Scaling Small: What We’ve Learned from 27 AI Projects in Local News

What does responsible, practical AI adoption actually look like in local and nonprofit newsrooms?

This session reflects on real-world lessons from the American Journalism Project’s Product & AI Studio, which supported 27 AI initiatives across its grantee network in 2025. We’ll share several case studies from participating newsrooms—led by product and development leads who have been doing the work—on how they approached AI adoption in ways that are mission-aligned, collaborative, and genuinely feasible. Expect to leave with takeaways on how to identify use cases, structure experiments, evaluate impact, and ensure alignment with newsroom values.