---
title: "Amy Webb Launches 2026 Emerging Tech Trend Report: Creative Destruction"
date: 2026-03-14
source: VML
source_url: https://www.vml.com/insight/sxsw-2026-preview-ones-to-watch
tags: [sxsw-2026, ai-agents, innovation, keynote]
summary: Amy Webb unveils her annual Emerging Tech Trend Report at SXSW 2026 with the theme "Creative Destruction," while key sessions explore AI's role in humanity and brand worldbuilding.
---

# Amy Webb Launches 2026 Emerging Tech Trend Report: Creative Destruction

SXSW 2026 is taking place across a network of clubhouses throughout Austin after the demolition of the Convention Center (a new facility double the size is due in 2029), giving the 40th anniversary edition a more intimate, village-like feel.

## Amy Webb: Creative Destruction

Always a festival highlight, futurist Amy Webb launched her annual Emerging Tech Trend Report with this year's theme: **Creative Destruction**. The report unpacks emerging technologies set to disrupt and shape the near future, and is consistently one of the most anticipated sessions at SXSW.

## Key Sessions Worth Watching

**Brand Worldbuilding:** WPP's Ben Kay and Unilever CMO Leandro Barreto discussed moving beyond traditional campaigns toward building brand "worlds" — an emerging strategy where companies create immersive, AI-powered narrative universes rather than one-off marketing moments.

**The Great Calibration:** A multidisciplinary panel debated how to design AI that strengthens community instead of replacing it, focusing on protecting meaning, creativity, and trust in an increasingly automated world.

**The Transformation Economy:** Joseph B. Pine II, who coined "experience economy," shared how brands can evolve beyond experiences to help consumers flourish — a concept he calls the "transformation economy."

## Key Takeaways

- Amy Webb's 2026 theme of "Creative Destruction" signals major tech-driven industry disruption ahead
- The festival's distributed format across Austin clubhouses creates a more intimate, discovery-driven experience
- Sessions are emphasizing the balance between AI innovation and preserving human creativity and community
- Brand strategy is shifting from campaigns to immersive "worldbuilding" approaches