Artificial intelligence was unanimously identified by our respondents as the technology with the greatest potential impact on archive monetisation. This consensus underscores AI's central role in reshaping how media organisations manage, distribute and monetise their content.

Stephen Thomas describes the fundamental shift: "AI is fundamentally reshaping how users discover and interact with content. Traditional media focuses on curation and browsing, but AI enables users to ask broad questions and receive coherent responses. When we transform our articles from simple collections of words into structured knowledge components – factoids and relationships – AI models can work with them more effectively."

McKinley Muir Hyden shares concrete applications: "We're already seeing practical applications through products like AskFT, which we've launched for our FT Professional customers after transforming our previously limited search capabilities. This tool allows users to ask questions in natural language and receive answers drawn exclusively from FT content."

For news media, AI enables new approaches to content creation and distribution. Meropi Kylika explains, "AI presents opportunities for resource optimisation, particularly in coverage of non-exclusive events. Consider financial news – there are regular scheduled announcements from institutions like the Bank of England that every outlet covers. These events aren't rare or exclusive, so there could be a scenario where AI manages the baseline coverage, while our journalists focus on sense-making and delivering deeper analysis."