Date
Dec 5, 2025
Tags
Advertising and Subscriptions, Strategy, Media Revenue, AI
Navigating the AI Shift in Media: Interview with Grzegorz Piechota, INMA
Insights from Grzegorz Piechota, Researcher-In-Residence at INMA
Key takeaways:
Traffic is expected to decline
“People are overwhelmed with information”, says Grzegorz Piechota. With how much content there is in the world today, people are turning to AI tools for quicker answers. To prepare for the disruption, Grzegorz suggests reevaluating dependency on one-time visitors from search and social traffic and doubling down on building a business based on direct traffic. Creating trustworthy content will also be key.
Key trends shaping media
AI adoption isn’t just internal: consumers will use AI for discovery; competitors will use it to scale. In times of rapid change, human oversight will matter even more. Although automation is inevitable – quality journalism will still be done by a human.
“Maybe this is a differentiator for journalists: we are accountable for what we publish. And this matters if people are using this information for some important decisions.”
CROs worldwide are forced to rethink their revenue mix to survive, as AI search and performance advertising reduce organic traffic. Learn how they plan to succeed in the new era of digital media – drawing from interviews with CROs, publishers and executives at leading publishing companies.
The value of human skills over AI
“What is scarce in the world changed by AI is a super important question. What really makes people choose your brand instead of others? What makes your journalism stand out from the journalism that is crafted by AI or is produced by creators on social media, and so on?”
Human skills will become more valuable: judgement, interpretation, creativity, and building personal connections.
In this two minute video, leaders from Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Oberpfalz-Medien, and Unidad Editorial share firsthand how AI is creating measurable impact: from anticipating reader interests and tailoring content to different demographics, and to predicting churn.
The takeaway
AI will reshape discovery and competition. But the core differentiators remain human.
Publishers who invest in trust, originality, and connection will stand out in an AI-driven world.
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