3 Insights from #Cannes2025 on the world of AI-powered advertising

Source: © 123rf 123rf At this week’s Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, AI has been a major focus, with many calling it the future of advertising. Saul Marquez, CEO of global digital marketing agency Outcomes Rocket three key takeaways for the evolving world of AI-powered advertising

Here are my three key takeaways and future predictions for the evolving world of AI-powered advertising.

AI is reshaping creative strategy in advertising

The biggest change is in the strategy itself. A recent report from Forrester found that over 60% of U.S. ad agencies are already using generative AI in some part of their process.

That number is likely even higher if you count pilot programmes and informal experiments.

AI now helps write early versions of briefs, generate moodboards, analyse performance data, and test out campaign concepts before a human team gets involved.

This has two immediate effects:

• Strategy becomes more circular than linear. Instead of a big idea locked in early, teams now work in loops: Testing, learning, and refining ideas with AI support as they go. The strategist is less a brief writer and more of a curator of continuous creative evolution.

• The insight gap is shrinking. What used to take weeks of market research or qualitative interviews can now be modelled through behaviour simulations and natural language data pulled from forums, social posts, and consumer reviews. The strategist’s role shifts from discovering the insight to deciding which of the many AI-surfaced insights to act on.


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In the next three to five years, we’re likely to see a new kind of role emerge in creative departments: the Creative Intelligence Officer.

This person will combine the instincts of a planner, the agility of a data analyst, and the storytelling sensibility of a creative director.

They will be responsible for training and fine-tuning AI models to reflect the tone, nuance, and cultural edge of their brand.

This role will become increasingly critical as brands begin building their own proprietary “brand language models” that capture their unique voice and identity.

We’re already seeing major agencies develop internal LLMs trained exclusively on their past work and proprietary brand data.


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The rise of agentic commerce

The next wave of AI in advertising will be shaped by something far more transformative: agentic commerce.

It’s already starting.

AI-powered shopping assistants, intelligent voice interfaces, and recommendation systems that go beyond simple suggestions are laying the groundwork for a major shift: the move from human-centred marketing to machine-mediated decision-making.

According to Salesforce’s 2025 report, 75% of global businesses believe AI agents will be essential for remaining competitive by 2026.

The implications are significant.

Campaigns will need to meet both human and machine standards: relevance, compliance, clarity, and utility.

Creative assets must be modular, adaptable, and capable of fitting seamlessly into intelligent workflows.

Adobe’s recent integrations with platforms like Amazon Ads and Meta signal how this will be operationalised, streamlining content production so that it aligns with AI-driven buying systems.

The importance of ethics, empathy & emotional intelligence in AI advertising

One of the quieter but most meaningful conversations at Cannes this year was about emotional intelligence and how we keep human connection alive in an increasingly automated world.

Soon, consumers may not always be able to tell whether a brand message was crafted by a person or generated by an algorithm.

That’s not inherently bad, but it raises real questions about ethics. If a brand uses AI to write ads, answer customer questions, or even shape the creative direction of a campaign, it needs to be honest about that. Not to over-explain, but to build trust.

People don’t mind automation when it helps them, but they do mind being misled.

Then there’s emotional intelligence, arguably the hardest part to get right. One way to apply emotional intelligence in practice is through thoughtful design.

For instance, when using AI in customer experiences, brands can build in small moments of empathy.

Giving people the option to speak to a human, offering gentle confirmation before purchases. All these actions show that the brand values the person.

We can expect more discussion around how AI can show emotional intelligence at Cannes for the rest of the week.