How AI is Transforming the Digital Entertainment Value Chain

As part of ABI Research’s strategic technologies team, Senior  Analyst Reece Hayden leads the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) research service. His primary focus is uncovering the technical, commercial, and economic opportunities in AI software and AI markets. Reece explores AI software across the complete value chain, with a cross-vertical and global viewpoint, to provide strategic guidance for, among others, enterprises, hardware and software vendors, hyper scalers, system integrators, and communication service providers. Reece previously worked in the distributed & edge compute team, where he supported clients across various areas, including enterprise connectivity (including network-as-a-service), edge AI platforms, and the semiconductor market.

Sam is the CEO and cofounder of Axle AI, a market leader in AI-driven search and repurposing of video content. The company is pioneering an open platform for AI engines to annotate and manipulate media files. Prior to starting Axle AI, Sam was Director of Product Management at Avid for its MAM and production asset management software. He has degrees from Harvard and Columbia, and lives in the Boston area.

Dr. Rong Yan is currently the VP of Engineering in Hubspot Inc., a world leading CRM cloud-based software company. He is responsible for their Data products including data platform, automation, data integration and reporting. Before Hubspot, he was the CTO for Verishop Inc., a Senior Director for Snapchat, a Director for Square, and a Eng Manager for Facebook. He received his M.Sc. (2004) and Ph.D. (2006) degree from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science, with research interests in Machine Learning and Language Technologies.

Tao is VP of Advanced R&D, Media IP at Adeia. He is responsible for initiating and leading R&D projects, supporting the Adeia CTO defining the future technology roadmap and research strategy. Prior to joining Adeia, Tao was Senior Director, Applied Research at Dolby. He managed R&D teams to develop core technologies for various applications including Dolby Vision, which won a Best of CES Award in 2020. Earlier, he was with Panasonic Hollywood Lab and led the development of specs and encoding systems for Blu-ray and 3D production.

Tao was an honoree by the Primetime Engineering Emmy for his contributions to Dolby’s Philo T. Farnworth Award in 2021, and a recipient of Emmy Engineering Award in 2008. He won Silver Awards at the Panasonic Technology Symposium in 2004 and 2009. Tao received the award of Most Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis from the Computer Science Association, Australia, in 2001.

Tristan Webster leads TVision’s Product as well as Data & Analytics teams. Tristan's teams are responsible for connecting TVision's next generation data and measurement technologies with the continuously evolving needs of the TV advertising ecosystem. Prior to joining TVision, Tristan spent 10 years as a management consultant at A.T. Kearney.  Tristan has an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he graduated as a Baker Scholar, and he studied Business at the University of Melbourne.  He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two sons, where after work you’ll find him throwing another shrimp on the barbie, in true Aussie fashion.