Highlights from my first time at SXSW in Austin, Texas

I have wanted to attend the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival since the mid-2000s, but back then the tradition was for big communications agencies to send their senior digital team leaders, so coming from the digitally-challenged world of healthcare and pharma I had zero chance of getting there.

So in late 2022, 3 of my best friends and I decided to buy tickets for the 2023 festival and just go. Easily one of the best decisions I had made in a long time! Here is a wrap-up of the sessions I attended over my 5 days at the festival.

My first day at SXSW in Austin (Friday 10th) was even better than I hoped! I tried not to cram too many sessions in as I wanted to explore a bit of the city and just soak up the atmosphere, but the 3 I attended were interesting and informative. Up first was Chris Hyams, CEO of Indeed the global job search platform. The conversation flowed from the 'threat' of AI to remote interviewing to how Covid caused a “great realisation” based on how protected and valued staff felt by their employers. 

Next was Anne Wojcicki co-founder and CEO of 23andMe, speaking passionately about the use of genomics and disease prevention. Anne described 23andMe as an activist brand "fighting against controls on your data and DNA".

My last session on the first day was on the rise of healthcare content on TikTok aka #healthtok. With panellists from the HCP community, pharma and TikTok the session highlighted key drivers such as demystifying health concepts, making HCPs more relatable to their audiences and providing answers to actual questions people are too scared to ask their doctor in person.

Started day 2 of SXSW (Saturday 11th) at the Real Chemistry-sponsored session on Tech, AI and MR in healthcare where Microsoft and Zimmer Biomet presented their holistic digital care platform for orthopaedic surgery. By using their platform patients and their HCPs can assess the success of the surgery in real-time, with the aid of AI and VR technologies, and make much earlier interventions if necessary. With 1 in 5 patients not satisfied with their knee replacement operations, this technology could positively impact patient outcomes in a big way.

Next was a fascinating session from Tally Health on optimising for longevity. Co-founded by Australian longevity thought leader David Sinclair, Tally Health is a consumer-facing platform that will calculate your epigenetic age based on DNA methylation and help you lower it through behavioural interventions. Great looking interface, and given the increased interest in ageing and longevity I predict this will be the first of many companies exploring opportunities in this area.

Last but not least was creative advertising guru Nick Law (another Aussie!) from Accenture Song. Nick gave a fantastic Ted-like talk on how we need to focus more on simplicity as our world gets more complex. He described the evolution from product-centric to customer-centric and now to life-centric, as connected people in a connected world. But the always-on, self-serve economy experience the internet provides comes with a cost he termed the complexity tax. Nick also outlined his thoughts on prioritising organisational design over process to allow for the generation of powerful ideas.

My 3rd day at SXSW (Sunday 12th) started with a session on generative AI and its use in pharma marketing with speakers from AbbVie and Real Chemistry. Key use cases for genAI included increasing the generation of creative ideas and assets and optimising the training of new sales team members. However, getting all these new materials through MLR review was highlighted as a key issue that needed addressing. The speakers also noted that potential recruits entering this new AI-driven world would need to be open-minded, curious, entrepreneurial and open to taking risks if they were going to be successful.

Next was a really interesting session on pandemic preparedness with a clinical expert from the White House and a senior leader from the Moderna vaccines team. The key message was that we can't lose the momentum we achieved during Covid as it is only a matter of time before the next outbreak happens. Impressively, with mRNA technologies, we are now able to aim for 'print on demand' vaccine capabilities if we focus all of our efforts. We also can't overlook that there are many vaccine-preventable diseases such as HBV and by addressing these as seriously as we took on Covid we can ensure we maintain our preparedness for Disease X.

Day 4 (Monday 13th) was another great day in Austin hearing about brand marketing and medical education in the metaverse followed by the importance of obsession when driving forward your company's mission.

The first panel discussion was sponsored by Condé Nast and highlighted some of the great metaverse experiences being delivered by Vogue, GQ and Gucci. There was also a clear message that you need to know why you are trying to move your customers into the metaverse environment - just having a 'hangout' is not enough, it must add meaningful value that can't be achieved elsewhere. I also loved hearing about the use of deep fakes to allow an actor to make an animated movie in one location using just their deep fake voice and another movie with their real body in a different location!

Next up was a fantastic presentation from Sam Glassenberg, founder of Level Ex, a company making state-of-the-art video games for physicians. Sam showed multiple examples of how 3D, VR, AR and digital twin technology can be used to train doctors on surgical techniques, diagnosis and appropriate management. The presentation also highlighted that developers needed to be aware of cognitive load and not introduce complicated scenarios for the sake of it - giving the example of fancy 3D MOA videos using VR headsets making HCPs nauseous.

Last up I attended a plenary by Clayton F. Ruebensaal from American Express on the benefits of being obsessed when delivering your brand's mission.

🎯 Obsession creates brand advantage. Google's homepage has always been very clean when pages of competitors like Yahoo were stuffed full of information.

🎯 Obsession is infectious. Kobe Bryant was known for influencing his teammates to train as hard as he did.

🎯 Obsession is a great time management tool. When you know what is important it is easy to say no to other people's requests. What if you could only do 3 things next week?

🎯 Obsession motivates people to learn. Daniel Day-Lewis is renowned for going to exceptional lengths when gearing up for a role.

❗️Warning: Without focus and discipline obsession is worthless.

My final day at SXSW (Tuesday 14th) was filled with great leadership sessions and exploring the latest XR platforms. First up was former CFO and business coach, Alisa Cohn discussing the success secrets of Unicorn founders, touching on choosing your co-founder(s), hiring and firing, the importance of self-awareness and managing your psychology. She ended her impressive talk with the quote: "Successful people do what unsuccessful people don’t feel like doing."

Next was Grammarly's Global Head of Product, Rahul Roy-Chowdhury. Rahul opened with the shocking fact that poor communication costs US businesses up to $1.2 trillion annually. He also made the point that AI exists to augment our potential and suggested 'augmented intelligence' was a better name than artificial intelligence.

The rest of the day was spent viewing next-generation immersive experiences using VR, AR and MR. I really enjoyed seeing the Korean girl band aespa 'live' in concert. The five singers were transported into the fantasy world of KWANGYA and performed two songs against two different backdrops. You really felt like you were in the front row (or closer!) of a high-energy music concert.

The final booth I visited was Consensus Gentium - an immersive film experience that watches you back using AI and facial recognition, making you conscious of your subconscious behaviour. The film highlights the potential negative consequences of facial recognition and incorporates neuroscience, behavioural psychology and the Parkour philosophy of moving through fear.

In summary, SXSW was an amazing experience and I can’t wait to go back next year. There is so much to learn and explore, both in terms of cutting-edge tech and inspiring talks given by industry leaders. Whether you're a creative, entrepreneur or just a technology enthusiast – this event should be on your list!

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