The final day of Creative LIAisons arrives after a week designed to put rising talent as close as possible to how great creative work is made, challenged and judged. Across five days and 68 speaker appearances, attendees have questioned CCOs, tried their hand at judging, watched real Statue deliberations unfold and learned alongside peers from across the world. The last sessions kept the momentum going with fresh perspectives on healthcare, independence, play, disruption and leadership.
As the program wrapped, Creative LIAisons Director Laurissa Levy thanked the speakers, sponsors, partners, jurors, team and attendees who made the week possible. Reflecting on what the rising stars had experienced, she said, “You’ve had five days of extraordinary access to some of the best minds in the industry, but the real value is what happens next. Take the confidence, relationships and lessons you’ve built here back into your work and your teams. And hopefully, one day, we’ll see many of you return to LIA as winners, jurors and creative leaders yourselves.”
Rethinking the Rules of Healthcare Creativity
Joao Camacho, Chief Creative Officer India & ME at Havas Life; Tim Hawkey, Chief Creative Officer at AREA 23 New York; Rich Levy, Chief Creative Officer at Klick Health New York; and Susan Perlbachs, Chief Creative Officer at EVERSANA INTOUCH New York, challenged the idea that healthcare creativity has to be cautious, clinical or creatively compromised. The panel argued that some of the category’s tightest constraints can actually create room for sharper thinking, provided creatives understand the people behind the condition, not just the condition itself.
That responsibility cuts both ways. Healthcare work has to earn attention and emotional connection like any other great creative idea, but it also has to respect the realities, vulnerabilities and lived experiences of the people it speaks to. The strongest work comes from combining creative ambition with genuine empathy: understanding the human stakes deeply enough to make something brave, relevant and useful rather than simply louder.
The Rise of the Independents
Julie Kang, Founder & CEO of Flux AI Asia; Jyrki Poutanen, Chief Creative Officer at United Imaginations; Tista Sen, Founder of TistaThinks; and Kwame Taylor-Hayford, Co-Founder of Kin, gave rising creatives a candid look at what independence really demands. They unpacked why they left networks, how they built from the ground up, what they miss, what they would never go back to and whether having your own money on the line makes you braver or more cautious.
The conversation also pushed beyond the romance of “being your own boss.” The panel explored how independents are perceived by clients, whether founder-led companies can stay genuinely collective, and at what point growth begins to compromise the very qualities that made them independent in the first place. The takeaway was that independence is not simply about ownership. It is about making deliberate choices around risk, culture, ambition and the kind of company you actually want to build.
Gaming Jurors on the Power of Play
Moderated by Laura Swinton Gupta, Editor in Chief and MD at Little Black Book – LBBOnline, the session brought together Lewis Tutssel, Industry Creative Lead at Reddit, and Rey Tiempo, Chief Creative Officer and Creative Gaming Specialist at Co-Op Play, to explore how brands can show up authentically in gaming rather than simply force their way into it. Their conversation traced how brand participation has evolved from opportunistic “hacks” aimed at getting one over on gamers to more credible collaboration with publishers, communities and players themselves.
The bigger lesson was that gaming is not just a channel, but a space built on participation, community and value exchange. Brands need to do the research, understand how different gaming audiences behave and then earn their place by contributing something meaningful to the experience. As Lewis Tutssel puts it, “Gaming works because there’s always a value exchange. Brands should ask the same question of their ideas: what are we giving people that makes them want to participate?”
Kaleeta McDade on Steering into the Crash
Kaleeta McDade, Global Chief Experience Design Officer at VML, drew on her own leadership journey to challenge rising creative leaders to rethink what it means to lead through disruption. In an industry moving through constant change, she argued that leadership is shifting from having all the answers to creating the conditions for experimentation, from simply driving outputs to unlocking outcomes, and from managing people against deadlines to helping them realize their potential.
Her broader message was that uncertainty is not something creatives should fear. Chaos has always been part of the canvas, and the opportunity is to move through it with curiosity, persistence and humanity intact. In an age where AI has made mediocrity cheap and abundant, ingenuity still matters. As McDade put it, “Everyone is talking about doing things faster, not better. As AI and technology create more curves in the road ahead, humanity is the friction that keeps us on it.”
A Fireside Chat with Pancho Cassis
Moderated by Creative LIAisons Host Chris Smith, Principal and Chief Creative Officer at Plot Twist Creativity, Pancho Cassis, Global CCO & Partner at DAVID, offered a candid look at what changes when your job shifts from having the idea to creating the conditions for others to have one. At DAVID, briefs are opened beyond the usual “stars” because great ideas can come from anywhere. Leadership, for him, is about trusting the talent in the room, especially when different cultures and perspectives make the work richer.
He was equally candid about dry spells, self-doubt, letting go of ideas you love and why “I like it” is useless feedback unless you can explain why. Progress, he argued, requires a different muscle at every level: what gets you to Creative Director will not necessarily get you to ECD or CCO. Learn to coach, give juniors room to prove themselves, and stay persistent enough to keep fighting for ideas that matter. His most grounded reminder was also the simplest: “clients, not award shows, pay the bills. Do your best work for them, and the rest has a better chance of following.”
CCO’s Unfiltered: Round Two
Creative LIAisons closed with one of the program’s defining experiences: another candid “ask-us-anything” session, this time moderated by Chaka Sobhani, Global Chief Creative Officer at TBWA Worldwide. She was joined by Samira Ansari, US Chief Creative Officer at Grey; Javier Campopiano, Chief Creative Officer, Leo Constellation Americas and Spain & Portugal at Publicis Groupe; and Menno Kluin, Global Chief Creative Officer, formerly at Iris Worldwide. The rising stars didn’t hold back, asking about everything from ambition, strategy and creative resilience to family, leadership and what they actually look for in the people they hire.
The answers were refreshingly human. They championed courage, persistence, initiative and curiosity, but also humility: caring more about the work than your own ego, asking questions when you do not understand, and recognizing strategy as a creative discipline rather than a pile of context. They also pushed back on the idea that leadership means having all the answers or proving who is in charge. Great leaders notice effort, make people feel seen and create the conditions for teams to keep coming back with ideas, even after rejection. As Javier put it, “Try to make people leave your office feeling better than when they walked in.”
Creative LIAisons Mentee Reflections
Aika Miyashiro
Creative Planner, Copywriter
Dentsu Digital Tokyo
“I’m excited to take these lessons back to my team, not just keep them for myself. From evaluating work to watching how jurors give constructive feedback, I’ve learned things I can use to help my team make stronger work and stronger decisions.”
Su Ann Yip
Copywriter
Media Arts Lab Singapore
“I came in feeling uncertain about where the industry was heading, with so much doom and gloom around it. This week gave me a real jolt of optimism. Fresh perspectives reminded me that change isn’t only something to worry about. It can also be something to get excited about.”
Karl Malik Bernardo
Associate Creative Director
Dentsu Creative Philippines
“Beyond the lessons from some of the industry’s brightest minds, Creative LIAisons pushed me outside my comfort zone. I’m leaving with more confidence to connect with people I admire, and with relationships I know will keep shaping my career long after Vegas.”
Ilu Shilpakar
Art Director
Dentsu Creative France
“Usually when you enter an award show, you only see the result. Getting to look behind the curtain at how jurors actually debate and decide the work has changed how I think about shaping ideas and presenting them clearly enough to stand up in the room.”
Frederico Rodrigues de Sousa
Creative Art Director
WMcCANN, São Paulo
“The creative leaders were inspiring, but so were the people sitting beside me. I’m leaving with a network of friends from different markets and cultures who see the world differently, but share the same passion for making this industry better.”
