ADFEST names dentsu Global CCO Yasuharu Sasaki as 2026 Grand Jury President

Yasuharu Sasaki, Global Chief Creative Officer of dentsu, based in Tokyo, has been named as ADFEST 2026’s Grand Jury President. As Grand Jury President, he will lead the panel of Jury Presidents to judge ADFEST’s unique award celebrating work with profound local cultural relevance, the Lotus Roots. He will also be the Jury President of the Creative Strategy Lotus, Effective Lotus, INNOVA Lotus, and Sustainable Lotus. He will also deliver a keynote speech at ADFEST 2026.

In October 2023, Yasuharu Sasaki, known as Yasu, capped a remarkable 30-year career at dentsu with his current role as Global Chief Creative Officer, following two years as Chief Creative Officer in Tokyo, a role that continues, and seven years as Executive Creative Director, a role that made him one of the youngest Executive Officers, to lead one of the largest creative teams in the world as a single agency. He is now responsible for leading dentsu’s global Creative Practice, including Dentsu Creative. He sets the standard for creative excellence and is key to building a culture of creativity and innovation across the whole of dentsu.

Yasu began working at dentsu as a copywriter in 1995. Drawing on his skills as a computer science graduate, he was an early pioneer of interactive advertising. His passion for creativity and technology has been a marked characteristic throughout his career. In 2014, he founded cutting edge R&D offering, Dentsu Lab Tokyo in 2014.

His accolades include awards at Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, Clio Awards, Spikes Asia, and ADFEST. He was appointed Jury President of Creative Data Lions at Cannes Lions 2019; Digital Jury President at D&AD 2020; Digital, Mobile, and Digital Craft Jury President at Spikes Asia 2021, Brand/Communication Design Jury Chair at the 100th ADC Annual Awards; and Jury President of Brand Experience & Activation Lions at Cannes Lions 2022.

Yasu outlined for ADFEST the thinking of a pre-eminent creative leader and an outstanding Grand Jury President

What guidelines will you give your jurors to make sure that ADFEST finds and applauds the greatest creative work in the region, accurately and fairly?
Sasaki said: I would encourage jurors to hold both a local lens and a global vantage point at the same time. That means being attentive to the small, but deeply important, issues that exist across Asia, and having the sensitivity to recognise them when they appear in the work. At the same time, we must approach those issues with integrity: not to exaggerate them for the world’s attention, but to understand them precisely and represent them honestly.

And finally, I would ask jurors to look for work that can translate uniquely Asian problem-solving into value that resonates beyond borders, work that can be navigated from local truth to global relevance without losing its authenticity.

What do you feel are the attributes of the greatest creative work?
Sasaki said: I believe the highest form of creativity is work that creates discontinuous change – work that shifts reality. Such work moves people deeply. In other words, it produces both surprise and empathy: it makes us feel something unexpected, and it makes us recognise something true. And it also travels. The strongest ideas can be shared effortlessly—passed from one person to another—and can often be adapted and applied beyond their original purpose, extending their impact over time.

2025 was an upheaval year for the industry. What do you think the work being judged had to overcome/conquer to be great?
Sasaki said: It may sound obvious, but I believe the first challenge is to prioritise real human reaction over award recognition—to value the laughter, the surprise, and the genuine emotion of everyday people more than the approval of any jury. In the age of AI, we must not use technology to fabricate what was never truly achieved. Instead, we should focus on ideas that touch emotions AI cannot move—ideas that reach the complex, human layers of feeling. Rather than optimizing a case film, we should remain uncompromising about the idea and the craft.

What are the joys and challenges of being a creative leader – and a creative jury president?
Sasaki said: The joy of judging is the way different perspectives combine to create new ones. There is something uniquely powerful about a jury room: sometimes five minutes of genuine discussion reveals more than hours of prompting alone. The challenge, in this era of massive data, is settling for what everyone currently agrees is “good.” I aspire to be a creative who can passionately and courageously speak about the brilliance of an idea that no one dared to voice.

ADFEST 2026, Human+, will be held Thursday 19 – Saturday 21 March 2026 at the Royal Cliff Hotels Group in Pattaya, Thailand.

A must for the ambitions of all industry professionals., ADFEST’s 3-day event brings together the industry’s top minds, rising stars and most innovative ideas. With star-studded speaker sessions, workshops, screenings and networking events, register now to join us at the region’s most celebrated creative festival.

ADFEST is open for delegate registration. For more information on delegate packages and fees, click here.

ADFEST is a not-for profit entity that believes passionately in its role to nurture and support the creative industry in the Asia Pacific and MENA region. It is 1 of 12 awards included in the Campaign Brief Asia Creative Rankings.