Yes, We Cannes

Is Cannes Lions a tech conference or a festival of creativity? 

The answer, increasingly, is both. Companies such as Meta, Google, and OpenAI had a big presence at the advertising industry event. Meanwhile, branding chiefs and agencies gathered at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès to celebrate the most inventive and high-impact campaigns of the last year.  

Luckily, our titles comfortably straddle tech and creativity, and our presence at Cannes Lions reflected our fluency in both worlds. Fast Company convened a breakfast with Weber Shandwick that highlighted the disconnect between companies’ AI pronouncements and the reality of their deployments. I moderated a panel discussion at the Canva Creative Cabana featuring Canva cofounder Cliff Obrecht and Braze CEO Bill Magnuson on how brands use technology and creativity to connect with customers and drive business.  

Fast Company senior staff writer Jeff Beer and I cohosted a dinner with Accenture Song centered on its new Applied Creativity research. Nick Law, creative chairperson at Accenture Song, made the case that while many enterprises—including tech companies—profess a belief that creativity is more important than ever in the age of AI, few corporations are able to turn their ideas into projects or programs that lead to growth or business outcomes. Dinner guests included members of the Fast Company Impact Council and Inc.-featured entrepreneurs such as Amber Venz Box and Alphonzo Terrell.  

And while Cannes Lions was a great moment to reflect on the marriage of creativity and technology, it is core to what our editorial titles cover every day. We write about the relentless creativity of entrepreneurs on the Inc. 5000. We recognize, through programs such as Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards, the role of design to enhance digital user experiences. Corporations may struggle to apply creativity to their businesses, but when they achieve it, our brands will be there to cover it.