The media industry is undergoing a transformative phase, driven by smart technologies, evolving audience habits, and innovative production models. BRIDGE Summit 2025, the premier global media event, will unite leaders from tech, news, and creative sectors to explore ways to enhance credibility, communication, and cultural significance in a rapidly changing landscape.
Taking place December 8–10 at ADNEC Abu Dhabi, the summit will feature over 430 speakers, 300 exhibitors, and more than 60,000 attendees. The program will address content creation, funding, education, and trust, offering insights into the future of global media and strategies for purposeful adaptation.
Faisal J Abbas
Intelligent Systems and New Media Behaviors
The BRIDGE Summit 2025 agenda examines AI’s impact on media consumption, communication, and productivity. Sessions led by industry experts will highlight how AI tools are central to content creation, sharing, and comprehension.
The keynote ‘The AI Avatar Era with HeyGen’ features Wayne Liang, Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of HeyGen, who will discuss multilingual AI avatars that enable creators and public figures to engage across platforms without extra production efforts. He will explore scaling presence without compromising clarity or intent.
Daniil Shuleyko, CEO of Yango Group, will present ‘How AI is Transforming Content Consumption Behavior’, explaining how AI-driven media habits shape audience views through personalized feeds and generative systems, affecting attention, discovery, and trust.
Derya Matras
‘The New Language of Work is Visual’ with Duncan Clark, head of EMEA at Canva, will demonstrate how visual platforms and creator culture have transformed team communication. He will explain the dominance of short, expressive formats in professional storytelling.
In the keynote ‘Superintelligence: The Next Frontier of Human Connection’, Derya Matras, vice president for EMEA at Meta, will explore the convergence of AI, messaging, and wearable tech, affecting communication and business. Her session will highlight the influence of these tools on relationships and productivity.
Saurabh Doshi, co-founder of OptimizeGEO.ai, will deliver ‘From Search to Chat: How Media Brands Can Hack LLMs Conversation Results’, focusing on how large language models affect online visibility and how brands can improve AI references in conversations.
Balancing Creativity and Technology
The Summit will explore the balance between automated tools and human creativity through sessions about the impact of scale, speed, and machine assistance on creativity and the continuing importance of technique and craftsmanship.
The panel ‘Hand-Crafted Content in the Age of AI’ with Bart Yates, co-founder of Blinkink, and Dr. Lee Bofkin, CEO of Global Street Art, will discuss the enduring power of handmade work in automated production, emphasizing tactility, imperfection, and emotion.
‘AI as a Creative Collaborator, Not Just a Tool’ will feature Larry Adams, CEO of XStereotype, and Cassiano Sala, Managing Partner at Journey, examining how artists maintain authorship while collaborating with AI, emphasizing practical approaches to merging machine experimentation with human guidance.
In the presentation ‘How to Tell Your Best Stories Ever’, Ali Cheikhali from Google and Hesham Ellabban from KAIRO for Ideas will demonstrate how AI tools accelerate story development while preserving human insight and perspective.
Sam Englebardt, general partner at Galaxy Interactive, will discuss how adaptive AI supports empathy and creativity in ‘Advancing Human Possibility in the Agentic AI Era’, exploring how AI can enhance authenticity in storytelling.
The fireside chat ‘Building with Heartware, Not Just Hardware and Software’ with Dr. Pippa Malmgren, CEO of Geopolitica Institute, will examine the need for human-centric innovation in tech, media, and economic models, advocating for systems that prioritize wellbeing, trust, and collective responsibility.
Future of News and Media Literacy
The panel ‘Navigating Journalism in a Changing News Business’ will feature Faisal J. Abbas, Mina Al-Oraibi, and Luke Bradley-Jones, discussing newsroom adaptations to platform changes, financial pressures, and audience expectations, focusing on maintaining depth and trust.
In ‘Preparing Youth for a World of Infinite Information’, Sadeq Jarrar will address the challenges students face with AI-generated content, emphasizing the need for stronger media literacy and clearer guidance for young audiences.
‘Avoiding — The Real — Em — Dash’ with Abdullah Alsabe and Omar Kaskas will highlight the importance of empathy, intention, and clear communication in responsible AI use as reliance on automated tools grows.
Future Media Workforce Development
The panel ‘Future-Proofing Media’s Talent Pipeline’ with Abdulla Alsharhan and Dr. Joleen Liang will explore new learning models and AI-driven workflows to equip the next generation of creators for rapid technological change and audience diversity.
Virtual Worlds and Gaming
The keynote ‘Worlds Without End’ by Brendan “PLAYERUNKNOWN” Greene will discuss the potential of data-driven design and new engines to support expansive virtual environments, exploring player-driven creation and planet-scale participation.
Register now via the BRIDGE Summit website https://www.bridgesummit.com/en/ and the BRIDGE App, the event’s unified digital companion for schedules, speakers, and real-time updates.
