FuturePrint Podcast
FuturePrint is dedicated to and passionate about the power of print technology to enable new opportunities and create new value. This pod features deep-dive discussions with the people behind the tech as well as market analysis, trends, marketing and storytelling!
FuturePrint Podcast
#307 - AI, Convergence, and the Next Era of Print – with Nathan Safran, VP Research, PRINTING United Alliance
In this episode, Marcus Timson is joined by Nathan Safran, Vice President of Research at PRINTING United Alliance, for an in-depth exploration of the biggest forces reshaping the global print industry.
Safran shares findings from the Alliance’s latest research—covering AI adoption, automation, convergence, economic signals, and where PSPs are creating new value.
Key Themes Discussed:
- AI moves mainstream:
85% of PSPs now view AI as critical to competitiveness, with 83% saying it opens new business opportunities—not just productivity gains. - Real-world AI applications:
From generative design and marketing personalisation to advanced forecasting, quality inspection, and in-house software development, PSPs are adopting AI at a pace not seen before. - The importance of data:
AI success depends on clean, structured, reliable data. PSPs must put their “data house in order” to unlock higher-value use cases. - Automation + AI:
A powerful combination that is reshaping prepress, production, onboarding, and back-office functions across sales, finance, and operations. - Convergence as a structural trend:
Commercial into wide format, wide format into labels or packaging, and a broader shift toward multi-segment capability as buyers choose vendors who can do more. - Growth opportunities for 2026:
Strategic diversification, AI-led transformation, and offering adjacent digital services such as design, data management, and campaign execution.
Safran emphasises that print companies are increasingly transforming into technology-enabled service providers, and that PSPs who embrace both data and AI will have significant competitive advantage.
A fascinating, forward-looking conversation packed with insight for anyone in print, manufacturing, or related markets.
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FuturePrint TECH: Industrial Print: 21-22 January '26, Munich, Germany
Welcome to the Future Print Podcast, celebrating print technology and the people behind it.
SPEAKER_02:Welcome to the latest edition of the Future Print Podcast. Really happy to have with me today for the first time, actually, a gentleman who um has a huge amount of insight into where the industry is going and where it is now and so on and so forth. Um delighted to welcome Nathan Safran, who is Vice President Research for Printer United Alliance. Welcome to the podcast at last, Nathan.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, thank you, Marcus. I'm I'm very happy to be here and I'm excited to talk with you about what we're seeing and the research and where we're seeing the industry going.
SPEAKER_02:Fantastic. And I know you're the man to speak to leading up the research as well. So it's uh going to be an interesting conversation. Before we go into that, though, give us a bit about yourself, if you don't mind introducing a bit about your background, how you got involved in print, and also what it is you do currently. Sure.
SPEAKER_01:So um I am a former Forester research analyst based in the US here. I covered consumer product strategy, and from there I spent a number of years at a uh marketing technology company building up their research practice. And then from there, I came over to the Alliance. Uh it'll be 10 years in April, uh, started the research division kind of as a one-man show. And now we're uh we're up to six people, two economists and several analysts. Um we work with all the major brands. You know, your listeners would would recognize uh Canon and Xerox and Fuji. And we also increasingly work with print service providers on you know some of the challenges that they have, you know, the ways they're looking to expand in their industry. Um but yeah, it's been uh it's been a great ride. Uh really enjoying the industry. And you know, we do a lot of research uh every year. A lot of it's focused on North America, but we do do some based in Europe. But um, yeah, so that's pretty much me.
SPEAKER_02:Fantastic. So obviously it's growing. So the demand for insight and understanding is is clearly growing within the industry generally, which is a testament to the fact you're growing the team. Um it's kind of a big deal. People want to know what's going on, right?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no question, Marcus. I mean, you know, from from the the OEMs and the vendors and the manufacturers and the software providers, the substrates, you know, the ink companies through to the print service providers. And, you know, um I think traditionally, maybe in this industry, you know, there hasn't been as much research and data as is available now. And I think the industry is is recognizing the value of having data to run businesses, make decisions, understand where things are going, you know, from things like political instabilities and tariffs and things like that all the way through to what kind of um applications are print buyers asking for and utilizing and and and adopting ink chat and AI. Like there's so much there's so much in front of us that the data, you know, um the forecast, the insight, you know, become really critical to be able to run the business.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, brilliant. And you you you mentioned the word AI, Nathan. So obviously you've just not long come back from printing united, and I know you presented some research on AI and print there. Could you kind of give us a a bit about some of the key findings from the study and perhaps how adoption has evolved compared to the last year?
SPEAKER_01:Sure. I mean, so I think what I can start with, Marcus, is some data points that, you know, um when we're doing research on technology, one of the first things we ask is about, you know, we don't make any assumptions about where people are. Like, what's your perspective, Mr. and Miss Print Service Provider, as it relates to this particular technology? So we kind of asked that question about AI. So 85% said AI is critical to staying competitive in print, which is interesting. Um, and you know, farther along than last year, but you know, we all hear so much about AI um, you know, in our regular lives, but I think it's penetrated as it relates to um uh utilizing it in the printing industry, right? Where we're 85% say hey, it's really important. Um, one of the things that I found very interesting was if I were to form a hypothesis before doing this research, it would be that the perspective is that AI is about productivity increases and quality checking and those types of things. And it's about you know being more productive and and and saving time and the like. But what's interesting is that 83% said that AI unlocks new business opportunities for us, right? So it's it's not just about productivity, it's about new business areas, new ways that we can develop products or help our clients or get into other other segments or spin up new applications. Um so those are, I think, two key data points that I would highlight, you know, right off the bat.
SPEAKER_02:Brilliant. And and really interesting in terms of you know speed of adoption and and and also creating new business opportunities, which is interesting. Um you had mentioned previously that uh last year many printers were kind of just maybe dipping their toe in the water with AI. It seems that's changed pretty quickly in 12 months. What uh uh yeah, what kind of real-world applications perhaps you're seeing now as print businesses move from that kind of exploration phase into more sort of practical use?
SPEAKER_01:Sure. So, I mean, I'm looking here in front of me at a chart of uh AI applications that are used in the organization. And the top three that we see, none of this would be a surprise, I think, to your listeners. Generative AI, right? So design and copy and chat GPT and cloud and the like. Marketing personalization. So be able to personalize uh marketing outreach to a specific um customer or target, and then customer support, like chat pat chat bots and stuff. What we're starting to see, which I think is more interesting than what we're seeing at the top of that chart, are more advanced use cases that we've not seen in the past. So, for example, production automation, customer analysis, market analysis and forecasting, visual quality inspection. Like those are pretty advanced use cases for AI, but they also maybe be the places where um the most value can potentially be added, right? So visual quality inspection if you're catching mistakes before they cost you money, before they go out, before they deliver to a customer, analysis and forecasting. So, you know, one use case we saw, and I'll say too, Marcus, that one of the things that we're seeing is that that we've not seen in the past is that um you're seeing print service providers start to develop some of their own AI applications and use cases internally. And unlike the past, where if you're developing something internally, it's that's for the big folks, right? Who have the big budgets and who have the the either internal developers or the budgets to support that. Whereas with AI, it's a bit of an equalizer where you can develop things internally without, you know, even nowadays, it's not complete, but without knowing how to code. And we're getting closer and closer and closer. And so, you know, one use case is there was a um, I believe it was a packaging print service provider, three to four million in uh in annual revenue. And they were doing something pretty sophisticated by looking at um what the capacity was in the past, right, as far as their their presses go and what the volumes were, and using that past information to sort of predict the future, so as to say, okay, based off of the past, AI is telling us here's what we think will happen in the future, which allows them to forecast for staffing and forecast for capacity on the press and you know, customer service and all those kinds of things. And if you have that kind of data and it's accurate, that's extremely valuable, right? Um so that that those are some ways that we're seeing the envelope start to be pushed as it relates to um to uh AI.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's really interesting. Like you say, using using the past to to sort of help predict the future. And the critical ingredient does seem to be quality of input and data. So AI only really adds value on that basis if the foundations are uh are accurate and in place, right?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, absolutely true. That data and AI go hand in hand. Um, which is why, you know, to really push the envelope on certain things, you know, what print service providers are gonna probably start to find is that they have to have their data house in order, exactly like you're saying. Um the AI analysis of data is only as good as the data itself. Um, but that's not a bad thing because, you know, it's gonna push service providers to address that and ensure that they have proper data in place, you know, from a cleanliness perspective, from a structure perspective, from a process perspective. Um, and then from there they're gonna be able to do a lot of things.
SPEAKER_02:The other thing is that you mentioned there is that um, thank you, the the you know, tools and the general platforms or the large language models like ChatGPT uh I'm sure are being used a lot. Um but you also mentioned that that that there are some sort of specialized or internally developed solutions tailored to print that that you're seeing print service providers develop themselves, or maybe technology vendors, or both?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think it's it's both. I think the beginning of that curve, so to speak, is the uh software, the uh the the hardware and the software providers that are building AI capabilities into their products and tools. I you know, at the expo, and I was at a I was at a um event in Europe actually after the expo at a at an OEM. Um and they're talking, everybody's talking about AI. And you know, I think part of the advantage is if you're a service provider and you have both software and hardware solutions, you control both, you have the ability to offer some of these capabilities that are going to be very interesting. I I think you know one of the ways that you know, as as analysts, we talk to the OEMs is by encouraging them to ensure that what they're building into what they're building AI-wise into their products is not just so you can check the side of a box and say AI inside. It's so that there's actual value that it's adding. In fact, we've seen on the consumer side and on the B2B side where you know the latest and greatest shiny thing gets added into something and it actually gets in the way of the customer. So I think that that's very key. And I would encourage your listeners as they're evaluating investments and they're looking at AI, that they understand specifically how the AI solution works and will provide them with actual value. But you know, the the ERP folks are are all adding things in. Um the OEMs are adding things in. I don't want to get too specific with names and leave folks out here. But you know, so that's the the top of the curve. And as you mentioned, um the print service providers themselves are now starting to do develop some of their own um their own capabilities and their own tools. And I should say not that I'm here selling anything, but at the Alliance, we recently, at the Expo actually announced that we now have a printing an AI consulting solution where folks can come to us and you know, we have we have uh top industry people from both the printing and the AI side, right? It's not just an AI person that doesn't know printing or a printing person that doesn't know AI. It's people that know both and can work with print service providers to kind of help them. Because what's what's interesting, Marcus, is we go out and we speak, right? And we present data and research and we present case studies, right? And we kind of and we talk about the importance and the benefits, and here's what this one is doing, and that one was doing, but we're still only taking the print service provider so far. Where it's like, and and what we hear from them is like, okay, that's very helpful, but uh, this is all still Greek to me. So what do I do now? And now we're able to say, you know, we have we have a way to kind of help you all the way through. But whether someone works with us or somebody else, you know, that's something that we see the leaders in AI do, which is they they uh they understand the ROI, they're clear on that, and they invest in the professionals to help them to do what they need to do.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I guess uh uh it's it's interesting, really. I guess help helping printers navigate and expand the strategy from the start all the way through, solving the right problems and so on. And yeah, as you mentioned previously, efficiency is obviously one, productivity, which is a linked in a way, but also new market potential. So I guess it's sitting down and working through with whomever it might be as to the key pain points and uh the potential upswing of using AI for the business and for profit as well, right?
SPEAKER_01:Um That that's exactly what it is. That's exactly what it is, because I was actually talking with um the person here at the Alliance that heads the AI division the other day, and we were going through what the process looks like, and you're you're spot on. The very first step in the process is that we sit down with a print service provider and we understand their specific pain points, we understand the finances, we understand the roadblocks. Um and we build an ROI model that says, okay, based on what we're hearing, here are three to five areas where AI can help you and give you back a very strong ROI on your investment. Like that's the very first step in the process. Um so that because because what's interesting about AI is like it affects, it's so unusual, right? It affects every aspect of the business. So where to make an investment, like you have to be very clear on that. Where for my packaging company where I should be making an investment might not be the same place that your packaging company should be making an investment. So that first step in the process is understanding that, and then what follows that is okay, let's address three of them. That's the next step in the process, and you can see the ROI, and then you can go from there. But again, uh whoever folks work with, you know, that should be, and I'm glad you brought it up because that should be the way that they should be working with you, is what's there's no boilerplate anything. It's let me understand your business, let me understand your pain, let me show you the ROI on investing. Like these are the three to five top areas that we think that you could get benefit from.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I guess it's solving the right problems, creating the right solutions. Uh and that again goes back to putting the right uh data inputs to get the right quality out. Sounds obvious, but uh, we can all disappear down rabbit holes and create silos of things we feel are important but may not deliver the right outcome. Um obviously AI automation is linked in some way, shape, or form. So beyond AI, really, in a way, automation continues still to be a focus. I know that perhaps there was a huge amount of that at the Printer United show. How are AI and automation perhaps working together to help printers kind of become more agile or efficient, uh, especially given the cost pressures we're all under at the moment?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's a great question. I mean, uh automation and AI are not necessarily synonymous as we know, but um certainly they're complementary. Um, you know, where there's automation, let's say built into a press, um, you know, AI can can enhance let's say before it gets to the press. Right. It can enhance with pre-press and automate certain things and error check certain things. Um so I I think that you know what's exciting about this to your point is that the OEMs for years now are investing heavily in automation. Now they have a tool that can kind of supercharge the automation in the form of AI. And um, you know, they can they can do so much more, you know, uh by by building into the software um prior to the press. Um and then, you know, the other the other areas of the business that are not necessarily touching print. So sales and marketing and finance and operations, right? That are not on the shop floor, so to speak, or pre-the shop floor. There's there's this newfound automated automation capabilities that can be applied in those areas now as well, so that you know you can at a certain point, I think we'll be able to look across all the divisions of a print service provider and say, you know, how automated is each area, right? Um, which is new to the industry, that type of opportunity. Um and then there'll be some pain, pain to work through where you have, you know, AI working seamlessly across, you know, sales marketing, et cetera, right? Where it's not siloed and it's not separate tools and all those types of things. And we're in the we're in the infancy, um, and and it's it's exciting, and there'll be some growing pains, but I think that um it's only good for the industry where, like you said, the cost pressures that are brought to bear, right? You're either increasing money in or you're decreasing money out. And I think that AI is gonna help with both.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, which is only a good thing. Um obviously Printer United possibly seems like a long way off in the past now. I don't know. I know it's like when you're working and busier shows, it seems to pass quickly and then and so on, but it's still fairly recent and a great snapshot really of the printing industry in in particular in North America. What headline trends and insight insights did you see at the show that you might want to share?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I mean certainly excuse me. Um certainly AI, which we've talked about a lot, was was top of mind. And in fact, for the for this is the first year we had what we called an AI pavilion, which was a combination of various um OEMs and vendors that were set up, you know, showcasing their products AI capabilities. So that was one. And then we had a variety of sessions that we were giving in that area. We gave a couple on AI, um, and and it was it was packed, jammed, like constantly, you know, which sort of shows the uh the level of interest. We did a um a tour of the floor of AI capabilities. So that's that's one which we've talked about. Another one is um convergence, which when we speak about convergence at the Alliance, what we're referring to is the um expansion of a print service provider into adjacent segments or spinning up new applications. So, say a commercial print service provider who um who expands into wide format. So that's a theme that we've seen. And I'll tell you as well, you know, the the event that I was at just after the expo, I was talking to the CEO, they were announcing a new press, and you know, they the press had capabilities in two distinct segments unrelated. And I was talking to him and I said and I asked him if he's familiar with the convergence trend. And he said, Oh, of course we are. And I asked him, you know, was the development of this press with these two capabilities a result of convergence? And he said, Absolutely. Um so what's interesting, and we've tracked this since you know 2017. What's interesting is what we're seeing in the beginning of the research that we did was I'm aware of it, I'm either doing it in some form or I'm looking into it to a large degree. The next study was, are you investing in it? The third study we're going to be releasing probably next month is what benefits are you getting out of it? But what we're seeing is that the print service providers themselves and why convergence and why the walls between the segments continue to be broken down. And of course, as you know, that's the whole idea behind Printing United Alliance, where it's all and the expo, it's all the segments under one roof, is that that is occurring. And um print service providers that are sort of ahead of the curve and are recognizing in certain areas it's becoming more commoditized, and I've got uh I've got to expand. And there's data that we have from print buyers that say they want to work with less vendors, and there's an opportunity for print service providers to become more sticky and add more value. So all of that is a very substantial trend that I would say that came out of uh printing united um automation. We've talked about is is top of mind because uh need to reduce cost and because of labor challenges, right? That's that's something that you know we we see across the globe as it relates to print service providers. So I would say those are probably the top trends that we really have seen uh coming out of the uh the expo.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, really interesting. And convergence, like you say, you've been part of the story of printing united as since its first inception, I suppose. Is it uh just for me, really? Uh and most of the um sort of changes going uh commercial printers going to wide format. Do you see anything like wide format going to packaging or or commercial to labels, or is it mostly the transition from commercial into wide format?
SPEAKER_01:No, it's it's all the above that you mentioned to varying degrees. Um label is very much a destination. I think it's the top destination across all the segments of what people are getting into. The barrier to entry is lower as opposed to, let's say, Flexpack, which is you know more difficult and requires more of an investment. Um but we're we're seeing interesting things. I mean, um apparel is mixed in there. Um promo marketing is mixed in there as far as you know where people are going. Um and there's it's just you know, a lot of the credit is due to OEMs, you know, like I mentioned, investing millions of dollars in RD and then pushing the envelope on various technologies, whether it's inkjet or others, which is allowing uh folks to get into other areas, you know, and lowering the barriers of entry. Um and uh, you know, it kind of makes sense, Marcus, if you think about it. Like maybe a good analogy. Tell me what you think of this. A good analogy is, you know, at least in the US when I was growing up, right? If you were gonna go shopping, right, you would go and you need a variety of things. You go to the supermarket to get your groceries, right? You go to the clothing store to get some clothing, uh and you go to the store where, I don't know, the home goods store to get stuff for the home. Now in the United States, they have things like Target and Walmart, right? Where everything is under one roof, which is which is a shame for the smaller guys, but from the perspective of um convenience, right, that's where the that's where things always seem to push is that they coalesce, right? And hence the hence the phrase convergence. And I think we're seeing some of that effect in the printing industry where you know if if you work for a major, I don't know, let's call it a retailer, and you need packaging and you need signage and you need things for shows, right? Like it's much easier to develop a trusted relationship with maybe it's not one today, maybe one day it will be, but two rather than eight print service providers. So I think I think that that's what's kind of happening. And um I I would say, you know, to your listeners that it would be important not to ignore that trend because again, that's the way things tend to change. I think that's what your customers want. And it's only to your benefit, right? You become you you you spend a lot of time, money, effort, years, you know, building trusted relationships. Why not grow them? And and with the last thing I'll say on that is you know, there's there's the question that I think many of your listeners but listeners might have would be, okay, well, where do I start? Right? Well, number one, one of the approaches I heard is that a print service provider looked at their customer and looked at all the places that their label existed. So it could be on cups, it could be on pens, it could be on boxes, it could be on paper, it could be you know on mailing. But I would also say like it's a time to be thoughtful and aim the arrow carefully and understand your market geographically, talk to your customers, like what's the other print that they're buying that they're buying, what needs do they have, do a needs assessment. Believe it or not, Marcus, just to show you how pervasive and how much this phenomenon is pushing. In the last year, unlike the previous nine years, the last year we did multiple engagements with print service providers, specifically on those looking to expand into other areas, which we've never done before. So print service providers are coming to us and saying, okay, this is my business. What should I get into, right? What area should I expand into? Which I think it shows that the industry is getting it and listening. And and anyway, I hope I didn't uh chalk your ear off there, but just a bit about what we're seeing.
SPEAKER_02:No, no, really interesting. And and the adoption, like you say, uh making it easier for print service providers to uh you know consider a new market because the technology enables it is a huge stepping stone. And also you mentioned that perhaps many of these customers that uh uh are buying commercial will buy wide format or packaging or labels from the same source. Uh it makes it easier for the customer, frankly. And so I can see the logic uh behind it. I don't know whether the same trend is quite as clear in Europe. Maybe you would know better than me on that, but I can certainly see from what you're saying, and also that like you say, the the the the story and success around Prince United is certainly is happening significantly in the in in North America, so that's really fascinating. So as as we reach the sort of towards the end of 2025, Nathan, and and look into the following year, um just any thoughts around where you see the biggest opportunities for growth really across the industry.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, um I think some of them we've talked about, right? Opportunities for growth involve, you know, one segment or segments that they operate in, but also other segments. Um so it's the evaluation of that. And to answer your question, I I do believe that convergence is happening in Europe, although to your point, probably not to the same degree at the same rate as within the U.S. But I do think that it will that will happen. And I would encourage your listeners to look at getting ahead of the curve in that way. And I don't want to minimize it, like it's easy for me to stand here and spend other people's money, but um uh there are ways. And and listen, it doesn't mean that you have to make investments in process for everything. It could be that you don't want to like the phrase I've heard is we don't want to turn customers away. So it could be that you get asked for something and you don't have the capability and you have a partner that you outsource it to that you develop a trusted relationship with, and that is sort of a way to start to build that awareness with your customers that we're here for more than what you know. So there's there's that, again, not to beat a dead horse, AI is a tremendous opportunity. Um, the way that we talk about AI, Marcus, is kind of the closing slide on the presentations is to that we encourage print service providers to treat AI as being at least as important as any other initiative within the organization. That includes the basics of sales and marketing. And what we see the leaders doing is that there has to be somebody that owns that. Like we all know, if if a project is unowned in an organization, it's gonna fail. Um, and there's so much, so much opportunity there. Um what else? Um Yeah, I I would I would I would stick with those kind of top two. And and I actually one one last thing is you know, we spoke about getting into the other areas, um, but also other ways in which you can serve the client. So for example, um design services or data services or web services or um anything that might be adjacent to print. And you know, we we we've seen some leaders here in North America that have transformed their organizations from being a print organization to a technology organization. So, you know, that could be things like I can do a mailing for you that involves, you know, a QR code to a digital website, you know, and is it called, you know what I mean? So you're you're you're kind of or person developing personalization mailing campaigns and utilizing their data and running it from the beginning to the end. Um so there's a list, I don't have it at my fingertips, but we ask about this in surveys about different services, such as the ones I've mentioned that folks offer. And increasingly we're seeing some of those things. And I think, like I said, you know, folks are transforming their companies from printing to technology companies and are able to see um continued growth and and innovation in that way.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and and that's fascinating in itself, isn't it? It's in that because of, I guess. The speed of change and the intuitive nature of technology now, whether it's software-facing technology or indeed hardware, is meaning companies becoming, well, you're saying service providers, uh the a technology business as much as they are production businesses. And I think that that just creates a whole new substrate of potential business models, doesn't it? That's really changing. I think that's really interesting uh insights. And um so there we go. So thanks so much, Nathan. Really, really fascinating stuff, really interesting. Um, generally in the terms of the print industry, also great to hear what's happening from a more of a European uh location than we are over here to you know what's happening in in North America and what's changes um are afoot and what opportunities are arising. So I really appreciate you joining the podcast.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, my pleasure, Marcus. It was great to be here and talk with you. I I very much thank you for the opportunity and uh hopefully we can continue to be in touch. Thank you. All right.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, you can subscribe now for more great audio content coming up and visit futureprint.tech for the latest news, partner interviews, in-depth industry research, and to catch up on content from future print events. We'll see you next time on the FuturePrint Podcast.
