This is not a paid ad in this newsletter (unfortunately).
But it is my favorite marketing action at IBC2026 in Amsterdam.
To me it was proof that the right combination of location and the right message is more powerful than the size of the campaign or the investment in complex and massive printouts.
And yes, CDN was one of the omnipresent topics on the floor of the exhibit, along with (guess?)
AI
Of course, our industry is full of companies trying to harness the power of AI and implement it in our usual workflows. Promises of efficiency, cost reduction, and speed of deployment were all around the show.
In terms of AI implementation in our industry, very few initiatives are promising, and many more are just ideas that still need a lot of time to develop. But I am not sure the speed of technology will allow them to keep exploring before their moat becomes a commodity.
AI cameras, highlights processing, orchestration, localization, script writing, or quality control are only some of the services that were heavily promoted.
I had the chance to share a panel with Yiannis Exarchos, the CEO of Olympic Broadcasting Services and one of the most brilliant minds in our industry. His definition of the state of AI is one that resonated with me tremendously.
Paraphrasing him: “AI is efficient enough for operational tasks, but not good enough yet for creative work.”
I agree with Yiannis, especially on the use of the word “yet”. It might get there someday, but it is still not at that point. Precisely, this is our advantage right now.
We can keep solving problems, producing shows, covering sports, or creating drama, and as long as we use our own creativity, we might get an output that is still better than a generic AI creation.
However, we still need to learn how AI works in our business and how others are implementing it. Because their solutions might be the key factor for our game coverage, because our problems might benefit from a new tool that would allow us to focus on the creative side of the job.
The people
41,225 attendees from 170 countries joined more than 1,300 exhibitors at IBC2026.
While the show was heavy on AI, it still kept its essence. The people.
There are very few spaces in our industry that are as welcoming and as important for networking as IBC in Amsterdam.
The diversity of professionals, the city, and the layout of the show make it easy to connect with people who otherwise you would need to travel for hours to be seated with in the same room.
And this is the competitive advantage of this show. The reason why I try to go back year after year, so my work benefits from the opportunities to connect with other professionals in our industry and learn from them.
I even had the chance to talk with some of you in person (great seeing you, Julie Brown!).
Long story short
In the end, technology has been changing since the beginning of our business, but what has remained constant is the people.
Our colleagues in the industry are the ones who help make our job more enjoyable and our projects a success. In many cases, they are a big reason why we keep coming back to these jobs that keep us away from home for months, or awake for many hours in a day, just to cover a goal, a run, or a touchdown.
P.S. Good job, IBC organization. I hope to see you next year.