Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro outlines AI and content strategy in growth plan

New Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro outlined a new growth strategy for the entertainment giant as the company announced its quarterly results, which includes a focus on investing in content as well as technology.

D’Amaro, who succeeded former Disney CEO Bob Iger in mid-March, said in a letter to shareholders that Disney’s long-term strategy will revolve around three pillars including investing in intellectual property and creativity, reaching and engaging more consumers around the world, and using advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) to power storytelling and increase monetization.

Disney has been undergoing a costly investment in streaming, as well as content, technology and marketing for the platforms and programs that are on them. D’Amaro said that AI and other technology will be used to boost efficiencies across the company.

“We view advanced technologies, including AI, as a meaningful long-term opportunity. We see opportunities for AI to play a role across five areas of our business: content creation and production, monetization, workforce productivity, guest and consumer experiences and enterprise operations,” D’Amaro wrote.

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Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro outlined the growth strategy for the entertainment giant in a letter to shareholders. (Aurore Marechal/Getty Images)

“At the same time, we are committed to implementing AI in a way that keeps human creativity at the center of everything we do and respects creators and the value of our intellectual property,” he explained, noting that the company won’t proceed with a planned investment in OpenAI after it shut down its Sora platform. D’Amaro added that Disney continues to explore opportunities to work with OpenAI and other firms.

D’Amaro noted that revenue growth in its subscription video on demand category, which includes streaming platforms, reached double-digits for the first time in the latest quarter. He said the gains were driven by last year’s rate adjustments and volume growth through international wholesale agreements, and Disney is now targeting at least 10% growth for the full year.

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“There is no single initiative that will fully optimize our streaming business on its own. Rather, we believe the compounding benefits of many incremental improvements over time will increase engagement and improve retention,” D’Amaro wrote.

Disney launched Verts on Disney+ in March to boost discoverability and drive more interaction among platform users, which D’Amaro said is an ongoing effort that may lead to variability in results between quarters but has the company “encouraged by the momentum we see.”

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Disney is continuing to invest in streaming platforms. (AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

He added that ESPN is early in the process of monetizing its direct-to-consumer offerings, and that the sports network is viewed as a “meaningful opportunity over time as we expand both the content offering and the consumer proposition for the ESPN Unlimited plan.”

The shareholder letter cited “Zootopia 2” as an example of intellectual property that generates value across distribution platforms. 

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D’Amaro said the movie generated $1.9 billion in global box office, while the franchise passed 1 billion hours streamed on the Disney+ streaming service and is driving engagement at theme parks, cruise ships and retail.