SXSW 2025: Our Recap

March in Austin never disappoints. If you’re lucky to make your way to SXSW, you’ll surely come out of it inspired after hearing —and perhaps randomly meeting— some of the best thinkers and doers from the technology and business world.

Here’s some of what caught my attention during the 2025 version of the festival.

Innovative technology was everywhere—especially at the Expo.

LLMs, GenAI, agents and digital products and experiences were, obviously, present in the majority of the talks this year. And they were also the stars of the show in the (unfairly overlooked) Expo on the ground floor of the Austin Convention Center. 

I know I’m a bit late to the game, but I was blown away by Brane Audio, the Austin-based sound technology company that has been getting buzz for their Brane X portable speaker. When we’re all currently obsessed with GenAI and its possibilities, sometimes a small portable speaker capable of delivering incredible volume and clarity, while hitting those deep notes, can remind you that not all innovation happens inside of a screen.

Which brings us to the ultimate experiential possibility: space transportation. That’s where the Innovative Space Carrier company from Japan wants to disrupt, by making daily delivery of people and cargo in space a reality. They displayed Narravity, a nano-satellite test module that will be released into space to test products and materials in the microgravity environment of space. Pretty awesome stuff.

Ethical AI remains a hot topic.

Multiple keynotes and panels at SXSW touched on the topic of ensuring inclusion, good behaviour and overall ethics when using AI. The conversation will certainly continue, as we attempt to develop public and private guidelines for the responsible use of emerging technology.

Quantum computing is almost here.

The talk of IBM’s CEO, Arvind Krishna, titled “From Sci-Fi to Society: The Next Era of AI and Quantum Computing,” was pretty amazing to listen to. According to him, we can expect our most complex problems to be solved by Quantum Computing. As the major players continue to invest in development programs with the promise of unleashing the full power of this technology, we could see its impact extending way beyond computing, creating a more equal society.

Futurists take the center stage.

Enthusiasm around the benefits of technology was everywhere. But what about people who actually study and predict the future from an academic and business perspective? I got to attend two fascinating panels with futurists, explaining their roles (and careers) in today and tomorrow’s societies. The advice and guidance they’re providing to organizations, governments and communities on how to navigate uncertain times was both insightful and inspiring.

Disney’s world-building.

Digital Experiential seems to have taken a back seat in the recent shouty world of data and AI, but make no mistake: since the end of the pandemic, consumers continue to crave real-life experiences, and digital technology is enabling the most immersive experiences. The Disney creative team shared a variety of their on-going real-life projects, which ranged from their super cool AI-driven droids that played around on stage and showed traits of personality, to tech applications that are bringing movies to real life in theme parks, and even some star power —Jon Favreau, Kevin Feige and Robert Downing Jr.— detailing how technology and creativity were being brought closer together to create worlds that blend the lines between movies, digital experiences and the real world.

Amy Webb '25 Emerging Tech Report.

You know that when Amy Webb shares, we all listen—and she brought fire this year to the 2025 version of her Emerging Trends Report, called “Entering the Beyond.” She dug deep into places in which technology is now showing humans the way forward, from biotech to living intelligence and robotics—a session packed with the good, bad and scary of what’s in store for us as a species. Be sure to check out her talk. I promise you won’t be disappointed.