IAMT™ CEO Update: Building the Future of MediaTech Together

Saleha Williams, CEO, IAMT

Welcome to IAMT!
As I reflect on my first year as CEO, I am struck by the incredible velocity and resilience of our industry. One year ago, we stood at a crossroads; today, we are at the launchpad: it is with immense excitement that I am proud to announce IABM has become IAMT – International Association for MediaTech.

The change, voted for unanimously by the IABM Members’ Board, is far more than a new logo or a fresh coat of paint; it is a fundamental, strategic shift that reflects the reality of the market we now inhabit. The media value chain has been permanently disrupted, moving from hardware-centric silos to a fluid, software-defined, and cloud-integrated ecosystem. Our move to IAMT is simple – it’s a  lever for our collective growth.

Expanding beyond our traditional broadcast roots to connect the full MediaTech ecosystem—from technology providers to end users, while ‘Broadcast’ continues to remain our foundation, ‘MediaTech’ represents our future. This new identity allows us to better serve our members as they diversify into streaming, enterprise media, and emerging sectors, providing the tools and platforms for influence needed to navigate a rapidly changing global landscape.

 Member Industry Amplification: Proven Reach

Our repositioning is backed by the strongest audience engagement metrics in our association’s history. In 2025, our digital engagement channels proved to be the independent and trusted voices in MediaTech, delivering industry amplification and high impact reach for our members.

The stats speak for themselves: our LinkedIn engagement rate of 8.8% is nearly triple the industry average. We saw 356,000 website sessions and over 220,000 active users in the last year, positioning IABM/IAMT as the trusted destination for our members’ thought leadership, product and service news, and citations in our business intelligence reports.

Why is this important?

Because IAMT is not just growing its audience—it is activating it. Over the past year we have consistently delivered high-value visibility, meaningful engagement and trusted influence for our members.

Whether you are an enterprise global leader or a small startup, IAMT’s reach is a powerful tool that translates directly into greater reach, stronger credibility and more commercially valuable connections.

Elevating Thought Leadership: The IAMT Visual Podcast

To further amplify our members’ voices, we are launching the IAMT Visual Podcast Series at NAB Show 2026. Hosted by industry titan Matt Stagg, this series moves beyond audio to provide a high-end visual platform for thought leadership.

Recorded live in our new studio in the IAMT Hub, these sessions will feature industry level thought leadership interviews and vendor-buyer panels. This is a significant value-add for our members, providing them with broadcast-grade video assets to showcase their expertise and products to a global audience.

The IAMT Visual Podcast series  aren’t just interviews; they are compelling records of how our members are solving the industry’s biggest challenges and will be published across iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, IHeartRadio and YouTube as well as on the brand new theiamt.org website (redirected from theiabm.org).Special thanks to Sennheiser for providing state of the art microphones and Sony for guiding us through to the perfect choice of cameras for the IAMT Visual Podcast studio.

IAMT MAI™: The Dawn of Agentic AI in MediaTech

Alongside the launch of our new IAMT website – theiamt.org – I am beyond thrilled to unveil MAI™ (MediaTech Agentic AI)—our new agentic AI model, powered and developed for IAMT by Alpha Cogs.

MAI is a game-changer for IAMT member industry amplification.

MAI is trained on our entire IABM / IAMT knowledge vault, member thought leadership, Tech Office, business insights and reports, as well as the new IAMT MarketPlace.

The integration of MAI into the new IAMT website transforms our digital platform from a static repository into an active, 24/7 global advocate for our members. By leveraging the latest in Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), MAI ensures that member expertise is not just hosted but actively cited as the authoritative solution to the industry’s most pressing questions.

Turning IAMT Members into the “Answer”

MAI (MediaTech AI) on the new theIAMT.org uses AEO to generate direct, synthesized responses to user queries; for example:

• Direct Citations: When a buyer or end-user asks a complex technical question, MAI generates an answer based on IAMT member-contributed articles, white papers, and thought leadership, videos and interviews.
• Authoritative Sourcing: Every MAI Agentic AI-generated response includes clear, direct citations of the IAMT members who provided the underlying data, getting their content cited as the definitive answer within a trusted, neutral digital platform.
• Contextual Expertise: MAI already draws from our deep well of member input across IAMT articles, reports, thought leadership interviews, and IABM /IAMT TV videos and the new IAMT MarketPlace. As members update their IAMT MarketPlace page, the new and refreshed content will be picked up by MAI.

A Buyer-Focused, Mobile-Optimized Experience

The new IAMT website is engineered to meet the behavioral needs of modern MediaTech buyers:

Buyer-Focused Content: theIAMT.org prioritizes  IAMT member content that solves operational pain points, ensuring that member innovations are seen by those with high purchase intent.

Regular Content Updates:  Through the new IAMT MarketPlace ‘Amazon style’ member profile page, members can upload and refresh their content to align with their own marketing campaigns.

MAI then takes this data and proactively assists buyers and the press. If a journalist or a buyer asks about a specific technology, MAI doesn’t just provide a list; it advocates for our members’ solutions based on their latest uploaded case studies and specs. It turns our static database into an active, 24/7 lead-generation and brand-amplification engine.

Mobile Optimization: theiamt.org is fully mobile-optimized, allowing for seamless AEO interactions anywhere in the world.

By powering the IAMT website with MAI, IAMT is providing its members with an unprecedented “lever for growth.” It moves the industry away from “search and find” to an era of “ask and solve,” where IAMT members are positioned as the cited, authoritative experts shaping the future of the MediaTech ecosystem.

 

 Building Credibility through High-Quality Content

The new IAMT website combined with MAI, ensures that member brands are amplified through a lens of high quality and authority:

• Independent and Trusted Voice: By appearing within the IAMT ecosystem, member content inherits the “independent and trusted” status of IABM/IAMT which already delivers high-impact reach to 220,000+ active users.
• Deep Integration with Research: MAI synthesizes member expertise with IAMT’s Business Intelligence Unit (BIU) data, creating a powerful synergy that validates a member’s claims with industry-standard benchmarks.
• Measurable Impact: This  agentic AI-driven approach is designed to further accelerate the IAMT’s already impressive engagement, and the massive web traffic uplifts seen during major show campaigns.

 

The IAMT Global Alliance: A Three-Pillar Vision

And that’s not all. At NAB Show 2026, we are formally launching the IAMT Global Alliance, a reimagined ecosystem designed to bridge the gap between innovation and application. The IAMT Global Alliance is built on three essential pillars:

1. Media Partners: We are bringing end-users and MediaTech buyers directly into the heart of our community. By fostering a direct dialogue between those who build technology and those who deploy it, we ensure that innovation is driven by real-world operational needs.
2. Educational Partners: We are deepening our engagement with universities to support and train the next generation of talent. By mentoring students today, we ensure a pipeline of “industry-ready” professionals who can master the AI and cloud-driven workflows of tomorrow.
3. Industry Collaboration Groups (ICGs): IAMT are acting as the “connective tissue” for groups like SMPTE, IEEE, Rise, and Greening of Streaming. No single company can solve challenges like interoperability or sustainability alone; the IAMT Global Alliance provides the unified platform to tackle these global issues.

A prime example of this global expansion is our new Platinum Partnership with Media City Qatar.

This partnership creates a foundation for new opportunities by connecting regional growth with our global expertise, enabling our members to access emerging markets and play an active role in shaping the next phase of the MediaTech industry.

IAMT Journal™

This is the first edition of the  Journal under the IAMT banner and I am delighted to report that it is not only the biggest edition we have ever issued compared with all previous IABM versions – testament to the growing importance members place on being represented – but also the highest quality selection of articles I’ve seen. I think you will enjoy the new, fresh layout too.

Creativity and Orchestration is the leading feature in this edition, the large number of submissions clearly showing that this is a key area of concentration for our members. Our regular Enterprise AV section continues to grow with every issue, which perfectly aligns with our new, broader IAMT mission; the same is true for the AI section – and we have a number of thought-provoking opinion articles too.

I would encourage all IAMT members to engage with the Journal; it’s free to submit as part of your membership benefits and, with MAI drawing on all its content, there is no more powerful way to elevate your thinking and technology to our worldwide audience.

Contact membership@theiamt.org to submit your article.

Final Words

One year into this journey, I am more convinced than ever that the ‘International Association for MediaTech’ is the home our industry needs. We are here to help our members make smarter business decisions, uncover new opportunities, and drive measurable impact.

For those of you who attended NAB Show this year (and I appreciate many of you did not) it was a pleasure to meet you at the IAMT Member Hub, where many members took the opportunity to interact with MAI, see the new IAMT podcast studio, join us for the IAMT Awards at NAB Show, and meet the team.

For members who did not attend NAB this year, we will continue – as always – to keep you updated. Check out the new website – theiamt.org – for news and updates, try out IAMT MAI and upload your content to the new  IAMT MarketPlace – live from Sunday 19^th April.

And while Christmas may seem like an age away, I am also pleased to announce we are now able to bring back the IABM / IAMT annual conference, 1^st and 2^nd of December in London. See https://theiamt.org/richmond for more information and to register your interest – more details to come.

Thank you for your continued support and for being the driving force behind this incredible industry.

Saleha Williams CEO, IAMT