A COMMISSIONED STUDY CONDUCTED BY FORRESTER CONSULTING ON BEHALF OF AWS MARKETPLACE, JANUARY 2025 The State Of GenAI In Media And Entertainment: A Spotlight On North America Accelerating Generative AI Adoption To Drive Better Workflows And Customer Engagement
Executive Summary In 2024, North American media and entertainment (M&E) organizations are charged once again with the impossible — to overcome the lingering effects of production disruption, while still meeting growth expectations. To achieve these mutually exclusive objectives, leaders are turning to generative AI (genAI) adoption as a way to accelerate content production. However, while adopters are eager to use this emerging tech to transform production workflows and create more engaging customer experiences, they are still grappling with getting genAI right in the first place. As a result, the path forward is marked by uncertainty and risk. To see value from their genAI investments, North American leaders must — for now — narrow the role it plays in their organization, focusing on augmenting individual employee productivity. At the same time, leaders need to set themselves up for longer term success though supplementing internal efforts with trusted third-party partners. The result of this refined strategy will be stronger industry applicability, more performant genAI implementations, and, in turn, enhanced business performance and reduced enterprise risk. ABOUT FORRESTER CONSULTING Forrester provides independent and objective research-based consulting to help leaders deliver key outcomes. Fueled by our customer-obsessed research, Forrester’s seasoned consultants partner with leaders to execute their specific priorities using a unique engagement model that ensures lasting impact. For more information, visit forrester.com/consulting. © Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited. Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. Forrester®, Technographics®, Forrester Wave, and Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. E-61035 Project Team: Jason Daniels, Market Impact Consultant Lillie Sinprasong, Associate Market Impact Consultant Contributing Research: Forrester’s Technology Architecture & Delivery research group © FORRESTER RESEARCH, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 2 3
Key Findings North American M&E firms are bullish on genAI but bogged down in early experimentation. Organizations appropriately feel urgency to act on genAI. However, while NA firms hold a slight genAI maturity edge, the dominant approach remains ambitious in scope and conservative in effort, intended to manage risk and limit harmful outputs that can damage the business. More preparation and partnerships are needed for organizations to see payoffs from genAI adoption. Organizations are hitting operational and data hurdles where third-party partners can help. Organizations haven’t fully pivoted their strategies to focus on how genAI can support their unique business needs. Early setbacks with genAI outputs and a lack of a stable data foundation have limited adopter success. Organizations require trusted partners that can help to operationalize genAI, enable greater innovation, and accelerate growth. GenAI capabilities will transform how work happens in M&E firms. M&E firms seek industry-specific genAI capabilities that integrate into the tools and systems they already use. Decision-makers are now looking for genAI tools to both transform parts of the business through enhancing functions like recommendation personalization, as well as changing how individual contributors work. Content production, software development, and IT operations will see increased investment in AI-enabled automation tooling. “ ” I think everyone’s being cautious. I don’t think there’s any concern that it can’t accelerate our business and prove automation. The real question is: what’s the right way to apply it, playing within the bounds and rules of all the things that are circulating out in the world today? — Head of commercial, streaming media, US 5 © FORRESTER RESEARCH, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 4
North American Orgs Are Leaning Into The Promise Of GenAI With Caution In surveying 204 North American M&E decision-makers, we found that 80% of respondents said it is critical to integrate genAI within their organization’s products and services to compete. This comes as North American M&E teams already juggle competing initiatives to accelerate content production, while still developing differentiated customer experience. Appropriately, respondents are trying to do more with less. Drivers Of GenAI Adoption Opportunity to accelerate content/media production Innovation Opportunity to accelerate business processes Opportunity to reduce production costs Opportunity to improve viewer/customer experience Opportunity to improve employee productivity 56% 55% 51% 50% 47% 39% 7 © FORRESTER RESEARCH, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 6 Base: 204 North American media and entertainment decision-makers Note: Showing top responses Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of AWS, September 2024
Firms Are Still In Early Experimental Stages While North American organizations are adopting genAI, they admit they aren’t well prepared to harness the potential today. Half do not feel they have the people resources necessary, while 45% do not feel their organization has up-to-date security and privacy practices to mitigate risks of genAI. Encouraging news is that North American M&E firms don’t plan to go it alone. Four in five said they’re prioritizing content partners that adopt genAI to accelerate their work. Operational And Data Hurdles Hold Back Innovation And Customer Experience North American leaders are cautiously adopting genAI given the inherent risk of getting it wrong. Organizations are already seeing repercussions from genAI: 65% experience poor genAI performance and output quality (and North Americans are slightly more concerned about biases in genAI outputs compared to their global counterparts). This means genAI isn’t reliably working as intended due to the challenges outlined below. Top GenAI Priorities (Showing “High priority” and “Critical priority”) Top GenAI Challenges When It Comes To Achieving Business Objectives Having our content production partners adopt genAI to accelerate their work 82% Personalizing customer interactions and recommendations Poor data management Poor model performance 80% Augmenting human capabilities and expertise with genAI assistance 75% 50% Outdated, legacy systems 50% 41% 9 8 © FORRESTER RESEARCH, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Base: 204 North American media and entertainment decision-makers Note: Showing top responses Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of AWS, September 2024
Trusted Partners Accelerate Growth With GenAI Transformation Despite lackluster initial results, North American leaders remain committed to adoption and were more likely than global respondents to plan on embedding genAI into their products. The ‘how,’ however, is changing. North American firms plan both to extend the use of partners to support their initiatives as well as expand the number of models they leverage. Firms have signaled that to achieve this, they need industry-specific capabilities over generic tools and seek established partners to avoid improvisation and mitigate risk. Over the next two to three years, decision-makers seek to achieve the following: GenAI Stands To Boost Content Production, Reduce Costs, And Delight Customers Over the next two to three years, firms anticipate genAI having a substantial effect on how content is made. Four in five of respondents said that they anticipate genAI significantly improving content supply chains. Three in four predict accelerating content production time, and 70% mentioned reduced content production costs. “Where do you expect genAI capabilities to have the most impact on your organization over the next two to three years?” Personalized recommendations and advice: Providing better contextual information and recommendations like individualized EPGs, contextual search, and personalized highlight generation 55% Streamlined content production and support functions: Speeding up time-intensive support tasks like captioning and translation as well as contributing to ideation through narrative and asset drafting 52% Improved software development and IT operations: Accelerating software development while reducing IT overhead in areas like AI code generation and AI for IT operations. 50% Expected Outcomes Due To GenAI Investments (Showing “Significant improvement” and “Transformational improvement”) More innovation 82% 67% Greater operational efficiency 73% Stronger risk mitigation/compliance 11 © FORRESTER RESEARCH, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 10 Base: 204 North American media and entertainment decision-makers Note: Showing top responses Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of AWS, September 2024
“ ” It’s all in this arms race to get all these or mature all these generative AI models. Things keep on shifting. — Senior director of data engineering, broadcast media, US We can now focus on things we wanted to do and dream up new and bigger ideas because now we can go faster. That’s what’s exciting. — Head of commercial, streaming media, US As North American organizations continue their trials, they must weigh urgency with caution and pragmatism with innovation. This is a journey where trusted, third-party providers can guide the way to identify use cases aligned to the business, leading firms through subsequent waves of genAI and business transformation. © FORRESTER RESEARCH, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 12 13
Key Recommendations Earn employee buy-in with augmentation. The most immediate way to positively impact your business results is practitioner augmentation, automating repetitive tasks. However, this approach should be developed in tandem with employees, not dictated to them. Adopting genAI capabilities that are already part of the tools you use — like creative suites — is one part of the puzzle. The other is working directly with employees to see where they want to leverage genAI. This collaborative approach will not only help time to value but increase your organizational familiarity with genAI tools and improve your own access to genAI-attuned talent. Fund knowledge and data hygiene initiatives. The first step to effectively leverage genAI is foundational data management, which half of NA M&E decision-makers say they lack. While M&E firms have an overabundance of data, metadata normalization and common schema efforts are lacking. Having people who understand and catalog it is a first step in remediation. Establishing the position of chief data officer and ensuring their office has funding for data scientists and analysts who can index, clean, and identify inconsistencies will be needed to embed into genAI implementation teams. While there are automation tools that will help with these activities, data experts will be needed to provide architectural expertise. Prioritize trusted partners and premade solutions. While many adopters are still working through fine-tuning their own models, poor performance and skills shortages limit business impact. As organizations orient to business value, partner selection should be the next step. Focus partner selection on two fronts: 1) those who can help with legacy systems modernization and data efforts and 2) those who can bring premade vertical specific solutions to bear across generative modalities. Prioritize MSPs and strategic tech providers who can supplement your skills, abstract away the complexity of managing a genAI stack, and assure your ownership over your data. Adopt a federated strategy. Today, most M&E firms follow a centralized model of genAI management: one team in charge of everything, from adoption to policy to development. While centrality allows for effective governance, it also serves as a rate limiter. While NA M&E firms have been quicker to embrace federated teams, central control remains the primary way firms organize around genAI. As modalities and embedded tooling proliferate, this model must change to better incorporate other lines of business. Adopting a federated model — with a central team reviewing for privacy, data security, policy adherence, training, and supporting development/adoption efforts at the organization and team level — allows for faster integration into daily workflows. 15 © FORRESTER RESEARCH, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. © FORRESTER RESEARCH, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 14
Explore More Download the full study: “The State Of GenAI In Media And Entertainment” RELATED FORRESTER RESEARCH High-Performance IT: The Right Next Tech For You, Forrester Research, Inc., January 15, 2024 The Architect’s Guide To Generative AI, Forrester Research, Inc., January 11, 2024 GenAI For IT, Forrester Research, Inc., January 25, 2024 GenAI Productivity Gains For Employee- And Customer-Facing Teams, Forrester Research, Inc., June 13, 2024 CONTACT AWS MARKETPLACE Read now Methodology In this study, Forrester conducted an online survey with 204 North American respondents and two interviews with media and entertainment decision-makers to evaluate the state of media and entertainment organizations. Survey participants included North American technology and business decision-makers at the manager level and above. The study began in August 2024 and was completed in September 2024. Demographics COUNTRIES US 75% Canada 25% ANNUAL REVENUE (US$) >$5B 23% $1B to $4,999B 24% $500M to $999M 32% $100M to $499M 21% M&E SUBINDUSTRY Streaming media 36% Cable media 33% Broadcast media 31% 17 © FORRESTER RESEARCH, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 16 © FORRESTER RESEARCH, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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