Digitas CEO Amy Lanzi warns ad industry against AI hype at Cannes Lions

Amy Lanzi, CEO of Digitas North America, spoke at the Cannes Lions advertising festival in the South of France, cautioning the industry against overstated promises around artificial intelligence. Her parent company, Publicis Groupe, released a video titled 'The Wrong Promises' before the event, cataloguing what it called false AI claims being made in advertising pitches. Lanzi argued that AI, as currently deployed by major platforms like Meta, risks generating low-quality ad content at scale rather than delivering meaningful business results. She also addressed the rise of the creator economy, noting that top creators are increasingly functioning as small ad agencies and launching their own product lines. Lanzi contended that the traditional chief marketing officer role is becoming obsolete, with data and analytics now central to driving brand outcomes.