Emerging Tech Network #14 - Home Coming or Home Truths, how will we feel about AI in 2026

https://vimeo.com/1162178520

An interview with Fergus Bell, CEO of Fathm, for the Emerging Tech Network

As 2026 unfolds, AI in newsrooms is shifting from shiny experiment to quietly essential infrastructure. In this wide-ranging conversation, Fergus maps how publishers are moving past prompts and pilots towards real integration, harder ROI questions, and uncomfortable business-model truths. Efficiency gains matter, but they’re no longer the endgame. The real opportunity lies in trust, original reporting, and experiences audiences can’t get from an LLM alone. Expect AI to become “delightfully boring”: embedded, bespoke, and judged less on hype and more on impact. The challenge now isn’t adoption—it’s deciding what kind of news organisations we want to be.