AI is the future of data analysis

CANNES: Planners need to embrace emerging data opportunities such as artificial intelligence (AI), but must also stick to tried and true research techniques, and consider the ever-present need to prove their value to clients, Warc's 2016 'Future of Strategy' debate has suggested. The panel session at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity included Sandy Thompson, global planning director at Y&R, Chris Stephenson, APAC head of strategy at PHD Singapore, and Debbie Weinstein, managing director of brand solutions and innovation at Google. It was moderated by Adam Ferrier, the global CSO of Cummins&Partners. "There are a lot more analytics and statistics involved in strategy," said Weinstein. "In the future, it might be robots and AI, [though] right now it's a data scientist looking at the data."