Jack Wagner, CEO of Hawk Digital, in conversation with Mathew Paquet, Founder of myMarketing and Ryv AI · 5 min read
Everyone in media is talking about AI. Every conference agenda, every investor deck, every product roadmap. But for streaming operators, publishers, broadcasters and advertisers, the question isn’t whether AI matters. It’s where it actually creates value.
That was the focus of this Hawk Talk conversation, in which the tables were turned and our founder was the one being interviewed. Together, Jack and Mathew explored how AI is changing streaming businesses beyond the headlines.
The Industry Is Still Early
Despite the excitement, most media companies are still early in adoption.
“Hawk has been working with AI technologies for more than eight years. Long before ChatGPT and Claude became household names, we were helping linear and digital media companies understand automation, machine learning, recommendation engines and data-driven decision making.” — Jack Wagner
What has changed isn’t necessarily the technology. It’s the attention. Every company now claims an AI strategy, yet many streaming executives are still working out where AI fits and how to move from experimentation to measurable business outcomes.
“We’re probably in the top of the first inning,” Jack says. “The technology is moving incredibly fast, but most organizations are still figuring out where the practical applications actually live.”
The Biggest Opportunity Isn’t Content Creation
Much of the public conversation focuses on generating content. For streaming operators, the bigger opportunities often sit elsewhere. Across FAST channels, OTT platforms, broadcasters and ad-supported services, AI is increasingly used to solve operational problems that directly affect revenue:
- Ad operations automation
- Campaign trafficking workflows
- Metadata generation and enrichment
- Audience segmentation
- Inventory forecasting and matching agents
- Revenue optimization
- Reporting and reconciliation
- Customer service and subscriber engagement
“The reality is that AI isn’t replacing strategy,” Jack notes. “It’s helping teams eliminate repetitive work so they can focus on higher-value decisions.” For many streaming businesses, the greatest ROI comes from efficiency rather than replacing entire functions.
Streaming’s Hidden Challenge: Operational Complexity
Ad operations is one area where AI is gaining real traction. As streaming advertising matures, the infrastructure behind monetization has become more complex. Every impression touches ad servers, SSPs, DSPs, SSAI platforms, measurement providers, billing systems and reporting environments.
When something breaks, the effects ripple across the organization: reporting discrepancies, unreliable revenue forecasts, campaign performance that’s harder to validate, and countless hours spent reconciling data across systems.
“AI has tremendous potential to help operators identify anomalies, automate workflows and reduce manual processes,” Jack says. “But it still requires people who understand how the ecosystem works.”
AI Is a Tool, Not a Strategy
Organizations often start by asking, “How do we use AI?” That’s the wrong starting point. The better question is, “What business problem are we trying to solve?” Whether the goal is growing ad revenue, improving engagement, reducing churn, launching campaigns faster or streamlining operations, the business challenge comes first. Only then should AI enter the conversation.
“AI is a tool. A powerful one. But it’s not a strategy by itself.” — Jack Wagner
Human in the Loop: Your Expertise Still Matters
Successful AI adoption isn’t about replacing people. It’s about augmenting them. AI can summarize meetings, analyze large datasets and surface patterns faster than ever, but media companies still need leaders who understand audience behavior, monetization models, content strategy, partnerships and operational realities.
“The organizations winning with AI aren’t removing humans from the process,” Jack explains. “They’re creating environments where people and technology work together.”
In Jack’s Words
On organizational readiness: “Just because the technology is available to make things better doesn’t mean it makes sense for every business. This is where a lot of people are very confused right now in the market.”
On user adoption: “User adoption takes a lot longer than anticipated. Most of us working with AI are in the top ten percent of knowledge on these topics.” For much of the workforce, the conversation is still unfamiliar.
Looking Ahead
AI’s impact on streaming will reach far beyond content generation. The next wave of innovation is likely to come from smarter operations, better monetization, more efficient workflows and deeper audience intelligence. The opportunity isn’t simply adopting AI. It’s adopting it thoughtfully.
Technology changes. Business fundamentals don’t. Companies that use AI to improve revenue, efficiency and customer experience will build lasting advantages. Companies chasing hype will simply create more noise.
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This article first appeared in Hawk Talk: “Voices of Innovation,” our LinkedIn newsletter. Read the original on LinkedIn and subscribe for new issues.
