Day ONE: June 22, 2026

AI & Creativity

What Does AI Actually Mean for Creativity?

The opening day puts the industry's biggest question on the table: what happens to original creative work when the machine can make it too? Across four panels, leaders from brands, agencies, and the creative community dig into authorship and ownership, the bias hiding inside the black box, AI as a genuine creative collaborator, and the CMO's tightrope walk between efficiency and humanity. Less hype, more honesty.

11AM - 12PM

The Algorithm Has No Soul - But We Do

AI, authorship, and the future of original creative work. When the machine can make the work too, who owns the meaning, and is efficiency hollowing out creative depth?

  • Tina Mulqueen, SVP Digital Transformation, Burson (Moderator)

  • Karen J. Francis, Senior Managing Counsel, Marketing

  • Brandon Rochon, Chief Creative Officer, Notorious111

  • James Hidden, Managing Director, GUT LA

  • Additional panelist to be announced

12PM - 1pM

You've Got Questions, We've Got Ancestors: Why Authentic Stories Win in the Age of AI

Ancestry's marketing leaders explore how strategy, creativity, and AI turn customer insight into deeply personal brand experiences at scale, using emerging technology to make people feel seen, understood, and part of something bigger.

  • Claire Atkinson, Host and Founder, The Media Mix (Moderator)

  • Attica Alexis Jaques, Chief Marketing Officer, Ancestry

  • Paige Grossman, VP of Global Brand and Creative, Ancestry

1PM - 2pM

Prompt Culture: AI as a Creative Collaborator

How brands, agencies, and creators build with AI, not around it. Is prompt engineering a real creative skill, and where does AI-assisted work tip into mediocrity?

  • Ian Dallimore, SVP Digital Growth, Lamar Advertising (Moderator)

  • Adrienne Lahens, Co-Founder & CEO, Infinite Studio

  • Paige Piskin, CCO & Head of Augmented Reality, White Glove Media

  • Alex Halliday, CEO, AirOps

  • Tunde Ajaba-Ogundipe, Creative Strategist at Meta and Founder at AV + Ereko Labs

2PM - 3pM

The CMO's Dilemma: Efficiency vs. Humanity

The CMO's tightrope walk between efficiency and humanity: protecting brand voice, the measurement problem, and who owns the mistake when an AI campaign fails.

  • Rhonda Hiatt, CEO of M&C Saatchi Consulting (Moderator)

  • Debbie Ellison, EMEA CEO of Croud EMEA

  • Lisa Smith, Partner, Kearney

  • Christy Roach, CMO, AirOps

  • Najoh Tita Reid, Global CGO and Brand Experience, Mars Petcare

3PM - 4pM

Trust, Bias & The Black Box: Who AI Sees, and Who It Erases

As AI decides what gets seen and celebrated, it also decides who disappears. Can models be audited for bias, what does ethical governance look like inside the platforms, and who answers when a community is erased?

  • Mary Isokariari, Founder & CEO, Socially Curious (Moderator)

  • Kimfer Flanery-Rye, Founder and Principal Consultant, Inclusion Matters

  • Crystal Foote, Founder of Digital Culture Group

  • Jen Randle, CEO and Founder, SGNL

  • Guillaume "G" Cabane, Co-founder and General Partner, Hyper Growth Partners

  • Rebecca Rowntree, AI Creative Technologist, Get Shit Done