Why IRL Experiences Matter More than Ever

Summary

Podcast Summary: The GaryVee Audio Experience

Episode: “Why IRL Experiences Matter More than Ever”

Date: July 2, 2026
Host: Gary Vaynerchuk
Guest: Lara Balash, CMO of Adobe

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Episode Overview

In this high-energy episode recorded live from Cannes 2026, Gary Vaynerchuk sits down with Lara Balash, Adobe’s CMO, to explore the surging importance of in-real-life (IRL) experiences in a digital-first, AI-fueled world. Together, they discuss transformative shifts in marketing, the evolving role of technology and human creativity, and career wisdom for the next generation of marketers. The conversation is peppered with candid reflections, practical advice, and a shared optimism for the future.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. IRL Experience Maxing ― The New Centerpiece

[00:29–02:23]

• Lara observes a shift at Cannes: initial fear around AI has morphed into confidence and “experience maxing” is now a dominant theme.

• In-person interactions and live events are having greater impact than ever, even as their digital afterlives amplify reach.

  • Notable Quote:
    Lara Balash [01:02]: “So much of IRL in real life is mattering more than ever... experience maxing has been a big takeaway because that’s what Cannes is too.”

• Gary concurs, explaining that his agency’s investment in experiential activations now integrates directly with content creation for social, forming a continuous loop between real and digital spheres.

  • Gary Vaynerchuk [01:43]: “Art Vayner is now fully integrated as an experiential agency that does analog IRL work as a production day for social 100%... it’s just all in one full loop.”

2. Human-Centered Brand Building in an AI World

[03:00–03:55]

• Lara compares today’s seismic technological shifts to the moves from desktop to mobile and on-prem to cloud, but emphasizes what stands out now: the increasing necessity of human connection and empathy in brand-building, despite the AI surge.

  • Lara Balash [03:00]: “It is profound. Faster than previous shifts... what I think is so profound and is so different... is brand. Yes, brand informed by human... the human matters more than ever because of the empathy and the connection.”

• Gary reflects on past fads (big data, IoT) that became commodities versus true long-term differentiators, arguing that “how humans use tools” will always be the variable that matters.

  • Gary Vaynerchuk [03:55]: “Over the next half decade the tools will get commoditized. The humans, how they use them, will be the variable.”

3. AI as a Creative Liberator, Not a Threat

[04:30–06:42]

• Lara explains how Adobe’s Firefly AI now automates tedious creative tasks (e.g., resizing assets) so that creators can focus on ideation—the “art” of their work.

• Initially, Adobe’s internal creative teams felt threatened by automation but grew to embrace AI as it removed repetitive chores and enabled greater expression.

  • Lara Balash [05:48]: “We found that our creative group... was one of the first to kind of have trepidation about our own AI driven tools... there is this fear that it’s going to take my job away, of course, and that’s human, and we have to respect that.”

• Adobe’s solution: encourage experimentation, provide learning resources, and foster optimism in the face of technological acceleration.

4. Learning From History – Embracing Technological Change

[06:42–08:31]

• Gary reminds listeners that every leap in technology (like Photoshop in its day) was initially met with skepticism, yet ultimately brought more opportunity than threat.

  • Gary Vaynerchuk [06:42]: “It’s like this hyperbole that the machines are gonna take everyone’s job and is so misunderstood... people that know how to use Firefly is your problem, not Firefly.”

• Both note how AI and prompt-based tools are democratizing creativity, lowering skill barriers and inviting broader participation.

  • Lara Balash [08:19]: “This is a democratization, no question. And again, we have to have optimism because optimism begets optimism.”

5. Career Wisdom for the Next Generation

[09:45–10:42]

• Gary asks Lara for advice to early-career marketers, specifically young women.
• Lara stresses lifelong learning, curiosity, grit, and resilience over linear advancement. She shares how she sometimes took lateral or even lower positions for long-term growth, which paid off.
  • Lara Balash [09:45]: “Be a learner, be curious. It’s all about grit and resilience and tenacity... jungle gym around in your career. And honestly never give up...”
  • Gary Vaynerchuk [10:24]: “Most people in corporate America marketing do not have the humility to take a job at a lower title to take one step backwards for three steps forward. And it is often something so many should do…”

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Memorable Quotes

• Lara Balash [01:02]: “Experience maxing has been a big takeaway because that’s what Cannes is.”
• Gary Vaynerchuk [03:55]: “The humans, how they use [the tools], will be the variable. It’s always been like that, 100%.”
• Lara Balash [05:48]: “...there is this fear that it’s going to take my job away, of course, and that’s human, and we have to respect that.”
• Lara Balash [09:45]: “Be a learner, be curious. It’s all about grit and resilience and tenacity. I had so many footfalls in my career... jungle gym around.”
• Gary Vaynerchuk [10:24]: “Most people... do not have the humility to take a job at a lower title to take one step backwards for three steps forward.”

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Notable Moments & Timestamps

• 00:29 — Introduction of guest Lara Balash, CMO of Adobe
• 01:02 — Lara introduces “experience maxing” as a key theme at Cannes
• 03:00 — Discussion on profound shifts in marketing and rising importance of human connection
• 04:30 — AI takes over tedious creative tasks, freeing creators to focus on ideas
• 05:48 — Addressing creative teams’ initial fear of AI, and how to move past it
• 06:42 — Gary compares AI/Firefly skepticism to early reactions to Photoshop
• 08:19 — Democratization of creative opportunities through AI tools
• 09:45 — Lara’s career advice for young marketers: “be curious”, “jungle gym around”
• 10:24 — Value of humility and non-linear career moves in marketing

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Tone & Language

• The conversation is dynamic, candid, and optimistic, blending industry insight with practical inspiration.
• Both Gary and Lara mix warmth, humor, and real-talk with forward-looking business acumen.

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Closing Thought

The episode underscores the enduring power of face-to-face human connection, the complementary role of AI in creative work, and the timeless value of resilience and adaptability for marketers at every career stage. As Lara concludes, “do the experience maxing” — advice that feels resonant in both career and life.

Transcript

[A]

This is the GaryVee audio experience. Hey everybody, it's Gary Vaynerchuk, marketing for the now can 2026 and this wonderful lady to the right of me is one of the great marketers in the world and she is about to drop the most wisdom ever dropped by a marketer ever. Please, my dear, tell the audience who you are and what you do.

[B]

Thanks so much, Gary, for that introduction. I hope I live up to it.

[A]

To the hype, yeah.

[B]

I'm Lara Balash and I am the CE CMO of Adobe.

[A]

There's so much I want to go to before. You know, this is the can edition. Before we go into the AI of it all or all the random cliche things that everyone's talking about. And obviously being at the forefront of Adobe, you have a front row seat to both sides of the equation. But any early observations, we're now kind of in it. We're in the eye of the storm. It's midweek in Cam. Has anything surprised you on the chatter at the event? Has there been a theme? What are your kind of hot takes observations?

[B]

Yeah, I think there's a couple things that have surprised me is in the beginning with AI, there was a lot of trepidation. So. And I really seeing we've gone from fear to competence. I'm also very optimistic about AI. So that's probably my bias there. But second, experience maxing, so much of IRL in real life is mattering more than ever and it's, it's just. And again it ends up on the phones and becomes a virus. But, but experience maxing has been a big takeaway because that's what can is too.

[A]

First of all, the fact that you're using maxing just continues to show how cool you are. But it's funny just to piggyback for everybody who's watching because I know this will be on LinkedIn and Substack and all that. I couldn't agree more. We bet the farm on it. Art Vayner is now fully integrated as an experiential agency that does analog IRL work as a production day for social 100%. So you're getting social creative production as an added value. Kind of like when Jason used to now train, follow me around the world. I'm living my life, but I'm vlogging because it's content for social, it's just all in one fall loop. I agree. That has been a huge theme.

[B]

Oh, 100%. And it is visceral when you're here.

[A]

Right?

[B]

Because for me, I'M marketing from individuals to creators to aspiring creators. Everybody's a creator all the way to the biggest enterprises in the world. And they're all here. Yep, technologists are here. But it's actually just the in life connection that is people are craving it. And so it matters that it does go digital.

[A]

You know, it's all those flowers I gave you up front were grounded in just my admiration for your career. What do you think is different today, in this space or this week than let's say five or ten years ago?

[B]

Yeah. And at this point in my career it's all pattern recognition that I pull from because you always have an experience that may be totally orthogonal to what you're experiencing, but there's a nugget there. This is seismic shift, full stop. It is profound. Faster than the previous shifts from on prem to cloud, desktop to mobile. What I think is so profound and is so different and we've talked about it, but now it becomes more real than ever. Is brand. Yes, brand informed by human. Humans and just insight. And the human matters more than ever because of the empathy and the connection.

[C]

And you're gonna hear that a lot.

[B]

But I really believe that. And this is coming from a company that is creating tools that are AI driven. And we are still saying, well that's

[A]

because at N scale for all the marketers that are watching, you remember six, seven years ago, big data. Big data. Big data. And everyone thought that big data, Internet of things. Internet of things. I mean there's a million of them. Big data really played out. Here was the thing that most people didn't anticipate at scale. It became a commodity, not an advantage. Like I don't know what everyone's thinking that's watching on the other side of the screen. Like over the next half decade the tools will get commoditized. The humans, how they use them will be the variable. It's always been like that, 100%.

[B]

And look, the tools take all the repetitive tasks and all of the things out. Like with when we hire creatives, they don't say, I really want to resize all the assets. We have 151 static assets across the Palais. We have 170 films, videos. There's, you know, when you add up the amount of aspect ratios change, it was like over 200. That's all done by Firefox, all done by machines. Now we have our AI Firefly, that all in one studio. That did. But the creators are now energized.

[A]

Yes, of course, because Firefly is doing all the Things that they don't want to be doing. So they can do all the art

[B]

and what was in their mind's eye is now out.

[A]

Yeah, that's huge. It's just so 100% agreed. Go in a different direction for me here. What about kind of the fears or, or the trepidation? Like where do you see people on their back foot? You know, is it mark comms, is it, is it creative directors who think AI is going to take like what do you sense to really allow people to be thinking about it more thoughtfully, knowing the vast amount of marketers that watch this?

[B]

Yeah, without a doubt. We have found that our creative group, our internal creative studio group was one of the first to kind of have trepidation about our own AI driven tools.

[A]

Right. What does it mean for me?

[B]

Yeah, because a lot of them came to us, they love the craft. They've been using Photoshop as an example all their lives. The layers, the filters, the radiation, the pixels, they love that. And so the idea that a machine would do that, like there is this fear that it's going to take my job away, of course, and that's human and we have to respect that. So the message has been in, lean in, try it. Then they start to see the automated tasks go away and they love it, but we have to respect that. And we also do encourage, you know, we have a digital academy that we offer for free for everybody, but we want them to use that and we want them just to try because it's human nature.

[A]

Well, it's funny, I think a history lesson would help a lot of people. I had one person on my team at Vayner very concerned early on and I said to her, I'm like, you do know that Photoshop is a fairly new invention. I literally googled for her in the room. Old forum discussions where people were mad about Photoshop. I love that. And so I was like, you do know this is like, it's like this hyperbole that the machines are gonna take everyone's job and is so misunderstood. But what is very clear, just like people that were great at Photoshop outflanked people that were doing it on old Microsoft products or on paper. People that know how to use Firefly is your problem, not Firefly.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And look, now we do have an agentic layer Firefly AI system that sits across all the tools. Illustrator, Photoshop. So for me, I never learned layers on Photoshop. It just, I. That's why I liked hanging out with creatives because I love the stuff. But it was too. I was.

[A]

It was above your pay grade.

[B]

Yeah, it was too complicated for me.

[A]

Same.

[B]

Totally. And so now I actually can say I can use Photoshop because it has the prompt that allows me to then ideate and so but if I have one of those people who really just wants to have the Photoshop that they knew they can do the they can use all the functionality and we keep adding fabulous features to it.

[A]

I still create with paper and markers. Yes, you're allowed.

[B]

Yes, yes and for sure. And look, this is a democratization, no question. And again, we have to have optimism because optimism begets optimism.

[A]

It's also historically correct. Like if you look at history, all the pessimism of profound technologies washes away because convenience is king. Evolution is the flight of man. It is what it is. And that leads me to a good last question. A lot, and I mean a lot of young marketers watch this show. There are so many individuals, I'm sure, especially young women that are watching this who deeply admire you want to be you one day. As you sit at the highest levels of one of the biggest companies in the world. What have you learned in your career? And what nugget or two could you tell an associate brand manager that's watching this on LinkedIn right now who dreams to be you one day? What should she be thinking about?

[D]

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[B]

oh be a learner, be curious. It's all about grit and resilience and tenacity. I had so many footfalls in my career, I went sideways. I went down to go up to garner more tools in my toolkit and so jungle gym around.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Jungle gym in your career. And I honestly never give up. Like if you want it, get it and and, and never get you. You're.

[A]

Because once you give up, it's actually over.

[B]

Yeah. No, and honestly I can tell you like this. My career was not up and down to the right linearly.

[A]

Well you, you did something and you mentioned and I want everyone to hear this. I'm going to double click on it. Most people in corporate America marketing do not have the humility to take a job at a lower title to take one step backwards for three steps forward. And it is often something so many should do because the risky or a

[B]

risky job that everyone in the hallways is like, why'd you do that job? But it was high beta, high return. And even if it was, it's a two way door. I walk through it, I walk back through it. You know, I'll go to the next thing. So.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Sorry to interrupt.

[A]

No, no, I'm sorry. I'm just jamming. It's too fun. Any last final thoughts?

[B]

Just awesome to talk to you. Thank you. So good to see you.

[A]

Great to see you too.

[B]

Do the experience maxing that we were just talking about with you and I right now. So good. Thanks.

[A]

Thank you. Bye everyone. We'll see you next time, everybody. If you enjoyed this this podcast, please go back and look at the prior episodes. They're loaded. I appreciate your attention and thanks for being part of this.

[C]

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[E]

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[A]

See you later.