Are we creating clear, paid pathways for new talent, or do our structures unintentionally favour those already inside?
Each IBC proves how well we stage shared moments at scale. Yet this year I left with questions, not answers. Who are we building for if the people we most need to reach are often a generation younger than many of us who build the systems? In a feed that moves faster than facts, how do we make trust visible, not assumed? If attention is mobile and social first, can the economics we rely on keep pace or do we need to align costs to real usage? Will metadata, rights and provenance travel with content so that context survives the algorithm? Are we creating clear, paid pathways for new talent, or do our structures unintentionally favour those already inside? What will success look like five years from now?
The challenge beyond technology
After 25 years in broadcast, our challenge is as much about populations and economics as it is technical. Younger audiences often value relevance, accessibility and low friction. They tend to expect personal context and honest labelling when machines assist. At the same time, rumour can outrun verification, especially in moments of shock. If we do not keep verification visible, attention tends to drift to places that optimise for speed over depth. The task is not only better pixels or lower latency. It is building a chain of trust that travels with the media from acquisition to archive, while keeping the business sustainable enough to serve public life, sport and culture in the moments that define us.
Five moves we can make together
First, we can make trust portable. Adopt open standards for identity, rights and provenance so that proof of origin and context moves across platforms without breaking. Treat metadata as a backbone, one consistent view of assets, rights and obligations that follows content end to end.
Second, use AI as an assistive tool. Keep humans in the loop by default, enable audit trails and label machine assistance clearly so that audiences are not left guessing.
Third, consider recalibrating economics around usage. Centralised and remote production, IP and cloud workflows, and managed or as-a-service operations let teams launch quickly, scale with demand and align OPEX to what is actually consumed.
Fourth, widen pathways for talent. Paid apprenticeships, hands-on academies and hybrid roles that blend workflow engineering, data and creative operations can renew skills at scale. Without investment, we risk a thinner pipeline.
Finally, practice resilience. Build redundancy for power and connectivity, maintain playout contingencies and run real cybersecurity drills. Trust erodes quickly when systems fail at the moments that matter.
Many teams are already moving this way. None of this belongs to a single vendor or region. It is collective work for integrators, manufacturers, operators, universities, leagues and regulators, with ethics as the thread that holds it together.
Turning principles into operations at Broadcast Solutions
If IBC reminded me of anything, it is that innovation only matters if it builds a bridge between the rigour of our craft and the expectations of a generation that sees us differently. I caught the bug 25 years ago and I hope it endures, not for nostalgia, but because a trusted media system helps communities make sense of the world. The bridge is ours to hold – together
Laurent Mairet is Managing Partner for Broadcast Solutions Middle East
