Cannes Lions 2026: What agencies are rebuilding around AI and data

by Experian Marketing Services 3 min read September 30, 2026

What good judgement adds to good data

Every AI output starts with an input. Leading edge agencies are being a lot more thoughtful about what that input is. At Cannes Lions 2026, leaders from Adobe DSP, Butler/Till, Genius Sports, Goodway Group, Gus, Marketeer Group, Significant, The Washington Post, The Weather Company, and Wpromote talked through how sharper data, deeper audience understanding, and steady human judgment are changing what agencies deliver for their clients. Watch the conversation below to hear how agencies are rethinking their inputs, audiences, and processes to bring new solutions for their clients.

Watch the conversation

How agencies are rebuilding their work around AI and data

Inputs decide the output

AI is only as sharp as the data feeding it, so agencies are focusing on using high-quality data that goes beyond first-party data alone.

Data is shaping the creative itself

Real-time context can shift a message in the moment, and testing now goes deep enough to show which small details change behavior.

Consumers can contradict their own personas

Understanding them requires the specific marketing attributes that give you insight into consumer behaviors.

AI frees people for bigger thinking

As routine tasks move to AI, teams get more room to focus on the strategy and judgment that moves a client’s business forward.

Human judgment still closes the gap

AI can get close, but people still catch what’s off and shape it into something usable.

Ideas now need to work as systems

Clients increasingly want one idea that can flex across formats and channels, not a one-off ad built for a single placement.

Featured partners

Want more conversations like this one?

Connect with us to learn how agencies use data and AI without losing the human judgment behind it.

This is one of several conversations from Cannes Lions 2026 on how brands and agencies are applying consumer intelligence to drive impact in their campaigns. Subscribe to our newsletter to get our next Cannes conversation delivered to your inbox, read our latest marketing insights, and hear from more industry leaders on the evolution of marketing.

For more from Cannes Lions 2026, continue with another conversation in the series.

Contact us

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.


Latest posts

Hashed email onboarding: offline to online connectivity

With the emergence of email addresses as a currency for brands to communicate with their consumers offline; attaching email data to in-store purchases lays the groundwork for future advertising strategies. However, this advantage in having an additional digital touchpoint also creates a new challenge for marketers. How do they connect what they know about their customers via offline data and PII, or personally identifiable information, with what they want to know about their online behaviors and interactions? Taken a step further, how can they create actionable strategies that connect these two streams of consumer insights in order to drive them to make more future purchases; and even become loyalists? At a time when the shift from traditional to online shopping feels more like a landslide; connecting online and offline data has never been more valuable or more urgent. The solution for these marketers lies in the framework of identity resolution; and a key capability called hashed email onboarding. Hashed email onboarding is a privacy-safe way to connect consumer email addresses to their related digital devices and other digital identifiers. The methodology prevents the consumers actual email address from being readable; while still providing marketers a connection between those emails and other touchpoints for an individual. Instead of understanding the customer journey in two distinct parts; how they interact with a brand or company offline and separately how they interact with a brand online; hashed email onboarding allows for the two parts to be woven together in a holistic view of that consumer. The power of connecting these data sets can be seen when combining offline and online attribution and measurement to improve frequency capping and look-alike modeling. It’s important to note that not all identity resolution vendors that onboard hashed emails function in the same way or provide the same level of data. Some connect only to desktop or only to mobile devices; while others don’t actually make direct linkages at all- they simply provide the hashed emails as a targetable digital audience for upload. While hashed email onboarding and the connection between offline and online data is a powerful strategy; it needs to be as structured as possible across the most data available to reveal truly efficient targeting and measurement strategies. Tapad, a part of Experian has built a hashed email product feature that works with the existing flexibility of The Tapad Graph to deliver the most holistic consumer view in the structure that works best for your business objectives. Get in touch

January 25, 2021 by Experian Marketing Services
Tapad joins the Experian family!

To our valued customers and partners, it’s been an exciting week here at Tapad! As announced in a press release this morning, Tapad is now a member of the Experian family. We’re thrilled to continue to grow as a leader in identity resolution under the umbrella of a global expert in data, analytics and technology. Tapad and Experian are deeply connected by our commitment to serving the needs of our customers; and with a focus on quality of the data we provide, we have a common goal for the future of identity in the advertising ecosystem. As part of this announcement, we wanted to assure you, our valued customer, that we remain deeply committed to serving you today just as we always have. Nothing will change in your daily operations with Tapad. Experian immediately recognized that the success and growth of Tapad was directly tied to the strength and depth of its team members. As such, the acquisition will not result in any changes to day-to-day contacts at Tapad, or processes with weekly graph deliveries and other product support. Experian’s faith and investment in Tapad’s future and the future of identity resolution underscores what we’ve always believed our products could achieve and that we will be able to continue serving brands, advertisers, publishers, and the advertising and marketing ecosystem for years to come. On a personal note, I am excited to be transitioning my role as Chief Operating Officer of Tapad to the General Manager position of a global business that’s achieved exponential growth over the past several years; culminating in this strategic acquisition that will no doubt bring even more value to our customers in the future. We remain committed to open communication and welcome any questions you may have. Thank you,Mark Connon | General Manager, Tapad Contact us today

November 19, 2020 by Experian Marketing Services
2020: The year of addressable TV

Addressable TV has been through a transformation in the past year. Streaming content has become the most coveted space for creators and advertisers with the rise of new apps and platforms; but the influx of stay-at-home orders around the country have shifted television viewership as we know it, and streaming apps are popping up in droves to take advantage. So, how can you? With no shortage of opportunities to advertise on addressable TV and CTV, how does it fit into the media mix? And furthermore, how can you attribute this household-level device into your overall strategy? Tying it all together Layering addressable TV within digital ad campaigns couldn’t be easier today — but applying the right targeting and cadence between all of your digital efforts; and tying them together in attribution takes the right kind of data. Marketers can use CTV identifiers coupled with other device identifiers available in The Tapad Graph to not only target impressions but also map addressable TVs within the consumer journey; and unify strategies between household decision makers to better personalize messaging. 1 The Trade Desk Q2 2020 Earnings Call Transcript, August 2020; 2 iSpot Report, via Deadline, July 2020; 3 Flixed.io, January 2020 Contact us today

October 26, 2020 by Experian Marketing Services