Reflections on SXSW 2025: seven trends that shaped the festival

The worlds of education, technology and culture came together in Austin, Texas, in March for the SXSW Festival. My first visit, it was a time of learning and reflection - with big ideas shaping how to work. Particularly important for people - like me! - with non-linear career paths that somehow strangely exist in the in-between spaces.

Stories as an engine for empathy

Much of SXSW EDU 2025 was focused on technology, AI and pushing the boundaries of what is possible digitally. So, it was really refreshing to hear a powerful session from Jasmin Rubero & Simran Jeet Singh in a keynote called What We Make Visible to Children: Art, Storytelling, & Picturebooks.

In this session they discussed the many choices that go into making a children's book, and explored how these choices help shape the way our kids understand and engage with the world around them.

It examined race and how the points of view of storytellers themselves are also integral to understanding the world around them. How do we decide what to make visible in our stories?

These powerful questions had a strong conclusion, making clear that great picture books and stories can encourage deep empathy and new ways of seeing the world.

Transforming conflict into progress in divided times

The education conference was closed with an important keynote from Shamil Idriss. His session examined the very essence of leadership and why polarisation is on the rise.

But his optimistic talk had great wisdom for people feeling 'stuck' in the exhausting world of culture wars. He explained conflict as 'friction' and made clear that it has the potential to be useful and generative.

His talk shared five concepts into how to replace despair with hope - challenging world views that you need to be strong in the face of opposition and how to transform conflict into collaboration.

The five signs of a healthy society being useful for artists, activists, communicators and campaigners as well as educators? The five signs shared as:

• trust
• institutional legitimacy
• safety
• agency
• resourcing

Turning Conflict into Progress in Our Divided Times is available online here.

Social media needs to become fun again - asap

There was much chatter at SXSW about being tired, so very-tired, of social media. It's not fun anymore is it?

That's why marketing keynotes leaned into forgetting about polished campaigns. It seems like today’s marketeers are ditching traditional digital campaigns in favour of culture-driven chaos on socials.

Ideas like Duolingo's death of its mascot - unexpected but a talking point beyond language nerds and gamers.

Beyond the chaos there was a lot of chatter about platforms. The BlueSky Keynote is worth a watch. The thrust of the conversation was around delivering 'control' for users.

This means people shouldn't be locked into platforms, this has been throttling innovation, competition and creativity on social media.

The BlueSky team are offering a different approach, an open network:

"Blue Sky, feels like the American Dream but in a digital era" ~ @WhySoShort (Youtube comment on Keynote)

Neo ancestries - wisdom 2.0

Away from screens just a little bit, there seemed to be a trend emerging around ancestral wisdom. People reconsidering how we access and share traditional ancestral knowledge and wisdom.

In a world glued to smartphones and tapping into AI, are we actually missing some of the most vital intelligence out there?

At SXSW neuroscientist Alysson Muotri shared research from his lab at the University of California in partnership Amazon shamans. This research has a specific aim to identify medicinal plants that could help with neuroactive ingredients to treat things like Alzheimer’s disease. If the project succeeds then it is planned that royalties will go back to the tribes and to the protection of the Amazon.

A session called Hindsight to Foresight: Indigenous Wisdom for the Future underlined why learning from the past is so critical to survive our collective future.

It shared research into how indigenous peoples are some of the world’s best keepers of intergenerational knowledge, yet often do not play a central role in guiding decision-making or scenario planning at a non-local level.

The team in Dubai are exploring the possibilities of integrating indigenous knowledge with the foresight process. But how to use this indigenous knowledge for good? What are the dangers of shifting this knowledge from communities to new keepers in a digital world?

Participatory publishing - cocreation as a force for good?

I enjoyed pitching my new #ParticipatoryPublishing business to people at SXSW. It was a chance to explore what cocreation can mean for heritage - and a way to bring creativity and storytelling together with heritage and education.

It's a new idea that is launching later in 2025, but it was amazing to share my new book - hot off the press! = with delegates. This book arrows in on a forgotten technological evolution from Northern England. The Humber Hovercraft.

My pitch explores how a series of research days, creative workshops, exhibitions and a participatory approach to storytelling and design can create something really unique.

An uphill task? A move from careers to 'tasks'

Finally, there was a rather scary alarm call from the Freelancer Economy session for anyone working as a sole trader or creative entrepreneur.

Leaders from Fiverr, Human Cloud and Yahoo, came together and claimed that more than fifty per cent of the workforce will be freelance within five years. (50%!)

So, why is this? Simply put, companies are going from from hiring roles to hiring skills. What does that mean for the traditional career model? Well, it'll soon be gone.

This means young people are going to be working in a more precarious way than ever before. Forced to be agile. This sense of flexibility and being open to opportunity is going to be so important for workers in 2025 and the next decade.

For business it's both an opportunity and a threat. The best talent won't be on your payroll at the end of the month. They might be doing a freelance job for your rival. How do you manage that demand?

The whole of SXSW was full of new connections and unexpected ideas. Alongside a new start for me, it was also the end of an era with it being the last SXSW to ever take place at the Austin Convention Center as it is now. The building is being transformed over the next three years, meaning lots of changes for festival bosses.

But the clear themes are there. How can we bring people and technology together to create something meaningful and lasting? Some of the most exciting ideas are still happening off-screens, how do we harness that without killing the creativity? And how can we make sure this work stays fun? Until next time!