The Future Laboratory

50 results

SXSW 2026: Smaller, Slower, More Human

At SXSW 2026, the festival shifted from tech hype and relentless growth to a focus on human-centred design, community-led culture and products and experiences that prioritise wellbeing, biology and meaningful human connection over scale.

View article

Marketing & Branding

Foresight Friday: Savannah Scott, creative director

Every Friday, we offer an end-of-week wrap-up of the topics, issues, ideas and virals we’re all talking about. This week, our creative director Savannah Scott reflects on her time in Austin at SXSW 2026.

View article

Marketing & Branding

SXSW 2026: How can brands move on the pulse of culture?

On day three of SXSW 2026, the conversation turned to one of the biggest buzzwords in modern marketing: community.

View article

Marketing & Branding

SXSW 2026: Why boring brands are borrowing from entertainment to break the…

On day two of SXSW 2026 speakers challenged a long-held assumption in marketing: that so-called ‘boring’ categories must produce dull advertising.

View article

Marketing & Branding

Creators, community and culture take centre stage at SXSW Austin 2026

A central question echoed across discussions on the first day of SXSW 2026: how can brands tap into culture in a way that feels genuinely relevant?

View article

Retail

OpenAI launches agentic AI shopping system

ChatGPT users in America can now shop directly within conversations through OpenAI’s new Instant Checkout feature, available to Pro, Plus and Free users buying from US-based Etsy sellers. The system enables frictionless, in-chat payments without leaving the conversation.

View article

Technology

SXSW 2025: Designing AI With Intent

At SXSW 2025, the focus was on AI designed with intention and empathy rather than defaulted into systems shaped by control and efficiency.

View article

Culture & Media

SXSW 2025: Reclaiming social connection with Mozi

Storyteller Baratunde Thurston led a conversation with Molly DeWolf Swenson and Ev Williams, co-founders of Mozi, exploring the evolution of social media and the need to bring more purpose back to how we connect.

View article

APAC