After an incredibly competitive selection process with over 100 applications, WAN-IFRA is proud to announce the 24 professionals joining the first cohort of the NextGen AI Leaders programme, supported by the Google News Initiative.
These rising managers represent 14 countries, from Finland to South Africa, and bring rich expertise from various roles in the news industry, including business development, data science, product management, and editorial leadership.
The diverse professional backgrounds of the cohort reflect the ethos of a new era of leadership, demonstrating the resilience of publishers during this period of significant technological transformation. These pioneers are already at the forefront of their organisations, proactively driving change.
“Joining the NextGen AI Leaders Programme is an exciting opportunity to connect with innovators… and to explore how artificial intelligence can empower better storytelling, decision-making and impact.” — Asmaa Hechenberger, Ippen Digital, Germany
When the journey officially commences on 14 April in Frankfurt, Germany, these leaders will immerse themselves in the complexities of the current AI landscape.
By exploring the unique strategic demands placed on modern media executives, they will begin crafting personalised leadership roadmaps. These roadmaps are designed to ensure their newsrooms remain grounded in editorial integrity while staying at the forefront of AI innovation.
“As an editor, I hope to gain a clearer framework for the ethical use of AI in my newsroom, particularly around issues of accuracy and transparency. This is important to me because credibility remains the foundation of our work. Beyond this, my goal is to translate what I learn into tangible impact, whether through piloting AI-driven editorial processes, mentoring colleagues or contributing to policy discussions on AI adoption in my organisation.” — Samson Folarin, PUNCH, Nigeria
The expertise in AI, leadership strategy, and organisational change of our coaches, Anita Zielina, Patrick Swanson, and Kaveh Waddel, will be instrumental for the cohort to become AI-fluent leaders who can unlock new business outcomes and lead their teams with confidence through the evolving AI race.
These are the NextGen AI Leaders:
- Amata Bosco, Digital Business Manager, Mwananchi Communications Limited, Tanzania
- Anja Wölker, Head of Audio, FUNKE Medien NRW, Germany
- Asmaa Hechenberger, Head of Data & Analytics, Ippen Digital, Germany
- Benjamin Knödler, Product Owner Digital, der Freitag Mediengesellschaft, Germany
- Chibuike Alagboso, Director of Media Programmes, Nigeria Health Watch, Nigeria
- David Balagna, Product Lead, Contexte, France
- Georg Eckelsberger, Editor in Chief, DOSSIER, Austria
- Jan Stanisławski, Head of Newsroom 24, Ringier Axel Springer, Poland
- Johanna Heckeley, Head of Digital Desk, Medienhaus Trierischer Volksfreund, Germany
- Kelly Anderson, Food Editor, News24, South Africa
- Laia Seró, Digital Managing Editor, Diari ARA, Spain
- Laura Rodríguez, CRO & Acquisition Manager, elDiario.es, Spain
- Lena Leibetseder, Head of Digital Publishing, Russmedia, Austria
- Manal El Guerrab, Commercial Executive – Product and Service Development, Maghreb Arabe Press, Morocco
- Marc Jänig, AI Transformation Manager, Rheinische Post Mediengruppe, Germany
- Márta Kovács, Senior News Editor, 24.hu, Hungary
- Milla Kukkonen, Executive Producer & Audience Manager, A-lehdet, Finland
- Natalia Maragkou, Art Director, Alter Ego Media Group, Greece
- Oumaima Hali, Manager Data and AI, Médias24, Morocco
- Samson Folarin, Editor, Weekend PUNCH, Nigeria
- Shirin Shity, Senior Marketing Manager, Project Syndicate, Czech Republic
- Simon Owens, Strategy Manager, The Irish Times Group, Ireland
- Sina Söhren, Deputy Head Team GenAI, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany
- Stanislas de Livonnière, Head of AI, Data & Innovation, Le Parisien, France