Inside the minds shaping media’s next chapter – FIPP Congress speakers best quotes!
Since the start of the year, we’ve been speaking with some of the most influential voices in media, publishing, and beyond. All of whom will take the stage at the FIPP World Media Congress, taking place from 21-23 October 2025 in Madrid, Spain. Each conversation has offered a glimpse into the challenges, opportunities, and bold ideas shaping the future of our industry. From product innovation and audience connection to leadership, AI, and the evolving role of journalism, their insights highlight both the urgency of transformation and the creativity driving it.
Here, we’ve gathered a selection of their most powerful quotes. This is a preview of the themes, debates, and inspiration you can expect when Congress begins.
Jessica Sibley on the future of TIME
“We are focused on product innovation with the goal of continuing to make our journalism more accessible,”
Srinivasan Balasubramanian on staying relevant
“Every time there is the potential for disruption, we ask ourselves: one, are we still relevant? Two, is there a way thatwe can prove our relevance? And number three, can we learn and live by it?”
Maureen Hoch on HBR
“In my view, publishers will still go further and faster if we experiment together and share what we learn rather than work in isolation.”
Ines Lorenzo on the poetry of data
“At Vogue Spain, we embraced a start-up mentality, where taking risks was part of the process. I learned a lot by listening to our audience, too. I always like to say wecreated a perfect mix of data and poetry.”
Billy Carney on the philosophy of RocaNews
“We interact with the internet differently. If companies want to reach young audiences, I think they should hire the next generation to reach the next generation.”
Lucy Kueng on leadership
Three imperatives for leaders to respond to the creator economy shift: “The first thing is to understand the difference, understand the nature of the shift… The second thing is generative AI… and the third one is simplify, simplify, simplify!”
David Buttle on the future of AI in publishing
“But for lower-stakes queries, AI often provides better answers. Publishers need to understand these distinctions and how they affect their content Strategies.”
“The challenge is balancing short-term imperatives with long-term planning in a landscape evolving at unprecedented speed.”
Andres Rodriguez on Magazines & Madrid
“For magazine editors, the celebration of FIPP’s centenary in Madrid is proof of the importance of our point of view. It also highlights the significance of Spanish as a universal language and the special creativity of professionals in Spain.”
Natasha Christie-Miller on events
When asked what makes an event truly valuable for attendees, she distils it into three clear motivations: “One, lead generation: I’m there to fill my pipeline. Two, to learn or be inspired: I want new ideas. Three, to build partnerships.”
“You’re also protecting your position by meeting needs that flat content can’t – things like community, connection, fun, and shared experiences.”
Chris Duncan on resilience and reinvention
“Urgency brings experimentation and the best people to solve that problem. If the great publishing organisations really focus their best people on how to compete in a world where all this is happening, we’ll see a lot of innovation in the next few years.”
Andrea Davis on strategic shift
“Am I held hostage to a legacy business model – or am I ready to innovate with purpose to deliver real customer value and long-term value creation for my business? That question forces clarity. It separates those who will adapt and lead from those who will be left behind.”
Gregory Cornelius on luxury publishing
“We aspire to create commercial content which is of equivalent quality to our editorial – it’s a good way to leverage our masthead equity without compromising on integrity,”
Martin Weese on digital transformation
“For me, digital success means sustaining reach models for as long as possible, to fund the shift toward paid products and other consumer-centric value Propositions,”
Daniel Borras on the importance of community
“The goal is to make ‘being in GQ’ not only cool and relevant, but also a marker of belonging to the right cultural space.”
Zaida Calvete on audience connection
“We provide partners with deep, real-time analytics on reader behaviour – what’s being read, for how long, in which regions, and on what devices,” she says. “This isn’t just about numbers; it’s about enabling strategy.”
Paul Hood on Ai
“The future of media belongs to those who can harness technology without losing sight of their core values,” he says. “AI is a powerful tool, but it’s our human judgement, creativity and commitment to the truth that will define our success. Embrace change, but lead with purpose and integrity.”
Maija Koski on the future of A-lehdet
“One thing that often gets overlooked is how much magazine journalism itself has evolved,” she says.
“At least in Finland, it has continuously improved in depth, quality, and purpose. That’s a strength we should lean into as we navigate the future.”
Sarah Thompson on journalism as a natural resource
“We all want businesses to grow. That means we need good places to advertise – with less fraud, more actual human beings, and great content that never goes away.”
Alastair Lewis on industry trends
“But I do believe that what we are going through at the moment will help to highlight the value, the greater value of human created quality content that understands specific audiences.”
