The creative revolution inside the worlds most dull category - Novartis CMO

Novartis CMO Gail Horwood joins Janet Balis, Managing Director & Senior Partner at BCG, to explore how one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies is redefining healthcare marketing. Fresh from winning two Cannes Lions, Gail shares how Novartis is proving that creativity can thrive even in one of the most heavily regulated industries. From partnering with the NFL for a Super Bowl campaign to convincing stakeholders to embrace bolder ideas, we discuss what it takes to create work that stands out while navigating complex regulations. The conversation also explores how AI is reshaping both creativity and business transformation, where marketers should focus their efforts, and why the biggest opportunity for AI isn't just efficiency, but unlocking growth. This episode has been produced in partnership with BCG. Browse their CMO Report here: https://www.bcg.com/publications/2026/making-the-agentic-marketing-transformation-a-reality **Timestamps** 00:00 - Start 01:29 - Jon’s full circle moment with Novartis 02:19 - Novartis’ journey to two Cannes Lions 03:34 - Why more people need to walk the work 04:45 - Creating surprising advertising in a heavily regulated category 09:43 - Partnering with the NFL for a Super Bowl campaign 11:04 - How to get your company to embrace risky work 16:42 - How to get stakeholders outside of marketing onboard 20:15 - The reaction to the ads after Super Bowl 22:36 - How AI is being used in the service of creativity 27:44 - How Novartis are using AI for creativity 31:08 - How Novartis are rethinking their marketing with AI 33:26 - Where AI is going to be used outside of marketing 35:43 - AI for efficiency vs growth 37:56 - How to deliver leadership change in the age of AI 41:02 - The boring things AI will solve 43:33 - What makes Gail such a good CMO 45:05 - The worst way to evaluate your career success 46:38 - The best advice Gail has ever recieved