Adriana Lacy to Speak at SIPConnect 2026 on AI and the Future of Audience Strategy

Adriana Lacy, founder and CEO of Field Nine Group, will deliver a featured conference session at SIPConnect 2026, the Inter American Press Association's (IAPA) annual gathering on media innovation. The event runs July 28 to 30 at the InterContinental Doral Hotel in Miami, convening editors, executives, product leaders, and innovation experts from across the Americas. Lacy will represent Adriana Lacy Consulting, the strategic research and advisory practice within the Field Nine Group portfolio.

Her session, "What AI Knows About Your Audience That You Don't," takes place Wednesday, July 29 at 2:00 p.m. in the Grand Doral Ballroom Auditorium. The talk digs into a question most newsrooms are only beginning to ask: artificial intelligence is already mapping reader behavior, intent, and engagement in ways that traditional analytics miss, and the organizations that learn to read those signals will be the ones that grow.

At the center of the session is TCI (Task, Context, Intent), the audience strategy framework Lacy developed as a situation-based alternative to demographic segmentation. Where demographics tell you who someone is, TCI focuses on what a reader is trying to accomplish, the circumstances they are in, and the intent behind a given moment of engagement. Lacy will show how AI makes this kind of situational audience understanding newly possible at scale, and how newsrooms can turn that insight into sharper editorial and revenue decisions. The framework was introduced as the first major piece of thought leadership on Field Notes, the firm's publication on audience, trust, and AI.

The session reflects a sharpening focus across Adriana Lacy Consulting. Over the past year, the practice has expanded its work at the intersection of artificial intelligence, audience strategy, and sustainable newsroom growth, advising publishers, foundations, and media organizations on how to adopt AI with intention rather than hype. That work spans audience intelligence and engagement strategy, AI integration and editorial workflows, creator and newsroom partnerships, and product strategy for media organizations navigating a rapidly shifting landscape.

"AI isn't just changing how we make journalism. It's changing how we understand the people we make it for," said Lacy. "The newsrooms that win the next decade will be the ones that treat audience understanding as a discipline, not a guess."

Lacy joins a global lineup of speakers at SIPConnect 2026, including leaders from Infobae, Axios, YouTube, the Reuters Institute, Thomson Reuters, and media organizations across Latin America, the United States, and Spain. This year's program centers on how the industry can anticipate, prototype, and scale in the AI era, with sessions on audience engagement, revenue diversification, trust, and the practical realities of bringing AI into the newsroom.

The full preliminary program and registration are available through the IAPA.

About Adriana Lacy Consulting
Adriana Lacy Consulting is the strategic research and advisory practice of Field Nine Group, helping newsrooms, foundations, and media organizations grow audiences, integrate AI responsibly, and build sustainable digital futures. Learn more at adrianalacyconsulting.com.