Our Cannes Lions Premiere: AI, Insights & The Ad Tech Chillhouse
AI-driven ad buying, high-level networking, and top-tier panels: goTom made its debut at Cannes Lions 2026. Discover how we shook up the Croisette with our Ad Tech Chillhouse, shared deep industry insights with legends like Sir Martin Sorrell, and put our new AI-powered AdCP Sales Agent into action.
What a week! From the 22nd – 26th of June 2026, the goTom team touched down on the French Riviera for our very first official presence at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The Cannes Lions Festival is the premier global event celebrating groundbreaking ideas, marketing, and cutting-edge technologies shaping the future of the media landscape.
During that week, we teamed up with our partners CWire, VideoRunRun, and Opti Digital to create something truly special: The Ad Tech Chillhouse. Situated just a few minutes from the main stage at the Palais, this dedicated space served as our basecamp to host clients, lead insightful panel discussions, and hold high-level meetings away from the festival noise.
Escaping the Noise with Curated Networking
Our goal for the Ad Tech Chillhouse was to move past the typical festival buzz and focus on conversations that actually matter. From morning networking at the terrace smoothie bar to sunset apéros with a live saxophone player, the space created an inspiring atmosphere for driving high-value dialogues.
Among a week full of great moments, these three sessions were absolute standouts:
When Broadcast Meets Programmatic
Who really owns creative performance when broadcast meets programmatic? Our CRO René Plug joined Aurelie Touboul, Fabrice Courdesses, Gabriele Franco, and Hossein Houssaini in a panel discussion to debate this exact topic. It was a packed session full of sharp perspectives and actionable takeaways for the future of CTV.
The Founders Confession
No filters, just real talk: During an honest conversation, the founders of CWire, Opti Digital, VideoRunRun, Advertible, Agnitio, and goTom teamed up to share what it actually takes to build a company from scratch. They pulled back the curtain on entrepreneurship, sharing their biggest challenges, pivotal moments, and the lessons learned along the way.
My honest advice to any founder boils down to three core principles: partner with a co-founder who balances your strengths, focus your energy on tasks that actually drive the company's success, and finally, stay resilient - keep pushing forward and never stop.
The Future of the Advertising Industry
As the cherry on top, we had the honor to welcome Sir Martin Sorrell, founder of S4 Capital and former CEO of WPP. Together with Tom Triscari, a leading voice in the in-house programmatic movement, they shared their vision on the state of the advertising industry, dominant players, winners and losers, and market growth through AI technology.
Beyond the Sessions: AdCP in Action
Cannes also gave us the chance to put our AdCP Sales Agent in front of the people shaping the next phase of programmatic. A range of publishers, sales houses, and platform partners stopped by the Chillhouse for live demos and candid feedback. AdCP — the Ad Context Protocol — is an open standard that lets AI agents discover, negotiate, and transact advertising directly with publishers, and our Sales Agent is built on top of it. The conversations confirmed what we’ve been hearing all year: there’s real appetite for agentic, AI-driven ad buying, and a lot of open questions about how to make it work in practice.
Your AI sales team that never sleeps
A Huge Thank You
Our first Cannes Lions experience was a big milestone for goTom. A massive thank you to our incredible co-hosts for making the Ad Tech Chillhouse the ultimate destination on the Croisette. Most importantly, thank you to all of our clients, partners, and industry peers who stopped by, shared their insights, and made this week such a resounding success.
