MAD STARS 2026 Unveils Eight Creativity-Focused Sessions

MAD STARS 2026 has unveiled details of eight conference sessions centered on creativity. Together, they explore how creative work is evolving as AI, technology, culture, and changing audience behavior reshape the industry.

Under its 2026 theme, AMPLIFY, MAD STARS will present approximately 40 sessions spanning marketing, creativity, AI, technology, culture, and more, bringing together perspectives on some of the industry’s most pressing questions.

Among the eight sessions is a keynote by Tara McKenty, Chief Creative Officer at AKQA Australia & New Zealand, who will be joined by Justine Leong, the agency’s Managing Director. In “Creative Intelligence: Where Human Imagination Meets Technology,” they argue that recent creative breakthroughs are less the product of braver ideas than of new infrastructure, with technology enabling human imagination rather than replacing it. The session traces how storytelling has shifted from one-way broadcast to a participatory system in which brands, creators, and audiences build culture together.

The remaining seven sessions examine creativity through themes including ethics, curiosity, judgment, fandom, authenticity, attention, and the underlying principles of creativity itself.

Noël Bunting, Chief Creative Officer at Publicis London, presents “Is Ethical AI Possible? ” exploring the relationship between technology, creativity, and responsibility, and asking how the industry can build a future in which AI supports human creators rather than undermining them.

Nkanyezi Masango, Chief Creative Officer at Ogilvy South Africa, presents “The Power of Curiosity,” exploring how deliberately stepping outside familiar interests and comfort zones can fuel experimentation and open up new creative possibilities.

Shinichi Kobayashi, Executive Creative Director & Creative Innovation Officer at ADK Marketing Solutions Inc., presents “Why AI Needs Human Creativity,” exploring why asking the right questions, reading context, and applying aesthetic judgment become more valuable, not less, as AI grows more capable.

Ilya Andreyev, Executive Creative Director at Cheil CIS, presents “The Laws of Creativity,” asking whether creativity has enduring principles comparable to laws in the natural sciences, drawing on real creative work from the CIS region.

Fabio Seidl, Senior Vice President, Creative AI at Digitas North America, presents “Creative Intelligence: When AI, Fandom, and Culture Become Your New Superpower,” on how brands move from broadcasting to co-creating with their audiences, turning participation into lasting cultural momentum.

Paulo Mariano, Senior Art Director at O Escritório, presents “The I Behind the A.I.,” reframing A.I. not as Artificial Intelligence but as the “Average I” and exploring what it takes to resist creative sameness while maintaining a distinct, authentic point of view.

Sandipan Bhattacharyya, Chief Creative Officer at MONKS, presents “I Want 60 Seconds of My Life Back,” making the case that as content, generative AI, and vanishing attention spans reshape the industry, marketers must shift their focus from Return on Investment to Return on Attention.

MAD STARS 2026 will take place from 26 to 28 August in the coastal city of Busan, South Korea, with events held at SIGNIEL BUSAN and across the Haeundae area. For more information and full conference details, visit madstars.org.