Longtime industry leader Axle AI (Hall 7.D20), with over 1,000 MAM and DAM sites worldwide, introduces an integrated solution that runs locally and provides a local-AI-powered way to search for key clips amid hundreds of terabytes of media files.
Axle AI, the leader in on-premise media asset management, is launching a major new platform, Axle AI FOCUS, at Amsterdam’s IBC2026 conference next week. Building on eight years of development of on-premise AI capabilities as well as its acquisition of Portfolio DAM from Monotype/Extensis in March, Axle AI offers media teams the FOCUS of a single, unified interface for all of their media, subclips and metadata – both AI-generated and human-tagged – regardless of where they are stored.
With social media marketing demanding quick repurposing of existing media, a tool like Axle AI FOCUS is essential. It puts the power of the AI revolution under your control, with a radically simple user interface and affordable workgroup pricing. And it works with your existing storage, folder organisation, codecs, and file-naming conventions. Best of all, an Axle AI FOCUS server can run on standard hardware such as Apple’s Mac mini or any Intel- or AMD-based desktop computer (some AI features require an Nvidia gaming card).
“In the last few years, we’ve seen a significant portion of the media industry conclude that while cloud workflows may have their place, there’s no substitute for the speed, security, control and searchability of storing core media assets locally,” said Sam Bogoch, Axle AI’s CEO. “The sad fact is there are so many tools for different phases of a media workflow, with so many different interfaces, that users get confused. We decided to create a single, unified interface that follows you through the entire media workflow, from ingest through final review, in a single, easy-to-use package.” Bogoch and his cofounder Neil Blake, who manages the African business for Axle AI, have decades of experience in the broadcast and post-production market, including their time working on Interplay and Media Central solutions at Avid.
With its emphasis on privacy, security, and performance, Axle AI FOCUS starts with a 100% on-premises solution. Its MAM and AI modules all run on affordable local hardware, with a smooth, integrated browser front end that manages everything for creative users. No data leaves your site. To the extent Axle AI FOCUS cloud capabilities such as the threaded review and browser timeline editor are invoked, they are deployed at the sole discretion of the customer, and generally on customer-managed virtual servers – not hyperscalers like AWS, Microsoft or Google.
Beau Nilsson, Director of Post Production and Operations at Radley Studios, said, “Axle AI gives us a straightforward way to keep our projects organised and accessible. Just as importantly, their team has been great to work with. We’re always experimenting with adding external tagging data into our Axle AI catalogue, and their support team is genuinely interested in helping us execute those ideas.”
Axle AI FOCUS brings together the feature sets of four previously separate Axle AI products under a streamlined browser-based user interface and platform. Configurations start at $2,995 per year for a 3-person team; this is much less expensive and complex than competing MAM solutions.
Contact Axle AI for details:
+1-415-225-1926 mobile and WhatsApp
Or visit Axle AI at IBC2026 – Hall 7, stand 7 D.20.
