Design, etc
With over 170 years at the forefront of news, the AP reaches half the world’s population daily. My team at frog helped assess the technological, social and cultural trends radically changing how news and media are created, distributed and consumed through an immersive scenario-planning process called “futurecasting.” With a futures horizon of five years, we were able to escape the gravitational pull of annual budgets and individuals' next promotions, while resisting the urge to imagine jetpacks and flying cars. Within this frame, we identified a series of immediate actions the organization should take today in order to remain relevant in the face of inevitable change and uncertainty tomorrow.
In an effort to support the stellar journalists that the AP is known for, the team examined the rise and impact of AI-augmented writing, citizen journalism and crowdsourced information gathering, and the impacts of self-driving cars on media consumption. The insights, the future scenarios they informed, and the roadmap rooted in them have since guided long-term investments and strategic planning initiatives across the AP leading to the prioritization of new technology capabilities, as well as investments in startups building tools to meet new demands and address emerging needs.
“Our work with frog not only helped us imagine the future; it also ignited the cultural change we needed to embrace innovation as a fundamental driver of our strategy. Together, we built a framework for innovation that became the foundation for transformation.” Jim Kennedy, Senior Vice President for Strategy and Enterprise Development, The Associated Press
This work was conducted in 2015 while at frog, with Graham Tuttle and Jenna Carpenter.
