AI is reshaping how audiences discover, eat, and have interaction with content material subject matter, forcing publishers to rethink the whole thing from editorial method to WordPress publishing workflows.
No doubt about it.
Alternatively consistent with Charlotte Cijffers, Chief Digital Officer at Dubai-based ITP Media Crew, getting able for an AI-first longer term isn’t about chasing every new technology development. It’s about strengthening the fundamentals of important publishing while giving publishers the apparatus they need to adapt.
All over DE{CODE} 2026, Charlotte joined Iain McPherson, Crucial Media Enablement Manager at WP Engine, to discuss how ITP Media is positioning itself for long-term growth in an AI-driven landscape—and why investing in trusted journalism, direct target market relationships, and a modern digital publishing platform has transform central to that methodology.
As one of the vital necessary Middle East’s biggest media companies, ITP Media publishes iconic producers along side Arabian Business, Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, and Sophisticated Middle East.
Like publishers everywhere, the company is navigating a impulsively changing digital landscape while modernizing the technology that is helping its publishers via WP Engine Newsroom—an investment that has already stepped ahead editorial efficiency while contributing to a 40% building in Core Web Vitals across the Arabian Business platform.
Watch ITP Media at DE{CODE} 2026 on call for
AI Changes the Rules—Alternatively Not the Fundamentals
For the former two years, AI has dominated conversations across the publishing industry.
From AI-assisted content material subject matter production to AI-powered search tales, many publishers are questioning how audiences will continue to search out and have interaction with their content material subject matter.
Charlotte believes the industry is also taking a look at the downside during the flawed lens.
Publishing as an industry has been via many fundamental changes long previous than AI entered the conversation.
She pointed to Google algorithm updates, declining social referral website online guests, the rise of influencers, shifting privacy expectations, and the deprecation of third-party cookies as examples of previous industry disruptions that required publishers to rethink target market acquisition, source of revenue models, and content material subject matter strategies.
AI represents every other vital shift—then again not an unheard of one.
After all, consumers are nevertheless sexy with our makers; they’re simply arriving via different routes.
Relatively than reacting to every new development, Charlotte believes publishers should continue that specialize in what has always driven long-term good fortune: producing top of the range journalism, earning target market believe, and adapting thoughtfully as technology evolves.
Direct Target market Relationships in Trendy Digital Publishing
While numerous the conversation spherical AI has captivated with declining search website online guests and AI Overviews, Charlotte believes the additional necessary strategic question is how publishers reinforce relationships with audiences they non-public.
The direct dating along side your target market remains necessarily essentially the most valuable issue any creator has.
As target market journeys transform increasingly more fragmented during search engines, social platforms, newsletters, apps, and AI-powered discovery tales, publishers have fewer guarantees concerning the position readers will come from the following day.
That makes owned channels increasingly more valuable.
The stronger your direct target market dating, the additional insulated you’re from longer term disruptions.
For ITP Media, that philosophy extends previous target market methodology.
It has moreover shaped the company’s investment in editorial workflows and publishing infrastructure, enabling teams to spend a lot much less time on operational overhead and additional time strengthening direct target market relationships.
Many publishers are already diversifying via subscriptions, events, consultancy services and products and merchandise, ecommerce, and most sensible magnificence content material subject matter. As website online guests property continue evolving, the ones direct target market relationships transform one of the vital necessary maximum tough property of long-term resilience.
Why Unique Journalism Nevertheless Wins in AI Digital Publishing
One of the vital necessary surprising topic issues from the session used to be as soon as Charlotte’s agree with that AI may in reality increase the price of original reporting.
While many assume generative AI will scale back name for for journalists, Charlotte sees the opposite happening.
Journalistic skill and top of the range have certainly not mattered further.
As AI-generated content material subject matter becomes increasingly more not unusual, simply repackaging wisdom that already exists online becomes a lot much less valuable. Unique reporting, proprietary research, distinctive interviews, and first-party knowledge transform the content material subject matter that differentiates publishers.
At ITP Media, that has intended striking higher emphasis on authority, research, and quantitative knowledge during its portfolio of publications, while investing in editorial workflows that give journalists additional time to offer original reporting as a substitute of managing publishing processes.
Being first isn’t enough. You need as a way to upload verified price to a story.
For publishers competing in crowded markets, this shift presents a chance. Organizations that repeatedly spend money on trusted journalism and unique enjoy are a lot more more likely to face out—for every human readers and AI-powered discovery platforms.
Construction Consider with Transparent AI Publishing Workflows
If AI changes how content material subject matter is created, it moreover changes how audiences assessment believe.
Charlotte believes publishers who’re transparent about how AI fits into their editorial process will ultimately reinforce target market relationships.
I think there may well be further consequences for publishers that fail to keep in touch overtly about how, why, and after they use AI than for those that do.
Relatively than hiding AI-assisted workflows, media companies should clearly explain where technology is helping publishing potency while maintaining editorial oversight.
Transparency, she argues, will transform every other competitive get advantages as audiences transform increasingly more aware of how digital content material subject matter is produced.
Publishers which may well be open concerning the position AI creates efficiencies will be the publishers that audiences believe.
From Method to Execution
Throughout the conversation, one theme become increasingly more clear: succeeding in an AI-first publishing landscape isn’t simply about adopting new technologies.
It’s about giving publishers the infrastructure, workflows, and governance they need to execute a stronger publishing methodology repeatedly.
For ITP Media, that intended pairing its editorial vision with WP Engine Newsroom—a digital publishing platform built specifically for modern publishers to streamline editorial workflows, toughen collaboration, and give a boost to top of the range journalism at scale.
How Editorial Workflow Instrument Helped ITP Modernize Publishing
For contemporary publishers, developing nice journalism is simplest a part of the equation.
As editorial groups submit throughout internet sites, newsletters, social platforms, and rising AI-powered discovery stories, the generation supporting the ones groups has develop into simply as vital because the content material itself.
As a part of the relaunch of Arabian Industry and its broader virtual transformation technique, ITP seemed to simplify editorial operations with out compromising governance, collaboration, or publishing high quality.
To fortify that technique, ITP standardized on WP Engine Newsroom to simplify editorial operations throughout its publishing groups. Quite than asking editors to evolve to new processes, the platform helped streamline current workflows whilst bettering collaboration, governance, and publishing consistency.
The funding delivered measurable enhancements for each readers and publishers.
Around the Arabian Industry multisite platform, ITP recorded a 40% development in Core Internet Vitals, making a more potent technical basis for seek visibility, person revel in, and target audience engagement as content material discovery continues to adapt.
For Charlotte, alternatively, essentially the most significant enhancements got here from the editorial groups themselves.
Editors constantly highlighted Newsroom’s e-newsletter checklists, live-editing functions, and collaborative workflows as a few of the greatest daily enhancements.
Quite than introducing totally new editorial processes, the platform diminished friction inside of current ones—making it more straightforward for groups to submit constantly whilst spending much less time on handbook assessments and interior coordination.
The e-newsletter tick list embedded throughout the CMS is tremendous tough for us.
Charlotte additionally emphasised that Newsroom delivered greater than operational potency.
This isn’t merely a generation device or an potency device. It’s a device that allows higher collaboration, higher training, and higher editorial building around the group.
The operational affect briefly turned into visual throughout newsroom groups.
ITP noticed fewer retraining requests, fewer CMS-related fortify questions, and less user-generated problems following implementation.
Consistent with its Head of Target audience, the streamlined workflows have returned just about 30% of the time in the past spent supporting customers and coaching editorial groups.
That reclaimed time is now being redirected towards target audience expansion, editorial technique, and content material building relatively than operational fortify.
For Charlotte, that’s the place publishing generation creates the best worth.
What Publishers Can Be told from ITP Media’s AI Technique
The most powerful lesson from ITP Media’s revel in is that getting ready for an AI-first long run doesn’t require forsaking the foundations that experience at all times made nice publishers a hit.
High quality journalism, relied on target audience relationships, and publishing potency stay the basis.
The adaptation is that nowadays’s publishers additionally want generation that helps the ones targets by way of decreasing complexity, strengthening editorial collaboration, and enabling groups to evolve extra briefly because the trade evolves.
By means of pairing a transparent editorial technique with fashionable publishing generation, ITP has stepped forward the potency of its editorial groups, reinforced technical efficiency, and created extra capability for reporters to concentrate on authentic reporting.
The ones results beef up Charlotte’s broader message: publishers don’t wish to abandon the basics—they want generation like WP Engine Newsroom that is helping them execute them extra successfully.
The submit AI Publishing Technique: What Publishers Can Be told from ITP Media at DE{CODE} 2026 gave the impression first on WP Engine®.
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