As Gen AI tools flood the marketing landscape, a deeper transformation is taking shape: the rise of agentic AI—systems that can act autonomously, collaborate across functions, and make decisions in real time. For brands, agencies, and marketers, this shift is redefining everything from creative processes and team structures to strategy development and client-agency relationships.

In this keynote, WPP’s Chief AI Officer Daniel Hulme explores what Gen AI and agentic systems really mean for the future of marketing, and how to stay competitive in a world where the lines between advertising, media, and performance are rapidly dissolving. Key talking points include:

• What Gen AI is vs. what it’s often misunderstood to be
• The role of agentic AI in marketing: autonomous execution, creative collaboration, and decision-making
• How AI is reshaping agency models and client-brand dynamics
• Why outsourcing critical thinking is a cultural risk—and how to protect human judgement
• Navigating ethics, governance, and regulation in an AI-first ecosystem
• What marketing leaders need to prioritise for 2026 and beyond

Why this keynote matters:

This isn’t just about tools - it’s about redefining how marketing works. Daniel brings rare perspective as both an AI scientist and the strategic lead at the world’s largest marketing services company. Expect bold thinking, practical frameworks, and a fresh perspective on how to lead through one of the most profound shifts marketing has ever seen.

Daniel Hulme

Chief AI Officer
WPP

See Bio

As marketers race to implement AI across content, targeting, and customer engagement, questions around risk, accountability, and responsible use are becoming unavoidable. This session brings a strategic perspective on AI governance, offering marketing leaders clear guidance on how to balance innovation with oversight without slowing down execution.

In this session, you’ll learn:

• What AI governance really means for marketing, from data quality to output validation.
• How to align with emerging standards like ISO/IEC 8183 across the AI data lifecycle.
• What marketing leaders can borrow from AI strategies in regulated industries.
• How to mitigate risks around bias, misinformation, copyright, and reputational damage.
• Why responsible AI is a competitive advantage, not just a compliance checkbox.

Matthew Blakemore

AI Strategist, Creative Industries
AI Caramba!

See Bio

What happens when we stop asking how AI can replace us — and start asking how it can elevate us?

This future-facing panel brings together AI-positive leaders to explore new creative possibilities, human-machine collaboration, and what marketing roles might look like in an AI-native world.

• Moving past cost-cutting: how AI is driving innovation, not just optimisation
• New creative frontiers: what AI unlocks for content, campaigns and experiences
• Human + machine: blending empathy, intuition and data in customer connection
• Building teams for the future: what marketing leadership looks like in an AI-native world
• What will marketers be doing (and not doing) in three years’ time?
• Why the next era of AI in marketing is about more than prompts and productivity

Paul Martin

Global Chief Operating Officer, Investments
Wtw

See Bio

As marketers embrace Gen AI to scale content and personalise experiences, they’re encountering the same ethical grey zones journalism has faced for years, including misinformation, bias, transparency, and damage to public trust.

This session explores how journalism is building frameworks for responsible AI use, and what marketing leaders can learn from it.

Key topics include:

• How journalism is confronting misinformation, deepfakes, and copyright challenges — and how these lessons apply to marketing.
• Why transparency, attribution, and authenticity are becoming essential for brand trust.
• Real-world examples where AI-generated content damaged credibility — and how to avoid those pitfalls.
• Where media, marketing, and journalism intersect on the frontlines of public trust — and how we might build shared frameworks.
• What ethical standards marketers should adopt to future-proof their AI strategies.

Tshepo Tshabalala

Project Manager & Team Lead JournalismAI, Polis
London School of Economics & Political Science

See Bio

What happens when we stop asking how AI can replace us—and start exploring how it can empower us?

This forward-looking panel brings together AI-positive leaders who are going beyond the efficiency narrative. From brand experience to product innovation and human connection at scale, we’ll explore what becomes possible when marketing teams fully embrace AI as a creative and strategic partner.

We’ll also ask the big questions about the future of marketing work: What will marketers actually be doing in three years’ time? And what will the AI-native marketing team look like?

Discussion Points:

• Moving past cost-cutting: how AI is driving innovation, not just optimisation
• New creative frontiers: what AI unlocks for content, campaigns and experiences
• Human + machine: blending empathy, intuition and data in customer connection
• Building teams for the future: what marketing leadership looks like in an AI-native world
• What will marketers be doing (and not doing) in three years’ time?
• Why the next era of AI in marketing is about more than prompts and productivity

Nicola Anderson

CMO & Co-founder
The CMO Circle

See Bio