Global CEO Robin Forbes and APAC strategy lead Marie Conley take on the question of what it takes to build a brand that can think for itself

Sydney, 3 September 2026 humAIn, the independent conference on AI, technology, creativity and culture, has announced global independent creative innovation company R/GA as content partner for its 2026 edition.

R/GA Global CEO Robin Forbes will speak on Tuesday 13 October alongside Marie Conley, R/GA's Executive Strategy Director for APAC. Forbes is in Australia for the event.

humAIn runs across 13 and 14 October at Stone & Chalk's Tech Central Innovation Hub in Sydney. Day one is a single-stage conference capped at 250 delegates. Day two is a workshop programme capped at 100. The event is in its fourth year and its first as a fully independent property, following three editions under Unmade and Mumbrella.

Robin Forbes, Global CEO, R/GA, said, “At humAIn we'll be talking about what we call Intelligent Brand Systems – an operating model that unifies brand design, adaptive experiences and generative storytelling. It's what happens when brand strategy stops being a set of static guidelines and starts operating in real time; generating at scale without losing what makes a brand distinctive. We'll walk through examples we've built for clients: how they were made, how they had to adapt, and what we've learned. humAIn has built a genuine reputation as one of the region's leading independent AI conferences for the quality of the room: senior, hands-on, and there to work things out rather than be sold to. We're excited to be part of this year's programme."

The choice is simple: build your brand as a system that can think for itself, or become the brand that AI filters out. That's the provocation R/GA's session, 'Can Brands Think For Themselves?', will explore, as Forbes and Conley draw on real client work to unpack what separates brands built to keep pace from those that fall behind. With most of the AI conversation in marketing still about what the technology can do, the talk will shine on the more useful question of what it takes to build something that works and keeps working. R/GA became independent in March 2025 and has backed the practice with a $50m innovation fund.

**Cat McGinn, founder of humAIn, said, “**There's no shortage of people showing what AI can generate. What's in short supply is anyone willing to show the working – what they decided, what didn't hold up, and what it took to fix. That's the session I wanted on this stage.

"R/GA backed humAIn as an independent event early, which took some courage in year one. We're delighted to be working with partners with a point of view, and organisations that want to shape the conversation, and R/GA aligns with that perfectly."

Speakers

**Robin Forbes, Global CEO, R/GA**Robin partners with senior clients on growth and change, and sets R/GA's global business vision. He has been with R/GA since 2014, previously as Global Chief Client Officer, EVP Managing Director of the Brand Design and Consulting practice, and Managing Director of the US Region and of R/GA New York. Earlier work includes 13 years at Blast Radius, consulting at Arthur Andersen, and a World Bank initiative digitising schools in Chile.

**Marie Conley, Executive Strategy Director, APAC, R/GA**Marie sets the strategic direction that helps brands succeed in the age of AI, building new ways of working for R/GA and its clients. She joined from The Pharm, WPP's multi-agency model for Walgreens Boots Alliance, and was previously Head of Strategy at TBWA London, where she helped embed the agency's Disruption approach. She has won APG and Effie awards. She started as a graphic designer, and writes on the decline of the attention economy and what it opens up for smaller brands.

About humAIn

humAIn is Australia's AI conference for the marketing, media and creative industries. It runs across 13 and 14 October at Stone & Chalk’s Tech Central Innovation Hub in Sydney.

Day one is a single-stage conference capped at 250 delegates.

Day two is a workshop programme capped at 100. The event is in its fourth year and its first as a fully independent property, following three editions under Unmade and Mumbrella.