As Media companies look to the future and make decisions on if they should use Artificial Intelligence, Daniel Anstandig, CEO of Futuri, believes it’s an absolute must. “AI is everywhere and it’s an essential part of our future,” Anstandig said. “Some companies will adopt AI and make the most of it and use it to be more efficient and more effective at what they do. Then there will be those that go extinct because companies that don’t adopt AI simply will not be able to keep up with the dynamic, rapidly changing environment that we do business in.”
Anstandig will be speaking at the BNM News Summit in Washington, D.C. on September 4th, forecasting what he believes the media will look like in the near future. “I’m coming from a perspective of working in a company where we have over 150 people every day using AI and machine learning to create systems that grow audiences and systems that that can create content and systems that help to sell advertising,” he said. “So, I’m going to talk about our direct experience around what’s worked and where we’ve seen success. I’m going to talk about what we believe the media industry thinks about AI today, and what our audiences think about AI and how we should be using it.”
With a mission in mind, the two-time Edison Research ’30 under 30′ award recipient is hoping, “To inspire and spark some new ideas for the people in the room. Because I think we all have a major shared passion for the media industry and for radio in particular, and I feel most at home when I’m in a room with people who have these passions, too. So, it’s going to be a no holds barred conversation about where we’re at today and where we need to go in the next three to five years.”
Anstandig has always been passionate about technology and broadcast media, and he started in the industry very young. “My first entrepreneurial venture was when I was 14 years old,” he said. “It was an audio advertising company that I sold to Microsoft when I was 18. And then I went to work for Clear Channel, Wall Street Journal digital, CBS television, a variety of broadcast and media companies to work with them on their digital strategies. And then I started Futuri in 2009, after traveling in my early 20s and working as a kind of in-house entrepreneur or digital business consultant for media companies.” A
With a large part of today’s industry focused on AI, some are concerned about losing their careers to it. Anstandig says, “I do believe that there will be a job rotation more than job elimination in every industry, and media is not unique. Every industry is going to have new jobs created and certain jobs are going to be replaced. And that is true in medicine or health care and automotive and retail, as much as it’s true in radio and television. In general, though we’re going to see augmentation rather than replacement.”
When asked if AI should be used with ethical standards in mind Anstandig said, “So, yes, I do think there are ethical standards that should be adopted for AI and at the same time I think it’s important that as a media industry, [to have] very open conversations about what that really means and what that looks like practically for us. Because the rest of the creator economy around us is not going to be handcuffed in any way around how they put AI to work for their business. So, as an industry we need to find the balance of doing the trustful right thing by our most important stakeholders, our audiences, and our advertisers and business partners. At the same time, remain very open minded about how we can adopt this technology and how we can move forward in a responsible but still innovative and aggressive way.”
Other than technology, another passion of Anstandig’s is leadership. “I think a good leader is somebody who’s always striving to be a good leader, frankly. Good leadership is about creating a vision for a compelling future, understanding the needs and perspectives of others, making decisions that are timely and balanced with intuition and data. It’s most importantly about surrounding yourself with the best people and setting up the environment for them to do their best possible work. I feel like I learn every day. I’ve told people that I feel like every year at Futuri, gives me a new MBA. Every year I learn something new about what makes a company grow and thrive and adapt and succeed.”
In order to be a good leader, he believes he learned from the best and early in his career he was taught, “Helping people see what their strengths are and not torturing them for their weaknesses is something that a mentor shared with me very early in my career. It’s just something that has proven over and over again to be a very important life lesson. So yes, I think a lot about leadership. I frankly pray for the strength of leadership in our industry because I believe that as an industry we are only as good as the quality of leadership. All the time I think about how I can support other leaders in our industry and help others to adapt and grow and thrive in this very exciting and fast changing time.”
For those looking to follow in Anstandig’s footsteps he advises, “Be relentlessly curious. Continuously learn. Stay curious about your passions but stay curious about the world around you. Embrace challenges. Seek out new information and new knowledge. Don’t take for granted what something looks like on the surface. Dig deeper and understand it.”
Lastly, he notes, “Surround yourself with great mentors and seek advice. In my life I’ve been just very blessed with great mentors, people who have authentically looked out for me and helped me to learn and grow. I think this is probably true of all industries and all businesses that we stand on the shoulders of the giants who came before us, but I think it’s especially true in media.”
Krystina Alarcon Carroll is a news media columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
