SXSW 2025: AI in the real world, TikTok in limbo and streaming platforms everywhere

After nearly four decades, SXSW is not just surviving — it continues to set the agenda. This year’s festival reaffirmed its status as a place where the biggest ideas in tech, media and marketing come to life.

Emily Twomey, EVP and CMO of Razorfish, captured the sentiment best: “SXSW is back with such relevance.” The reason? This year’s theme — human belonging and AI’s role in building new communities — struck a chord with attendees.

“I love that because that’s playing to the highest good of AI,” Twomey said. “This conference can get us past that efficiency conversation — like using ChatGPT to write emails — and get to that human connection.”

As usual, some of the most compelling discussions took place outside the official SXSW program at activations like The Female Quotient Lounge, Brand Innovators and the Axios House. Some major themes included — AI’s transition from hype to real-world applications; the uncertain future of social media platforms like TikTok; and the cultural dominance of streaming giants like Netflix, Paramount+ and Amazon Prime.

Here’s what marketers need to know right now at SXSW 2025:

AI — from curiosity to use case

Brands from HP to Yeti appeared on panels discussing AI, and one thing is very clear: The industry is finding its footing with the technology.

Dustin Callif, president at production agency Tool, has been working in AI and advertising since 2016, collaborating with brands like Under Armour. While some brands remain cautious, he predicts that by next year, AI will become a standard part of workflow, allowing smaller teams to do more.

“People are starting to see the budgetary value,” he says. “We are starting to see it transition from curiosity to use case.”

Jake Neske, founder and partner of consultancy Hustle, describes its evolution: “When we started selling it, many saw it as a toy,” he tells The Current. “Marketing, in general, now recognizes how powerful it is. You’re going to see a hybridization of how you create AI systems that scale creativity and experiment into new marketing verticals.”

How Pizza Hut uses AI

One case in point is Yum! Brands’ Pizza Hut. As one of the first companies to make ordering online accessible in the early days of the internet, it’s not surprising that the company would also be leaning into the latest tech.

At the Brand Innovators’ stage, hosted at the popular BBQ restaurant Lamberts in downtown Austin, Ashley Travis, senior director of media, loyalty and digital merchandising at Pizza Hut, participated in a panel discussion about the company’s AI-driven marketing strategy. She highlighted how Pizza Hut is using AI at all stages of marketing — from managing interactions with customers to personalizing messaging.

Travis says the first time the brand tested AI was for an email campaign, where the tech was used to create a variety of subject lines for 10 different offers aimed at reengaging customers who hadn’t made a purchase in three months.

The AI ran over 1 million unique options, sending them at various times of day. Before long , Travis says Pizza Hut was able to determine the right message at the right time, which led to an 11% increase in transactions and a 7% increase in revenue.

Encouraged by these results, Pizza Hut has rolled out the tech to its app, website. Next week, the brand will launch a chatbot for March Madness to engage with customers in real-time.

The brand aims eventually to personalize 75% of its communications, compared with 5% today. To achieve it, the company is focused on organizing its first party data and incorporating third-party data to enhance personalization. “The hardest part of getting AI to work for you is your data infrastructure. It has to be super clean, or it’s going to optimize the wrong stuff,” she says. “Garbage in, garbage out.”

The move to break down the walls of TikTok

As TikTok faces a potential sale or ban, multiple parties are coming forward with bids to acquire the social platform. While several panels addressed the harmful effects of social media platforms — especially on teens and kids — one panel proposed a solution.

On a main stage, entrepreneur and Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary announced his support for Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty bid for TikTok. McCourt, the founder and chairman of Project Liberty, leads the nonprofit’s mission to build a more equitable, user-centric internet. If successful in buying TikTok, the aim would be to revamp its data practices and potentially shift away from a walled garden model.

“Right now, we are accustomed to top-down, black box algorithms. In the future, we’ll all have our own algorithm that we’ll curate to operate like we want it to. We’ll be able to have the ability to curate our experience on the internet — to be entertained, to buy things, newsfeeds, etc.,” McCourt said. “It’s just a fundamentally better experience when you’re in charge, as opposed to being the product.”

Streaming activations

Once again, streaming platforms — from Netflix to Paramount+ — delivered some of the largest activations on the streets of Austin.

Netflix hosted a Love Is Blind pop-up, inviting passersby to grab drinks in golden goblets and meet the cast of the latest season, which just wrapped this week.

Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Video leaned into the conference’s timing with International Women’s Day, showcasing its women-led content including My Fault: London, Picture This, Holland, Another Simple Favor, The Summer I Turned Pretty and more.

The most interactive activation was Paramount+, which transformed its Lodge into an immersive experience, featuring shows like Star Trek: Discovery, Yellowstone, Survivor, Halo and CBS Sports. Attendees enjoyed themed drinks and photo-op moments. The standout attraction was the Star Trek booth, where visitors could see their aura (a color that surrounds their face in the photo), and learn its meaning.