How ScalePost’s Ahmed Malik is building an AI survival strategy for media

When chatbots summarize your reporting instead of sending audiences to your website, who really wins—and how can creators fight back?Ahmed Malik, CEO of ScalePost, joins The Media Copilot to unpack the act of AI disintermediation. It’s a term that’s thrown around a lot, but it’s just a fancy word for when an AI chatbot like ChatGPT or Perplexity writes a summary based on a topic instead of directing a person to a website.That's the basic thing AI services do, but if you think about it, even if the user doesn't have to read the website anymore, the chatbot does. The thing is, chatbots don't look at ads, they don't buy subscriptions, and they sometimes don't even respect paywalls.Because of this simple idea, AI search is rewriting the economics of the web. But what if media companies could push back and get paid? That’s where Malik and ScalePost come in. As a bridge between publishers and AI platforms, ScalePost helps news organizations protect their work, monetize their data, and create a dialogue with the tech companies shaping the future.Ahmed and I  break down:The hard truth about how AI is siphoning traffic—and what bot activity means for the future of metricsWhy evergreen content is especially vulnerable to AI disruptionWhat ScalePost is doing to make private deals and licensing discussions possibleHow media companies are thinking beyond lawsuits to carve out new business modelsWhat the Ziff Davis lawsuit against OpenAI signals for the industry at largeAhmed also shares insight from ScalePost’s closed-door sessions with major publishers and AI platforms—giving us a rare peek into how the media business is negotiating its future in an AI-dominated landscape.If you’re a journalist, media executive, or content creator wondering how to stay relevant—and solvent—in the age of generative AI, you’ll want to hear this one.-If you’re enjoying The Media Copilot, don’t forget to follow the show on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Leaving a rating or review helps more people discover the show. If you're watching on YouTube, be sure to like and subscribe for weekly episodes on how AI is reshaping media, journalism, and content creation.You can also subscribe to The Media Copilot newsletter (link in show notes) and visit mediacopilot.ai for exclusive resources, tools, and AI training courses built specifically for media professionals.This episode of The Media CoPilot was produced by Pete Pachal, Executive Producer Michele Musso, and with video/audio editing by the Musso Media team. Produced by Musso Media. © 2025 Musso Media. All rights reserved.Music: Favorite by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 4.0 License © AnyWho Media 2025