The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity brings together the brightest minds, daring ideas and transformative insights from across the global creative industries. At Valtech, we believe in embracing the future with open minds and forward-thinking strategies.
5 takeaways from Cannes Lions 2025
The businesses that are leaning into the future are combining the potential of artificial intelligence with uniquely human insights and creativity.
Here are five themes I took away from Cannes and how they can help your organization stay ahead of the curve.
1. AI transformation starts at the top
AI transformation is a leadership imperative, and the companies that are leading in the era of AI are those whose executive leadership is deeply engaged in transformation from the outset.
This is not change that can be delegated or siloed within IT or marketing. CMOs themselves are rolling up their sleeves, joining learning academies, and even building their own AI agents and tools. They are experimenting and collaborating directly with their teams to develop new solutions.
This hands-on approach from the C-suite is crucial. When executives immerse themselves in the technology, they signal to the organization that AI is a core business priority.
2. To lead, the C-suite must unite
AI is fundamentally disrupting business as usual. This means that for businesses to gain momentum they must break down silos within their leadership teams to truly transform.
The brands that are furthest along have established cultures of collaboration among executives.
When marketing and technology leaders work side by side, they can jointly navigate AI’s complexities, driving the CEO’s agenda across growth, efficient operations, leadership and innovation.
3. Experience is the great unifier
Organizations are reorienting their teams, their agency partnerships and their external collaborations around the customer journey.
As much as brands talked about customer centricity in years past, the reality is siloed stakeholders, siloed tech and siloed data haven't been able to deliver.
Thanks to AI-driven tools and agentic technologies, companies are finally connecting previously siloed data streams, delivering real-time insights and more holistic views of the customer experience.
4. Creativity is the biggest force multiplier of growth
Cannes remains, at its core, a celebration of creativity.
With AI leveling the playing field through mass personalization and efficient targeting, creativity has become even more critical to brands looking to break through the noise, capture attention and embed themselves in culture.
Executives at Cannes emphasized the irreplaceable value of creative agency partners. Todd Kaplan, CMO of Kraft Heinz, observed how today’s brands face the challenge of an audience with highly fragmented attention. To resonate, brands must work together with their agency partners to move at the speed of culture, seizing and shaping moments that matter.
5. Grow the business. Grow the talent.
Nurturing the next generation of talent is a core responsibility for CMOs.
Gulen Bengi, Lead CMO at Mars, Inc. and Global Chief Growth Officer at Mars Snacking, said creating a culture of experimentation is helping talent upskill in real time.
There is no failure, she said. Just iteration and scale. It’s the responsibility of leadership to steer the next generation toward growth and productivity.
Novartis Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer Gail Horwood said her organization was looking into all the ways AI could refocus high-value people off of low-value work to give them more time for creativity, storytelling, collaboration and innovation.
This commitment to talent development will be a defining feature of the future of work, enabling organizations to adapt, thrive and remain competitive as the landscape continues to change.
How brands will thrive in the AI era
Collectively, these themes of C-suite collaboration, hands-on-making and the transformative role of creativity represent the essential characteristics that are driving momentum, scale and leadership in the face of AI.
Please reach out if you are interested in how Valtech can guide your organization through this exciting new era of change and innovation.
