DLD Munich 2025: 7 Learnings For The Media Industry

By Nina Brandtner and Florentina Czerny

Photo: Michaela Stache for DLD / Hubert Burda Media

The approximately 2,000 participants at Hubert Burda Media's DLD innovation conference kicked off the year 2025 with a “Future Positive” theme. Decision-makers and visionaries from all over the world gathered at the House of Communication in Munich from January 16-18 to discuss the big questions of our time. The agenda included agentic AI, social impact, the future of marketing – and a party, as Digital Life Design celebrated its 20th anniversary. We were there and asked around about the most important trends and learnings for media professionals.

1) AI Models Become Multitaskers

“Agentic AI” was the buzzword at this year's DLD. The idea of proactive artificial intelligence that can solve complex tasks independently without human guidance caused both enthusiasm and unease in the audience. In his keynote speech, Colin Jarvis, Head of Forward Deployed Engineering at OpenAI, showed the “key to the use of AI agents”: Multimodality. OpenAI is currently working on models that are no longer specialized in just one task, such as text or image generation, but can combine several tasks in a multitasking manner. One showcase, for example, included an AI that could scan websites in real time and explain them with voice output. Bavarian AI pioneer Prof. Björn Ommer, who opened the track of the Bavarian AI network BAIOSPHERE with his keynote speech, was also optimistic about AI agents: “AI is becoming better integrated everywhere, so it understands better what we want from it and can support us more easily.”

2) AI May (Soon) Be Able to Do Better After All

2024 was still under the motto: Humans do it best. However, according to the experts at DLD, this could soon change. Michal Kosinski, who was a guest from Stanford University, ventured into the “Psychology of AI” in his panel. He outlined the development of knowledge of large language models and noted that the name is misleading, as LLMs can now do much more than just recognize words. The AI models also use cultural knowledge and can understand emotions. “We are currently observing the emergence of an artificial consciousness.” Very soon, Kosinski predicts, AI could be ahead of us: Because while it can show emotions like us humans, it can also simply switch them on or off – an advantage, for example, when emotions play a role in decision-making processes. Computers also have an advantage over humans when it comes to the speed of learning processes and life expectancy. This is a worrying thought for Kosinski, who argues that we need to take a comprehensive look at the possibilities. This is the only way we can avoid risks. “We think that AI gaining consciousness is the ultimate goal. But AI could soon develop things that we can't even dream of.”

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AI can imitate emotions that are most appropriate in a given situation – a bit like sociopaths, says Michal Kosinski. Photo: Ulrike Froemel for DLD/Hubert Burda Media

3) Purpose Instead of Profit: Young Generations in the World of Work

Werner Vogels, CTO of Amazon, started his keynote speech at this year's DLD with an analysis of the labor market: “Tomorrow's workforce is driven by missions. They want meaningful jobs, with impact and purpose.” He believes that consumers will also make much more conscious decisions about which technologies they want to use in the future – and will therefore consciously switch off and go offline more and more often. “Attention is a finite resource,” Vogels emphasizes. “We need to find our way back to high-quality, distraction-free decision-making processes.”

4) You Need Thick Skin, Because the Discourse Is Getting Rougher

New visions for media and marketing were the focus of a panel by father-daughter duo Richard and Margot Edelman from the communications company of the same name. The publishers of the Edelman Trust Barometer, which annually examines public trust in government, companies, media and NGOs, called for more authenticity. “Companies must have defined values, communicate them publicly and then stand by them. And it's best to put on a thick skin, because the discourse is getting rougher,” says CEO Richard Edelman. Brands need to become even more aware that the company behind the product plays an increasingly decisive role in the purchase. “As a marketing company, we have to get our customers to actually act rather than just talk. A well-communicated action is worth much more than a promise.”

At DLD, Margot Edelman recommends LinkedIn as a platform for future-proof marketing. Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / picture alliance for DLD / Hubert Burda Media

5) New Marketing Strategies Are Needed

The keynote speech by Mastercard CMO Raja Rajamannar was not about quantum computing, but about quantum marketing. He painted a bleak picture of current marketing strategies: “A lot of money is being spent, but we have learned to simply switch off. The tactics are no longer consumer-friendly and are sometimes simply annoying. Marketing has lost its direction and its values.” His solution: we need to thoroughly rethink the current marketing theories, which are already 50 or 60 years old. He summarizes the most important principles of quantum marketing in four points:

  • Privacy and data security
  • Consumer economics (How does each individual consume?)
  • Multi-sensory experiences
  • Trust in brands

Rajamannar emphasizes the last point in particular. “Trust makes by far the biggest difference between brands. If they are socially engaged, no matter what happens in their ads, then they are much more credible.” How can this trust be built? With innovation and creativity.

6) Software Developers' Dogs Are the Winners of the AI Revolution

In an interview with Ina Fried, Rodney Zemmel, global leader of McKinsey Digital, looked at the tech transformation through AI. While 2024 was still a year of setting up AI technologies for many companies, many are now starting to generate revenue. Zemmel identifies four areas in which the use of AI technologies is already boosting profits:

  • Customer Journey
  • Precision (through virtual experts)
  • Creative content
  • Coding

A lot of added value has already been generated by AI, particularly in the area of coding. “Every developer has managed to be more efficient in their own day-to-day work. Now it's up to the companies to find out how they can utilize the time savings globally.” In the meantime, says Zemmel with a twinkle in his eye, the main beneficiaries are the developers' dogs, who now have more time to walk.

Finally, Zemmel mentions three figures that companies need to bear in mind when implementing AI technologies:

  • How much work can AI take on?
  • How many costs are incurred and are these in relation to the benefit?
  • Which account does the benefit pay into?

7) Content Creators Don't Have to Give Their Content Away to AI Defencelessly

Content creators who have published their content online and thus made it freely available not only to interested users, but also to AI models, have been among the biggest losers of the AI revolution. In his talk, Matthew Prince, CEO of Cloudflare, spoke with ZEIT editor Jochen Wegner about precisely this predicament and how content creators can free themselves from it. His point of view: “The problem is that AI takes all the content and doesn't pay those who created it. There needs to be a business model that allows content creators to earn money from their work. AI should pay for content.” In order to increase the necessary appreciation, it is important to realize that AI cannot work at all without original content. His solution: By providing content creators with the service of tagging their own content, you give them a voice. “Content is the most valuable asset in this process. We need to take back some control from AI.”

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