By: Lynn Leahe
Cannes 2025 felt different this year – and the senior executives who were there noticed. The cocktails and caftans still flowed, but the discussions were seemingly less on creative more on tech in the “real world.”
As Omnicom Chief Communications Officer Joanne Trout put it, “another hot, crazy Cannes is in the books, but this year many of my conversations were about tech and AI, versus creativity and awards.” The industry veterans we heard from all seemed to pick up on the same vibe: less talk about what might happen, more focus on what’s happening right now. Here are their takeaways.
“This year at Cannes Lions, the common thread across many conversations was the evolution of advertising to shape culture, drive innovation, and lead with purpose. Whether through embracing strategic AI tools, championing inclusive leadership, or advancing bolder investments in trusted environments, the future is about creating a more responsible, effective, and human-centered ecosystem.” – Susan Schiekofer, Chief Media Officer, WPP Media
“The money just spent on massive beach tents and branded swag, hotel rooms and rosé bottles – at a time when thousands are losing jobs in big media and tech – represents steroidal-level dissonance. That said… this year’s convening on the Croisette offered more substance than most. Advertising is now THE central discussion of the Media Universe. And transforming the ad economy for the User Centric Era has evolved into a true group effort.
“Still, with so much broken in Media right now, we gotta ask ourselves if the money we just invested on seaside rock shows truly provides the ROMI we’re seeking.” – Evan Shapiro, Media Cartographer, ESHAP
“While AI dominated many corners of Cannes 2025 as the driving force uniting marketing, media, and technology, the real focus remained on connections – connections between creators and culture, brands and consumers, and clients and partners. From audience intelligence to data enrichment, and personalization at scale to creative speed, AI will no doubt transform our industry (and continue to change and challenge the agency model). Even so, this year’s event underscored our industry is still driven by authentic and meaningful relationships and human insights and experiences, which remain vital and irreplaceable in the ever-evolving landscape of AI-powered marketing.” – Crystal Park, Chief Marketing Officer, Horizon Media Holdings
“My biggest takeaway from Cannes this year is the undeniable power of collaboration. When we all come together – data partners, tech platforms, media buyers – we’re able to prove something we’ve always known deep down: TV and video really do drive results. Attribution isn’t just some fancy tool; it’s something we all share responsibility for. And now, with better data and stronger partnerships, we’re finally making it work – for advertisers big and small.” – Karen Babcock, Vice President, Advertising Strategy & Partnerships, Comcast Advertising
“There were so many Gen Z and Gen Alpha creators floating around that we called it a Coup on the Croisette at The Ankler. Every brand is now chasing the social media stars, and the social media stars are chasing the higher CPMs. It was speed dating at its finest, and you could feel the ground shifting even more for legacy media.” – Janice Min, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Ankler Media
“We witnessed the energy and power of live thriving at Cannes Lions this year. Across the Croisette, business leaders and iconic personalists dove into how live tentpole moments ignite culture, drive connection, and deliver impact for advertisers. Our well-attended ‘Vive Le Live!’ takeover at FreeWheel Beach further reinforced NBCUniversal as a cultural force, with celebrated stars highlighting the unique lasting engagement live programming and brand storytelling yields.” – Karen Kovacs, President, Advertising and Partnerships, NBCUniversal
“Clarity emerged as a defining theme at Cannes this year. In the CTV space in particular, buyers are asking more pointed questions about signal strength, transparency, and how curation is helping to reduce complexity while in parallel providing more control. Discussions around curation felt more pragmatic and evolved, reflecting a growing awareness that the sell side is no longer just a conduit, but instrumental in shaping outcomes.” – Mike Laband, Group SVP US Revenue at Magnite
“Discussion around AI was everywhere and anywhere. Some of it real, some still science fiction. But the deeper current at Cannes was content. Brands are shifting toward long-form storytelling. Creating work that earns attention, not just buys it. When done right, the return is exponential.” – Agency veteran and documentary filmmaker Daniel Clarke, founder of Unfeatured
“People in marketing are early adopters of AI. They have strong points of view on where, when and how AI will disrupt the industry. And the smartest people in media and marketing are looking not just at internal business use cases of AI, but looking outward. I’m convinced the biggest wins will come from paying attention to how this tech will change peoples’ behavior, from shopping to content consumption.” – Sarah Sluis, Executive Editor at AdExchanger and AdMonsters
“AI, AI, AI. It was the clear theme of the week. Across AdTech, agencies, and DPSs, everyone is leaning into AI. Amazon’s activation used AI to create custom fragrances tied to product marketing, while Meta offered real-time voice translation.” – Premesh Purayil, Chief Technology Officer at OUTFRONT
“In an era where consumer attention is fragmented across countless platforms and devices, traditional broad-reach advertising is no longer sufficient. At Cannes Lions 2025, a significant theme emerged: the effectiveness of accumulating micro-engagements to build robust brand equity. Brands are now focusing on delivering consistent, platform-tailored messages that resonate in brief, yet impactful, interactions.” – Ryan Nelsen, CMO, StackAdapt
“For me, the most exciting component is how AI and creativity are colliding to create a new paradigm. We’re seeing a real shift from modelling engines to answers, and with that, a true unlock in marketers wielding commercial answers in tandem with creative ideation. Marketers embracing the creative and answers super-combo will be the marketers not just succeeding in Cannes, but in the wider market over the next few years.” – Henry Innis, CEO and Co-Founder, Mutinex
“Cannes was in full swing. AI dominated – video agents that challenge you, automation, acceleration, and, thankfully, a renewed case for humanity. For BBC Studios, it was a moment to lean into what’s always driven us: storytelling that shifts perspectives, craft that keeps evolving, and a deep commitment to the global creative and cultural industries. In a week where technology dazzled and disrupted, one thing was clear: our greatest edge – and the key to real impact – remains the bold, brilliant, deeply human heart of creativity.” – Jennifer Ball, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing and Brand for Global Media & Streaming, BBC Studios
“A big theme at Cannes this year was how AI is raising expectations, but it can’t deliver without a strong identity backbone. There’s a growing recognition that real outcomes come from connecting the dots across planning, activation and measurement, not blindly chasing the next new tool.” – Chris Feo, Chief Business Officer, Experian
“From Hilton’s community-first approach to Kai Cenat redefining influence and Heinz’s viral Mustaaaard, the message at Cannes Lions 2025 was clear: Powerful brands and creators turn trending moments into authentic, unmissable community experiences that drive loyalty, growth, and lasting impact.” – Lynne d Johnson, Content Director, Communities, AdMonsters + Ad Exchanger
“The story of Cannes this year was fragmentation. There have never been more surfaces competing for attention, and with every business acting like an ad network, finding a clear path to real incremental growth is harder than ever. For marketers, this fragmentation makes everything more challenging: measurement, incrementality, and understanding platform capabilities. It takes a lot of sophistication for marketers to build the right channel strategy in this very complex new world of advertising.” – Paul D’Arcy, Chief Marketing Officer, Moloco
“This year at Cannes, Out of Home was undeniably front and center. From JCDecaux’s immersive Avenue experience to OAAA’s ‘Real World Advantage’ event with GSTV, Intersection, Lamar, and StackAdapt in The Female Quotient Lounge, OOH took center stage across conversations and activations. The Croisette itself felt like a living case study in the medium’s ability to create meaningful and engaging brand connections.” – Anna Bager, President and CEO, the OAAA
“Ad tech continues to be obsessed with the ‘outcomes’ meme and the echo chamber is only getting louder. I find that particularly odd – ad tech is all about performance and has always been that way. That’s what makes this industry so competitive and exciting.
“The difference now is that there are new ways to get there: the ecosystem has a new foundation for a brand new identity infrastructure that provides the connective tissue between the sell-side and the buy-side, and we have the incredible opportunities of better execution by leveraging AI.” – Vlad Stesin, Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer, Optable.
“A key takeaway from Cannes this year was how powerful collaboration can be when it comes to proving the impact of TV advertising. With new partnerships and data-driven solutions emerging, the industry is finally able to connect ad exposure to real business outcomes. We’ve always believed in the power of TV—now we have the tools to validate it.” – Dawn Williamson, Chief Revenue Officer, Comcast Advertising
“I’ve been going to Cannes for many years, and in 2025 I sensed an increasing urgency to get conversations between marketing and the boardroom right – we need agreed language and metrics that everyone is aligned with for marketers to regain control of the growth agenda. The shift from discussing creative excellence to discussing both creative excellence and business outcomes is real, as evidenced by the invite-only CEO gathering scheduled as part of the official Lions agenda.” – John Sintras, President US and Multinational, Mutinex
“There is a growing demand for simpler and more impactful global CTV and FAST advertising. We had seen this in the U.S. but at Cannes it was obvious that this demand has spread to Europe and beyond. The good news for companies looking to tap into the revenue opportunities of CTV is that the consolidation to offer access to this inventory (such as what Amazon and Roku announced) will only make it easier to meet this demand.” – Patrice Courtaban, EVP Global Growth & Business Development, TV5MONDE and CEO TV5MONDE USA
“I would say that my biggest takeaway is that the conversation around AI is finally shifting from adoption to acceleration — brands, agencies, publishers, and platforms are all now rolling out true examples of how AI can revolutionize the traditional limits of media planning and marketing. After seeing the trends at Cannes this year, I believe 2026 will be a year of rapid transformation for our industry, especially in terms of how we connect the consumer experience across both physical and digital touch points — to real outcomes and point of sale.” – Katie Secret, EVP, Global Head of Marketing and Go-to Market Strategy, Teads
“The most powerful takeaway from Cannes is that AI has shifted from experimentation to execution accountability…past asking ‘whether’ to adopt AI to now demanding proof that it can deliver practical value at scale with transparency and quality control. This is advertising’s maturation moment with AI.
“What struck me most was seeing how widespread the awareness has become around the necessity of rapid adaptation… it’s the general consensus. The real opportunity lies in moving beyond one-off chat interactions to repetitive, systematic work.
“Another theme was the challenge of scale. When you’re running thousands of AI-powered actions, spot-checking becomes critical. The agencies that will succeed are those building in observability from day one, they need to see the proof of work, not just trust the black box. And a significant undercurrent at Cannes was the conversation around model context protocol, MCP.
“While everyone’s focused on flashy AI demos, the forward-thinking agencies and tech vendors are building the infrastructure that will actually enable autonomous AI systems to work across their entire stack.” – Jon Reilly, CEO and co-founder, AKKIO
“If you go to Cannes, you are in the game. You can still be in the game if you don’t go, but by being there, you’re in it. What I saw was:
- People talking AI were actually talking use cases this year, vs. theory the previous years.
- Content creators are transitioning to TV, beyond just YouTube and TikTok. There were many examples of it happening and many seeking development deals.
- It’s now just assumed your programmatic connections are in place or scaling up and you’re optimizing your programmatic sales channels.
- Traditional sellers of TV inventory have been losing market share to new digital players. But now, instead of fighting them, they’re working together like never before – e.g. Sky, ITV, Channel 4 in the UK banding together in order to compete with an Amazon Prime or Netflix.” – Chris Pizzurro, Principal, Leap Media Group LLC
“Cannes was more focused on technology, adtech, and AI innovation this year, with marketers demanding accountability and results. ‘Outcomes’ was the topic, looking past the fluff. The bottom-line focus was likely appealing to the high volume of finance types and M&A dealmakers, who would naturally be drawn to what’s real and not just hype. I was glad to hear so much interest in where AI and adtech are taking us in areas like contextual ad targeting and shoppable content, to real-time creative adaptation and how the industry can help brands build bigger and better.” – Gary Mittman, CEO, KERV.ai
“Back in 2018, I spoke about Artful intelligence – the idea of human involvement in AI. It’s surprising to me that I spoke about this concept over seven years ago but we’re still seeing artificial intelligence in the hype and hope phase in Cannes 2025. Overall, there is just too much talk about artificial. We need to move past the hype and have real conversations about authentic AI tech that will move the industry forward.” – Doug Rozen, President, Cadent
“This year’s Cannes was about the art and science of marketing. The brands leading the way are using both sides of the coin: data and creativity to drive results and make emotional connections. Agentic AI also emerged as a strong theme, showing how AI can elevate both performance and storytelling.” – Angela Hoye, Head of Corporate Communications, LG Ad Solutions
“What really stood out to me is how fast the industry is rushing to ‘prove it’ – to lock down attribution, promise a clear view of ROI, and layer AI as a magic solution. But the biggest opportunity isn’t in meaningless guarantees. It’s having a solid foundation of accurate, consented, and deterministic data. Then, AI can be leveraged to quickly and seamlessly process and integrate disparate data, all while maintaining privacy and accuracy to effectively balance performance with brand-building. If we want real outcomes, we must shift our focus from proving superficial ROI to creating value by enabling strategic outcomes measurement that balances short-term gains with sustainable brand growth.” –Damian Garbaccio, CMO, Affinity Solutions
“Cannes left me with three big takeaways. First, we’re witnessing a true evolution, maybe even a revolution, in marketing, driven by brands demanding real outcomes and AI disrupting everything. I’m fired up to push this forward: let’s blow it up, stop wasting money, and get serious about effectiveness. Second, it’s wild how many people talk about personalization and relevance like they’re new ideas. That’s just brand marketing fundamentals, we’ve let performance metrics distract us from the basics. And third, while incrementality is the buzzword, I think the real story is brand insecurity. In this economic climate, teams are desperate to prove value because they lack the tools to plan with confidence. I believe in incrementality, but we should address the insecurity driving this as the next big thing .” – Bradley Keefer, CRO, Keen Decision Systems
“Feels like last year, every conversation was about ‘identity spines.’ While audience is still important, there seemed to be a shift to effectiveness and accountability vs. just contextual targeting. All of the ecosystem partners were most interested in partnerships and how we start to build platform integration and interoperability. The current environment and the increasing fragmentation necessitates speed and better intelligence around accountability, which is why AI and technology are starting to come more to the forefront. The next step will be audience level modeling, but the data is not there yet. That will be the next stage of the revolution.” – Greg Dolan, CEO, Keen Decision Systems
“The biggest takeaway is that no matter how fast you think the market is moving, the reality is likely that it’s moving even faster. More programmatic marketplace announcements, data accelerating great decision-making, AI at the forefront of almost every conversation, in-housing continues, and yet the power of agency partnerships continue to strengthen the ecosystem. Keeping up with the fast pace is now table stakes and if you’re not doing it, you will fall behind.” – Darrick Li, VP, Sales, North America, Guideline
“1. There’s more money spent and more people than I have ever seen. 2. People are focused on outcomes more and more and trying to understand what drives conversions. 3. Integrations and partnerships help the biggest companies as they can consolidate and make user experience better. AI was used a lot, but it still needs to connect — meaning they need pipes for AI to get to data, content, etc. Just having AI is meaningless without the connections to multiple companies. And you need partnerships to get everything you need to create marketer outcomes. 4. AI was concentrated in two main areas. Smarter planning capabilities and creative execution.” – Tyler Kelly, President, Basis Technologies
“This year marked my fifth time attending Cannes since 2014, and one thing stood out more than ever: the rising dominance of Big Tech. From high-profile DoorDash activations to large-scale, tech-driven installations, it was clear that Cannes has shifted – from being primarily about creativity to becoming increasingly centered around technology, with AI dominating nearly every conversation. Among all the activations, the Stagwell Sports Beach clearly stood out. It consistently drew the largest crowds and longest lines across all beach and booth setups—undoubtedly one of the most attended destinations this year.
“That said, one area felt notably underrepresented: conversations around the fast-growing Gen Z diverse audiences (now 49% of 12-24). Outside of the important work led by the ANA, the Hispanic Marketing Council, and Salon Culture, the lack of focus on a high growth opportunity for marketers was disappointing. In a US climate where people of color, LGBTQ+ communities continue to face harassment, deportation, and systemic disrespect, Cannes once again missed a crucial opportunity to engage with the moment. Despite that, Sabio had one of our strongest Cannes experiences to date.
“Thank you to everyone who helped make this week both productive and inspiring—we’re just getting started.” – Aziz Rahmitoola, CEO and Co-Founder, Sabio
“The biggest takeaway I have is actually regarding the TV reaction to YouTube. Of all the major tech companies, YouTube were the only ones to have a major presence on the main beach, however the two announcements early in the week were from broadcasters taking a shot at YouTube. These were the marketplace launched by Sky, ITV, Channel4 and Comcast Universal Ads, aimed at making it easier for small businesses to advertise on TV (typically Google’s heartland), and Netflix’s announcement that they would be distributing TF1’s streaming service on its platform, effectively replicating YouTube’s model as a distribution channel.” – Rishi Chande, Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer, Captify
“My biggest takeaway from Cannes was the value of smaller gatherings. I participated in a few, including those that we at CivicScience hosted for CMOs each morning. Whether you are a leader of an agency, brand, or publisher, the opportunity for candid, open dialogue with your peers around some of the most pressing topics facing business today was invaluable.” – Gretchen Tibbits, President & COO, CivicScience
“Feels like last year, every conversation was about ‘identity spines.’ While audience is still important, there seemed to be a shift to effectiveness and accountability vs. just contextual targeting. All of the ecosystem partners were most interested in partnerships and how we start to build platform integration and interoperability. The current environment and the increasing fragmentation necessitates speed and better intelligence around accountability, which is why AI and technology are starting to come more to the forefront. The next step will be audience level modeling, but the data is not there yet. That will be the next stage of the revolution.” – Greg Dolan, CEO, Keen Decision Systems
“1. Despite all the discussion about AI, this remains a relationship business. It’s always been about relationships and partnerships. That continues to be proven with the value that comes from in-person discussion and meetings with current and prospective partners. 2. Outcomes are moving up in priority and becoming a bigger part of the conversation. Going beyond campaign metrics to business outcomes is the new focus area. 3. Education for planning and buying teams remains important and often overlooked. Seems simple but it’s critical for teams to keep a pulse on the evolving digital landscape and emerging opportunities.” – April Weeks, Chief Investment and Media Officer, Basis Technologies
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