Trust as Currency with Serge Kajirian – The New Data Economy
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Trust as Currency with Serge Kajirian – The New Data Economy

Serge Kajirian leads data governance and privacy operations at Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company, where he oversees the most valuable catalog on Earth and the fan relationships tied to hundreds of labels and artists. With more than fifteen years of experience across media and entertainment, including stops at Disney Interactive and Fox Network Group, Serge sits at the exact intersection this show is built around: rights, permissions, fan trust, and AI.


In this episode, Serge unpacks how UMG values not just its recordings but the metadata and fandom information collected over decades. He walks through the concept of ring fencing as a governance tool, why trust functions as the true currency behind data sharing, and how AI is forcing the entire music industry to build new semantic layers of understanding. The conversation wraps with a look back at Serge's path through Disney and Fox before landing in music, plus the advice he'd give his younger self.

 
Takeaways:
  • Treat metadata and fandom information as core business assets, not just a byproduct of streaming, and build governance around them from the start.
  • Use ring fencing as a permissioning mechanism so labels and artists can share data safely without exposing it to competitors.
  • Establish clear ownership before building stewardship models. Know who owns the data, the music rights, and the marketing rights before deciding how to share any of it.
  • Treat trust as the real currency behind data sharing. One broken agreement can cause an entire ecosystem to stop participating.
  • Build documented runbooks so both people and AI systems understand the boundaries and rules of engagement.
  • Recognize AI as a new type of actor inside your data ecosystem, one that requires its own access controls, fact checking, and semantic layers.
  • Give fans and artists real input into how their data and preferences get used instead of assuming default consent.

Quote of the Show:

“Trust is the currency. The data has value if everyone in our ecosystem trusts it." - Serge Kajirian

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