Evergent’s AI-powered platform is at the center of today’s M&E transformation - here’s how we’re solving the industry’s toughest challenges in real-time
The glittery dust of Las Vegas is still settling on the 2025 NAB Show, but one thing is already clear: the future of media is no longer a distant vision — it's actively taking shape. With more than 60,000 attendees converging around topics like AI, FAST, sports streaming, and hybrid monetization, the event offered more than predictions. It provided proof points that transformation is well underway.
For those of us at Evergent, this year’s NAB also coincided with a milestone — the debut of our Full-Stack Monetization Platform. But beyond the product news, what stood out most was how aligned this evolution is with the direction the industry is moving: toward systems that support the entire customer journey, not just individual transactions.
Here are some of the most compelling takeaways from NAB 2025 — and why they matter:
1. AI Is Moving from Hype to Utility
Artificial intelligence is no longer framed as a speculative advantage — it's becoming table stakes. From production to personalization, examples on the show floor demonstrated that AI is now being deployed to solve specific, measurable problems.
A clear trend emerged: organizations are investing in AI that improves outcomes — whether that’s reducing churn, optimizing operations, or enabling more relevant customer interactions. These aren’t futuristic experiments; they’re now part of core infrastructure.
2. Monetization Models Are Getting More Sophisticated
The monetization conversation has matured. Instead of simply adding new revenue streams (like AVOD or FAST), many providers are now focused on how to intelligently manage and connect different models.
Dynamic pricing, predictive churn reduction, and real-time entitlements are increasingly seen as essential tools to meet evolving viewer expectations. The emphasis has shifted from broadening monetization to making it smarter — more contextual, adaptive, and aligned with user behavior.
3. Sports Streaming Is Driving Innovation
The inaugural Sports Summit highlighted just how much innovation is being driven by live and premium sports content. From low-latency delivery to direct-to-fan engagement strategies, sports continues to be a proving ground for new technology.
For streaming providers, this means meeting higher expectations — particularly around reliability, real-time personalization, and retention. Sports fans are highly engaged but quick to churn if value isn’t clear. That’s raising the stakes on both the technical and business sides of the equation.
4. Engagement Is Becoming a Real-Time Metric
With advances in AI and behavioral analytics, engagement is now something that can be measured — and acted on — in real time. Whether through personalized recommendations, contextual ads, or adaptive offers, companies are looking to build deeper relationships with users based on live data rather than historical trends.
This points to a broader industry shift: marketing and engagement are becoming more tightly integrated with platform infrastructure, not just standalone efforts.
5. The Back Office Is Becoming a Strategic Asset
What was once considered back-end infrastructure — billing, identity, entitlements — is increasingly being recognized as central to user experience and revenue performance. At NAB, the consensus was clear: legacy systems are becoming bottlenecks, especially as business models become more complex.
As a result, many companies are rethinking their foundational tech — not just to support transactions, but to enable faster launches, smarter bundling, and more responsive user journeys.
6. Cross-Industry Forums Are Gaining Influence
The Streaming Summit once again proved how valuable cross-industry dialogue has become. With over 70 speakers from across the ecosystem, the event served as a reminder that navigating today’s complexity requires collaboration — not just innovation.
The most successful conversations weren’t about single-point solutions, but rather how providers can align strategy, technology, and execution across teams and partners.
7. Partnerships Are a Growing Competitive Advantage
Whether the topic was metadata standards, revenue-sharing models, or AI ethics, NAB reinforced a growing theme: no one can solve today’s challenges alone. From the show floor to panel stages, there was a notable emphasis on interoperability and joint innovation.
Companies are looking for tools and frameworks that make it easier to work with others — especially as monetization and content ecosystems become more distributed.
A Look Ahead
If there’s one overarching insight from NAB 2025, it’s this: the media landscape is becoming more agile, intelligent, and user-centric. Success will increasingly depend on a provider’s ability to manage not just billing or content delivery, but the entire subscriber lifecycle — from acquisition to engagement, retention, and renewal.
It’s a shift from isolated systems to orchestrated journeys — and the tools that support that shift will play a major role in shaping what comes next.
Want to discuss how the customer journey is evolving — or explore best practices for adapting to these trends? Schedule some time with one of our monetization experts today.
Related media
