CMO Dara Treseder dissects Cannes Lions' biggest advertising battles—why Starbucks' South Korea campaign failed despite AI blame, how Adidas and Nike dominated World Cup marketing differently, and why the path from CMO to CEO is now tech's hottest power move. She reveals how brands must balance AI efficiency with human creativity, prove themselves to LLMs, and invest $350 million lessons in the next generation. AI raises the floor but human ingenuity vaults the ceiling—the golden age belongs to marketers with excellent taste who master tools while knowing when not to use them.