Expanded Future Tech to showcase the very best in innovation, technology and talent

New for IBC2026 is Future Tech Ignite, which will be delivered alongside Innovation Partner EIT Culture & Creativity and Platinum Sponsor AWS, with the City of Amsterdam as strategic partner. Future Tech Ignite will connect more than 50 start-ups, entrepreneurs and emerging technologies with the wider M&E ecosystem through its new Start-up Zone and Ignite Stage. The stage will host a four-day programme of future-focused content, talent and skills development sessions, as well as a new creative showcase. Key themes being addressed include AI, the creator economy, sustainability, cybersecurity, entrepreneurship, education, future skills, mentorship, allyship, start-up innovation and investment. 

Talent Programme 

On Friday 11 September, the Ignite Stage will welcome the third annual IBC Talent Programme. Consisting of dedicated sessions focused on empowering professionals and addressing key skills needs within the industry, it will bring together professionals, educators, employers, industry bodies and emerging talent to examine the opportunities and challenges facing the sector’s workforce. 

Highlights will include a keynote from media cartographer Evan Shapiro on the skills needed to adapt to a fast-evolving media landscape. Other sessions will explore the state of the talent landscape in media, and the relationship between the industry and education with Rise Academy, Inholland and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA). In addition, a what’s important right now (WIRN) session will look at the real issues that industry leaders should be facing up to, including sustainability, content and data security, talent diversity, and more. Barbara Lange, Co-Founder, MTSS; Elena Petrova, Head of Group Content and Media Solutions, A1 International Business; Rich Welsh, President, SMPTE; Sam Fray, Founder & Director, Building People in Sports Broadcasting; and Terri Davies, President, Trusted Partner Network, will be sharing their insights here. 

Start-up focus 

Saturday’s programme will have a focus on start-ups. Shapiro will return, this time with Marion Ranchet, Founder of Streaming Made Easy, to deliver a start-up clinic. Attendees will also hear from a selection of start-ups as they give five-minute pitches about their nascent businesses and the problems they are solving for media companies. 

In addition, another WIRN session will tackle the topic of cybersecurity with Bekhan Batalov, Director of Content Protection EMEA, Motion Picture Association; Matt Andrews, Director and Head of Global Content Security, Netflix; and Tony Anderson, Vice President of Studio Content Security, asking, “If a security incident happened tomorrow, would your organisation be ready?”. 

Sunday will feature sessions looking at the creator economy, AV broadcast, and the shifts taking place in content creation and ownership, as well as more start-up pitches. There will also be an afternoon of professional development sessions from industry advocacy groups including #GALSNGEAR, Women in Streaming Media, Rise, and Women in the Industries of Tomorrow. Deepali Narsiker, Head of Allyship, Women in Streaming Media, will consider how allyship can build the future workforce, while Deborah Cross, Operations Director, Rise – Women in Broadcast, and Sylvia Cohen, Owner, Sylvia Cohen Communication, will share practical techniques to help attendees communicate with confidence, build authentic relationships and approach networking with greater ease and purpose. 

Ignite Stage sessions on the final day of IBC2026 will be dedicated to students, with a Future Talent Showcase featuring On-Air, plus short-form content showcases from Inholland and HvA students who will have been capturing footage during the show. The final session, ‘WIRN Leaders of Tomorrow’, will see students sharing their views on the most pressing industry matters. 

Future Tech Stage 

Alongside Future Tech Ignite, the Future Tech Stage, sponsored by Microsoft, will host talks, panels and sessions exploring the technologies, talent and trends shaping the future of media and entertainment. It will also be home to the IBC Accelerators, with the nine projects from this year’s programme being presented across the four days of the show. 

Other highlights from the Future Tech Stage include ‘What’s your IP Worth? Monetising the Content Hierarchy’ with David Kimple, Senior Customer Success Manager, and Jeremy Howell, Vice President, Strategic Accounts, Rightsline; and ‘The Future of Creative Operations: Building Smarter Media Workflows’ with Rick Champagne, Director of Global Media & Entertainment Industry Strategy and Marketing, NVIDIA, and Tian Pei, Director of Strategic Partnerships, LTX. Both take place on the first day of the show. 

Later, ‘Beyond the Live Event: AI-Powered Fan Engagement for Sports’ will see Simon Crownshaw, Worldwide Media & Entertainment Strategy Director, Microsoft, exploring how AI is helping sports organisations, broadcasters, and technology partners extend the value of live sport before, during, and after the event. Crownshaw returns later on Saturday to discuss AI-powered media intelligence alongside Arash Pendari, CEO & Founder, Vionlabs, and Mark Littman, CEO, Presaige. 

AI remains on the agenda the following day when Rory McVicar, Director of Partnerships, Hydrolix; Sean King, Chief Revenue Officer and General Manager of Veritone Commercial, Veritone; and Marcus Edel, Machine Learning Lead, Collabora, will discuss how organisations are moving from AI pilots to real-world applications, exploring how customising, adapting and integrating open-source AI models, alongside advances in real-time observability, is helping transform media operations. 

Also that day, Michelle Munson, CEO & Co-Founder, Eluvio, will discuss the first commercially available means to replace legacy satellite distribution, fibre point-to-point connections, and ground-to-cloud multi-point egress solutions for live broadcast feed distribution, and Steve Bray, Vice President of Media, Baron Weather, will explore the future of broadcast weather. 

The final day of IBC2026 will begin with a session exploring how organisations are breaking down language and accessibility barriers, adapting content for different markets, and using AI to streamline the processes required to deliver more personalised experiences at global scale. Bartell Cope, VP of GTM, Lingopal; Rick Hohmann, Global Media & Entertainment Industry Lead, HP; and Sanjit Sama, Head of GTM, Sync Labs, will share their insight. 

Other topics up for discussion include a look at the do's and don'ts of building an MCP, and a discussion about the need for continuous quality assurance for operators with Suitest. 

View the full Future Tech content programme here. 

Register for IBC2026 now.