SXSW 2025: the first days of immersion in the future of creativity and technology
The ideas that shook the way we think the most.
From Mendoza to Austin non-stop
If South by Southwest (SXSW) 2025 has shown anything in its first three days, it is that creativity, technology and culture are at a turning point. What looked like the future is already the present. From hybrid intelligences combining AI with brain cells to robots that are no longer just science fiction, by way of tomorrow’s marketing and the emotions that turn a series into a global phenomenon.
This is not a summary of talks, but a journey through the ideas that shook the way we think the most.
AI, biology and the future that is already here
SXSW 2025 began with an unsettling certainty: artificial intelligence is no longer just an automation tool. It is merging with biology to break the rules of nature. There was talk of Organoid Intelligence (OI), a technology that uses real neurons to process information and that, in simple terms, makes the human brain and artificial intelligence work together.
And this is only the beginning. On stage, advances were presented such as brain-computer interfaces, programmable materials and sensor networks that are taking AI from being a simple observer to becoming an active controller of the world.
One of the most mind-blowing ideas was Living Intelligence (LI), a concept that redefines what we understand by artificial intelligence. It is not just software that predicts trends or answers questions, but systems capable of learning, adapting and evolving autonomously.
The age of robots: now it is real
For years, we imagined a future in which robots would walk the streets, but the truth is that moment has already arrived.
We saw it in Austin with our own eyes: robot dogs going around the city, small autonomous Uber Eats robots delivering orders and machines designed to carry out tasks that once seemed exclusive to humans.
China, for example, already has a pharmaceutical robot capable of developing medicines
autonomously, drastically reducing testing and production times. And at the SXSW Expo, we could see how robotics is merging with biology to create artificial skin, capable of giving robots a sense of touch.
Robots are no longer a futuristic vision. They are part of the present and they are learning faster than we can process.
From FOMO to purpose: marketing according to neuroscience
If there is one talk that called traditional marketing strategies into question, it was From FOMO to Fulfillment. The great truth it exposed is that consumers say one thing and do another.
The gap between intention and action is enormous. It has been shown that most people say they prefer sustainable options, but at the point of sale they end up choosing whatever is most convenient or cheapest. The same happens with donations, crowdfunding and consumption habits in general.
Ben Stiller, Apple and the Severance phenomenon
One of the great moments of the festival was the conversation between Ben Stiller and Eddy Cue, which explored how Severance became the most watched series in the history of Apple TV+.
Beyond the dystopian story, what captured the global imagination was its ability to connect with a universal feeling: the dissociation between personal and working life. The idea came from screenwriter Dan Erickson, who worked in a door factory and dreamed of the possibility of “skipping” the workday.
And one fact that blew our minds: the music for Severance was created before filming, setting the emotional tone of the series from the start. As Stiller put it, the music is “another character”.
It is not all work: nights of music and unexpected encounters
From a Globant event where we shared empanadas and choripán with Argentines in Texas, to an impressive beatbox battle at the British Music Embassy, the festival is a reminder that inspiration is not only on the stages, but also in spontaneous moments.
And as if the night could not get any better, we ended up at the Germany House, with live music and a glass of prosecco, closing the day with the certainty that SXSW is a rollercoaster of ideas, connections and discoveries.
Three days that change perspectives
After these first days at SXSW 2025, it is clear that the future is not a straight line, but a cluster of ideas, technologies and emotions in constant collision.
This is only the beginning.
