Cannes: Jim O'Leary on agency upheaval, AI myths & Cannes' transformation

Newly-installed Penta gobal CEO Jim O'Leary joins the Earned First podcast at Cannes to argue that legacy agency models are buckling under client demands they weren't built for, and that most firms are far better at marketing AI than deploying it. He traces the disruption to three converging forces — AI transformation, geopolitical risk, and a fracturing media landscape — and explains why private equity is moving into PR just as some legacy networks pull back.

The conversation closes on Cannes itself, which O'Leary describes as splitting into two festivals: a fading legacy version built around advertising, and a tech- and creator-economy-driven version steadily taking its place.