South By Southwest, known locally simply as South-By, has solidified its place as a highlight of my year. While CES dazzles with technological marvels, SXSW ignites the mind with innovation in thought and human experience. This year's event left me supercharged with excitement for the endless possibilities lying ahead.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) took center stage at this year's SXSW, capturing widespread attention and dominating conversations. With some 1500 AI-related panels, speakers, and events, it was hard to miss. Among the standout speakers was Jeremiah Owyang, who guided an audience of marketers and communicators through a compelling exploration of the AI landscape. Did you know that more than 1000 AI companies emerge each month? Or that ChatGPT amassed one million users within just three days of its launch? Furthermore, AI tools are swiftly supplanting traditional search engines for online research, with Gartner forecasting a 25% decline in search engine usage by 2026.

So, what's the key takeaway from this AI immersion? It's still a bit open-ended for me. AI is undeniably a powerful tool, whose impact like any tool hinges on its application. I’m optimistic. AI has the potential to enhance creativity for artists, streamline operations for businesses, improve efficiency for researchers and marketers, revolutionize healthcare by enabling doctors to treat more patients effectively, and facilitate the analysis, understanding, and management of ever-growing big data, to list a few examples. I remain concerned however, as there will inevitably be actors who use AI for dubious applications.

Stay tuned for another post where I delve further into my reflections on Jeremiah Owyang's insights.

Misinformation and disinformation. Here’s a startling fact: Facebook has become the #1 source of news in the world (Pew Research Center). Another one: one quarter of the newspapers that existed ten years ago have folded. Actually, those facts aren’t startling at all, we’ve been watching this trend for some time now. But what might be surprising is the concept I learned of at SXSW, the Liar’s Dividend. The theory suggests that efforts to debunk and fact-check falsehoods can actually legitimize the deception. Audiences begin to believe that there might well be something true about the claim. Furthermore, research suggests that professing to be the victim of misinformation – “I’ve been targeted” – makes the “victim” more credible. That’s the “dividend” paid to both the perpetrator and victim of the lie. So, what does that mean for us?

Defense innovation is booming business. More than $100B in private capital has been invested in defense innovation since 2021. The military branches and government agencies like NASA have homed in on the innovation ecosystem in Austin and at SXSW where they showed up in force. DoD hosted dozens of panels laying the groundwork to attract public-private ideas, innovation and talent to solve growing defense challenges. A sign of the growing investment in Austin was the official opening of the expanded Joint Defense Innovation Office. FTR, defense innovation has been good for Texas as well, DoD has funneled more than $500 million into Texas start-ups with dual-use technology since 2016 when the first defense innovation office was established in Austin. One venture capitalist spoke at SXSW about the current “super cycle” of private investment in defense-related innovation, while another said defense investment is providing “economics like we’ve never seen.”

Air Taxis continue to gain momentum. As in previous years, air taxis were the subject of multiple sessions, but I noticed a shift in the conversation. While air taxi’s aren’t yet a mainstream conversation, there aren’t as many people questioning their viability. The conversation has shifted from “if” to “when” and from “why” to “how.” Discussions at SXSW this year centered on infrastructure and the ecosystem that is required for successful entry into service, as well as the importance of community engagement.

Space is soaring, largely because the cost of launch has dropped dramatically in recent years. Reusable launch vehicles like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which is expected to complete more than 150 launches this year, have brought launch costs down from $10,000/kg to just $3000/kg, and the new SpaceX Starship with its 150-ton payload promises to bring that cost down to as little as $200/kg over time. Defense and space officials talked about space as the new “national security high ground” and emphasized the need for continued investment and innovation in space, not only to maintain our technological lead in space, but to protect the benefits space provides us every day, from GPS, which BTW drives practically everything digital in our daily lives, to weather forecasting and remote sensing for agriculture.

My favorite activation this year came from the Freedom Forum, which hosted a thought-provoking experience that really made me pause to consider how the freedoms we take for granted in this great nation – particularly the First Amendment – are under assault every day, not only by external forces but often through our own daily decisions. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of individuals and organizations out there that want to curtail your freedom of speech, religion, assembly, petition and press, but this presentation by the Freedom Forum really had me thinking about our individual actions. Would I willingly give up a freedom? What would cause me to do so? Under what conditions would I want to curtail someone else’s freedoms?

How about you? What would cause you to give up one of your freedoms? Your personal safety? The safety of your neighborhood? Your child’s health? Money? Like I said, truly thought-provoking.  

Bob’s new favorite company. Last year I wrote about Delta Airlines and the ground-breaking work it was doing in sustainability. My new favorite corporate team this year is Embraer, the Brazilian aerospace company. Embraer hosted a series of sessions that addressed the subject of innovation across the spectrum from engineering and building aircraft to sustainability, company culture, business models, partnerships, and more, culminating in a great discussion about Eve, the company’s air taxi spinoff. I spent the better part of a full day with the Embraer team and fell in love with the company’s business and people-first culture.      

See ya at South-By next year.