Angie Gifford’s Post

🧑💻The power of AI is key to marketing innovation 🔑 For the first time ever, more than 50% of the content people see on Instagram is now recommended by AI. This and the overall impact of AI for marketers were some of the topics at this year’s Meta Marketing Summit this week in Berlin, where I was delighted to be discussing how Meta is innovating at scale, particularly in the field of AI . In fact, AI is already making a huge difference to marketing teams today in three key ways: 👍 Improved advertising outcomes. Today, almost all Meta advertisers are using at least one of our Advantage+ products which are powered by AI and deliver enhanced performance. When advertisers, who did not previously use Advantage+ shopping campaigns, turned on the product’s AI-driven targeting features, they experienced an average of 22% increase in return on ad spend (ROAS). 👍 Enhanced creative: Generative AI is driving a new era of creative experimentation. Marketers save considerable time and resources as Meta Generative AI solutions are designed to unlock faster ad creation and more creative variations. Creative diversification across our platforms leads to an overall 32% improvement in cost per acquisition (CPA) and 9% increase in incremental reach. This frees up time for marketers to focus on even more value-adding strategic tasks. 👍 Enhanced personal connections: AI for business messaging enables personal connections at scale. AI allows more effective communication with customers at scale, saves time, and improves the performance of ads and marketing messages. With 600M daily conversations between people and businesses, we see many businesses already using our messaging platforms to engage with their customers across different use cases. AI and especially generative AI offer marketeers powerful new opportunities for automation and creativity. In the future, we need to make sure that these technologies will seamlessly integrate into our lives. #marketinginnovation #AI #technology #advertising

🔑The technology revolution is the key to Germany’s economic recovery 📈 Right now, there is not a single European company among the current top 10 global firms (measured by sales). And on the innovation side, particularly in AI, 73% of Large Language Models are currently developed in the US, another 15% in China. We therefore need much more concerted action and dedication to uplevel Europe’s digital competitiveness in the global environment. This is what we discussed, amongst other things, in the Town Hall debate “What if? Germany's growth potential through new technologies”, alongside an expert panel of Economic Professor Michel Huether, investor Judith Dada, entrepreneur Martina Nighswonger and member of parliament Andreas Audretsch. 🇪🇺In the grand scheme, the big innovations of the future, such as in AI, are currently being developed outside Europe. At the same time, the EU is increasingly relying on regulation, which may then not even be applied consistently in the spirit of a Digital Single Market. Such regulatory decision making that has become fragmented and unpredictable hinders innovations and economic growth. 🇩🇪Germany in particular has a serious bureaucracy issue, low levels of innovation investments, a lacking digital infrastructure, still too much friction in public and private digital processes, and shortcomings in digital top talents and digital skills across the population. At the same time, digital innovation presents a huge opportunity for our  economies as well, also due to open-source AI models that are accessible to every company, regardless of size and sector. They lower the barriers to entry and use, and they create opportunities for EU and German startups or developers also for research and new product development. On a European level, we need AI that is based on European data and access to models quickly in order to keep pace. We need an AI industrial strategy that creates economies of scale and the conditions to secure investment. And we need competitiveness tests at every layer of regulation (from impact assessment to enforcement). New technologies and data-driven business models could be the key to not only Germany’s economic recovery but Europe’s growth. However, we have to uplevel on various fronts and also change our mindset so that we see AI and other technologies as an opportunity rather than a threat. #technology #newtechnologies #AI #economicgrowth 

🌍 Europe’s role in an ambiguous future – pioneer or laggard ⁉️ Delighted to take part in last week’s Trilogue Salzburg, an annual international dialogue forum for leaders from the political, business and cultural sectors, focusing on ways to confront the socio-political challenges being faced by Europe and the international community. This year’s conference addressed the issue of how the European states can find a common understanding of what role is possible and desirable for Europe in the future.  The big topics under discussion were: 💪 Europe’s role, challenges and strengths within the new geopolitical equilibrium. 📈 Approaches to key issues such as: sustainable development; economic and technological competitiveness; regimes and actors that do not play by the rules. 🧑⚖️ And ways for Europe to strengthen its leadership role in the fields of democracy and rule of law, along with its ability to take action. Overall, there was wide acknowledgement that the EU is falling behind competitively, and the root causes include regulatory complexity and incoherence as well as insufficient ambition in the EU to embrace and drive change. We at Meta believe that Europe needs to act now by: ▪ Innovating at pace - capabilities are increasing faster than preceding technology. ▪ Introducing an AI industrial strategy - Europe needs to create the conditions needed for players to invest. ▪ Embracing open-source software - the only way for Europe to participate fully in the AI future, especially via industry-leading models like Llama 3.1. Thanks to Liz Mohn Stiftung and Bertelsmann Stiftung for pulling this brilliant forum together! #Europe #FutureOfEurope #Innovation #DigitalTransformation #TechInEurope Photo credit: Valentin Weinhäupl

“If you are a new talent, you need to learn prompting very soon” 💻 I am delighted to share the latest episode of Meta’s Performance Talks, a series where we chat with inspiring marketing leaders about strategy, performance, and industry trends. In today's fast-paced digital landscape, mastering AI is no longer an option but a necessity. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Tobias Christoph Collée, Global Vice President NIVEA at Beiersdorf, to discuss how marketers can thrive in the age of AI. NIVEA is championing the use of AI and automation to identify precise, valuable target groups. Hear more in our latest episode, we also discussed: 📈How NIVEA leveraged Meta’s AI-powered Advantage suite to uncover valuable new audiences  ⭐Golden rules for creating impactful short-form videos 💃The importance of wholeheartedly embracing diversity in marketing See the full interview below. #MetaPerformanceTalks  #MarketingTrends #Innovation  #BeautyTech #AI

Townhall Debate “What if? Germany's growth potential through new technologies” 🚀 Current economic policy forecasts highlight Germany's need to catch up in terms of growth and competitiveness. Despite cautious signs of a possible recovery, structural challenges such as high levels of bureaucracy and shortages in skilled labor remain unresolved. Action and dedication at national and European level is becoming increasingly urgent in order to maintain Germany's competitiveness in the global environment. ❓   What opportunities do new technologies and data-driven business models offer in this context?  ❓   Which levers do we need to pull in addition, to change direction and return to stronger economic  growth?  ❓   How can we create an even more innovation-friendly environment? Join Meta and IW Consult for a fascinating discussion on this and other questions with an expert panel on Friday 6th September in Berlin.   Register here: https://lnkd.in/dfk3yKGA #technology #innovation #datascience #economicgrowth

With more open-source developers than the US, Europe has a unique opportunity to lead in the field of open-source AI. However, fragmented regulations could hinder their progress. In a recent The Economist op-ed, Mark Zuckerberg and Daniel Ek discuss how overlapping regulations and inconsistent guidance on how to comply with them is leading to a situation where European academics, businesses and people risk missing out on the best of this new technology. An open-source approach to AI can help European organizations by leveling the playing field – and we hope that the EU doesn’t limit the possibilities that companies are only starting to explore just now. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/dHsg_ZuC 📢Is Europe ready to further unlock AI? Keen to read your thoughts in the comments!

Meta Q2 2024 results are in, and it is another strong quarter for our community and business. Here are the top 5 highlights: 🌎 An estimated 3.2 billion people using at least one of our apps each day and we're seeing good year-over-year growth across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. 💲AI is maximizing ad performance: A recent study found that European advertisers saw a 25% increase in ROAS after they adopted Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns. 🎨We’ve also seen promising early results since introducing our first Generative AI ad features — image expansion, background generation, and text generation — with more than one million advertisers using at least one of these solutions in the past month. 📈We’re improving ad delivery by adopting more sophisticated modeling techniques made possible by AI advancements like our ads ranking architecture Meta Lattice,  which continues to provide ad performance and efficiency gains. 🧵Threads is about to hit 200 million monthly actives! We're seeing deeper engagement and are making steady progress towards building another major social app  These latest results underscore how AI will significantly evolve how advertisers use our platforms in some exciting ways — from generating creative, to how they reach consumers and engage with them at scale. The future looks bright and, as always, I am so proud of our teams who push this important work forward, and our partners and clients from in EMEA who trust our people and platforms to deliver on their business goals. #Meta #Q2Results #AI #Advertising #SocialMedia #Threads

💡Unlocking Europe's Potential with AI💡 AI has the potential to revolutionize industries, improve lives, and drive economic growth. In short, it’s the game-changer of our century and plays a pivotal role in Europe’s competitiveness as well. This is what we talked about at the Salzburg Summit last week. At Meta, we're committed to democratizing AI and leading innovation. By open-sourcing our AI models, we're empowering researchers, developers, and businesses across Europe to build incredible applications. My key take-aways: 🚀Europe must act now. We can't afford to be left further behind in the AI race. 🚀Open-source AI. This can be a powerful tool for more effective collaboration and faster innovation. 🚀Data is key. Europe needs to better leverage its own data assets to train AI models with regional context in mind and drive economic growth. 🚀Ethical AI is paramount. We must develop AI systems that are fair, unbiased, and transparent. We talked in greater detail about how we are using AI today to already improve people's lives, from developing new medical imaging tools to creating immersive experiences in the metaverse. But we also acknowledged the importance of responsible AI and the need to continue investing heavily in research and development to ensure that this crucial technology is used for good. Are you ready to unlock the full potential of AI? Let's discuss how we can work together to build a more intelligent and sustainable future. #MetaAI #innovation #technology #metaverse #SalzburgSummit #datascience

🚀 Exciting News for European Startups! 🌍 Meta, Hugging Face, Scaleway, and STATION F are thrilled to announce the launch of a new AI accelerator program aimed at propelling European startups into the future of open-source AI. 🤖 This program is a great opportunity for EU-based startups to develop or fine-tune their products and services based on open-source models. You'll receive technical mentoring from our FAIR/GenAI teams, along with our partners Hugging Face and Scaleway. 🌟 What's in store? -> Technical mentoring by research expert teams at Meta Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR)  -> Access to Hugging Face’s platform and Scaleway’s computing power -> Resources at the world's largest startup campus, STATION F 📅 Applications are open until August 16, 2024! Don't miss your chance to be part of this innovation journey. Apply now at fb.me/AIStartupProgram. Join us at STATION F in Paris, the heart of European innovation, and take your startup to the next level. Let's shape the future together! 🚀 #MetaAI #Startups #OpenSource #Innovation

💰 Let’s talk about money! This was the overall theme of my recent interview in last week's edition of Süddeutsche Zeitung, starting from grocery prices to employee stocks to leadership and financial planning, the power of shared ownership within a team, navigating the tech industry as a woman, and the ever-present struggle of work-life balance: 🤝 Shared success through ownership There's a powerful incentive in aligning employee interests with company success. Stock options or profit-sharing plans can create a sense of ownership and drive a results-oriented culture. Employees who see a direct connection between their efforts and the company's bottom line are more likely to go the extra mile. Also, when it comes to compensation, my experience is that employees are more engaged when they understand the rationale behind pay, as well as leadership comp, and how it reflects industry, company performance, and market competitiveness. ⚒️ Breaking down barriers for women It's no secret that women continue to face challenges in reaching and succeeding in leadership positions. My advice? Understand any unwritten rules that there might be and play the game strategically, while still staying true to yourself. It's about finding your seat at the table or on stage where the action happens, not just in the audience observing others play the game. 🤹♀️ Balance is a journey, not a destination As a working mother, I know the struggle for work-life balance is real. While societal pressures can create guilt, as I have for sure experienced over the years, focusing on your own happiness and fulfillment ultimately benefits your family as well. What are some of the leadership lessons that have shaped your career? Full article is here for those who speak German and have a subscription: https://lnkd.in/d6XCi5zt #leadership #womeninbusiness #worklifebalance