Meet The Panellists: Ad Astra in the Age of AI
The LBB & Friends Beach, in partnership with MCA, will host some of the industry's most renowned creative leaders for an ‘Avengers Assemble’ moment to discuss the art of crafting magic amidst rapid technological advancements.
On Thursday 20th June at 13:00 pm at the Plage & Restaurant Croisette Beach, LBB’s Awards Director Emma Wilkie will be joined by Andres Ordóñez, Global CCO at FCB, Malcolm Poynton, Global CCO, President Creative at Cheil, Gabriel Schmitt, Global CCO at Grey, Kate Stanners, Chairwoman and Global CCO at Saatchi & Saatchi and Alex Schill, Global Chief Creative Officer & Partner at Serviceplan Group.
Read on to find out more information about the session and the panellists joining us or you can view the full LBB & MCA ‘Better Together’ content programme for the LBB & Friends Beach at Cannes here.
PANEL SYNOPSIS
Ad Astra in the Age of AI
It’s LBB’s Avengers Assemble moment as global creative leaders who have appeared in LBB’s Ad Astra series come together to explore the power of creativity, discuss the role of big ideas in a fragmented world and crafting magic in the age of AI.
MODERATOR
Emma started her career in the creative department of DDB London. But it was from 2003 to 2006 that Emma began her pursuit of honouring creative excellence globally. As co-founder of Flaxman Wilkie, she became publisher of The Gunn Report - started by the Leo Burnett legend Donald Gunn. From 2007, Emma took a leading hand in transforming The Gunn Report to the globally recognised authority and benchmark for best-in-class advertising. In 2019 Emma also oversaw The Gunn Report’s transition to new ownership and its relaunch as the WARC Creative 100.
Emma’s current role as co-director of The Immortal Awards @ Little Black Book – LBBOnline allows her to use her in-depth knowledge of local, regional and global advertising excellence to strengthen the Immortal Awards’ mission - to reward and recognise only the very best, ground-breaking and ‘immortal’ creative advertising.
PANELLISTS
Andres Ordóñez, Global CCO, FCB
A Bogotá, Colombia native with a depth of global experience, Andrés is one of the most decorated creatives in the advertising industry, with 20+ years of experience dedicated to crafting compelling narratives for some of the world’s most renowned brands. He was named Global CCO in 2024.
As a member of FCB’s Global Leadership Team, Andrés is responsible for supporting FCB’s all-star creative leadership community, keeping creative teams connected and sharing ideas across all internal boundaries to deliver the Timeless and Timely work at the local, regional and global levels clients have come to expect from FCB.
Andrés moved up to the global role after a successful four-year tenure as CCO for FCB Chicago, where he was a major driver behind the agency’s growth, helping to win the largest new business review of 2023 – lead creative partner for Pfizer – and generating huge organic growth with Chicago’s long-standing clients, such as The Clorox Company.
Since joining FCB Chicago in 2019, Andrés has collaborated on notable creative campaigns such as “Contract for Change” for Michelob ULTRA, “Banned Book Club” for The Digital Public Library of America, “Adopt-a-Stray” for Fresh Step, “HVR X HVR” for Hidden Valley Ranch, and “Boards of Change” for the City of Chicago.
Throughout his career, Andrés has collected hundreds of industry accolades, including Cannes Lions (2 Titanium, 3 Grands Prix), Effies, D&AD, One Show Pencils, ADC, Clios and many more. He has been ranked as one of the top creative minds in the business by Adweek, Campaign, Cannes Lions, The One Show and The Drum, among others.
Andrés grew up surrounded by advertising — in Bogota, his mother was an advertising model and his father ran an agency. After attending the Miami Ad School, he started his career at BBDO Puerto Rico, then moved to Zubi Miami and Bravo before landing at Energy BBDO. Before joining FCB, he worked with a diverse list of the world’s most iconic brands, including Pfizer, MARS/Wrigley, Danone, Ford, Pepsi and Walmart.
It’s this upbringing that shaped Andrés’ guiding philosophy. A firm believer in empowering his team at every step in their careers, Andrés urges them to challenge the status quo and extend their vision beyond conventional limits and borders. His motto is: “Follow the work, and the rest will come. Everyone should feel part of this process and take ownership of the journey.”
Outside the agency, Andrés finds great joy in running, travelling the world, and spending quality time exploring his hometown in Chicago with his wife, two daughters and beloved Goldendoodle, Frappu, dedicating the same Never Finished energy to these passions as he does to his creative work.
Malcolm Poynton, Global Chief Creative Officer, President Creative, Cheil Worldwide
Recognised by Ad Age as one of the ‘World’s Top 10 Digital Minds’, since joining Cheil WW as Global Chief Creative Officer, Malcolm’s creative leadership has put Cheil on the map as the industry’s most tech-forward creative network; winning Grand Prix for Innovation, Glass, Mobile, Gaming and Audio as well as Asia Network of the Year, and multiple Agency of the Year titles across Hong Kong, China, India, Japan, South Korea and further afield, Spain, Chile, Russia and Romania.
Passionate about redefining how brands connect with consumers, Malcolm’s built and led teams responsible for acclaimed firsts including Foot Locker’s Sneakerpedia, Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, as well as pioneering ground-breaking uses of AI since 2017 with Samsung’s Dyslexia Dyteciv project (2017), Voice Forever (2018), Fatal Recognition (2019), The QLED Weather Report (2020), The Cost of Bullying (2021), TALLK (2022), #Unfear (2023) and this year’s leap, IMPULSE AI app that enables 100M+ people with speech impediments to have a speech therapist on their wrist, anytime, anyplace.
Malcolm lives between London & Seoul; is a Patron of The Royal Academy of Arts, sits on the advisory Board of WARC, is a trustee of D&AD and a Member of the Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences.
Kate Stanners, Chairwoman and Global Chief Creative Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi
Kate Stanners is Chairwoman and Global Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi. Having been at Saatchi & Saatchi for 18 years she has been pivotal in transforming the agency. By harnessing the unreasonable power of creativity, she has driven the agency’s spirit of Nothing Is Impossible to deliver impossible outcomes and revolutionise clients’ businesses.
Based at Saatchi & Saatchi’s London headquarters, Kate oversees Saatchi & Saatchi’s creative output, the creative talent of the network, and global clients that include Visa, UBS, Beiersdorf and Deutsche Telekom to name a few.
Prior to Saatchi, Kate set up communications company, Boy meets Girl, and before that was a Founding Partner of the groundbreaking agency, St Lukes in 1995 - famous for its revolutionary working practices, as well as progressive work.
Recognised as one of AdAge’s ‘Women to Watch’, she also sits on the board of Trustees for The History of Advertising Trust and was honoured to be made President of D&AD.2019/2020. She is a member of WACL, an association for the most influential woman in the UK Communications industry.
Alexander Schill, Global Chief Creative Officer & Partner, Serviceplan Group
Alexander Schill studied at the University of Fine Arts in Berlin. His advertising career began in 1994 when he joined Springer & Jacoby in Hamburg where he rapidly rose up through the ranks, becoming CCO in 2003. In 2006, Alex Schill left to become Associate Partner and Member of the Board at Serviceplan Group. Since 2008 he is Global Chief Creative Officer of the entire agency group worldwide. As Global CCO and Partner, he massively increased the international awareness of Europe’s largest independent agency group and pushed it to the top numbers of national and international Creativity ranks.
Alex Schill is a regular speaker at the international creative awards, and has given keynote speeches at Cannes, Dubai Lynx, Eurobest and the Loerie Awards. Alex has been jury president at Cannes Lions, CLIO, Eurobest, LIA and D&AD and has won more than 80 Cannes Lions to date including two Grand Prix. He created award-winning campaigns like DOT, the world’s first Braille Smartwatch, which won awards at all the major international festivals like Black, Yellow and Graphite pencils at D&AD, Art Directors Club of Europe, Cannes Lions, CLIO and Epica.
Gabriel Schmitt, Global Chief Creative Officer, Grey
Gabriel is a culture-shaping creative executive with more than 15 years of advertising agency leadership in New York, Chicago, and São Paulo, Brazil. His teams have been recognized by the industry’s most prestigious award shows including The Cannes Lions (including 2 Titaniums, 6 Grand Prix and 20 Gold), The One Show (34 Gold Pencils), D&AD (4 Yellow), Effies (1 Grand, 6 Gold), and many more.
In March 2023, he was appointed Global Chief Creative Officer at Grey, an agency with 30 studios in 20 markets around the world. Founded in 1917, Grey is
a longtime industry leader whose Famously Effective work drives substantial business performance for their blue-chip roster of clients including Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, and The Coca-Cola Company.
Before joining Grey, Gabriel served as Co-Chief Creative Officer of FCB NY, where he led the agency's creative resurgence on the heels of campaigns including
"Whopper Detour," "Michelob Ultra Courtside," "Contract for Change," "McEnroe vs McEnroe," "Dreamcaster," helping FCB earn Cannes' NA Network of the Year accolades for five consecutive years.
