Join DEPT® at Cannes Lions 2026
Just off the Croisette, away from the noise, a space designed to slow things down.
A return to the trees, where the focus shifts back to the craft and the conversations behind it.
The Secret Garden is back this year.
Last year, in the middle of everything Cannes tends to be, the Garden became one of those places people kept finding their way back to.
Just off the Croisette, under the trees, it had a different kind of energy. There was shade, a bit of a breeze, friendly faces, and the sense that you could sit down for a moment without immediately checking the time. People dropped in between meetings and, more often than not, stayed longer than planned.
Across the day, it was filled with senior leaders from brands, tech, and the creator world. Conversations moved easily between AI, innovation, and what’s actually changing in the work. Smart, open, and refreshingly unforced.
It filled up quickly too. And yes, we had to say no more than we would have liked.
So this year, we’re keeping it much the same, just a little more considered. Still invite-only. Still intentionally limited. The same setting, with a bit more space to settle in and the same kind of people you’d hope to run into. A place to step out of the noise, find some shade, and get into conversations that are actually worth your time.
If you make it in, you’ll see what we mean.
What to expect in the Secret Garden
- Real conversations from industry and brand leaders. No panels for the sake of panels. Just honest takes on turning AI into real growth, redefining how teams work, and the next generation of creative thinking.
- Work you can step into. Interactive and immersive tech experiences that bring ideas to life and show how it’s actually being done.
- A space that works. Built for real meetings, real connections, and time well spent away from the noise. Grab a coffee, wander through the garden, step into the studio, or find a quiet corner to keep a conversation going.
- A curated selection of goodies and Cannes must-haves at the DEPT® Souvenir shop, open from June 23-25, 12:00 – 13:00.
GROW BUSINESSES IN AI
How to win discoverability and conversion when algorithms (and agents) decide. A how-to guide to leverage discoverability, differentiation and growth for brands in a world where AI decides what customers see, buy and do, from commerce to GEO and Social.
FUTURE OF WORK / D®
What AI-native teams actually look like. Live demos. Real operating models. In-depth conversations about how AI is changing the way we work and how empathy will become as business-critical as automation. Officially launch D® with live demos for clients.
NEXT GEN CREATIVE
How brands ship culture at speed and keep craft intact when AI enters the workflow. From the new rules of the influencer and brand operating system to the eternal conversation of the role of AI in creativity, we’ll dive deep into the craft element to celebrate examples of how brands and creators are driving the next era of creativity.
It’s happening again
The Garden’s coming back, and so are the conversations you didn’t plan but were glad you had. We’ll share the rest soon.
THE Program
Time and Location
08:30 – 10:15
DEPT® Secret Garden
Speakers
Moderator: Robert Dreblow, WFA
Session
Breakfast Panel by WFA (Invite only)
Where the real conversations happen before the day begins.
10:30 – 11:15
DEPT® Secret Garden
Speakers
Terri Wang, Growth Leader, OpenAI, Grace Kao, CMO, Snap
Host: Fortune
Keynote
Lessons from the most innovative CMOs: rethinking growth in a B2A world (hosted by Fortune)
The customer journey is being filtered, shaped, and decided by AI before a human gets involved. Business-to-Agent isn’t a tactic; it’s the new reality. Together with Fortune, the CMOs who saw this coming first share where the shift is already showing up in revenue, retention, and CAC, and what growth looks like when agents are in the room.
Time
12:00 – 13:45
DEPT® Secret Garden
Speakers
Moderators: WFA, Revolt, Kantar, Oxford Said Business School
Keynote
Roundtable Lunch – WFA’s Value of Sustainable Marketing (Invite only)
A Chatham House-rule lunch where the most valuable thing in the room is the lived experience of the people in it. Senior marketers from WFA, DEPT® and Oxford’s Said Business School in candid conversation about what sustainable marketing is actually worth.
Time
14:00 – 14:45
DEPT® Secret Garden
Speakers
Sona Iliffe-Moon, CCO, Yahoo, Jessica Qaasim, Head of Industry, Google, Emily O’Hara, VP Global Brand & Media, eBay
Keynote
The new rules of scaling brands with AI
Scaling used to mean consistency. Now it means consistency at speed. AI makes output easier, but it also exposes everything that doesn’t hold up. The brands getting this right aren’t just adding AI to the mix, they’re rethinking how communication flows across teams, markets, and channels. Find out how they’re keeping quality high while everything accelerates.
Time
19:00 – 22:00
DEPT® Secret Garden
Speakers
Hope Hydration
Keynote
Future Club Dinner (Invite only)
An evening for the people building what’s next. Dinner, drinks, and the kind of conversations you don’t have on stage.
Time and Location
09:00 – 10:00
DEPT® Secret Garden
Cannes Press Breakfast (Invite only)
Off the record, over coffee, before the day takes over. A small group of journalists in conversation with DEPT® leadership
Time and Location
09:30
DEPT® Secret Garden
Speakers
Session
Creator Running Club
The best conversations at Cannes happen when you’re not sitting down. An early morning run with some of the most interesting people on the Croisette.
Time and Location
10:15 – 10:30
DEPT® Secret Garden
Creator Coffee & Connect
Strawberry matcha or an iced latte. Catch your breath, meet the room, and ease into the morning before the sessions begin.
Time and Location
10:30 – 11:15
Speakers
Matt Watson, CCO PepsiCo
Host: The Webby Awards
Session
What Broke the Internet? (hosted by The Webby Awards)
AI made content cheap. That didn’t make attention more valuable, it made distinctiveness more valuable. A practical teardown of viral hits and public misses with creators and founders. What actually travels. What sticks. And when a million views is growth versus an expensive distraction.
Time
11:30 – 13:00
DEPT® Secret Garden
Speakers
Mark Ritson
Lunch
The Marketing Academy – Alumni Lunch (Invite only)
An intimate session with one of the sharpest minds in marketing, followed by lunch. The kind of afternoon that changes how you think for a while.
Time and Location
14:00 – 14:45
DEPT® Secret Garden
Speakers
Host: TikTok
Session
You can’t brief your way into culture (hosted by TikTok)
On TikTok, brands aren’t the main character. They’re a guest; fun to have around, or easy to ignore. Creators set the pace, communities decide what sticks. Together with TikTok, we move past the brand-first mindset: how partnerships evolve from one-off campaigns into ongoing roles in culture, and why some collaborations take off while others barely leave the For You page.
Time and Location
16:30 – 18:00
DEPT® Secret Garden
Speakers
Host: Adcouncil
Session
How AI is helping people keep their loved ones safe from gun violence (hosted by Adcouncil)
Gun injuries have been the leading cause of death among children and teens in the US for four consecutive years. Agree to Agree built an AI chatbot that helps people start those conversations, from common ground, with clarity and care. Join Microsoft, Ad Council, RSM, and DEPT® for the launch, and a new standard for what creative effectiveness can actually look like.
Time
19:00 – 22:00
DEPT® Secret Garden
Hope Hydration
Dinner
Future Club Dinner x WFA (Invite only)
Dinner with WFA’s global network and DEPT® leadership.
Time and Location
09:00 – 10:30
DEPT® Secret Garden
Speakers
Session
Future of Marketing Initiative — Oxford University (Invite only)
A closed-door roundtable for future marketing leaders, in partnership with the University of Oxford.
Time and Location
10:30 – 11:15
DEPT® Secret Garden
Speakers
Raji Behal, Klarna, Stephane Carlier, Global Head of Digital Marketing, Logitech
Session
You bought the AI. Where’s the growth?
AI budgets are up. The stack is bigger than ever. And yet growth isn’t moving at the same pace. It’s not a technology problem — it’s a connection problem. CMOs share what they’re actually changing: what they’re cutting, where they’re doubling down, and how they’re simplifying their setup to focus on what delivers real results.
Time
12:00 – 13:00
DEPT® Secret Garden
Speakers
Lunch
Lunch with EPICA (Invite only)
Time and Location
13:00 – 14:00
DEPT® Secret Garden
Speakers
Session
EPICA x Adforum – Cocktail hour (Invite only)
Time and Location
14:00 – 14:45
DEPT® Secret Garden
Speakers
Nili Klenoff, EVP Commerce Media & Innovation, Mastercard · Adrian Fung, CMO, eBay
Session
The Human Multiplier: why leadership is the real AI advantage
AI has scaled output. That’s no longer the advantage. The CMOs winning now are being judged on direction — where to focus, what to prioritise, what not to do. Because when everything can be produced, the real risk isn’t falling behind. It’s becoming average at scale. This session is about the leaders building the systems that prevent exactly that.
Time
15:00 – 16:00
DEPT® Secret Garden
Host: Adformatie
Keynote
Marketing for Machines: how B2A is rewriting the CMO playbook (by Adformatie)
A Dutch-language session for senior marketers. How agent-driven journeys are shifting search, loyalty, and performance, and what it means when you’re no longer just selling to people, but to their digital assistants.
16:15 – 16:35
DEPT® Secret Garden
Keynote
Fireside chat by afriCANNES
Time
16:35 – 18:00
DEPT® Secret Garden
Speakers
Keynote
afriCANNES x DEPT® — Closing Cocktail Party
Three days of Growth, Invented, ending the way it should. Drinks, the whole garden community, and the conversations you’ll still be having next week.
MEET THE SPEAKERS
MEET THE TEAM
PIONEERING CASES
