The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices DMG Media's Danny Groom on using AI to offer targeting and personalisation
Feb 23, 2026
Danny Groom, CEO of DMG Media, leads digital strategy and AI-driven product innovation. He talks about shifting fear to opportunity with AI. He describes DMG’s AI innovation team and practical experiments in personalisation and dynamic paywalls. He outlines how personalised targeting could reshape publishing, the role of print, editorial safeguards, and connecting innovation to the wider business.
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Episode notes
Young Innovation Team Built To Experiment
- DMG created an AI innovation team about 18 months ago to ‘play’ and prototype ideas separate from core operations.
- The team is ~8 people, many in their early 20s, bringing fresh technical skills into the business.
Focus On Personalisation And Dynamic Paywalls
- Prioritise personalisation as a near-term, high-impact AI product focus rather than broad experimentation.
- DMG is testing dynamic paywalls in Australia as a concrete example of targeted product innovation.
Fewer Articles, More Targeted Publishing
- DMG is producing fewer articles digitally and using targeting to maintain engagement rather than mass publishing.
- This shift, driven partly by search ecosystem changes, forces more precise audience-personalised content.