Grass Valley – How AI and automation are reshaping media production
From gesture-based control to multi-platform storytelling—the tools changing the game
Ronny Van Geel, Director of Product Marketing at Grass Valley
At the Grass Valley booth at ISE 2025 in Barcelona, an entire live production was orchestrated through the Apple Vision Pro, without a single button press. Instead of relying on traditional control surfaces, operators used intuitive gestures and spatial interactions to manage live feeds, camera angles, and graphics in real time. Meanwhile, remote production tools like Sport Producer X are enabling one-person teams to deliver high-quality live events from anywhere, using streamlined workflows that were previously only possible in large-scale broadcast environments.
AI-assisted tools are also transforming real-time production workflows. Metadata tagging and image processing are reducing manual tasks, allowing post-production teams to find, edit, and repurpose content faster than ever—a crucial advantage as content needs to be delivered across more platforms than ever. At the same time, automation is making multi-platform content adaptation faster and more efficient, enabling teams to optimize and distribute content across multiple formats without increasing workload. These are not future concepts; these are real tools being used today.
The shift: smarter workflows, more creativity, and multi-platform content
As productions become more complex, orchestration platforms are automating technical processes, ensuring that resources—both human and technical—are used more efficiently. Remote production tools allow teams to collaborate across different locations, making multi-camera live event coverage more flexible and cost-effective. AI-driven asset management and automated clipping tools are streamlining editing and content distribution, enabling teams to create once and deliver everywhere with minimal manual intervention.
Rather than producing separate content for each channel, today’s professionals are building adaptable, high-value content that scales across broadcast, streaming, and social media. A single production can now generate a live broadcast, social media clips, highlight reels, interactive experiences, and personalized video segments, ensuring every creative decision delivers maximum impact.
A new era of control: beyond buttons and sliders
For decades, live production meant adjusting sliders, dials, and control panels, often requiring extensive training and deep technical knowledge. Today, tools like Creative Grading are redefining how operators work by replacing complex numeric controls with real-time graphical interfaces that visually represent adjustments. This means operators no longer need to memorize endless settings, adjustments are more intuitive, and built-in learning tools allow professionals to master new techniques on the fly without slowing down production.
This same philosophy extends to production control as a whole. Gesture-based interaction through Apple Vision Pro is demonstrating how live events can be orchestrated with spatial computing, touchscreen-based interfaces are making event switching more intuitive, and AI-assisted metadata management is helping production teams organize and retrieve content more efficiently.
Why this matters: more content, more platforms, more opportunities
Live content is no longer confined to a single audience or distribution method. As demand for high-quality, engaging storytelling increases, the ability to streamline workflows and efficiently repurpose content is becoming essential. The same production that once served a single broadcast can now reach viewers across dozens of platforms, each expecting tailored, platform-specific content.
Automation is reducing the manual effort required to deliver content in multiple formats, while AI is enhancing real-time creative decision-making. This shift isn’t about replacing creativity—it’s about ensuring that professionals spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time crafting compelling stories, making artistic decisions, and engaging audiences across multiple formats.
The human impact: a new creative culture
With every shift in media technology—whether digital transformation, file-based workflows, or IP production—there has always been an initial period of uncertainty. But time and time again, professionals have adapted, learned, and ultimately gained more control over their craft. This time is no different.
Creative professionals are not being replaced—they are evolving. The industry is seeing a shift toward human-machine collaboration, where AI and automation handle the time-consuming technical aspects, allowing professionals to focus on creativity, storytelling, and real-time decision-making. As tools become more intelligent and user-friendly, the industry is moving toward an era where technology works for creatives, rather than the other way around.
Those who embrace AI-enhanced workflows, intuitive control interfaces, and platform-agnostic content strategies will set the standard for the next generation of media production. As new tools emerge, professionals who understand how to harness them will remain at the forefront of the industry.
For those heading to the NAB 2025 in Las Vegas, expect to again see exciting new advancements in creative tools that take this vision even further.
A future built on creativity
No matter how technology evolves, one thing remains unchanged: creativity and storytelling insights will always be valued. The ability to craft compelling narratives, capture emotion, and engage audiences is something no tool can replace. Instead, these tools exist to work for you, helping to bring your stories to the world more efficiently and to a wider audience than ever before.
With the technical barriers to production becoming lower and tools working more seamlessly in the background, creative professionals now have the freedom to focus on what truly matters: telling stories that inspire, inform, and captivate.
The future of media isn’t just about technology—it’s about the stories we tell with it.
