Peer-driven Learning: Participants learn by sharing experiences, use cases, and feedback within a diverse international cohort.

Expert guidance: A global faculty and the WAN-IFRA network guide each step with examples, frameworks, and live experimentation.

Community Access: Participants get invited to join the AI in Media community and a private Slack channel to continue ongoing discussions within the cohort.

Complimentary registration for the WAN-IFRA Frankfurt AI Forum (13–14 April 2026) and the World News Media Congress in Marseille (1–3 June 2026).

The NextGen AI Leaders executive programme is designed by WAN-IFRA in partnership with Better Leaders Lab and Verso. The Google News Initiative sponsors the programme.

Full attendance is required for the 2-day in-person workshops in Frankfurt and Marseille, and the virtual modules.

• Weekly virtual sessions last 90 minutes, except for the final session on June 30.
• The closing session is a 3-hour webinar featuring project presentations.

The NextGen AI Leaders is tuition-free for individuals working at news publishers that are WAN-IFRA members. The programme does not cover travel and accommodation expenses for the in-person sessions.

Stipends may be provided to support travel and accommodation costs. Eligibility and the amount designated will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, considering the participant’s location and financial circumstances.

For this inaugural cohort, applications are restricted to candidates based in the EMEA region.

GNI sponsors the programme and supports sessions with experts providing guidance on Google’s AI tools and their application across editorial, product, and commercial departments.