Decisions 2026 | Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
Influence. Messaging. Action. The Rules Are Changing.
Venue
Venable LLP
600 Massachusetts Ave NW,
Washington, DC 20001
FREE for 4As Members
Non-Members: $100 for the first attendee; $50 for each additional attendee from the same agency
Whether you’re in the business of persuading consumers to buy, voters to go to the polls or policymakers to vote a certain way, one thing is increasingly clear: there’s no playbook anymore. The rapid convergence of an increasingly disgruntled, skeptical population with the advent of AI, analytics and influencers means that it’s harder than ever for companies to get the right message to the right person at the right moment.
While the ongoing arranged marriage between Madison Avenue and Silicon Valley is not without its friction, together, they’re coming-up with adaptive and evolving ways to keep the communications lines open.
Join us in Washington, DC for a first-of-its-kind 4As Decisions where we focus on pairing best-in-class technology with timeless emotional insight to help you deliver results for your clients. Explore the strategies and tools you need to navigate a new environment where the audience is more skeptical than ever of what you have to say, and the mediums for reaching them have never been more complicated.
Time
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Registration and Check-In
Light breakfast and refreshments sponsored by Browsi
9:45 AM
Opening Remarks
Justin Thomas-Copeland, CEO, 4As
Stuart Ingis, Chairman, Venable
9:55 AM
Opening Keynote: The Next Agency Playbook
As we transition from Generative AI to Agentic AI, the technology's role evolves from summarizing and content creation to orchestration and autonomous action. But beyond that, what an agency does, how it services clients and the value it can create, is being rewritten. In this era, selling services alone is no longer enough. Fluidly integrating services with technology with an understanding of how to navigate the rapid rate of change for customers, clients and agencies is critical. Besides using agentic AI to execute tasks, designing for what we want humans to focus on becomes the central question for our age. This session will dive into why we are moving beyond experimentation with AI and into the era of enterprise value. Get ready to bridge the gap between today’s manual workflows and the fully integrated, agent-powered ecosystems of 2026, while ripping up the old agency playbook and creating the next era of what it means to deliver value.
Speakers:
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Jay Leveton, President, Stagwell
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Michael Treff, CEO, Code and Theory
10:25 AM
From Goodness to Fairness: A Wake-Up Call for Corporate America
The "Fairness Factor" report by Michael Maslansky of Maslansky + Partners and Omnicom PR Group argues that in an "age of rage," demonstrating fairness is more critical for organizations than traditional "doing good" to build trust with a skeptical public. The report emphasizes that meaningful actions and clear language are necessary to improve perceptions of fairness.
Speaker:
- Michael Maslansky, CEO, Maslansky + Partners
10:50 AM
Generative AI and the Critical Role of Content Provenance
Generative AI is reshaping content creation, offering powerful tools for rapid iteration and personalization across images, video and audio. Yet, these advancements bring urgent challenges: the rise of deepfakes, misinformation and brand safety concerns. Join Google's leading UX, and policy experts as they dissect this creative-ethical crossroads. This panel will explore the necessity of transparency and disclosure, and reveal how content provenance is becoming the essential trust layer for content creators, advertisers and consumers alike.
Speakers:
- Ana Chamorro, Strategic Partner Manager, Google
- Ladika Jackto, Public Policy Manager, Google
- Jenn Shreve, Senior User Experience Design Lead, Google
11:15 AM
AI & Innovation: Governance As Your Strategic Edge
As emerging technologies reshape how audiences consume and interact with content, media organizations must evolve to stay relevant and competitive. This session explores how agencies, creators and platforms are leveraging tools like live streaming, immersive storytelling, VR/AR and mobile-first formats to drive engagement and growth. We will also examine how cross-sector partnerships between media, technology and policy stakeholders can foster responsible, sustainable innovation in a fast-changing digital landscape.
Speaker:
- Erin Lanuti, Principal, Vecrin
11:40 AM
Beyond Inspiration: Using AI to Scale Creative Effectiveness in Media
Agencies are expected to do more than inspire with bold creative ideas; they must also drive business outcomes and fuel measurable growth. At the same time consumers increasingly expect personalized experiences. This session will explore how content is critical to success in algorithmic driven platforms, how media and creative are no longer separate levers, but a unified driver of business impact and how brands are leveraging AI-powered solutions to deliver personalization at scale, while maintaining their brand identity.
Speaker:
- Jason Dailey, Director, Head of Agency, Meta
12:00 PM
AI Won’t Replace Marketers—But It Will Replace How Marketing Gets Done
At Shirofune, we believe the future of advertising performance isn’t automation or people—it’s the deliberate combination of both. Learn how Shirofune enables scalable ad operations by pairing intelligent automation with human expertise to drive better, more sustainable growth for agencies.
Speakers:
- Mitsunaga Kikuchi, Founder and CEO, Shirofune
- Rocco Baldassarre, Head of Business Development, USA, Shirofune
12:15 PM - 1:00 PM
Lunch
1:00 PM
Data Policy Meets Platform Regulation
Innovation is moving fast — and so is the demand for accountability. Regulators and policymakers are redefining what it means to be responsible in the digital age, setting new standards for platform governance, competition, data privacy and ad tech transparency. From protecting children online to safeguarding digital rights and freedom of expression, this session unpacks the real-world challenges shaping the future of media and advertising.
Moderator:
Ashwini Karandikar, EVP, Media, Tech, Data, 4As
Speakers:
- Alison Gaul, Senior Legal Counsel, BCG
- Joshua Lowcock, President, Media, Quad
- Heather West, Senior Director of Cybersecurity and Privacy Services, Venable
1:25 PM
Synthetic Data: A New Ingredient in Your Marketing Toolkit
Synthetic data is transforming strategic marketing, budget planning, and campaign analytics—offering tangible benefits to marketers right now.
Arima will demonstrate how to create privacy-compliant synthetic populations by combining person-level attributes from census data, market research, mobility patterns, and purchase behavior. The result: synthetic datasets that statistically mirror real society at the individual level, ready to power various marketing use cases.
Speakers:
- Basil Fraysse, Head of Customer Strategy, Plus Company
- T.S. Kelly, Managing Director, US, Arima
1:45 PM
Strengthening Trust and Integrity in Media Ecosystems
In an era of accelerating technological change and rising misinformation, sustaining public trust has become both a strategic and ethical imperative. This session explores how the media, data and technology ecosystem can strengthen integrity through transparent governance, responsible innovation and accountability. Discussion will include emerging frameworks for managing synthetic media and deepfakes, building oversight standards and ensuring credibility and how evolving business models can support a more resilient, trustworthy media ecosystem.
Moderator:
Rachel Nyswander Thomas, Chief Operating Officer, TAG
Speakers:
- Alex Constantinescu, Director of Software Engineering, Attention Arc
- Ben Hovaness, Chief Media Officer, OMD
- Ron Pinelli, SVP Digital Research and Standards, MRC
2:10 PM
How to Build a Scalable Automation Engine for Modern Agencies
High execution costs and fragmented workflows limit growth potential and expose agencies to risk. To overcome these challenges, a leading agency exchanged its manual staffing models for an end-to-end automated system that executes media operations according to human-led specs.
By connecting every part of their process (across all major digital channels,) the agency can deliver better results with half the staff. Learn how they made the shift from manual execution to automated orchestration, improving their profit margins without increasing headcount.
Speakers:
- Heather Chevalley, VP, Growth, Fluency
- Molly Simons, VP, Precision Activation, MERGE
2:30 PM
Navigating the Federal vs. State AI Regulatory Maze
A new federal Executive Order (EO) aims to establish a uniform national AI framework, directly challenging the variety of state-level AI regulations (like those in California). This looming federal-vs.-state conflict threatens to create significant compliance complexity for advertising agencies that rely heavily on AI for targeting, personalization and content creation. This session will provide a practical roadmap for agencies, examining how to manage risk, ensure consumer protection and maintain ethical standards while operating across jurisdictions.
Moderator:
Amanda Anderson, VP, Government Relations
Speaker:
- Michael A. Signorelli, Partner, Venable LLP
2:55 PM
The Healthcare Data Trade-Off: What's at Stake?
The explosion of healthcare data coupled with new tools and AI offers new opportunities like cutting-edge immunotherapy developments for cancer treatment to fitness trackers predicting the optimal time to exercise or eat. The momentum continues with the recent announcement by CMS to engage in a public-private partnership with companies like Google, Amazon and Apple to develop a framework for seamless sharing of data between patients and providers. But how does healthcare data privacy and concerns from policymakers impact future product development and marketing? This session examines this and other important questions.
Moderator:
Alison Pepper, EVP, Government Relations
Speakers:
- Alex Glowatz, Associate General Counsel, Privacy, Compliance, and AI, DeepIntent
- Joan-Marie Stiglich, Chief AI Officer, Healio
3:25 PM
Closing Keynote - The Advertising Supply Chain: What Broke, What Worked, What’s Next
As AI, walled gardens and platform convergence redefine advertising, the supply chain has become both more powerful — and more opaque. This keynote examines how the ecosystem evolved, where it’s breaking down and what agencies must do next to restore transparency, unify creative and media, and deliver true omnichannel outcomes. In an AI-driven world, trust, data and foundation matter more than ever.
Speaker:
- Bill Wise, Co-Founder and CEO, Mediaocean
3:50 PM
Closing Remarks
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
