Senior VP & Chief Marketing Officer, Qualcomm Inc
Qualcomm CMO Don McGuire on Ecosystems, AI, and Customer Loyalty
At VivaTech Festival 2026, Qualcomm EVP & CMO Don McGuire joined Michael Kassan, Founder and CEO of 3C Ventures, alongside Alex Hardiman, Chief Product Officer at The New York Times, and Jean-Yves Minet, Global Brand President at Accor, for a discussion on how leading brands are creating deeper customer relationships through connected ecosystems, AI, and personalized experiences.
Highlights from the discussion include:
• How brands are building loyalty through ongoing engagement across products, services, and experiences.
• The role AI plays in delivering more relevant and personalized cust...
About Don Mcguire
Don McGuire, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Qualcomm, has been active in several industry events discussing the company's brand strategy and technological direction. At the 2026 SPORT BEACH Cannes event, McGuire spoke about the intersection of sports, music, and technology, stating that Qualcomm has begun combining sports and music partnerships to create deeper emotional connections with audiences. He also discussed how AI is changing content discovery, moving from traditional search methods toward agent-based interactions. At VivaTech Festival 2026, McGuire introduced the concept of the "ecosystem of you," describing it as a framework for using technology in daily life while keeping personal data private and secure, and allowing augmented intelligence to learn from users to become more helpful. At Qualcomm's 2026 Investor Day, the company announced a revised fiscal 2029 revenue target of $40 billion, up from a previous $22 billion target for non-handset revenue. McGuire noted that handset revenue is expected to fall below 50% of total revenue by 2027 and to one-third by 2029, as the company expands into automotive, IoT, and data center markets. In a 2024 interview, McGuire identified complacency and missing technological inflection points as the most destructive forces in tech, and he expressed skepticism about the need for AI to reach superintelligence, calling it "very dangerous" to pursue innovation for its own sake. He also emphasized that for AI to scale, it must be hybrid, with workloads distributed between cloud and edge devices to address sustainability and economic challenges.
Transcript (55 segments)
H
Host0:11
Thank you. Guys, I want to kind of dive in because we've got a lot to cover and we don't have a lot of time, so we're going to try and be efficient. I want to set the stage, although I think the stage is set already, but many of the world's most valuable companies are becoming ecosystems rather than standalone products. And I think that's because the relationship we're trying to build with our consumers is more than a single transaction. That's the base for this conversation. I want to start with Don. Don, when we're talking about building a relationship, and this is something you and I focused on when we first got to know each other several years ago. And your dream really was from a branding standpoint with Snapdragon to create a relationship with the consumer.
D
Don Mcguire1:07
Absolutely.
H
Host1:08
And it has something to do with your history of something else being inside. Right. I'll let the audience figure out what that is, but you had a mission. Could you talk about that? Because that's where you're saying it's more than transactional, it's a relationship.
D
Don Mcguire1:24
Yeah, I mean I think for any brand, no matter if you were more of an ingredient or more of a front-facing brand, having a long-term relationship with your audience, your consumer, your user, your customer is super important. It's probably more important than ever as building trust and turning that into loyalty is of high value. When you talk about most valuable companies or valuing a company or a brand, if you're purely transactional, it's really hard to determine what that value really is because you could lose that at any moment. But if you can show that you've built long-term relationships with your audience or your customer, there is true value in that. And that's measurable. So we set out on a journey with Snapdragon several years ago to take something that lives on the inside and make it important to people. So far so good. I think we've made a lot of progress. And that's how we look at things. It's really long-term because we live in the technology space. Having a relationship with technology is something that people have every day on an ongoing basis.
H
Host2:33
You mentioned a word that I'm going to come back to. You mentioned trust in there I think one or two times because what I think I've stumbled on, maybe not, maybe I was intentional in it. The two most important words in our industry today, when I describe our industry I look at it through the lens of the intersection of marketing, media, advertising, entertainment, sports, and technology. That's a very busy intersection, but there's a lot going on. But we'll come back to that. The two words that seem to be most important are trust and transparency from a consumer relationship.
D
Don Mcguire3:07
Yep.
H
Host3:07
Jean-Yves, our course spans luxury, lifestyle, premium, economy, along with dining, entertainment, experiences. What creates that sense of connection? Before you answer, I'll tell a quick story. When I was young, I had some aspirations. One of them was when somebody said, 'Do you want to be famous?' I said, 'With only two people.' They said, 'Who's that?' I said, 'The president of the bank and the concierge in the best hotels in the world.' How am I doing? [laughter] I hope it's still the same.
J
Jean-Yves3:40
It's still the same. No, absolutely. I think that the relationship with the concierge is critical not only for a good stay, but also for something after the stay. We'll talk about it. There are more tools today, especially powered by AI, that help us enhance this relationship. But back to your question, I think what really unites and connects all the brands that Accor has is this sense of purpose. We live in a very blessed industry in travel and leisure because no matter the region you live in, the budget you have, your social demographic, travel remains the number one need and desire for anyone, after the necessity of food, lodging, and health. Everybody wants to travel. Today, brands that are really able to connect are the brands that not only offer stays, but offer something more deeply meaningful around purpose. At the end of the day, we try not to offer stays, but to offer sense in their lives.
H
Host4:55
And it makes a difference. Here's the question. Have you perfected the ruby slippers yet? Can we just click our heels and get there, or do we still have to travel?
J
Jean-Yves5:05
There's a lot of innovations on slippers, but people still ask for it for a sense of comfort, for sure.
H
Host5:10
There you go. I think Elon's thinking that out. [laughter] Exactly. Alex, the New York Times has built products that people engage with every day for different reasons, multiple times a day. Information, entertainment, utility, Wordle, ritual. What have you learned about creating that portfolio from a product perspective where each experience plays off the next, it strengthens because the weakest link and all that? You have to make sure the experience at each one of those is delivering.
A
Alex5:45
It's a great question. I want to start with the word ecosystem, which you used at the top, because we for the last 10 to 15 years have really been trying to build out a very intentional product ecosystem, which we call the essential subscription. The whole point is to work in spaces: news is the most important, but also games, sports, food and cooking, shopping, things that play into people's passions, so that we can ultimately meet a range of news and life needs every single day. That helps people not only understand the world around them, but really act on it with intention, enjoyment, and purpose. On one hand, each of these products is designed to meet a certain set of needs. If you just come in for Wordle and you want to play Wordle and share it with your group chat, and you're done, that's great. We'll start the relationship there. But over time, what we want to do is build pathways back. So if you like Wordle, maybe we'll bring you over to sports connections, and then you can check your World Cup scores with The Athletic. Then you might go listen to The Daily with Michael Barbaro. So we're really thinking about building a connected portfolio of products that has intentional pathways, and that has gravity, and is all based on the premise and promise of independent journalism that is accurate, that you can't get anywhere else, and a really excellent product and software experience that is personalized and adds real value and utility, so you can act on that journalism in a way that works for your life.
H
Host7:09
And in the customer relationship across the portfolio, creating habituation is the key, right? You...
A
Alex7:19
Absolutely. And we made a pretty counterintuitive decision about 10 years ago. Most of our peers in the media industry, during the web 2.0 era of search and social, were unbundling their content and products and services and trying to get audiences wherever they might be. We made a very different decision, where we said we're going to be destination first and direct relationship first. By doing that, we really decided to create enough gravity and original and distinct value that you can only get from us. So people actually have a reason to build a habit and they have a brand promise that we can deliver every single day. Every new product feature is about continuing to earn that trust and loyalty. We build lifelong relationships. That's really at the core of our brand.
H
Host8:06
Absolutely. Don, technology ecosystems create value through collaboration in many ways culturally.
D
Don Mcguire8:15
Sure.
H
Host8:16
And you've done that with Snapdragon particularly. But I guess my question would be what makes it an organization attractive to partner with Snapdragon? From the organization side and from your side. How do you judge that?
D
Don Mcguire8:33
Well, I think when you look at how to build this long-term relationship with your customer or your customer's customer in some cases, partnership is a critical piece of that mix. I think community is also a piece of that mix that goes beyond traditional advertising or marketing methods. When we were looking at how to really build affinity for Snapdragon and create that stickiness that you were talking about, we had to add some slices to the pie, and one of those slices was partnerships. Partnerships with our brand partners who utilize our technology to bring their value proposition to life, whether that's BMW, Samsung, LVMH, or others. We have some amazing brand partners, some of the biggest brands in the world that use our technology to enhance their value proposition. Partnering with them is super important. But also brand partnerships with people like Manchester United or Mercedes Formula 1 to explore and connect what we do with people's passions, which you mentioned, because connecting through people's passions is a way to tell your story in a way that's relevant to them. Partnerships are really important on two fronts for us: one is our customers and how they tell their story to their customers and how we enhance that together, and then partnerships that we form with the brand to tell our story directly.
H
Host10:02
It's a win-win in that case.
D
Don Mcguire10:05
It's a win-win for everybody, including the consumer. But I also believe historically some brands refused or were reluctant to share the spotlight with a partner for fear of brand dilution. I think that's BS.
H
Host10:21
Yeah, so do I because in brand partnerships it's like life. We're known by the company we keep. So from that perspective, you want to be aligned with things that represent the same values. I agree with you, the consumer looks through that and says, 'Is this real?' And the business back idea, these are people who are using Qualcomm's products. It makes perfect sense.
D
Don Mcguire10:47
Yeah, absolutely.
H
Host10:47
But you're creating that experience. Jean-Yves, travel arguably, back to my fantasies growing up, but travel creates some of the most memorable moments in a person's life. Those are highlights. You remember those trips and you transport yourself. How do you extend the relationship beyond the trip itself to keep it live?
J
Jean-Yves11:11
Yeah, absolutely. We do keep it live through memories and pictures, but the trip itself is short, usually a week or two. How do you keep that relationship with the consumer? It starts even before the memories. Before the trip, there is anticipation, booking, finding out where you're going. Communication of the brand is essential. But your question is about the after. How do you keep that relationship through memories? Because we're still... The travel is not every day. So how do we stay on top of mind and meaningful in people's lives? I'll give you an example: we created the Novotel 37 Collective, a collective of influencers. The purpose of Novotel is to help people achieve longer, fuller, healthier lives. Longevity is extremely relevant today. Our philosophy is about longevity every day. It's not just during the stay through food, sleep, connection, but how you keep that quest for longevity after the stay. At Novotel, we have a philosophy: 1% better. If you eat 1% better, sleep 1% better, move with intention 1% better, and have social connection 1% better every single day, it compounds over time. The effect is real. It's about math. We call it 37 because one person better every day for 365 days equals 37. I'm a math geek. We stay coherent with three influencers: sleep experts, culinary experts that provide tips daily through social media to keep the memory long and help achieve longevity.
H
Host14:00
I love that. Alex, as we said, the Times has a direct relationship with millions of subscribers across multiple products. How do you use behavioral insights to make experiences more relevant without a Big Brother feeling, without people feeling like they're being observed? Which, by the way, we are, but how do I not feel that way?
A
Alex14:25
It's a fantastic question. We design our products with intentionality around the ethos of time well spent. One of the best examples of time well spent at The New York Times goes back to 1942 when we introduced the crossword for the first time. It was a couple weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, World War II. The country was going through a dark period, and they wanted a reprieve. We wanted to give people a way to do something different with their mind, but not turn their mind off. That ethos started with the crossword in print and has translated into every new game, every new podcast. When we design products, we design them to point you to things that matter for you or to be part of a shared moment with the community of readers and subscribers. They have a beginning and an end. You come, we satisfy that need, and then you can go get on with your day. That is one of the best brand promises that gives people a sense of trust that they will come back to The New York Times and their time will be well spent.
H
Host15:50
Well, this is a question for all of you. Today, consumers are sharing more signals than ever before. What makes personalization feel more useful, timely, and welcome? I mean, you're getting the signals. Don, you're seeing them. How do you successfully connect with the audience based on the signals you're getting? This is for all of you.
D
Don Mcguire16:16
Well, I think it's never been more important, especially in the advent of not just AI, but agentic AI, that the personalization we can deliver or enable people to have through technology is super important. We call this concept the ecosystem of you. The ecosystem of you is about how you use technology in your daily life, but how you keep that data set yours, not gift it to the world mistakenly. Keep that data close to you, private, secure, safe, but also allow this augmented intelligence that can be so useful and helpful if used right to learn from you so it can be more helpful. It's super personal. If we can create that environment where people feel safe but allow behavioral companionship with AI in a way that becomes less prompt-and-response and more suggestive and anticipatory, then that will be the ultimate in personalization as you move through your day, whether being more productive, creative, or entertained.
H
Host17:32
So, Jean-Yves, in hospitality, relevance is shaped by more than demographics.
J
Jean-Yves17:37
Yeah.
H
Host17:38
With all the signals you're getting, are there particular signals that you pay more attention to in terms of what the consumer is looking for from a brand? In your world, there are going to be certain things that a brand is looking for different than The New York Times and different than Qualcomm. Or maybe not.
J
Jean-Yves17:56
A comfortable night's sleep. But that isn't... Hopefully the Times doesn't put me to sleep. [laughter] Yes. I mean, signals is very important. There's the first layer that is quite traditional about demographics. We have fantastic tools to segment and target better. But where it gets really interesting are the additional two layers: behaviors. You might have a man checking into the hotel. He's a businessman, but behind that, he might be a father of two. He might want to stay over the weekend with his family. He might be stressed because he's in the meeting of his life. How do you use that data to deliver a better service on the spot in the hotel? That's what we're trying to crack. And then the last one is purpose. You might know demographics and behaviors, but that person might be interested in sustainability, sense of belonging. This idea of going beyond the stay and connecting with people's values is something AI is helping us do. If we know your preferences, we can cater for a better, more memorable stay.
H
Host20:00
To that point, we've talked about understanding people. We all have to understand the consumers we're interacting with. I long ago gave up B2B or B2C. To me, it's B2H: business to human. Still business to human, but what are you doing with that information to become part of the experience itself? Alex, do you see AI creating entirely new experiences for readers? How do you look at it from a product development perspective, not just efficiency?
A
Alex20:39
Absolutely. If I think about AI, like any powerful technology, we are quite creative and strategic about how to use it, but we always point it in service of our mission: to seek the truth and help people understand the world, and in terms of our essential subscription strategy. It's not a separate strategy or roadmap. Everything is principled and guided through the lens of unlocking mission-driven revenue growth. In the newsroom, journalists use LLMs to sift through data sets to uncover new reporting. In products, we use AI to make coverage accessible through audio and voice. With brands, we use models to hyper-target individual brand messages to the right audience at the right time. There are many use cases, but guided by ethical principles.
H
Host22:01
Know that I'd characterize it as a pet peeve, but it's something I've thought about for quite some time. The idea of the right article at the right time, we all struggled to find the right context and moment. We can't lose sight that in marketing, we need some surprise and delight. Auto manufacturers always say 'I want to reach that consumer when they're in market.' How about when they're not in market and they see a beautiful picture of a new car and go, 'You know, actually, maybe I do want a new car.'
A
Alex22:42
That is but that is one of the things that we are really trying to balance and I want to give us some credit because I think we're doing it well, where we have incredible editorial and creative judgment and taste that goes into curating and pointing people towards things that matter. We have 2,500 journalists who are taste makers every day trying to create moments of serendipity. Then we marry that with careful privacy-forward personalization to also make sure that the other things that we know you like, we can help you find them at the right time. But it's a balance between that shared experience so you feel like you're a part of something with the collective and also something that feels like it's deeply useful to you. And consumers, I'm sure you're seeing this, they want more control. There has definitely been a backlash against full algorithmically curated feeds. So how do you make sure that you're putting your customer and your audience in a sense where they have agency, their data is being used with real care and privacy-safe mechanisms. It's a very interesting and important part of brands who have any sort of trust with their audiences.
H
Host23:48
Go ahead, Don. Were you going to say something?
D
Don Mcguire23:50
No, no, it's absolutely.
H
Host23:52
Jean-Yves, we talked about AI and the guest experience, but the opportunity to do things in real time is extraordinary. Let's say the business person shows up at the hotel for meetings, but the weekend will be with family. AI would probably tell you that. When I checked into my hotel, AI would know I'm here for a conference. Is that happening real time? Is somebody doing a search of a guest who's checking in? They could find out so much on the spot.
J
Jean-Yves24:30
I wouldn't say in real time because AI is still for all industries. [laughter] The systems exist already where we know a lot about consumers. But in hospitality, what matters is the human connection. We use data and AI to process this data to deliver digestible information for the staff, we call them heartists, so they can execute better service. AI is not to replace, but to power up and enhance. AI is invisible in order to power up the work of the heartists. We don't want heartists to spend hours processing data. We want to ease up the check-in process so we can focus on human connection, surprise and delight. That's the heart of hospitality.
H
Host26:14
If you can take anticipating needs and delivering on that, that's a surprise and delight.
J
Jean-Yves26:21
That's the holy grail.
H
Host26:24
Alex, this is really a question for everybody, but loyalty is often measured through behavior, but belonging is even harder to measure. How do you know when people feel connected to what you're building?
A
Alex26:40
I love this question. We do, but I think there's a broader ecosystem level shift happening. At least half of what I see and read on the internet is machine generated or touched by AI. People are having a harder time understanding what is real. There is a deeper connection being formed to brands that people trust, where they know they can come for reliable, human-made expertise and judgment. For us, it's around news, sports, cooking, games, shopping. It starts with the brand promise that every time you come, you get original human-made expert journalism. Around that, we create emotional and utilitarian connection by making sure our products are more distinct than anything else. When those combine, branded destinations with real value and trust, people seek them out by name, especially amid confusion and chaos.
H
Host28:22
Build community around that.
A
Alex28:24
And absolutely. This human connection: you can deal with a bunch of AIs, or you can come and engage with expert journalists, other readers, listeners, viewers who want to be part of something shared.
H
Host28:39
In the hospitality industry, this translates into belonging. Obviously, we're all seeking loyalty, but more powerful is when a guest engages with your values and takes care of the local communities, environment, and participates in learning through food and beverages. For our brands, being in the local community is important. The next generation of loyalty is that sense of belonging, participating, and doing something for the greater good.
Do not undervalue the power of community.
J
Jean-Yves29:25
We have to overvalue it because it matters. The cultural zeitgeist is influenced by the community, but the community creates the cultural zeitgeist.
H
Host29:38
I said at the beginning we were going to come back to the word trust. We've used it many times. Trust and transparency go together in the consumer's mind today. The other two words that go together are content and commerce. You rarely hear the word commerce without being modified by content. Across the three of you, I'll ask Alex first. Content creating content... The New York Times began as a print vehicle. It does so much more. You're creating content all the time. It's driving commerce.
A
Alex30:20
Yes, and I would say what we're trying to do is make sure that our journalism has a diversity of entry points. We show journalism with reporters on camera, through voice, through mediums that create real authentic connections. The more we give people entry points in ways that reduce friction, we drive engaged audiences. That engaged audience is the fuel for our subscription, advertising, commerce, and licensing businesses. It always starts with building excellent journalism-based products that are distinct. If people build habits, it unlocks a resilient set of revenue streams that complement each other.
D
Don Mcguire31:19
You also have to remember what action you're trying to get out of your audience. The content is not just about the content, it's about context, relevance, timing. If you're just throwing something out there to let it simmer, that's different from driving a transaction. I think a lot of people don't understand that. Without content and commerce together, you're disconnected. You can be content-forward without wanting to drive commerce at that moment.
H
Host32:13
Absolutely.
J
Jean-Yves32:14
I know we're at time so I'll be super quick. I think in a world where content creation grows faster than attention span, we need to be really relevant and meaningful. That's all.
H
Host32:30
Absolutely. Jean-Yves, Alex, Don, I want to thank you for your time and I want to thank all of you for your attention. Thank you.