SXSW made its mark in London this year for the first time, bringing together the brightest minds in technology, creativity, arts and innovation. From AI revolution to women's leadership, from F1's cultural transformation to the future of open source. From the many excellent talks I attended, here's what defined SXSW London 2025 for me.
The Future of Marketing 2030
Speakers: Cristina Diezhandino (CMO, Diageo) and Leandro Barreto (CMO Beauty and Wellbeing, Unilever) It was a privilege to listen to two inspirational CMOs. One of the most striking revelations was that AI has transformed content creation from 3 pieces per month to 3,000+. But it's not just about speed, it's about fundamentally changing how brands connect with communities.
"We've moved from marketing TO consumers, back to marketing WITH communities", shared Barreto. The key insight? "Brands don't belong to companies, they belong to the communities who love them." Marketers have evolved from owners to stewards, guiding rather than controlling. The session revealed how Johnny Walker's Edinburgh experience uses AI to create personalised whisky recommendations (already planning my visit!), while the community manager has become the backbone of modern marketing organisations.
Digital Minions: The Dawn of the Economy of Algorithms
Speaker: Marek Kowalkiewicz (Chair in Digital Economy, Queensland University of Technology) This fascinating session shifted perspectives on AI intelligence entirely. The reality check: AI systems are now more creative than the average human on psychological creativity tests, with GPT-4 being the first to cross this threshold. The most revealing example came from chess: an AI trained only on games from 1000-level players can play at 1500-1600 level. Why? It learned from thousands of games, identified patterns of mistakes, and avoided them. "The smartest person in the room is the room."
But Kowalkiewicz also highlighted the "Phantom AI" problem, we're creating toxic relationships by falsely accusing people of AI use when detection tools are flagging the 1900s Australian Constitution as "100% AI generated."
The AI Voice Revolution
Speaker: Mati Staniszewski (Co-Founder, ElevenLabs)
The ElevenLabs co-founder revealed where AI voice technology is heading with mind-blowing applications. One healthcare company automated 80% of appointment calls with AI voices, achieving 66% cost improvement. And patients actually preferred the AI experience.
Epic Games integrated AI voices so millions of Fortnite players can have real conversations with game narrators, while Time Magazine's Person of the Year articles can now be read, listened to, AND conversed with.
The authentication challenge is real: as personal AI agents become common for calling restaurants and booking appointments, we'll need to verify it's really YOUR AI voice representing you. ElevenLabs has built public tools to detect AI-generated voices and embedded watermarks in their audio.
20 Years of Open Source
Speaker: Matt Mullenweg (Founder & CEO, WordPress & Automattic)
The WordPress founder made a compelling case for open source as essential digital infrastructure. With WordPress powering 73% of websites (from NASA to Rolling Stones), Mullenweg argued that as AI becomes embedded everywhere - possibly even in our brains - we need transparent, modifiable systems.
His vision includes unified messaging that brings all platforms (Signal, Telegram, etc.) into one secure interface with AI-powered search and filtering, but keeping everything local and private. "As technology becomes more powerful, open source becomes more essential for digital sovereignty."
AI Won't Replace Creativity - It Will Amplify It
Speaker: Mark Read (CEO, WPP)
WPP's CEO shared fascinating insights on AI's impact on advertising and creativity. The speed revolution is real: what used to take 6 weeks (from concept to finished campaign) now happens in 4 minutes. A complete TV ad - script, visuals, music - created entirely with AI in just 6 weeks.
Read believes fewer people will do what we do today, but many more will do things we can't even imagine yet. Like social media creating millions of creator jobs that didn't exist before. People will have more time for strategy as they are not needed for execution. "This is reminiscent of the early internet in 1995, but with much faster adoption. ChatGPT reached a billion users in 2 years vs Google's 7 years."
Read's advice for young professionals: "Don't avoid AI , embrace it. The future belongs to those who learn to amplify their human capabilities with AI tools."
Idris Elba in Conversation: Creativity as Capital for Change
Speakers: Idris Elba (Actor & Co-founder, The Akuna Group), Clara Bamfo (British radio broadcaster), DJ Vyrusky, and Kwadwo Owusu-Agyeman
There were high profile speakers throughout the event’s agenda, but I was determined to get a seat at the packed-out Idris Elba talk (and not just because I am a huge “The Wire” fan!). This session was perhaps the most inspiring, combining creativity with social change. Elba's powerful message: "Every young person should have audacity that courage to be as crazy as you want to be. Don't let anyone talk you out of it."
His Scripts app, born from dyslexia struggles, turns scripts into immersive audio experiences with multiple voices. What started as personal necessity became industry-changing software helping actors, writers, and anyone who learns differently.
Through his Akuna venture, Elba is building infrastructure for African creators — addressing the reality that Africa has fewer than 3,000 cinema screens across the entire continent. His mission: "Build the African Disney" while amplifying diverse voices.
F1 Hitting the Accelerator
Speaker: James Vowles (Team Principal, Williams Racing)
The Williams F1 Team Principal shared how the sport transformed from "sleepy Sunday viewing" to red carpet events and celebrity fans, largely thanks to Netflix's Drive to Survive series.
Vowles' leadership philosophy: "Everything is about people and culture. Get those two right, and infrastructure and technology follow naturally." With only 1% of F1 fans ever attending a race, Williams creates genuine connections through fan zones and educational programs reaching 12,000+ students annually.
The team is also pioneering sustainability with synthetic fuels launching next year, showing how "F1 technology leads the way to sustainable motorsport."
The Global Appetite
Speaker: James McMaster (CEO, Huel)
Huel's CEO revealed the power of community-driven D2C brands. The difference from traditional retail is "mind-blowing" — with D2C, you see every customer journey rather than just shipping to a retailer and losing visibility.
Starting by listing every ingredient when they didn't have to, Huel built a brand people are proud to be part of. When they expanded to the US in year 2 (before other European markets) because customers demanded it on social media, they "doubled every month for the first few months."
McMaster's key lesson: "You need to stay a disruptor. The moment you hire for 'experience' and become 'grown up,' you become every other average company."
Building Trust in the Age of Information Overload
Speaker: Jimmy Wales (Founder, Wikipedia)
I felt very lucky to sit and listen to Jimmy Wales. A true icon! Wikipedia's founder delivered perhaps the conference's most sobering message: "We're in a period where the concept of truth is under attack. It's a real struggle for people to believe facts still matter."
Wales tests every new AI by asking about his wife Kate, consistently getting "beautiful, completely false things" that sound plausible. AI claimed she started a women's empowerment nonprofit with someone she barely knows (pretty plausible) and married Peter Mandelson (less plausible!).
Wales warned of not believing AI results wholeheartedly and said that he still needs to hear from a human to verify news stories: "When I saw tweets about the Ukraine dam explosion, I didn't trust them until BBC confirmed. I still want verified sources with processes and real humans checking."
Building systems that preserve truth requires transparent processes, diverse communities, and structured collaboration — not algorithmic feeds optimised for engagement.
The Unbreakable Rise of Women Leaders
Speakers: Rebecca Crook (CEO, MMT & 26DX - part of MSQ), Sally Keane (Director of Sales, Spotify), Collette Philip (Founder, Brand by Me), Nishma Patel Robb (Founder, Glittersphere), and Rose Bentley (Chief Client Officer, Propeller)
This panel was particularly meaningful as it featured Rebecca Crook, CEO of the companies I work for: MMT & 26DX, alongside other inspiring women leaders. The session delivered powerful insights about visibility and authenticity in leadership.
The key message: "If you don't tell your story, someone else will tell it for you." But the panel went deeper, recognising that barriers aren't personal failings but systemic issues. "The system is designed to make us compete with each other through artificial scarcity. But there isn't just 'one seat' , we need to create more seats."
The panel's insights on AI were particularly striking: "We ARE the algorithm. When women avoid AI, we reinforce existing patterns. Combine AI acceleration with authentic intelligence - your unique perspective and story - that's where real power lies."
The Bottom Line
SXSW London 2025 revealed a future where AI amplifies human potential rather than replacing it, where community and culture drive successful brands, and where transparency becomes essential for trust. The conference's overarching message was clear: the future belongs to those who embrace technological change while staying grounded in human connections and authentic relationships.
The next chapter of innovation won't be written by algorithms alone, it will be authored by humans using technology to amplify their creativity, connections, and positive impact on the world.
The future isn't AI OR humans. It's AI AND humans, working together.
