A gap is widening inside brand organizations. The C-suite is meeting vendors, seeing demos, and greenlighting AI transformation at speed - while the teams and agencies responsible for executing are often the last to know what changed. 

Join Lindsey Slaby for a candid, unscripted look at the knowledge gap reshaping Creative Ops: why it exists, what leaders are actually looking for, and what Ops professionals can do to close the distance before they're left behind.

We are in the midst of a significant shift across organizations and technology, and how value is defined. As AI continues to scale, so do important questions about its impact on the human experience at work. At the same time, employee expectations are evolving - particularly among creative teams - toward work that supports agency, originality, and meaning.

As generative AI reshapes how we create, the question is no longer just what’s possible, but what’s responsible.

Abhilasha will explore how ethics, representation, and creative integrity must be intentionally built into AI-driven workflows.

The session will examine bias and global stereotypes, and discuss how leaders can harness AI’s power while protecting trust, authenticity, and human creativity.

David Yurman’s content landscape evolved from a manageable campaign cadence into a high-volume, always-on operation serving creative, ecommerce, wholesale, training, legal, and more. 

Creative teams are under more pressure than ever. More channels, more formats, more volume, faster turnaround, while the tools and workflows built to support them have stayed largely the same. The result is a system straining under its own weight: time lost to repetitive production tasks, endless revision cycles, and compliance reviews that should never require human attention in the first place.

How Creative Leaders Decide What Tech Really Matters

Creative teams have more technology available than ever before.
But more tools don’t mean better outcomes.

In a market full of ‘AI-powered’ promises and constant innovation, the real challenge isn’t access to technology; it’s knowing what you actually need and why.

This panel brings the conversation back to first principles:

Designing Creative Ecosystems for Impact

Reality check
Most organizations didn’t design their creative operating model; they inherited it. Hybrid structures have become the default, but not the differentiator.

In 2026, the advantage lies in how intentionally Creative Operations leaders design ecosystems, aligning people, partners, and technology, and how clearly they communicate that design across the business.