This May, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco will host the 2025 edition of the Museums of Tomorrow Roundtable (MTR), a weeklong forum running on May 13th that brings together cultural leaders and tech pioneers to explore the future of museums in a digital world. Organized in collaboration with cultural strategist András Szántó, the Roundtable will gather 20 museum directors from six continents, including Mami Kataoka (Mori Art Museum, Tokyo), Phillip Ihenacho (Museum of West African Art, Benin City), and Ingrid Røynesdal (National Museum of Norway), alongside Bay Area peers and companies like Adobe, Salesforce, and Anthropic.
The forum aims to tackle the pressing question: how can institutions remain relevant in an era shaped by AI, data, and shifting visitor behaviors? FAMSF Director Thomas P. Campbell described the initiative as a space for “urgent reflection” on how museums can embrace innovation without losing the tactile, human experiences audiences value. Highlights include workshops, site visits, and cross-sector dialogue designed to foster global collaboration and tech-literacy in the museum field.
A centerpiece of the week will be Future-Proofing the Museum, a public event on May 13th at the de Young Museum. The program will feature a keynote panel with international museum directors and a conversation between Szántó and Refik Anadol, the acclaimed artist whose AI-powered installations have redefined the boundaries of data and creativity. Anadol will discuss his upcoming LA-based institution, Dataland, and how he envisions museums as immersive, tech-driven spaces. Read more about Refik Anadol’s creative world in our interview.
According to Szántó, the MTR offers a rare chance for decision-makers to slow down and think long-term amid accelerating change. For participants like Kataoka, whose current exhibition explores AI and video games, the forum is a timely opportunity to reimagine the museum as both archive and innovation lab.