Executive Creative Summit
The Executive Creative Summit returns to New York during Creative Week with an intentionally curated, premium experience for leaders navigating the business of creativity. This year shifts beyond AI to focus on the operational, cultural, financial, and leadership challenges shaping modern creative companies.
ECS is a closed-door, intimate forum developed for the C-Suite and founders. After each speaker, the room opens for 5–10 minutes of questions, provocations, and conversation—encouraging true dialogue rather than passive listening.
This is not a conference.
It’s a closed-door environment for discussions that don’t happen on stages—or online.
No livestream. No recordings.
No press. No pitches.
No social sharing.
Just two days of confidential, peer-level exchange—paired with actionable insights and frameworks you can bring straight back to your team and business.
Attendance is strictly limited to 100 executives to preserve the intimacy and value of the experience. Apply below for consideration.
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Executive Creative Summit
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Thursday, May 14 & Friday, May 15
8:30 am - 4:00 pm
Location
Location05
450 W. 31st St. 7th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Schedule
8:30 am
Breakfast & Registration
Registration opens at 8:30 AM—grab a handcrafted coffee, enjoy a proper breakfast, and get ready for a day of AI inspiration.
9:30 am
Welcome Remarks
9:35 am
A Short History of Wonderpanic™
wonderpanic /ˈwʌn.dərˌpæn.ɪk/ noun
A sudden, electrifying blend of awe and dread triggered by glimpsing boundless possibilities— often accompanied by frantic brainstorming and a dizzying mix of delight and dismay.
History and tech have an ‘exciting’ habit of regularly forcing us into hard reboots. This time as generative AI officially goes from cute experiment to existential necessity. Lars is here to gently remind us that, historically, even though it may feel like the end of the world as we know it, we usually survive—mostly intact and armed with new superpowers.
10:15 am
100 Tasks That Suck
Every agency has a list of tasks that suck. Repetitive, soul-crushing work that eats time, resources and kills creativity. Learn how a mid-sized, independent agency identified their 100+ time-sucking tasks and mapped them to AI solutions. Some were small, some were game-changers, and all are making the agency faster, smarter, and more creative.
11:05 am
How do you float to the top of an infinite excellent slop?
When anyone can make anything at a very high quality for zero cost what’s it going to take to stand out? What should we be doing today to prepare? Standing on the sidelines waiting for someone else to work it out is NOT a good strategy. With (somewhat) practical examples and (hopefully) interesting provocations Iain hopes everyone walks out wanting to experiment more and worry less.
11:45 am
Lunch
Lunch will be provided to all ECS attendees.
12:30 pm
Art Is Dead. Long Live the Artist. Creative Leadership in the Age of Intelligent Tools
Change is fast. AI is faster. Fear narrows our vision—but curiosity and imagination expand it.
AI isn’t replacing creatives. It’s pushing us deeper—amplifying our ability to make sense of complexity, and shape it into something people can feel, understand, and remember.
In this talk, Lauren Indovina maps a new era of creative leadership—not a shift from artist to machine, but from certainty to discovery. A call to those bold enough to feel, interpret, and lead in shaping how the world sees.
1:20 pm
A New Creative Process
Artificial intelligence is transforming the creative process, shrinking the divide between idea and execution. Much as the invention of the camera created new art forms and mediums, today’s technology is transforming how we can realize our ideas, regardless of our resources. Runway’s Nicolas Neubert will dive into this new creative process and discuss how agencies, brands and filmmakers are evolving their workflows and production pipelines for a future where media creation is more accessible than ever.
2:10 pm
Creativity in the Age of Superintelligence
AI surpassing human intelligence isn’t science fiction—it’s an imminent reality. But where does that leave human creativity? What role can human teams play in an era that’s marked by super-intelligent machines?
In this talk, Paul Aaron will explore what the future of human creativity may look like as these systems become increasingly powerful, and why we could be entering the most exciting era of creative potential in history.
3:00 pm
Rewiring Creativity for the Intelligence Age
In an AI-accelerated world, creativity isn’t slowing down—it’s scaling, fragmenting, and evolving faster than traditional agency models can handle. Tiffany Rolfe, Chair and Global CCO of R/GA, explores how creative leaders must transform—from being creators of deliverables to architects of adaptive systems that make great ideas possible. This session reframes long-held agency beliefs—like “the big idea,” “the campaign,” and “the creative team”—to spark a conversation about how creative leaders and organizations need to evolve. For CCOs navigating the intelligence age, this isn’t about managing disruption. It’s about designing for it.
3:40 pm
From Executive Summit to AI Trenches: Build Small to Drive Massive Change
Throughout the day, Tim will be busy behind the scenes, rapidly prototyping AI tools inspired by the insights from our other speakers. In this reflection session, he’ll showcase these newly-built tools in action, demonstrating a pragmatic approach to implementing AI within existing creative workflows.
4:10 pm
Roundtable Discussions
Join one of our 6 hosts to dive deeper into a variety of topics.
Alexia Adana, Director of Creative Technology & Innovation, Edelman
Rooted in Realness- Intentional Community Building in the Age of AI
Join Alexia Adana for a candid conversation on how intentional, in-person community-building — especially among creators of color — sparks deeper collaboration, learning, and trust that platforms alone can’t replicate.
Peter Dolukhanov, Founder & CEO, Decoder
The 20% Paradox – Reclaiming Creative Time using AI in the Age of Work About Work
Research shows creative professionals spend only a fraction of their time on actual creative work, with knowledge workers losing 20% of their week searching for information, marketing teams wasting up to three weeks annually hunting for digital assets, and 58% of all work time consumed by administrative “work about work.” We will explore how AI can serve as a central intelligence layer connecting fragmented systems, synthesizing information from across platforms, and automate repetitive tasks—creating a future where creative professionals spend less time on administrative busywork and more time doing what they do best: creating.
Nick Law, Creative Chairperson, Accenture Song
How to Make AI Useful and Interesting for Humans
The conversations and use cases around GenAi are being led by the inventors – a monoculture of brilliant engineers. It’s becoming clear that they need help translating the potential of this technology into textured human experiences. Will our industry step into this void, or shrink into insignificance?
PJ Pereira, Founder & Creative Chairman, Pereira & O’Dell
Beyond the Binary: Navigating AI’s Opportunities and Challenges
There’s a lot of confusion surrounding AI—enthusiasm, excitement, fear—and people often feel pressured to pick one perspective and commit fully. But this oversimplification keeps us from truly understanding what’s at stake. In this roundtable, we’ll clearly unpack the key issues, exploring AI’s challenges and opportunities so that individuals, agencies, and industry leaders can confidently embrace AI’s potential while thoughtfully addressing valid concerns.
Tim Rodgers, Founder, Ace Workflow
Build It Live: From AI Concept to Working Tool in 30 Minutes
In this interactive roundtable, Tim Rodgers takes you behind the curtain of rapid AI implementation. Building on the tools demonstrated in his reflections talk, Tim will walk participants through the exact process of creating an AI-powered workflow enhancement from scratch.
You’ll witness the entire journey—from initial concept to functional prototype—happening right before your eyes.
This hands-on session is perfect for creative leaders, strategists, and operations specialists who want to move beyond theoretical discussions and start implementing practical AI solutions immediately.
Bring your questions and challenges—Tim will show you how the tools and techniques demonstrated can be adapted to your specific needs.
Tiffany Rolfe, Chair & Global Chief Creative Officer, R/GA
Rewiring Creativity for the Intelligence Age
Join Tiffany for a deeper conversation around her session on Rewiring Creativity for the Intelligence Age.
6:00 pm
Cocktails and the AI Creative Challenge
Registration to the ECS includes admission to the AI Creative Challenge; An electrifying fusion of creativity and technology. Network with top creative minds and AI leaders while witnessing a live, head-to-head creative showdown. Watch the brightest talents harness AI to tackle a randomly assigned brief in real time, with the winner crowned at the event. Agency Afterhours DJ Supes Base will be spinning, and drinks and light bites will be provided as innovation and inspiration take center stage.
