Cannes Lions 2025 - Where AI Meets Creativity

WOW. What a chaotic, beautiful, hot, and slightly sweaty week - but above all, an inspiring one packed with invaluable insights and real-world learning. Cannes Lions 2025 didn’t disappoint.

One of the biggest themes woven throughout the week was the role of AI in the future of marketing and creativity. It was a topic that came up again and again - not with fear, but with curiosity and clarity.

One of the first talks I attended was “CMOs in the Spotlight”, moderated by Jim Stengel, Host of The CMO Podcast, and featuring:

• Gail Harwood, Chief Marketing & Customer Experience Officer at Novartis

• Gülen Bengi, Lead Chief Marketing Officer at Mars

• Claudine Cheever, VP Global Brand and Marketing at Amazon

When Gülen said, “Be a shaper, not a user”, it hit me. She wasn’t just talking about AI tool

s — she was calling on marketers to lead, not follow, in how we apply technology. It reminded me that we don’t need to fear AI, but rather shape how it works for us.

Another standout session was “WTF is Creativity?”, moderated by Seth Matlins, Managing Director at Forbes CMO Network, and featuring:

• Soyoung Kang, Chief Marketing Officer at eos Products

• Nicole Parlapiano, Chief Marketing Officer at Tubi

• Zach Kitschke, Chief Marketing Officer at Canva

Both Soyoung and Nicole came to the same conclusion: “Creativity is something unexpected, but so obvious in hindsight.” That really stuck with me. We often think creativity means flashy visuals or big ideas, but it’s just as often about quiet problem-solving, behind-the-scenes innovation, and intuition.

To me, both of these talks summed up the entire Cannes Lions experience. The intersection of AI and creativity isn’t about man vs. machine. It’s about how machines can streamline our workflow, while we - the humans - stay focused on what we do best: empathy, emotion, storytelling, and vision.

Cannes reminded me that while tools will evolve, the soul of marketing - human connection - remains irreplaceable.