Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. Modern CEO is coming to you today from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. What started 60 years ago as an advertising awards program has evolved into an annual gathering of media and marketing executives that is increasingly attracting business leaders from different industries, including CEOs. “Any CEO who wants to grow, innovate, and stay culturally relevant will benefit from being here,” says Shelley Zalis, founder and CEO of the Female Quotient, a community of women in business that hosts a lounge at the event. Tony Capuano, president and CEO of Marriott, concurs: “Cannes Lions is where the world’s most powerful creative conversations happen—onstage, over coffee, and in every meeting along the Croisette [Cannes’s main street],” says Capuano, who is speaking on a panel with former NBA star Carmelo Anthony at Stagwell’s Sport Beach activation and moderating a session on food and travel at the JW Marriott. “For me and our team, it’s an essential moment to tap into the energy of global culture, explore how brands are shaping behavior, and build partnerships that help us connect more meaningfully with travelers around the world,” he adds. Cannes: a creative compass Part of the appeal of the confab is the robust presence of technology giants that are dominant marketing platforms (Alphabet’s Google Services segment, for example, which includes revenue from search, YouTube, and other ad sources, saw 2024 revenue climb 12%, to $304.9 billion), developers of the generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) tools that are transforming content creation, or both. Amazon, Canva, Meta, IBM, Microsoft, and Salesforce are among the tech companies popping up in lounges and meeting spaces, and the festival is honoring Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen as its Creative Champion of the Year—a new award that seems designed to ensure the participation of a major tech CEO at the proceedings. The impact of gen AI on creativity will be a major theme this year, attendees say. The event also offers an opportunity for business leaders to discuss broader issues, such as political and economic risk. Judy A. Smith, founder and president of strategic advisory firm Smith & Company, is speaking on a panel about building and protecting a brand in uncertain times. Smith, who is attending Cannes Lions for the first time, says she sees value in being able to meet and hear from so many decision-makers in a short period of time. “It’s a great way to stay on top of emerging trends and see what’s shaping the future of the industry,” she says. To be sure, those who recommend Cannes Lions as part of the CEO conference circuit are firm believers in the power of creativity and creative leadership in corporate ranks. “In a world shaped by perception, confidence, and social connection, creativity is not a department. It’s a leadership tool,” says Claudia Romo Edelman, who will unveil the latest edition of her We Are All Human Foundation’s Hispanic sentiment research in Cannes. “If you’re serious about driving change, there’s no better place to sharpen your vision.” Is Cannes a must-do for you? Should CEOs outside the media and tech ecosystem make the trip to Cannes? You can decide for yourselves: Modern CEO will deliver a few extra dispatches from the event this week with insights and takeaways from panels, interviews—and maybe a few parties. And if you have questions you want me to ask the CEOs I meet, send them to me at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com, and I’ll try to work the answers into my newsletters. Listen, watch, and read more: Postcards from Cannes What small businesses can learn from Cannes Lions The Brand-New World podcast explores AI’s mastery over the world of advertising Why Unilever won Creative Marketer of the Year at Cannes Lions last year