Carat USA's Haley Paas and Fraser McNeil share their top ten trends surfaced during the SXSW Interactive conference in March 2017.
This year's SXSW conference delivered a refocused approach to information, innovation, and brand experience, reflecting the exponential growth in new technologies as well as the current
political changes affecting all industries.
Now in its 31st year, the interactive portion of the conference focused on news publishing and experiential storytelling. Despite the industry that people worked in; the ripple effect of the US
election, the quest for truth, and the private sector advancing social issues were key talking points for most panelists.
The predominant theme was the evolution in artificial intelligence and its offshoot into chatbots,voice technology, and the future implications of living in a connected, AI assisted world.
As brands adopt a human-first approach, an emphasis on improving the user experience,especially on making technology less invasive emerged.