Opening remarks

Navigating the Creative Crossroads: AI, Fandom, and Trust at Web Summit Vancouver 2026

Cat How, Founder, CEO, and Executive Creative Director of How&How, a branding agency with offices in London and Los Angeles, welcomed attendees to the creative stage. Her agency focuses on building brands that hold significant meaning, encompassing strategy, identity, and voice. She emphasized that effective creative work transcends mere aesthetics, fundamentally altering how people perceive a company and how a company perceives itself.

This core belief underscores the importance of the discussions at Web Summit Vancouver 2026, highlighting their commercial, cultural, and strategic relevance. The creative industry currently stands at a critical and challenging inflection point. Rapid advancements in AI are accelerating processes, while audiences are increasingly becoming active collaborators in content creation and brand development.

Furthermore, trust has emerged as a significant design challenge, requiring innovative solutions. Brands face the complex task of maintaining coherence and a consistent identity in an environment where foundational elements are constantly shifting. These are not theoretical issues but practical questions that agencies like How&How address daily for their diverse clientele, shaping the future of branding.

The day’s lineup promises to tackle these tensions head-on. Attendees will hear from Amazon and Wattpad, exploring how the power of fandom is actively redefining the rules of entertainment. Another session will introduce the team behind the Brand Matrix, a robust framework designed to help build brands capable of withstanding intense pressure and market volatility.

A compelling conversation is scheduled to discuss neurodivergence, positioning it as a genuine strategic advantage within the realm of AI development. Metalab will challenge conventional thinking by examining what truly constitutes designing for trust in the contemporary landscape. Additionally, a session will offer an exclusive look into the ambitious destination brand story of Canada itself.

The first session of the day will delve into an era where audiences are no longer passive observers but active participants. At the nexus of the creator economy and the entertainment industry, fandoms are profoundly influencing which narratives are brought to life and how they are globally distributed. This shift means today’s streaming successes often originate from niche online communities.

These burgeoning online communities provide studios with invaluable roadmaps to potential success, often before any visual content is even produced. This pre-validation mechanism allows for more informed decision-making in content development. To explore how fan-driven stories are successfully scaled into global streaming phenomena, the stage will welcome distinguished speakers.

Kelly Day from Prime Video and David J. Lee from Wattpad will engage in a deep-dive conversation. They will be joined by Nathan Cadell, who will moderate the discussion. This session promises to illuminate the intricate processes involved in transforming grassroots fan engagement into widespread entertainment hits, showcasing the evolving dynamics of content creation and consumption.