The Agentic AI Era: Rethinking Technology, Costs, and Creativity - with AWS and Merapar

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In this episode of Playback, host Bleuenn Le Goffic, VP Business Transformation at Accedo is joined by Michael Schmidt, Global Director, Industry Partnerships at AWS and Simon McGrath, Chief Marketing Officer at Merapar to explore how AI’s role in media and entertainment is rapidly evolving from experimental projects to fully operationalized, business-critical systems.

Together, they unpack the rise of agentic AI and composable architectures, and how these are reshaping the way companies invest in technology, measure success, and scale innovation. From ITV and Warner Bros. Discovery’s hundreds of AI use cases to the growing influence of FinOps and real-time cost awareness, this conversation reveals a clear shift: AI is no longer just an IT initiative—it’s a strategic business driver.

The trio also discusses how AI-powered insights, dynamic workflows, and hyper-personalized experiences are helping companies retain customers and unlock new monetization opportunities, while still grounding innovation in solid engineering and thoughtful design.

Tune in for a forward-looking discussion on where AI is truly headed in the media and entertainment landscape—and what it means for the next generation of streaming, storytelling, and software investment.

Timeline:

03:39 AI’s development in Media & Entertainment industry - have we moved past experimentation to operational use cases?

12:01 What would be the impact of AI on investment strategy and software procurement?

18:08 How AI distills data into decision points and reduces time to resolve operational events.

25:27 A shift in AI strategy to focus on growth, subscriber acquisition, churn reduction, and monetization strategies.

33:38 The future of OTT and consumer experience with AI

Listen to the episode on your favourite platform: https://linktr.ee/accedo_playback