David Droga, founder of Droga5 and former CEO of Accenture Song, speaks unemotionally about how artificial intelligence is already changing the industry that made him a widely known figure. In a recent conversation with Semafor, he argued that true originality cannot be duplicated, and that AI will effectively eliminate the formulaic middle of creative fields.
"The majority of stuff done in marketing, advertising, entertainment, music, journalism, is pretty formulaic and average. So have at it. Get rid of that," Droga told Mixed Signals. He added, "And if I was a client, 80% of the people that I pay probably aren’t doing an exceptional, stellar job anyway."
At the same time he insisted there will remain a need for distinctions: originality, strategy, context and taste — those rare qualities that actually move things forward — and that AI will not replace them.
OpenAI’s ad push and Cannes timing
AI’s rising threat to the ad industry is set to be a dominant topic at this week’s Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity on the French Riviera. Attention has intensified with OpenAI’s arrival: the company is hosting its first Cannes Lions event on Monday, a few blocks from the awards, along the boulevard where major tech players and ad holding companies traditionally exhibit.
The launch of ChatGPT 3 three years ago kicked off the AI arms race and accelerated automation of creative work in advertising. In February, OpenAI announced it would introduce ads with a goal of reaching $100 billion in ad revenue by the end of the decade. Since then, it has rolled out self-serve ad tools, begun testing ads in Japan, and quietly updated its Ad Tools to note that it "may make available AI-powered Creative Tools" to generate, modify, optimize, localize, or translate advertising creatives.
While OpenAI isn’t staging celebrity-studded shows like some competitors, it signaled seriousness by scheduling a Monday morning press preview. The company told a handful of journalists it would preview its ad business; a person familiar with the plan said remarks would come from Denise Dresser, OpenAI’s chief revenue officer, along with an update on the ad program and a creative demo of new ad products.
Holding companies, agencies and leaner creative shops
Droga sees the industry undergoing a deep technological shift. Big holding companies that historically profited from media buying—the placement of ads in media spaces—face a direct challenge from AI tools that make that task easier with vast data sets. Creative agencies acquired by those holding companies are likely to become leaner as tooling lowers the cost of making ads.
Droga, who sold Droga5 to Accenture in 2019 for $475 million, said that if he were starting an agency today he would structure it very differently. It would not reach its former New York peak of 850 staff (Droga5 is now 1,200 globally but only 600 in New York), and it would not have as many organizational tentacles.
"Do not be pigeonholed [into just] doing advertising and marketing," he advised. "Try and get into products, try and get into experiential, just try and infuse it into more things where it’s less about just the disposable advertising component of it, and prove that your ideas are liquid; actually try and get paid on outcomes, more than just hours."
He encouraged creative people to launch companies that influence business outcomes rather than simply recreate the pre-existing agency model.
The biggest gains may be on the buying side
Although creative work has dominated AI conversations, Droga says the most lucrative changes are likely to occur at the other end of the funnel—where technology is reshaping how people find and buy products advertisers want to sell.
AI summaries from Google, ChatGPT, and Claude have already reduced online web traffic, alarming e-commerce and digital media sectors that relied on traditional Google search to attract clicks and sales. Google is pushing back against the so-called "Google Zero" idea and plans to explain its search strategy to advertisers at Cannes Lions.
Some industry leaders see a less dramatic near-term shift. In a Semafor interview previewing Yahoo’s Cannes presence, CEO Jim Lanzone said his experience with Yahoo’s own AI "answer engine," Scout, suggests the ad model in the medium term will resemble traditional paid search. He argued the core model remains highly effective; the main change is interface—lists of links replaced by paragraphs. While click-through rates may fall because users get information directly from AI, conversions per click could rise because users understand products better before clicking.
Cannes awards, storytelling and the risk to audience connection
AI has already disrupted Cannes Lions awards: last year the festival revoked the Creative Data Lions Grand Prix after it was revealed the campaign used AI to manipulate the case-study video. Droga, who ran the most-winning agency in Cannes history, expressed nostalgia and concern. He worries that growing parts of marketing focus more on manipulating AI-generated search outputs than on crafting campaigns that win over people.
"From a storyteller’s perspective, it makes me very sad that there isn’t gonna be that audience where you can have that connection point," he said. He lamented the prospect that traditional storytelling and multi-layered experience-building may not be the same going forward.
Yet he remains optimistic that truly creative advertisers will adapt. "I still think original, exceptional stuff is gonna flourish," he said. "AI is great at replication, and it’s great at sort of distilling things down to best practices. Everything it’s got is collated from what’s been done before, and it’s bringing that together. And it’s very powerful, and it’s profound. But then everybody’s using the same tools, and they’re gonna all get to the same place. So I’m not as terrified of it as everybody else is."
Recent examples and final note
OpenAI has already been visible at Cannes: last month a "human-led but AI-assisted" short film created by a team close to OpenAI premiered at the Cannes film festival and was described as one of the first films to use OpenAI’s creative tools.
Overall, Droga sees AI driving structural change: formulaic, mediocre creative work will be pared away, while original, high-value creativity should retain relevance—provided agencies and creators rethink business structures and emphasize measurable outcomes.
