I was at Cannes last week.

The conversation about AI and talent has changed, and it’s good news

I’ve just got back from Cannes Lions, and I left thinking about something that has nothing to do with sipping rosé under the scorching sun.

A year ago, the festival had one story to tell – all about AI. Every panel, every stage, every conversation on the Croisette came back to the same anxious question: is this the thing that finally replaces us? AI was being sold as the creative itself. The talent in the room was nervous, and you could feel it.

This year felt different. AI was everywhere again, but the heavy mood was absent. The industry has stopped asking what AI might do to us and started asking what it’s actually for. The phrase I kept hearing was “proof of humanity”. AI-produced creative work has been put back in its place again. It’s not the star of the show, but another layer of technological infrastructure the industry builds on. It’s a tool. A very good one at that, but a tool all the same.

Here’s the part that stayed with me. The work everyone was talking about, the work that won, wasn’t the loudest AI showcase. It was the profoundly human stuff. The ideas with a point of view. The campaigns built on human insight and fresh thinking that no AI model could have reached on its own. The judging reflected it too: the work was being assessed on the quality of the thinking behind it, with the technology treated as scaffolding.

There was a whole strand of the festival about careers, and it told the same story from a different angle. The fear used to be that AI would wipe out jobs, especially the junior ones. The conversation now is about how AI changes what those jobs are. It clears the noise – the drafting, the variants, the admin that used to swallow whole teams – so that people are freed up for the work only people can do. The strategic call on which idea is even worth making. The judgement. The taste. The bit that decides whether the work is any good.

So, what are leaders actually looking for now? Not someone who can do the things a machine does faster. From my perspective it’s the human qualities that matter most. Because it’s drive, adaptability, curiosity, and resilience that communicate a point of view worth paying attention to. Those are the differentiators leaders are looking for, even in an AI dominated world.

If you’re reading this from inside an agency or a brand, that’s genuinely good news. It means the value of a great hire has gone up, not down. When everyone has access to the same clever tools, your edge isn’t the technology – it’s the people using it. The strategist who reads the room. The creative leader who knows which idea to kill and which to fight for. The commercial mind who turns a good agency into a growing one. AI takes everyone to the middle. People are how you surpass it.

This is what we’ve always believed at DNA. Talent, creativity, fresh thinking, a bit of uniqueness – that’s not a nice-to-have on top of the technology. It’s the whole game. Brands and agencies don’t win because they have AI. They win because they have the right people pointing it at the right problems to deliver the right solutions. Getting those people in the building is the most human, and most important, decision a business makes.

Outsourcing this decision to machines and tools is one of the biggest mistakes a business can make. Human judgment and instinct still beat out cold analysis. People are alive and cannot be reduced to data points, that’s why we think recruitment deserves the human touch from start to finish. And if you need the talent to drive your business forward, that’s exactly what we’re here for – so do get in touch.

Which brings me, rather neatly, to next week.

We’re at MAD//Fest, and this year’s theme is The Human Touch. For a talent business, it’s hard to imagine a better theme, especially after a week in Cannes. It feels more on the money than ever. We’re looking forward to the talks, the speakers, and meeting as many of you as we can.

We’re also raising the stakes to deliver our own human touch. As Official Talent Partner, we’re bringing back the ever-popular whack-a-mole – but this year and for the first time, we’re giving away a completely free hire. One lucky business will walk away with a hire fully sourced, screened and placed, at no cost to them. Give us the brief, and we’ll find your person.

Come and find us on the stand, have a go, and let’s talk about what the human touch really means for your next hire. After last week, I’m more convinced than ever that it’s the thing that matters most.

See you there,

Ali Wallace
CEO, DNA Recruit