Editor-in-Chief, Malaysiakini

Andrew Ong is editor-in-chief at Malaysiakini. With a background as a reporter and editor, he currently drives newsroom workflow optimisation, audience development, and AI adoption.

Co-Director, The Data Tank

Anna Colom is a political and social scientist working on democratic processes, data and AI, media and information integrity, and climate change. A former journalist and documentary filmmaker, she co-leads the Brussels-based non-profit The Data Tank. She led participation research at the Ada Lovelace Institute, was Director of Innovations and Learning at Africa's Voices Foundation, and spent eight years at BBC Media Action. Anna holds a PhD from The Open University.

Chief AI Officer, The Guardian

Caspar Llewellyn Smith is responsible for exploring AI deployment across GNM. He was previously Chief Product Officer for five years, leading development of the Guardian's website, apps, and newsroom tools. Before that, he was a journalist, joining GNM in 2003 to launch a music magazine for the Observer, then becoming the Guardian's first Head of Culture, editor of theguardian.com, and Director of Digital Strategy. He joined the Executive Committee in 2015.

Head of Subscriptions, Observador

Daniela Patrícia Gomes Correia is shaping the new media economy where independent journalism beats noise. Always exploring new ways to build, test, and scale ideas that move society forward.

DW Lab Lead, Deutsche Welle

Daniela Späth is Deutsche Welle’s Lab Lead in Berlin, collaborating with interdisciplinary teams to develop journalism tech products using Design Thinking. A DW-trained reporter, video journalist, and social media editor who freelanced for SPIEGEL Online and Gruner + Jahr, she specialises in platform experimentation and emerging technologies. Currently, she is participating in the JournalismAI Skills Lab, a programme supported by the Google News Initiative.

Director, Civio

David Cabo is the co-founder and director of Civio, an independent nonprofit in Spain that uses data journalism, technology, and advocacy to promote transparency and accountability in public institutions. Since 2012, Civio has leveraged freedom of information requests and large-scale analysis of public data to uncover critical insights in areas like healthcare access, lobbying, and government spending. A computer science engineer by training, David turned his technical expertise toward civic technology and open data.

Independent Media Advisor, Independent

Dmitry Shishkin helps media become indispensable – to their audiences and to the AI systems increasingly standing between them.

Special Editor, Amazônia Real

Eduardo Nunomura is the Special Projects Editor at Amazônia Real, an independent investigative journalism agency focused on the Amazon rainforest and its traditional populations. He is also a journalism professor at Faculdade Cásper Líbero in São Paulo and holds a PhD in Communication Sciences from the University of São Paulo (USP). His work focuses on digital journalism, newsroom innovation, and the intersection of artificial intelligence, games, and native narrative models for news outlets.

VP, AI Labs, NPR

Erica Osher is NPR's Vice President of AI Labs, overseeing AI strategy and innovation to support NPR's public service mission. Previously VP at National Public Media, she co-founded NPR's AI Labs initiative, co-wrote AI guidelines, and led NPM Creative for 14 years. She executive produced award-winning podcasts including The Upload and holds MIT business analytics certification and accessibility credentials.

Strategy & Innovation Director, NPO

Ezra Eeman, Strategy and Innovation Director at NPO, the Dutch Public Broadcaster, and leads the WAN-IFRA AI in Media initiative. He serves as lead advisor to the 2024 JournalismAI Innovation Challenge, writes the weekly Wayfinder newsletter about media innovation, and authors the annual Wayfinder Trends Report. Previously, he was Change Director at Mediahuis and Head of Digital at the European Broadcasting Union.

Journalist, Senior Manager and Legal Affairs Team Lead, SBS

Hyejin Jung has been a journalist at SBS since 2006, primarily covering legal affairs, and leading the Social Affairs Desk. Since 2020, she has worked on five consecutive SBS election broadcasts, covering parliamentary, presidential, and local elections. She introduced Korea's first AI-powered election probability model in 2020, developed it further for 2022, led generative AI-based election data content in 2024, and oversaw the world's first real-time AI election data analysis for the 2026 local elections.

Senior Research Manager, Center for News, Technology & Innovation

Before joining CNTI, Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein led media research at Knology, building participatory collaborations with U.S. newsrooms to support audience understanding of topics from inflation to the carceral system. Jay has received National Science Foundation funding for their work with PBS News, and their research has been published in leading journals and featured in trade outlets such as Nieman Lab, Current, and Digiday.

Senior Journalist, BBC

Julie Yoonnyung Lee is a London-based Senior Journalist at BBC News, focusing on original reporting, investigations, and features on the Korean Peninsula. Before joining the BBC, she worked at a Korean public broadcaster, covering education, social affairs and public policy. She received the BBC's 2024 Rising Star Award in recognition of her editorial impact and potential. She has a growing interest in how AI is reshaping newsroom practices and the future of journalism.

Head of AI and Editorial Tools, Polaris Media

Lars Adrian Giske is Head of AI and Editorial Tools at Polaris Media, leading AI development across Norwegian and Swedish newsrooms. He was previously Head of AI at iTromsø, where he built DJINN, now used across Norway, and Polaris Databank, a data platform. A former investigative journalist, he has won Norway's Data-SKUP award and Digital Journalist of the Year 2025. As a Shorenstein fellow, he explores probabilistic journalism's implications for trust.

Head of professional training, NCTJ

Laura Michael has 25 years in the media industry and has worked in a number of senior editorial roles at Archant and Newsquest. She has recently returned to the NCTJ in a newly-created role of head of professional training.

Editor, Public Policy

Leopoldo Papi is a journalist, founder and editor-in-chief of Public Policy, an independent news agency specialising in daily, real-time coverage of Italian and European institutions and policymaking.

University Teacher, University of Sheffield

Lindsay Pantry teaches journalism at the University of Sheffield, which she joined in 2020 after 13 years in the regional press as a reporter, news editor, and award-winning social affairs correspondent. She teaches across MA and BA programmes, covering investigative journalism and news writing, gathering, and production. She specialises in new and emerging technologies in storytelling and teaching, and has published research on Virtual Reality in journalism education and newsroom preparedness.

Head of Visuals, Neue Zürcher Zeitung

Markus Ikehata is Head of Visuals at NZZ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung), one of the preeminent news sources in the German-speaking world, where he leads the teams for data journalism, editorial tech, graphics, and OSINT. From 2009 to 2018, he worked as a graphics editor at ZDF, Germany's public broadcaster, developing explainer videos for its national news programs. He joined NZZ in 2018, first heading Video & TV before moving to Visuals in 2024.

Editor-in-Chief, Medical Dialogues

Megha Singhania is the founder and editor-in-chief of Medical Dialogues, India’s dedicated health news platform. An LSE postgraduate in health economics, she launched Medical Dialogues to strengthen medical journalism nationwide. Today, it serves over 700,000 registered healthcare practitioners and two million monthly readers. Under her leadership, it has joined the WHO Vaccine Safety Net, become an IFCN signatory, and received the IFCN Build Grant 2024 to combat medical misinformation.

Co-Director, Centre for Media Transition, University of Technology Sydney

Monica Attard has been a journalist for more than 40 years, mostly at the ABC as a foreign correspondent, reporter, and program host. She has won five Walkley Awards and an Order of Australia, and wrote the bestselling Russia: Which Way Paradise?, about Soviet communism's collapse. She was Head of Journalism at UTS Sydney and co-directs the UTS Centre for Media Transition, examining journalism's business models and information integrity.

Head of Editorial Innovation, The Sun, News UK

Nadine Forshaw is an expert in editorial innovation and newsroom AI strategy, currently serving as Head of Editorial Innovation at The Sun. With over a decade of experience driving audience growth and digital transformation in newsrooms, Nadine specialises in operationalising AI products to enhance journalistic workflows without compromising editorial integrity.

Independent Consultant

Nick Wrenn is a news and media leader with extensive leadership experience in the U.K. and the U.S. As an independent consultant, he is passionate about the power of partnerships, using technology creatively and responsibly, and championing original content grounded in integrity, transparency, and trust. Nick began his career as a regional newspaper reporter before working for the U.K. Press Association, BBC News, Reuters, CNN, Facebook/Meta, and CNBC.

Data Science Lead, Rappler

Patrisha Estrada is Data Science Lead at Rappler, where she leads AI and analytics initiatives that support editorial decision-making, socio-political research, and newsroom innovation. Her work spans natural language processing, social network analysis, forecasting models, and video analytics. She builds AI-powered research platforms, real-time crisis monitoring systems, and analytics dashboards that help teams make sense of public conversations and emerging issues, applying data and AI to strengthen public-interest journalism.

Senior Product Manager, Tempo Inti Media

Putri Cinto Buliah Muaz Eza is Senior Product Manager leading Research and Development at Tempo Inti Media, focusing on AI-powered products, new B2B ventures, digital transformation, and strategic initiatives.

Founder & CEO, Factly Media & Research

Rakesh Dubbudu is the founder of Factly Media & Research, a prominent civic-tech, fact-checking, and public data initiative in India. With a career spanning over two decades, Rakesh has championed government transparency, information access, and combating mis/disinformation through innovative technology solutions. His work lies at the intersection of public data access, information consumption, and technology, with a specific focus on AI-driven products that address the pressing challenges of the information age.

Development Communications Manager, Religion News Service

Rocio Hernandez helps newsrooms build stronger relationships with the people they serve. She leads individual giving and donor communications at Religion News Service, an independent U.S. newsroom covering faith and public life. Her idea for Impact Intelligence, an AI-assisted system to document journalism's impact, was selected for the 2025 JournalismAI Innovation Challenge as one of 12 projects worldwide and the only U.S. entrant. She previously worked at Fort Worth Report and KSAT-TV.

Data Editor, Mediehuset iTromsø Datajournalism Lab

Rune Ytreberg is Data Editor at iTromsø’s AI Data Journalism Lab in northern Norway, developing AI workflows like LARS, a layered editorial agent system. An industrial PhD candidate at OsloMet researching journalist-led AI innovation, he previously reported for NRK Brennpunkt and Dagens Næringsliv. He has won Norway’s SKUP Award and two Data-SKUP awards, and was named Digital Innovator of the Year by the Norwegian Online News Association in 2024.

Executive Director, Ambiental Media

Thiago Medaglia is founder and executive director of Ambiental Media. A journalist with 20+ years covering science and the environment, he was editor of National Geographic Brasil and holds a master's in the History of Science from Harvard. He leads award-winning projects that combine data, science, and storytelling to enrich public debate on climate and the environment. His work has appeared in Folha de São Paulo, UOL, and ESPN magazine.

Chief Digital Officer, Denník N

Tomáš Bella is the co-founder and Chief Digital Officer of Denník N, an independent news publisher with outlets in Slovak, Czech, Hungarian and English. He also serves as CEO of EUobserver, the Brussels-based news outlet owned by Denník N. Previously, he was editor-in-chief of Slovakia’s most popular news website and CEO of the software company Piano.

Product Manager, The Reporter

Waiting Tseng is a Product Manager at The Reporter, an independent nonprofit newsroom in Taiwan, where she focuses on digital product strategy and data-informed audience research. Through the JournalismAI Innovation Challenge, she leads an AI-assisted research project focused on understanding one-time donors by analysing audience data. Her work brings together product strategy, data analysis, and journalism to help news organisations turn audience insights into better product decisions.