26 June 2025

Behind the scenes: what the Congress agenda says about media

When we build the FIPP World Media Congress programme, we typically start with three questions: What’s on the minds of media leaders right now? What lies in wait? And how does that fit into the wider world?

Below is an analysis of the 2025 Congress agenda, examining its outlook, tone, themes, and speakers who will be on stage.

The FIPP World Media Congress takes place from 21-23 October in Madrid, Spain.

You can see the provisional agenda here. It will bring together 75+ speakers across two speaker channels and one workshop channel to help answer the questions.

In addition, there will be numerous networking and meeting opportunities to discuss industry developments and explore business opportunities in groups or one-on-one settings during the day or at evening networking events.

Sentiment and content analysis

A sentiment and content analysis of the agenda reveals that it is “optimistic” and “urgent,” with a tone that is “forward-looking but grounded.” The sentiment is “less fear, more intent” and across the board, the mood is “constructive.” There is no denying challenges, but the mood reflects an industry “moving from caution to deliberate action.”

Take, for example, the interest in AI and automation. The questions are: How do we implement? What works? What doesn’t? And how do we stay human in the process?

Or, while economic pressures on the industry are real, the agenda is filled with people taking action to effect change, people who are taking control of their destiny.

Format and structure:

The programme includes a variety of formats, including standalone keynotes, one-to-one interviews, a live podcast, robust panel discussions and in-depth workshops.

The structure and duration of different sessions allow for step changes throughout the two days of programming, with breaks built in to recharge proverbial brain batteries.

A lot is happening on the agenda, so to help attendees decide which sessions to attend, they’re also mapped to broadly four pillars:

Audience (including Product and Storytelling)
Money
Technology
Transformation

Emerging themes:

Here are some of the talking points on the agenda.

AI and automation: Not just tools, but implications. Understanding the geo-political implications of AI, editorial workflows, product pipelines, and internal skill sets is all up for discussion. AI is threaded through both days, across multiple markets.
Product as a leadership mindset: We will examine how leading organisations embed product thinking across their organisations and how product teams help shape from audience and editorial development to drive revenue strategy.
Revenue model construction: As an industry, we understand there is no single silver bullet. We will explore the latest in areas such as Subscriptions, Retail media, e-Commerce and AdTech, Events as well as Monetising Future Audiences.
Market innovation: Congress brings together participants from 40+ markets worldwide. The agenda leans into this with speakers sharing how their regions approach similar challenges.
Creators as a market: Creator media is one of the most robust in the current media landscape, with implications for established brands small to large. We ask if and how media brands can build bridges with independent voices, not compete by default.
What’s a magazine? We celebrate our legacy, but don’t dwell on the past. Yes, print isn’t dead—but “magazines” are evolving. We look at how they’re building ecosystems around print, newsletters, podcasts, and events.

See the provisional agenda here.

Who’s on stage?

More than 75 speakers from 20+ countries will be on stage at FIPP Congress, including from countries such as Spain, the UK, the USA, India, Kenya, Finland, Saudi Arabia, China, Poland, and Australia.

And that mix is more than geographic—it’s also cross-functional. They include not only strategic leaders, but also operators. They lead change in real time, they experiment, and they build. We’ll have, for example:

CEOs and Founders (e.g., TIME, The Economist, Semafor, Arab News, and more)
Growth and Product leaders (The Atlantic, Financial Times, Bauer, and more)
Storytelling Experts (The New York Times, Hello, Wired, and more)
Founders (Spainmedia, RocaNews, Storytime, Miso AI, Bridged Media, and more)
Independent Advisors, Consultants and Specialists (Juan Señor, Ricky Sutton and Chris Duncan, Kerin O’Connor, and more)

Speakers are not on the agenda for their names, but for the substance they will share.

We have speakers who will address the significant, strategic issues. We have speakers who will challenge operational thinking. We have others who will share their experiences of achieving success. And people leading deep-dive conversations, getting into the nuts and bolts of their specialist areas.

See the speaker list here.

A milestone year – FIPP at 100

2025 marks FIPP’s centenary, and we’ll celebrate that. However, the FIPP leadership was clear on the kind of programme they want: Not legacy conversations, but about what’s next.

We hope to see you in Madrid this October!

For more and to sign up: fippcongress.com

Cobus Heyl is Founder of That Coalition and Programme Lead of the FIPP World Media Congress.

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