The business of business is leading the lineup of new speakers added today to the roster at next year’s South by Southwest Conference (March 7-15, 2025), as the impact and potential further ramifications of AI color the upcoming event.
For its final year utilizing the Austin Convention Center before it’s knocked down and replaced with a new state-of-the-art facility, SXSW’s opening list of featured speakers may not feature the big names of music and cinema that you may expect from the conference. However, expect plenty of those to come, as the event that has always prided itself on cultural cross-pollination leans into the corporate side of its programming this time.
It seems the cool thing to do these days is to deliver a state-of-the-state study of your field of expertise, and SXSW 2025 will be no exception. Amy Webb has virtually established a residency with her Emerging Tech Trend Reports and will be back for the launch of the 2025 edition. Co-founder and CEO of ALDORA Joost van Dreunen will present “Level Up. The 2025 State of Play on Games, Tech, and Media” as an overview of the $250 billion gaming industry. Meanwhile, in “Design in Tech Report 2025: Autodesigners on Autopilot,” Vice President of Engineering, Head of Computational Design for Microsoft AI Platform John Maeda on how designers will offbrain all that pesky creative and engineering work to AI.
AI will, of course, be omnipresent. In “How Not to Screw Up an AI Transformation While Shaping the Future of your Company,” CEO and Chief Futurist of Signal and Cipher Ian Beacraft suggests how to not break your business while leaping into AI. Meanwhile, over at “10 Myths Busted: The Real Impact of AI and Emerging Tech,” Founder and Chief Operations Officer of Unstoppable Domains Sandy Carter makes the pro-business case for AI.
With all those tech changes, corporations are looking to restructure yet again, and there’ll be plenty of advice on that front. Chief Futurist at Deloitte Consulting LLP Mike Bechtel comes to town for “Breadth is the New Depth,” making the argument against expertise and beating the drum for the jack-of-all-trades. Founder of Creative Breed Cheryl Miller Houser will explore the power of narratives for marketing and sales in “Human-centered Storytelling: Driving Connection & Culture.” Plus expect a lot of note-taking from the C-suite during “Claiming the Future of Entertainment,” as President of Blizzard Entertainment Johanna Faries explains why her company is going all-in on IP, and the kind of brand loyalty that has reportedly led the company to earn $1 billion in in-game microtransactions on Diablo 4.
If all this talk of AI and corporations is getting you down, then professor of Psychology at Yale University Dr. Laurie Santos will hold a live recording of her podcast, The Happiness Lab. Meanwhile, in “Love Your Tricky Brain and Unlock Your Greatest Leadership Gifts,” The Anxious Achiever host Morra Aarons-Mele argues we need to embrace our weak spots as hidden strengths. Stick around for “The Science and Art of Longevity” as Peter Attia, host of The Drive podcast, poses the question: Do we want more lifespan or more healthspan? Plus, author, academic, and former cyperpunk trailblazer Douglas Rushkoff celebrates the 15th anniversary of his essay “Program or be Programmed” with “Weirding the Digital: An Invocation,” an optimistic lecture on how we can alleviate the commercialization of technology.
However, it’s not all about business and technology at the conference. In “From Survivor to Advocate: Nadia Murad’s Fight for Human Rights and Justice,” Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Founder of Nadia’s Initiative Nadia Murad shares her story of surviving being a captive of ISIS and using her experience to advocate against human trafficking.
SXSW 2025 runs March 7-15. More details and info at sxsw.com. And don’t forget to follow all our coverage, and dig into the archives, at austinchronicle.com/sxsw.
This article appears in September 13 • 2024.