Collision of Worlds: The Backdrop of SXSW 2025

SXSW has come to an end. More than ever, the 2025 conference served as a mirror of our collective disorientation and uncertainty in dealing with AI and the rapid pace of technological progress. The big question we all face is: How do we preserve our humanity while embracing change?

The collision of AI with established business paradigms and pressing ethical issues, the balance between human experience and technological progress, and the exploration of cultural fault lines worth breaking to foster genuine communication were at the heart of this year's discussions.

Surprisingly, the formal discussions barely touched on the current political situation in the United States. Two notable exceptions: Scott Galloway addressed it directly, while Mark Cuban's remarks at the SXSW Innovation Awards questioned whether figures like Musk and Trump truly embody entrepreneurship, suggesting they're driven more by ego than creating meaningful value.

AI: From Digital to Physical, From Information to Intelligence

The development of artificial intelligence dominated many sessions, which focused less on its technological specifications and more on how we as a society deal with it. Particularly interesting was the debate about physical AI: artificial intelligence that goes beyond software to include robots and machines that interact with the physical world. "This is the moment where AI moves from cages to the real world," noted Cadence’s Anirudh Devgan – a statement that simultaneously inspires both wonder and concern. Entrepreneur Jerome Monceaux's insistence that "ethics is not an afterthought – it should define the core of how we deploy AI and immersive technology" provided a necessary counterbalance, though questions of implementation remained largely unanswered.

Perhaps most revealing was the shift in how we view data itself. For decades, we've operated under the assumption that amassing Big Data represents a competitive advantage. Now, with Large Language Models having consumed approximately 99% of available internet data, that paradigm has evaporated. What matters now is proprietary data: the small fraction of business and personal information not yet incorporated into general AI training.

At the same time, the disconnect between the far-reaching societal implications of AI-based technologies and the almost non-existent regulatory framework became increasingly apparent. As one panelist noted, opening a food truck requires more regulatory oversight than developing potentially democracy-altering AI systems. Lawrence Lessig of Harvard Law School also found strong words: "Without governance, AI is not just a risk – it's a certainty that we will lose control over its impact on society."

How AI Agents Help Marketers Thrive

Agentic AI is rapidly reshaping company workflows by automating complex tasks, improving decision-making, and significantly boosting efficiency. Nickle LaMoreaux, Chief Human Resources Officer at IBM, highlighted how transformative AI agents can be: “Last year at IBM, 50% of employees and managers had never logged into an HR system. But these agents, this orchestration layer, allows our employees to go into one place and interact effortlessly with all of these underlying tools.”

IBM explicitly avoids using AI in hiring because of bias concerns, but confidently uses AI agents to make compensation recommendations. The point is: Effective use of AI requires consistent, iterative feedback loops to refine decision-making, continually reduce bias, and ensure ethical compliance – and it must be a perfect fit with corporate culture.

XR: From Niche to Mainstream

The growing number of sessions on Extended Reality (XR) technologies shows that the field has moved from the fringe to the center of attention. While XR had only 19 sessions last year, its presence has doubled this year, including a dedicated track. This reflects not only technological maturation, but an evolving desire to transcend physical boundaries.
What made the XR conversations compelling wasn't the technical specs, but the human connection. Dan Borelli of Mercury Studios emphasised a crucial point: "Creative storytelling and immersive experiences deeply strengthen fan connections, enabling them to directly experience or create iconic moments." In a world where authentic connection feels increasingly elusive, these technologies offer new opportunities for meaningful engagement.

However, hardware challenges remain significant, creating a circular problem that feels emblematic of broader technology adoption issues. We need more accessible devices to encourage content creation, but without compelling content, device adoption stagnates. This tension between creation and consumption, between possibility and practical implementation, ran through many of the conference's most thought-provoking sessions.

Skills Revolution: Adaptability over Specialisation

The most profound organisational challenge discussed wasn't technological but deeply human: how do we develop skills that remain relevant as the half-life of technical skills continues to shrink? Ian Beacraft's concept of the "Skill Flux Era" captures our current reality where technical knowledge has a shelf life of only 2.5 years and continues to decline.

The solution? A shift from specialisation to interdisciplinary thinking. This is not just a tactical adjustment, but a fundamental rethinking of how we should approach knowledge itself. This insight goes beyond organisational contexts to question how we prepare ourselves and future generations for a world where adaptability trumps specialised expertise.

Marketing: Breaking Rules to Stand Out

And while we're on the subject of philosophical questions: Brand communication also held up a mirror to us. Andrew and James MacKinnon, The Taboo Group, put it in a nutshell: "Your audience doesn't care if you are right, your audience just cares that you're interesting." Their thesis: convention leads to conformity and conformity leads to anonymity. This raises the question of how we can create meaningful connections in a world where attention is scarce.Their provocative assertion, "If no one hates it, chances are no one loves it," challenges our tendency toward bland consensus and reminds us that meaningful engagement often requires taking substantive positions.

SXSW Itself: Embracing Transformation

Perhaps the most fitting metaphor for our current moment is SXSW itself – a conference centered on disruption now facing its own transformative disruption. The Austin Convention Center, with its 1990s charm, will soon be demolished and replaced by 2029 with something more in line with contemporary standards. This physical transformation mirrors the cultural shifts happening throughout Austin.

SXSW’s special charm has always been rooted in Austin's self-proclaimed weirdness, its quirky bars, free-spirited residents and distinctive local culture. That culture now collides with the rapid influx of tech professionals, creating friction and possibility in equal measure.

As we leave SXSW 2025, it's not technology specs or marketing frameworks that remain, but a deeper understanding of our collective navigation through profound change. SXSW continues to embody what it means to reinvent while preserving essential character – to transform without losing soul. "The key is to recognise the small steps we can take to transform not only our own lives, but the world around us and to create a culture of hope," as Michelle Obama summed up on our final conference day.