We’ve got a special Decoder today. I had the chance to talk with Amy Lanzi, the CEO of Digitas North America, in front of a live audience at the Uber villa at the Cannes Lions advertising festival in the south of France. There’s a lot in this one on AI, the creator economy, and the future of marketing – like I said, Amy is as sharp as they come, and I really enjoy talking to her about how the money really works. Links: The Influencer Cliff | Carmen Vicente (TikTok) The Wrong Promises | Publicis Groupe (YouTube) You can just tell the Instagram algorithm what you want now | The Verge How brands and creators are fighting for your attention and money | Decoder (2025) How influencers are changing advertising, with Digitas’ Amy Lanzi | Decoder (2024) Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Decoder is produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and edited by Ursa Wright. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The CMO is a dying role, says Digitas' Amy Lanzi

Decoder with Nilay Patel

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** Decoder with Nilay Patel

## Participants

- **Nilay Patel** (The Verge)
- **Amy Lanzi** (Digitas North America)

## Transcript

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[SPEAKER_03] So brands can show up with greater relevance when people are ready to act. Uber Advertising, where life's movement becomes your brand's momentum. Learn more at uber.com slash advertising.

[SPEAKER_04] Hello and welcome to Decoder. I'm Nilay Patel, Editor-in-Chief of The Verge, and Decoder is my show about big ideas and other problems. We've got a special Decoder today. I had the chance to talk with Amy Lanzi, the CEO of Digitas North America, in front of a live audience at the Uber Villa at the Cannes Lion Advertising Festival in the south of France. I know, it's a hard gig, but I'd do it for you. Amy's been on Decoder three times now, and she's one of my very favorite people to chat with. She is clear-eyed about what the advertising industry really is and does for brands,

[SPEAKER_04] and what all that money slashing around the ad-supported internet really accomplishes. In fact, you'll hear her say directly that she thinks the traditional chief marketing officer role is done for, that her job is driving business results using data and analytics. That might sound straightforward, but it was a shocking statement at Cannes, which is where the entire advertising industry gathers every year, drinks rosé, and convinces itself of outrageous nonsense. This year, the big trends everyone were talking about were creators and, of course, AI.

[SPEAKER_04] And Amy, and Digitas parent company, Publicis, weren't holding back when it came to calling out the AI nonsense for what it is. Publicis actually put out an ad before Cannes, listing all of the false promises being made about AI when it comes to advertising. So I asked Amy about that, and what AI might actually be good for, beyond just generating slop and slop headlines. After all, Meta and the rest of the big platforms were all at Cannes, talking about generating more and more ads with AI, something that threatens almost every other company in the industry.

[SPEAKER_04] Of course, we also talked about the creator economy and how all of the creators at Cannes were openly calling themselves marketers, essentially turning themselves into small ad agencies of their own. On top of that, the biggest creators in the world almost always end up launching their own products, something Amy and Digitas see as an opportunity, because those companies will need operational scale if they're going to be s...

The CMO is a dying role, says Digitas' Amy Lanzi

Transcript

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Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
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The CMO is a dying role, says Digitas' Amy Lanzi

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.