When the Algorithm Meets Creative

At the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2026, Claritas hosted a panel on AI-powered media optimization. Leaders from brand, agency, publisher, and tech joined the conversation. Together, they explored how AI is reshaping the way advertisers plan, target, and create.

The group moved past the “what is AI?” moment. Instead, they focused on a sharper question: how do we scale with it? Moderator Don Sklenka, SVP of AI Optimization at Claritas guided the discussion. Topics ranged from synthetic audience development to real-time signal activation. Panelists also tackled the breakdown of creative silos that have long slowed brands down.

What the Panel Covered

First, panelists agreed on one foundational principle. Teams should start with human insight before reaching for any AI tool. Indeed shared a strong example from Germany. To fill 375,000 open roles, the team identified distinct motivations for job seekers by industry. Then they used AI to scale that insight into hundreds of targeted creative iterations.

In addition, speakers highlighted the collapse of the wall between brand and performance teams. AI-powered media optimization is helping those teams move faster and work from shared data. As a result, creative and media decisions now happen in near real time rather than on weekly cycles.

Furthermore, panelists pointed to a new frontier called machine availability. Brands must ensure their content is indexed and surfaced correctly across AI-driven platforms. Goop’s Alexa Graph noted that teams are already shifting budgets and optimizing metadata to stay visible in large language model results.