The State Of GenAI In Media And Entertainment

Accelerating GenAI Adoption To Drive Better Workflows And Customer Engagement

A Forrester Consulting Thought Leadership Study, October 2024

Media and entertainment (M&E) organizations are increasingly tasked with creating rich content to entertain consumers in a largely direct-to-consumer-focused industry.1  As in other industries, M&E leaders are experimenting with generative AI (genAI) adoption and grappling with how early use cases can transform existing workflows, core functions, and customer engagement.

Navigating this course comes with considerable uncertainty and risk. To succeed, M&E leaders must refine genAI’s role in their organization, focusing on immediate value and industry applicability. This path to success also requires leveraging trusted third-party ecosystems to guide genAI implementation, which in turn enhances business performance and mitigates enterprise risk.

In 2024, AWS Marketplace commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate the state of media and entertainment organizations, their technology infrastructure, and their use of genAI. Forrester conducted an online survey with 515 respondents and four interviews with decision-makers at the manager level and above to explore this topic.

Key Findings

  • M&E firms are balancing high ambition for genAI with caution. This measured approach has led to conservative genAI adoption, with centralized development teams carefully managing organizational approvals, even as firms feel urgency to act now or get left behind. More work is required if firms wish to realize the fuller benefits from genAI adoption.
  • Organizations are challenged to harness genAI despite early adoption. Most firms are still trying to understand genAI and how it can work for their business. Early setbacks with genAI performance and outputs and a lack of fundamental data needs (e.g., data quality, training, and management) hamper organizational aims to create more value with genAI.
  • Firms seek more from genAI but require third-party help. M&E leaders are working through genAI uncertainty and risk while eschewing large retooling, refactoring, or data migration. Eventually, they’re going to need help. Trusted partners can assist in operationalizing genAI and enable accelerated growth and greater innovation.
  • M&E-specific genAI capabilities will alter the industry. Like many industries, M&E firms want — and need — genAI to be integrated into the tools and systems they already use. This enables firms to do what they already do, but faster, while also enhancing content production, reducing costs, and improving customer engagement.

Consulting Team:

Jason Daniels, Market Impact Consultant

Lillie Sinprasong, Associate Market Impact Consultant

Contributing Research:

Forrester’s Technology Architecture & Delivery

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