From Hype to Impact: How Newsrooms Are Making AI Actually Work.
Guest: Aliya Itzkowitz at FT Strategies
About this episode
What happens after the AI hype fades? In this episode of Insight Shapes News by Kilkaya, host Nils Ove Håland Riise sits down with Aliya Itzkowitz — who works at FT Strategies and built out the framework for the Google News Initiative's AI Launchpad — to unpack how AI is actually being used inside real newsrooms. Forget the buzzwords. Aliya shares what's working, what isn't, and how media companies can move from fragmented experimentation to measurable impact. Drawing on her work with dozens of publishers, she breaks down the frameworks, team dynamics, and strategic choices that help newsrooms turn AI into more than a headline.
- The 3-part framework for applying AI across newsroom operations
- Build vs. buy: when to partner, when to invest, and how to avoid dead ends
- The hidden value of AI pilots (it's not just time savings)
- How to structure teams for real collaboration across editorial, product, and tech
- Why leadership buy-in and bottom-up experimentation must co-exist
- What's next for newsrooms as AI becomes business-as-usual
Whether you're working in editorial, product, strategy, or leading innovation — this episode is full of hard-earned lessons and practical frameworks for using AI in journalism with purpose.