What Are Global Leaders Hyped About? Ditching Undercutting, AI Boosting Bravery, Return of Real-Life

In the face of turbulence, uncertainty, and disruption, senior leaders around the world are still hopeful. Headed into 2026, a range of execs – from holdcos, indies, and in-house agencies; creative and experience shops; the US, Europe, and Australia – feel optimistic about the possibilities of independent models, creativity as an emotional connector, and artificial intelligence’s potential to boost clients’ risk appetite.

Above all else, Ogilvy’s newly-minted US CEO, Lyndsey Corona -- appointed just last month -- feels buoyed by the “tremendous opportunity” to re-establish the industry’s purpose, and the value and growth creativity drives for clients’ brands.

“As an industry, we’ve fallen into the habit of undercutting each other as a way of ‘winning,’” she told LBB, and “that hits our bottom line and topline value perception. There’s a lot more to be gained when we come together and embrace the fact that, without the help of strategic and creative talent at creative agencies, brands risk devolving into a randomness and lose what makes them special – or, better put, valuable.”

Independents Sense Opportunity to Crack Category Open

Two leaders working on other sides of the world both believe Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG, creating the world’s biggest advertising holdco, proves 2026 holds big opportunity for independents.

In the US, Laughlin Constable’s group creative director Megan DeMeyer said the shake-up reminded her “of one thing: creativity isn’t dictated by a holding company. True and impactful storytelling comes from the people who are passionate about crafting it.

“I think this coming year we’re going to witness the continued rise of independent agencies – and I’m excited to see the honest, fun and unexpected ideas that will come out of those small but mighty shops."

In Germany, Jan Harbeck, the managing director of Jung von Matt offshoot JvM SPREE, and partner of JvM Group, echoed Megan. “In a time when networks erase iconic agency brands with a single corporate swipe, our independence feels more valuable than ever,” he said.

“It's the soil where entrepreneurial minds grow, rather than shrink. It's the freedom to advise clients without shareholders whispering in the background. It's the space where creative impact matters more than index points, and where real work outranks rankings fueled by smoke and mirrors.”

He’s looking into the new year with eyes on “a creative landscape cracking open with opportunity” and feeling “a sharpened sense of who we are: proudly independent, radically committed.”

In the UK, Atomic London is choosing the meet a “funereal” mood by doubling down on what’s working. Group CMO Cat Davis observed choosing optimism feels “almost rebellious” amidst widespread bleakness, but noted “opportunity and energy come from building something new -- growth fuelled by the collision of different skills, not retrenching or re-badging yesterday’s models under fewer brand names.”

The head of growth for Australian purpose-led indie Think HQ, Charmaine Griffith, acknowledged the “speed of change is giving me whiplash” but pointed to the upsides: “many indies have had another year of double-digit growth” and Aussie and Kiwi martech startups -- like Springboards.ai, Tracksuit, and Ideally -- are “booming”.

Her former colleague at CHEP, Jonny Berger, co-founded an Australian independent agency called Princess this year.

“With so much changing and in flux, it’s an exciting moment to be a creative business free from the bureaucracy and the bureaucrats of old,” he said, noting he’s most looking forward to having “direct chats with smart marketers who feel more confident to make big work with small agencies.

“There are a million agencies. But we can count on one hand the number of agencies that have actually reimagined a category. 2026 is our chance to prove Princess [is] in that group.”

Charmaine added the swirling uncertainty is giving people “clarity on your values and the work you want to put in the world.” The founder and executive producer of PARAGON, a production company based in the US midwest, agreed the “panic” has been “clarifying.”

“The last few years have exposed how fragile a lot of creative work really was,” Jack Linderman said. He believes the gap between efficient and meaningful work is widening, and “lived experience, taste, and conviction” will remain premium.

AI Isn’t At Odds With Being Fun, Human, and Brave

A chunk of execs from markets the world over feel optimistic, not pessimistic, about AI – because it is changing workflows, stretching thinking, demanding originality, and encouraging playfulness.

​Ant Baena, the LA-based ECD at FutureDeluxe is glad the AI noise is “finally calming down” and the “panic softening” to recognise AI is a tool “you can shape, bend, push, break, and rebuild in service of an idea.” He loves that it lowers the cost of experimentation, and appreciates its power to stamp out the distance between “imagine this” and “let me show you”.

“When the cost of trying drops, the appetite for risk grows. Brands loosen their grip. Ideas get weirder. Work gets braver."

In 2025, creatives could “work the way we want” thanks to AI, according to GALE group creative director, Becky Kitlan. “For anyone using AI as a tool rather than the endpoint, 2026 is about leveling that power up,” she said. “I’m looking forward to even more creative freedom.”

​Spark & Riot director Gregoris Rentis noted the AI “honeymoon phase” ending means a clear-eyed understanding that “2026 is the best time to be bold and to cherish individuality,” to ditch “standard tropes, the formulaic and bulletproof concepts.”

A surge in AI production has led to a resurgence in human-feeling craft in many markets and categories. Practitioners now better understand when AI services and stretches the idea, and when “old-school, camera-captured practical magic simply serves the work better,” according to Tyler Burr, the COO of Syzygy, an accounting firm for prodcos.

“There’s a growing interest in imagery that feels grounded and textured, not as a reaction to AI, but as part of a broader desire for work made with care.”

She said production companies also have a chance to refine their workflows to “protect creative integrity while unlocking new efficiencies” by prioritising “smarter planning, tighter collaboration, and production models built on intention, rather than guesswork.”

Coming at the question from an in-house perspective, Jeremy Jones, the global head of creative at Mailchimp’s agency, Wink, noted as AI speeds up execution, “the strength of the underlying creative idea will matter even more.”

"Great marketers have always been in the business of meaningful connection – AI is simply turbocharging how quickly and precisely those connections can be made,” he said. “The brands that stand out will be those that use AI not just to produce more content, but to make their ideas sharper, braver and more memorable."

He noted it’s collapsing the time between “rough ideas and workable concepts”, and OLIVER UK’s ECD, Eloise Smith, added 2026 is the year agentic AI will allow workflows to get smoother and quicker still, “so ideas sprint from sketch to screen.” She’s most looking forward to AI’s ever-quickening progression making room for advertising that’s fun, whether full AI productions featuring synthetic humans, or nostalgic, 80s-esque mascots and jingles “reborn through AI wizardry.” She said, “And in a world increasingly ruled by algorithms, fun is more important than ever.”

Others hope it makes brands feel more human, not less. Cheil UK’s managing director of client service, Rikke Wichmann Bruun, said, “AI is nudging us to slow down, question our assumptions, and approach creativity with a deeper kind of awareness. It’s teaching us to think differently and to be more curious, more reflective, more empathetic.

“Social platforms are becoming more emotionally intelligent. Streaming and entertainment are shifting toward stories that adapt to how we feel. Messaging platforms are growing warmer and more intuitive and immersive spaces are blending personalisation with genuine human connection.”

Oryana Angel, who runs In The Media PR, an Australian PR company, added, "The more content is produced by machines, the more real valuable real human depth becomes. The competitive edge now lies in the things AI can’t replicate - imperfect honesty."

Brands that prioritise human storytelling will also strengthen trust and perception, she added.

Imagination, Connection, a Perfect Creative Challenge

Human connection will triumph next year, creatives agree. After all, regardless of the fragmentation, pressures, expectations, and anxieties, the job is still: make people feel something.

“The industry has been living under a rain cloud for a while, but I still see enormous desire from people to create, build and move culture forward,” said Remi Couzelas, M+C Saatchi and Re Australia strategic partner, brand and experience. “My optimism comes from the hope that we finally act on that desire.

“This industry runs on imagination and judgement. AI accelerates us, but it doesn’t replace what makes us valuable.”

Or as Sam O’Kitchin put it, “We’re in an era where people are so bored of bland advertising that they think a machine can do it better than us. What greater creative challenge for 2026 is there?”

The creative director at Born Social, which has offices in Melbourne and New York, referenced Lily Allen’s latest album, ‘West End Girl’, which chronicles her divorce. People will give their attention to stories that are honest and generous; they don’t care about format or length as much as they do about connection and fun and strangeness. “Troye Sivan handing you a Smirnoff Ice. Big John selling you air fryers. Tesco telling you what meal deal Anne Boleyn would’ve picked.”

The social-first agency has plans to spend next year “pivoting from ideas clipped, rendered flightless by pre-ordained six-second performance metrics toward unbridled creativity and weirdness.”

A tight brief or a tough outlook helps versus hinders the creative process. GAIN Creative Studios’ CEO, Jennifer Black, observed, “This industry has proven many times that it does its best work under pressure. In recessions, in pandemic, with technological change. We pivot, we build new stuff, we invent. It forces creative people to be creative in new ways, to apply their creativity to new problems.” That means the Londoner views 2026 as a chance to create the future, not react to it.

​Sid Lee ECD Matthew Fraracci reckons the jingle will return – “and I’m overjoyed about it” – PARAGON’s Jack Linderman is excited about the emergence of new creative voices who will not necessarily be “louder and faster,” but instead “unmistakably human”; Seen Presents’ MD Louisa O’Connor sees an opportunity emerging in B2B (which “doesn’t have to be boring” and is becoming an arena for inventiveness); and many expect to see brands cut through the online clutter with real-world experiences.

Brands That Win Will Be Co-Created, “Spark Something Real”

“My optimism for 2026 is that there is an inverse upside that focuses on human moments, a renaissance of real-world experiences. Whether it is sports, music or fashion that connect you viscerally, or a love for a brand that turns an activation into a cultural moment, I hope that we can design for how people feel, to give them meaningful, deeper and more authentic experiences that provide relief from a technological shift."

That’s how Imagination’s UX design director, Adam Kimsey, is thinking about the potential of the year ahead. Johannes Leonardo’s chief creative officer, Jonathan Santana, wants to work with brands keen to rip up an obsolete playbook that “relies on a passive consumer” and switch from “grabbing attention to encouraging participation”. When people are invited and compelled to co-create brands, that brand becomes an active part in their life, he argued.

​Lucy Bairner, client experience director at Collaborate Global in the UK, thinks that will manifest in people participating in moments that feel unplugged and offline – like the Boots pop-up Gen Zs recently queued through London’s Soho to get into, or Netflix’s activations promoting shows like Stranger Things or Squid Game that blend fiction and fandom.

“Real-world, in-person experiences are no longer a nice-to-have, they’re a strategic necessity for building emotional connection and cultural relevance,” she said.

Back in Australia, Emma Robbins, who was promoted to CCO of M+C Saatchi this year, isn’t optimistic about any one thing. She has a long list, from women leading agencies and the country’s social media ban for under 16s (maybe her son “will come out of his room and say hi”) to impending summer sleep-ins and the fact “AI isn’t maybe the dick we thought it was going to be.” The rebuilding of M+C’s Aussie office is energising her – “feels like the gang’s all here” – and she sees big brands doing big work. “Some of the best work in AUNZ this year was for a telco, a bank, bread, and the government.”

And even when hope is thin and times are tough, she’s choosing to believe rock bottom has arrived, and the year ahead is for climbing up and out. “Surely the industry can’t get any weirder?”

As Collaborate’s Lucy put it, “Yes, the world is wobbly. But 2026 feels wide open for anyone ready to spark something real.”