Creative Operations Innovations

Networking Continental Breakfast

Chairperson’s Opening Remarks:

Chairmen TBA

Creative Confidence in the Age of AI: Change Management for High Performing Teams

Why it matters: AI is a major theme, but there’s little coverage of how teams practically adopt it.

AI adoption is reshaping creative operations—and the teams that thrive will be the ones that lead change with purpose. This session delivers strategies to introduce foundations for change and embedding AI into daily practice. Walk away with practical steps to build creative teams that are adaptable, skilled, and ready to lead the next wave of innovation.

• Building AI literacy and trust in creative teams
• Practical frameworks for change management and adoption
• Internal comms strategies that empower teams to experiment

Thomas Stilling

Digital Strategist & Product Leader

Rutgers University

Panel: How AI Tools are Transforming Marketing & Creative Workflows: Streamlining Project Management and Workflow for Production & Creative Alignment

• Using AI to improve the order of operations, workflow, and systems
• Looking at the role of AI in as it pertains to workflow automation: Setbacks and opportunities
• Streamlining workflows: Optimizing resources, not doing more with less
• How to adapt and what should you be doing now?
• How is AI supporting processes?
• Is AI enhancing processes? How are people using it?
• Organizing content into useable form and analyzing it
• Using AI to boost efficiency in a small team
• Process optimization

Panelists:

The Evolution of AI: From Predictive to Agentic AI – How Are CMOs & Creative Operations Officers Using Agentic AI?

• AI evolution across horizons
• Predictive AI → Generative AI → Agentic AI represents distinct technological leaps
• A shift in capability, complexity, and application
• Generative AI: the established standard
• Shifts and challenges from operationalizing and integrating GenAI into workflows
• Agentic AI: The next Frontier

Networking Refreshment Break

Case Study: Optimizing Project Management, Workflow, and Resources to Master Marketing Efficiencies

• Building an agile marketing organization
• Streamlining project management and workflow for production and creative alignment
• Process optimization
• Improving the order of operations, workflow, and systems
• Modernizing the workflow with outside agencies
• Accurate tracking essentials to ensure resources are utilized efficiently and prevent burnout
• Clearer intake forms and better education on requirements

Lessons Learned from Leadership Panel: How to Prioritize, Strategizes, Simplify, and Communicate Meaningfully Internally and Externally

• Simplifying the volume of projects
• Strategizing according to priority
• Inundated with too many projects and deadlines
• Mastering the ability to prioritize
• True leadership advancement
• Navigating team through trade-offs

Panelists:

In-House Panel: Multi-Channel Coordination to Break Down Silos: Content Creation and Distribution are Expanding Rapidly, Making Alignment Across Teams More Critical

• Tackling the disconnect between sales, marketing, operations, and creative leading to ineffective content and poor adoption
• Internal vs. External Collaboration – How can in-house teams and agencies work together effectively, balancing insider knowledge with fresh perspectives?
• Unlocking Internal Expertise – Organizations have thought leaders, but their insights are often untapped. How can content teams amplify their voices?
• Decentralization vs. Centralization – Should teams be independent or integrated into a metric-driven system?
• Aligning internal & external agencies – Ensuring creative, data sharing, and collaboration are streamlined

Panelists:

Networking Lunch

In-house & External Panel: Optimize Collaboration Between Internal Teams and External Agencies

• Bridging the gap between in-house and agency teams
• Practical tips to achieve an effective collaboration model
• Best practices for working seamlessly with agencies, vendors, and internal teams
• Balancing internal and external strengths
• How to leverage in-house knowledge while benefiting from fresh agency perspectives
• Aligning creative and strategy
• Ensuring brand consistency and cohesion across all creative efforts
• Tangible strategies for data sharing and communication
• Establishing clear processes for collaboration and transparency in performance insights

Roundtable Panelists:

Case Study: Defining Essential KPIs in Creative Operations

• Identifying the right metrics to measure productivity in creative and photo studio operations
• Learning from competitors: Analyzing industry benchmarks, KPIs, and systems to optimize performance measurement
• Balancing creativity with data
• Using metrics to defend creative work while proving its business impact
• Translating metrics into actionable insights

Topic TBA

Networking Refreshment Break

Measuring Content Effectiveness: Going Beyond Vanity Metrics to Assess True Impact

• Making the case for content
• Using organizational data to create compelling, targeted content that resonates with the audience.
• Preparing & organizing data
• Clean fragmented data and turn it into an asset
• How do you get your data ready?
• How do you assess the state of your data? How do you turn data into an asset
• How do you use it?

Panel: The Evolving Role of DAM, MAM, VAM, etc.: Moving Beyond Traditional Storage to Adaptable, Evolving Content Strategies

• How emerging AI tools are streamlining asset organization and creative workflows
• Choosing the right system: How do you figure out what your team needs?
• Challenges in implementation & maintenance
• What does the future of asset management look like?
• Optimizing quality of content

Networking Cocktail Reception

Networking Continental Breakfast

Chairperson’s Recap of Day One:

Agility & Scalabiity

Panel: Scaling Content Production Without Sacrificing Quality

• Balancing speed, cost, and quality
• Integrating technology for efficiency
• Streamlining content workflows and improve scalability
• Balancing quality with cost-efficiency
• Maintaining creative integrity
• Preparing for future growth

The State of Social Media and the Need for Agility in Creative Operations

• The speed of culture
• Marketing that resonates
• Creative agility vs. traditional processes
• Breaking the red tape for faster execution

Makayla Chibaya,

Marketing Coordinator

Samsung HVAC America

Media Trends, Influencers, and Creative Operations

• Media dollar shifts – Tracking where advertising budgets are moving and how brands are reallocating spend
• Media trends
• Planned vs. reactive content
• Removing barriers to execution and fostering a "yes" culture for quick, impactful content

Networking Refreshment Break

Case Study: Strengthening Stakeholder Relationships

• TBA
• TBA
• TBA

Strategic Positioning and Brand Awareness

Effective Internal Positioning: Ensuring Creative Team Has a Seat at the Table

Case Study: Brand Awareness in a Performance Marketing Era: Branding in a Data-Driven Marketing World

• Tangible strategies for integrating brand-building
• Balancing brand and performance marketing
• Is brand-building taking a backseat to performance marketing
• Using brand as the business driver: Awareness, trust, loyalty, and long-term growth
• Tips for balancing brand with performance

End of Conference