The Innovators: Converting possibility into reality

With AI at its heart, Super Hi-Fi is innovating seemingly exponentially. With characteristic energy, co-founder and CEO Zack Zalon sets the scene for the company’s latest product — a transformational new streaming technology designed to power radio’s future.

RedTech: What inspires Super Hi-Fi to innovate?

Zack Zalon: We are endlessly motivated by the idea that we can help convert the “possible” into reality. We love the idea that the things we dream up in our most creative moments might actually be achievable, and from a personal standpoint, that’s a powerful driving force for each of us at Super Hi-Fi. But we’re also guided by an all-encompassing goal to contribute to an industry that we love and believe has the potential to grow beyond even its best previous days. That combination — a deep love of radio coupled with an unyielding passion for building new things — is what keeps us investing so heavily into the innovations we’re developing.

RedTech: What current technologies used in radio and audio will be obsolete by 2030?

Zalon: Most of them. Think of how many innovations have occurred over the past year alone: The rise of ChatGPT, the rollout of incredibly believable synthetic voices, the ability to generate highly realistic video with just a prompt, and the first truly high-end spatial computing headset. That’s literally in one year. What might you dream is coming over the next six? What new capabilities will arise to blow our minds? How will radio companies harness those tools to reduce operational complexity, increase margins, build new content experiences, or move into digital with a meaningful impact?

RedTech: How do your products make radio and audio relevant and sustainable in today’s hyper-competitive business environment?

Zalon: Imagine operating your radio company with half the effort and twice the margin, but where quality increases at the same time. Imagine your company simply blossoming into a digital-first radio service that attracts new listeners and drives new interactive experiences but keeps your risk to a minimum. Imagine operating an organization on the cutting edge of entertainment AND innovation, attracting new revenue at every touch point. That’s our goal for the industry, and every product we build is in service of that goal.

RedTech: What would you invent for radio and audio if money was no object and you had limitless resources?

Zalon: We think about that question every single day, and then we try to work out how to invent it without the benefit of limitless resources! Watch this space.

Solution description
HLS+ is a transformational new streaming technology designed to power the future of radio. It blends the art of linear, voice-tracked radio production with the power of interactivity and personalization — all in a format that is backward-compatible with billions of existing devices. HLS+ completely reimagines the power of Radio for the modern age.

This Q&A was published in the 2024 edition of The Innovators.

Info: www.superhifi.com/products/hls-plus