From Anthony Scaramucci and Sir Oliver Dowden to Google, TCS, Caixin, GSMA, SkyBridge, PRISA, TBWA\RAAD and more, leaders will explore how value, growth, and trust are built in today’s content-driven economy
In a world where markets react in real time to headlines and social sentiment, the line between money, media, and marketing is disappearing. BRIDGE Summit 2025 will gather some of the most influential figures in global finance, regulation, brand building, and early-stage investment to examine how value is created, priced, and protected in a media system driven by attention rather than airtime. From Anthony Scaramucci, founder and managing partner of SkyBridge Capital, and Sir Oliver Dowden, former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, to Google MENA, Tata Consultancy Services, Caixin Global and leading VCs, the program connects the people who move capital with the people who move culture.
Across a series of high-impact sessions in Abu Dhabi from 8–10 December, policy architects Peter Kerstens and Dr Michael Piwowar, media and marketing leaders Abhinav Kumar, Lara Dewar, Joe Marchese, Reda Raad and Liz Heller, and investors such as Ben Casnocha, David Giampaolo, Dillon Lawson-Johnston and Joseph Oughourlian will unpack how regulation, storytelling, technology and investment now interact. Together with founders, sales strategists and creator-economy builders including Anthony Nakache, Salah Abo Elmagd, Douglas Kendyson and Ossama Youssef, they will explore a central question: how do you design financial and marketing systems that can keep pace with the speed of today’s media while still protecting trust, inclusion and long-term growth?
Rewriting money, markets, and media
In “Rethinking Money, Media, and Meaning”, Peter Kerstens, senior advisor at the European Commission and a key architect of landmark frameworks such as MiCA and DORA, joins Dr Michael Piwowar, former Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and Anthony Scaramucci, founder and managing partner of SkyBridge Capital and founder and chairman of SALT, to examine how digital assets, tokenization, and new forms of identity are reshaping the global financial system. Their discussion looks at central bank digital currencies, self-sovereign IDs, tokenized infrastructure and the broader question of whether future financial architecture can deliver recognition and economic dignity across borders without sacrificing stability or trust.
Investment discipline and capital flows take center stage in “Media Moneyball”, where Pi Capital founder and CEO David Giampaolo and Dillon Lawson-Johnston, co-founder and managing partner of Guggenheim Brothers Media and a fifth-generation member of the Guggenheim family, share how they back founders in media, entertainment and creator tech. They will unpack how creative vision, audience ownership and resilient business models drive long-term value in a sector where technology and culture evolve in parallel.
The conversation moves from cycles to structures in “Designing a Global Media Dealbook”, which brings together SALT CEO and SkyBridge partner John Darsie, Sir Oliver Dowden, former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Joseph Oughourlian, founder of Amber Capital and chairman of PRISA. Their session asks what a curated platform connecting mission-driven media with values-aligned capital could look like, and how smarter alignment between investors, policymakers, and media leaders can build a more resilient global media ecosystem.
Ownership and value creation are further explored in “Intellectual Property Is Personal Now”, where Aaron Liao, founder and CEO of OBS Culture Technology and OBS Investment, joins Viewture CEO David Page and Virtu Global Advisors senior managing partner Dr Roy Salter. With careers that span hundreds of billions of dollars in IP-based transactions, they will examine how personal brands, data, and cross-border storytelling are changing how IP is built, valued and traded, and what this means for creators, studios and investors.
Monetization at the individual level is the focus of “Being Sellable in Today’s Attention Economy”, featuring Douglas Kendyson, founder and CEO of Selar, and Ossama Youssef, founder of Diwan Videos. Drawing on Selar’s payouts to African creators and Diwan’s work with leading influencers across MENA, they will share practical strategies that help creators move from passive reach to real revenue through subscriptions, digital products, affiliate tools and brand collaborations.
Growth, AI, and the new marketing playbook
Google’s Anthony Nakache, managing director for MENA, will headline “Unlocking Growth for Businesses, Economies and Societies with AI”, a deep dive into how AI is moving from experimental tool to infrastructure for efficiency, competitiveness and innovation across the region. The session will spotlight real cases of how AI helps businesses in MENA unlock new opportunities while keeping responsibility at the center of deployment.
The pricing of attention itself is examined in “The Economics of Attention”, where Abhinav Kumar, global chief marketing officer of Tata Consultancy Services, Zengxin Li, deputy general manager at Caixin Global, and Joe Marchese, general partner at Human Ventures and former president of advertising revenue for Fox Networks Group, map how attention flows, how it is measured, and what debut platforms must do to earn and monetize time in an era where engagement, not just reach, drives value.
For businesses and sales leaders, “One Million Dollars in Sales… Zero Ads” with international sales trainer and consultant Salah Abo Elmagd unpacks how brands can drive seven-figure outcomes without traditional advertising. Drawing on his work training more than 100,000 participants and consulting for major regional companies, he will focus on narrative, emotion and trust as levers for conversion in markets where audiences buy what they feel, not just what they are told.
Marketing’s human core is reinforced in “The Human-Anchored Marketing”, featuring Monique Nelson, executive chair of UniWorld Group, Liz Heller, managing partner at memBrain, and Reda Raad, group CEO of TBWA\RAAD. Together they will explore how marketers are reorganizing teams and workflows to co-create with AI while keeping authenticity, cultural fluency, and accountability at the center, ensuring that campaigns still move hearts, minds and markets.
Regional case studies will be highlighted in “How Cartea Uses Content to Connect Brands, Empower Businesses, and Rebuild Consumer Trust”, with Cartea chief business officer Mohamed Asaad. Through three stories drawn from the automotive ecosystem, he will show how a media-led, data-driven platform spanning content, marketplace and services can support OEMs, dealers and lifestyle businesses, while helping consumers make confident decisions and brands achieve measurable growth.
Participation and standards across the wider ecosystem are addressed in “Participation and Inclusion in the Media Tech Ecosystem”, where GSMA chief marketing officer Lara Dewar looks at how platforms, telcos and industry associations can build shared frameworks that keep storytelling honest, inclusive and accountable at a time when misinformation and fragmented trust challenge traditional models.
Athletes, creators, and the business of influence
The intersection of sport, media and investment is brought into focus in “How Athletes and Celebrities Drive Attention, Influence, and Investment”, where Danny Cortenraede, founder and managing partner of InStudio Ventures, Roman Di Somma, head of international talent at CAA Sports, and James Frewin, international managing director at the Professional Fighters League, examine why athlete-investors and athlete-owned media are becoming powerful engines for gaming, sports tech and fan-experience ventures.
These finance- and marketing-focused sessions form a core pillar of a 300+ session program that underscores BRIDGE Summit’s ambition: to treat money, media and meaning as a single, integrated system rather than separate conversations.
These talks form part of a 300+ session program that underscores BRIDGE Summit’s scale and ambition.
BRIDGE Summit is developed under the mandate of BRIDGE Alliance – an independent, non-profit global organization that brings together leaders, policymakers, CEOs, investors, creators, thinkers, and media professionals on a unified platform for collaboration. The Alliance works to strengthen the foundations of a more interconnected global media ecosystem by facilitating the exchange of expertise, aligning shared priorities, and supporting meaningful, constructive cooperation across borders and sectors. Its vision is rooted in advancing credibility, trust, and transparency across the industry, while elevating global media standards in ways that support responsible innovation and reinforce the role of media as a trusted driver of economic, social, and cultural development. Established in line with the UAE’s vision to enhance global cooperation and innovation, the Alliance affirms the nation’s position as a hub for global dialogue. Its mission further contributes to strengthening the media sector’s contribution to national strategies and the global knowledge economy.
