Marco Gentile

Director
Magna Studios
Portugal

About

Marco Gentile is an Italian-born film and advertising director who works globally and is known for his cinematic approach to commercial storytelling and large-scale brand communication.Marco gained early international recognition as a director, winning multiple awards, including a Silver Lion at the Cannes Lions. He is a Fulbright Scholar and holds a master’s degree in Film and Media Arts from Emerson College in Boston, as well as a degree in political science.Over the course of his career, Marco has directed campaigns for leading global brands, including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Adidas, Vodafone, Toyota, Meta, Lexus, Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo, Nissan, Volvo, and Orange, developing a reputation for combining European cinematic language with high-level international production execution. He spent several years on the director roster at Ridley Scott Associates in Los Angeles, working on major international projects.Alongside his directing practice, Marco develops and delivers talks exploring how storytelling, trust, and imagination are evolving as artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes creative and communication processes. Drawing on advertising, cinema, philosophy, and cultural analysis, his work examines how meaning, authorship, and audience trust are constructed in an increasingly automated media environment. He introduces a strategic lens for organisations: the governance of imagination—how to automate execution without delegating authorship, preserve human symbolic decision-making in areas where meaning is defined, and maintain trust in the age of generative systems.Marco is currently developing a television series and his first feature film while continuing to direct international campaigns and speak on storytelling, culture, and the future of communication.His speaking work is designed for leadership forums, corporate audiences, cultural institutions, and global conferences focused on the future of storytelling, the cultural impact of AI, and the role of imagination as a strategic capability for organisations and brands operating in complex technological environments.
Talk

Marco Gentile | How to Preserve Human Decision-Making in AI-Driven Creative Systems

Artificial Intelligence, Creative Strategy, Human Decision-Making, Accountability
In artificial intelligence (AI)-driven environments, creative and strategic decisions are increasingly shaped by predictive systems that anticipate and pre-structure outcomes. While these systems accelerate execution, they also risk eroding authorship, accountability, and trust.This talk introduces a practical framework for preserving human decision-making in environments where content, ideas, and strategies can be generated at scale. Drawing on real-world experience in filmmaking and global brand communication, Marco Gentile explores how organizations can integrate AI without delegating responsibility.Participants will leave with five concrete principles for using AI in creative and strategic processes, ensuring that automation enhances execution while preserving the human capacity to define meaning, make decisions, and remain accountable for outcomes.