 6PM with cocktails. These events are structured as roundtable discussions and provide a stimulating evening of great conversation and networking.

This Dinner was titled “Digital Advertising … Is There a Better Way” and the roundtable discussion was led by Brian Whipple, Chairman of Plus Company and Former CEO of Accenture Interactive (2010 – 2021), who shared his perspectives on the evolving advertising landscape.

The Dinner brought together approximately 35 senior executives from a mix of large global corporations and emerging companies.