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

Follow LaunchPod on YouTube

We have a new YouTube page! Watch full episodes of our interviews with PM leaders and subscribe!

What does LogRocket do?

LogRocket's Galileo AI watches user sessions for you and surfaces the technical and usability issues holding back your web and mobile apps. Understand where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com.

Special Guest: Tricia Maia.