PMG staged a public AI hackathon during Cannes Lions in June 2026, co-hosted with AI platform Luma, with prize money of up to $500,000. Roughly two dozen entrants from around the world — developers, marketers and creatives — submitted solutions to a judging panel. Finalists had their video submissions shown at PMG’s AI and Tech Sandbox stage at the festival, with judging on June 25 and the winner named at the end of the week.
Competitors picked from three briefs: build a generative engine optimization tool, design a system that can autonomously execute concrete actions based on data insights, or develop a platform for generating on-brand creative assets. The briefs describe problems brands are asking agencies to solve. PMG is funding the prize but says it has no intention of adopting the winning solution into its ecosystem, and it retains no rights to the ideas submitted.
The agency has run internal hackathons before. This one was public, promoted through a social campaign aimed at the developer and marketing community, and pitched as a demonstration of how AI has democratized technical development — vibe coding included. PMG is not promoting the competition as a talent pipeline. It is hiring for a different profile than it once did: the agency runs a team of forward-deployed engineers who customize and integrate technology inside client operations.
Agencies are looking hardest for two roles, according to Chris Byrne, co-founder of creative agency Winston: developers who can handle AI enablement, and creatives who can use AI to produce quality content. People who do both are scarce. “Everyone is trying to realize who has the [AI] skills,” Byrne said. “Agencies know they need to be embracing these types of people.” He describes the target hire as “this perfect Venn diagram” of marketing and technology, and adds that they are hard to find.
Read more at Ad Age.