How 'Vogue' Publisher Condé Nast Is Wrestling with AI
An exclusive look inside a staff meeting where CEO Roger Lynch addressed the artificial intelephant in the room.
Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch talked about the opportunities and risks AI presents to the company in his annual meeting with employees of the European division that took place Wednesday.
Lynch, dressed somewhat casually for the video conference in jeans, a white button-down, and slate gray linen blazer, discussed company performance broadly, then fielded questions from employees. He described business as strong in the U.K., where ad prints are up 5 percent year-over-year. He gave shout-outs to House & Garden and Tatler for doing particularly well. He notably did not get into how the recent announcement that British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful, who oversees European editions of Vogue, leaving his position by 2024 would affect European operations. But he did admit that streamlining international editorial teams, which resulted in the departure of star editors like Emmanuelle Alt who used to oversee Vogue Paris, had come with challenges.
Earlier in Back Row: Sorting Through the Edward Enninful Rumors
According to notes from the meeting provided to Back Row, Lynch acknowledged that with forces like AI bearing down on publishing, the next 18 months won’t look “anything like” the last four years. AI stands to have a negative impact on both the existing business and once bright-seeming new revenue streams.
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