Why Top-of-Funnel Traffic is Dead (& How TED is Replacing It ) | Tricia Maia, Head of Product (TED)

Today, we’re joined by Tricia Maia, Head of Product at TED. We all know TED Talks — but behind the scenes, TED is undergoing a massive product transformation to adapt to a post-AI media landscape. In this episode, Tricia Maia, Head of Product at TED, pulls back the curtain on how they’re solving the “discovery” crisis facing digital media today.

Tricia shares:

• Why “views” are dead: Explaining why TED is abandoning top-of-funnel traffic as their North Star metric and shifting focus to “depth,” completion rates, and account signups to combat volatile search algorithms
• AI that actually scales: How TED is using advanced AI auto-dubbing — not just subtitles — to clone speakers’ voices into other languages, driving 2-3x better performance
• The “gap” strategy: The challenge of connecting a decentralized ecosystem of free users and volunteers at TEDx with an ultra-premium live experience that can cost up to $12,500 per ticket

Links

Tricia's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/triciamaia/
TED.com: https://www.ted.com/

Chapters

00:00: Introduction
01:51: TED's Media Landscape in an AI World
02:17: What does "Product" mean at TED?
04:24: How TED is Dealing with Challenges and Strategies in Media Discovery
14:59: Evolving Metrics and Goals Beyond Vanity Metrics Like Views
24:24: How TED is Connecting Digital and Event Audiences
32:22: TED's New AI Auto-Dubbing Initiative
37:14: Conclusion

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