The NextGen AI Leaders Programme is designed to empower young media leaders, intrapreneurs, and first-time managers interested in building more equitable media ecosystems through responsible AI deployment and strategic leadership.
Tailored specifically for individuals working in small, mid-size, and local news organisations across the EMEA region, this programme bridges the gap between leadership impact and technological evolution.
Participants will learn to prototype, test, and deploy AI responsibly to solve real-world management challenges. You will use GenAI and agentic AI solutions to unlock innovation capacity, improve business outcomes, create stronger journalism, and build trust within your newsroom.
Programme Outline
This is a 12-week tuition-free hybrid executive programme running from 14 April to 30 June 2026. The estimated time commitment is approximately 3 hours per week, including both the live virtual sessions and self-paced project work.
- In-person Kick-off: 14 – 15 April 2026 | Frankfurt, Germany
- Virtual Sessions: 8 weekly online sessions | 21 April – 23 June
- In-person Mid-point Session: 31 May – June 1 | Marseille, France
- Virtual Closing Session & Project Presentations: 30 June 2026
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants should be aged 25-40 and working in a leadership role. Eligible positions include team leads, product managers, audience managers, commercial managers, innovation editors or founders
- Applicants must be employed by a small or mid-size news publisher in the context of their market.
- Applicants must be based in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East or Africa). Their news organisation must be a WAN-IFRA member at the time of acceptance or become a member before the programme starts.
- Participation of individuals must be formally endorsed by a top manager or senior executive within the applicant’s organisation.
- Applicants must have spoken and written working proficiency in English.
- If selected, participants must sign a formal Letter of Commitment to ensure full engagement throughout the duration of the programme.
- The inaugural cohort is limited to 24 participants. WAN-IFRA will prioritise selection based on the diversity of newsrooms and geographic representation across the EMEA region.
