That's a wrap for Day Three of VivaTech. Today, we heard from professionals across industries, from cybersecurity to online dating experts. Let's dive in.
Redesigning Sport for Gen Z & Gen A - How Kings League Brings Football into the Digital Era
Former footballer Gerard Piqué explained how he became an entrepreneur while still playing professionally, driven by curiosity and advice from Carlos Puyol, one of his teammates, to prepare for life after retirement.
Piqué has launched the Kings League, which combines traditional football with digital engagement by having streamers own and manage teams. The idea came after witnessing the deep fan loyalty streamers like Ibai Llanos command, leading Piqué to see the potential for new football formats tailored to younger audiences.
Kings League became profitable early, drawing millions of viewers and filling stadiums like Camp Nou, with monetization coming mainly from sponsorships and merchandising.
For Piqué, shorter, more interactive sports formats are key to reaching future generations.
“From day one, we had millions watching and became profitable very early, which is rare. After just three months, we hosted our first final at Camp Nou in front of 92,000 people—sold out."
Human Touch, Smart Tech: How AI Elevates Customer Experience
At the CMO Summit, industry leaders from Adobe, LVMH, and Verizon came together to discuss how artificial intelligence is reshaping brand experiences by merging smart technology with human insight.
According to Rachel Thornton, CMO at Adobe, AI is not here to replace marketers—it’s here to empower them. At Adobe, AI enables marketing teams to move faster, scale efficiently, and become more experimental. Thorton emphasized the creative potential of AI, helping teams craft personalized content and campaigns at scale. She encourages a mindset shift in her team: "Don’t be afraid to fail—try, experiment, learn."
At LVMH, AI is approached with subtlety. “Quiet tech” is the philosophy—technology that enhances, rather than disrupts, the emotional core of luxury retail. For Laura Krittian, VP Retail Excellence & Development, the goal is clear: AI must elevate the client experience through the strength of client advisors, who remain the brand’s most valuable asset.
LVMH uses generative AI for clienteling, helping advisors identify the right client, the right time, and the right product to reach out with. Interestingly, the adoption rate among client advisors exceeded expectations. LVMH invests heavily in training, ensuring AI is accessible across all roles.
At Verizon, AI is used behind the scenes to improve both sales and service. When a customer contacts support, AI anticipates needs and proposes solutions. According to Kris Narayanan, Chief Digital Officer, 85–90% of customer issues are transactional and should be solvable with just a click or a brief prompt. Their design philosophy centers on reducing cognitive load so that reps don’t need extensive training—if the design is good, the system explains itself.
Across all three companies, AI is not viewed as a threat, but as an amplifier of human potential. The true competitive risk lies in not adopting AI. Brands are working to normalize its use internally, encouraging experimentation, lowering barriers to entry, and strengthening cross-functional partnerships—especially between marketing and IT.
The common goal: deliver seamless, personalized, and emotionally resonant customer experiences by aligning people, data, and technology.
Cyber Skills & Talent Shortage: Who and Where to Hire?
In this session, Piotr Ciepiela, EMEIA Cybersecurity Leader at EY and Despina Spanou, Principal Advisor for Cybersecurity Coordination at the European Commission discussed how the global cybersecurity sector is facing a major talent shortage, with estimates ranging from 2.8 to 4.8 million unfilled positions worldwide. As cyber threats become more sophisticated—driven by geopolitical instability, regulatory pressures, and technological complexity—building a robust cybersecurity workforce has become urgent.
Ciepiela explained that EY is currently hiring over 8,000 cybersecurity professionals across Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa. He emphasized three key trends in talent recruitment:
Job clarity and skill recognition – Many job ads use generic titles like “cybersecurity analyst,” which lack specificity. Employers must shift from vague titles to clearly defined roles and skills, including both technical capabilities and essential soft skills.
Non-cyber talent as a resource – Cybersecurity is no longer a purely technical field. Professionals from IT, engineering, governance, and even industry-specific domains (like energy, manufacturing, or blockchain) bring valuable perspectives.
Diversity and inclusion – The field suffers from underrepresentation: only 25% of cybersecurity professionals are women. Increasing diversity—gender, cultural, and neurodiversity—is critical, especially in leadership roles.
Spanou stressed that concerning gender diversity, perception is a key barrier. Cybersecurity is still seen as male-dominated and highly technical, discouraging many women and non-technical individuals from pursuing it. However, this is changing with younger generations who are more comfortable with tech.
To address the cybersecurity talent gap, the European Commission has launched the Cybersecurity Skills Academy, a centralized platform designed to connect training providers, employers, and job seekers. The Academy gathers pledges from major industry actors to train and certify professionals.
“71% of the companies in the EU recognize cybersecurity as a high priority, but 74% have not conducted any training or awareness programs for their employees,” Spanou said.
Another major issue is retention: roles like the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) are extremely demanding—many CISOs leave their position within just 18 months. Burnout, lack of recognition, and poor career progression are key contributors. Reskilling, incentives, and a strong support system are critical to keep talent in the field.
AI’s role in cybersecurity is growing. While AI won't replace professionals, it can help them learn faster and perform better. Tools powered by AI can accelerate onboarding for juniors and improve threat detection. However, only 34% of companies currently invest in AI for cybersecurity, despite 99% recognizing cybersecurity’s importance in deploying AI safely.
In conclusion, solving the cybersecurity talent crisis will require rethinking career paths, embracing interdisciplinarity, investing in inclusive recruitment and training, and creating sustainable work environments for long-term retention.
Designing the Future: 5 Lessons from a Decade of Hypergrowth
Cliff Obrecht, Co-Founder and COO of Canva, shared key lessons from scaling a small Australian startup into a global platform used by over 230 million people—including 95% of the Fortune 500.
Start with the problem—but embrace tech shifts like AI: Traditionally, startups solve a real problem before building tech. But with today’s AI revolution, Obrecht notes that starting with new technology can unlock unexpected solutions.
Think global from day one: Canva never focused solely on Australia. It targeted the US early, while localizing in 100+ languages. Today, half of its users operate in non-English languages—a global-first approach that fueled growth.
Hire for founder mentality and strong values: Obrecht emphasizes hiring good humans first—people you enjoy working with—and secondly, intellectual talents who are independent thinkers and problem solvers. He values “slight agitators” who challenge the status quo and encourage innovation. “In the early day of building a company, you want people with a founder mentality, you want hustlers," Obrecht said.
Push teams beyond comfort zones: Giving people increasingly big challenges reveals hidden talent and drives motivation. It's a way to build a resilient, growth-hungry team.
Use acquisitions strategically: To accelerate in new areas, Canva builds or buys depending on speed. For example, it acquired a Sydney-based AI company—not just for the product, but for its top-tier research team. Integration takes time, but bringing in founder-driven talent is a win.
“We realize that, if we don’t disrupt ourselves, we’re going to be disrupted. So Canva is now an AI first company we are totally reinventing the platform to be AI first and embracing AI heads-on, not just through the products but how our teams use AI, how we hire.”
The Algorithm of Affection: AI and the Future of Love
Justin McLeod, Founder & CEO of Hinge, and Esther Perel, New York Times bestselling author discussed how AI is reshaping how we connect, especially in dating, by curating social feeds, recommending partners, and promising to optimize the search for love. This raises questions about whether technology can truly predict compatibility or if it risks reducing human intimacy to mere data points.
McLeod explained that Hinge aims to be an introduction service helping users move off the app and into real-life interactions, where true intimacy forms. Dating apps are now the primary way people meet, and AI helps users quickly filter potential matches based on personality, values, and interests to find the few most promising connections. The goal is to get people off the app faster and into genuine dates. Mcleod underscores that AI shouldn’t replace human interaction but can assist, especially by coaching younger generations in social skills that may be declining.
Perel warned that dating doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Our increasingly contactless world is causing a social skill atrophy, especially in young people. Real dating involves narrative, timing, attraction, and spontaneity—qualities difficult to replicate with algorithms. Overreliance on apps risks losing this human spark.
“If you de-risk love too much you can’t feel the true feeling of love. The predictive technologies promise a frictionless life that is polished with perfection... People don’t have to experiment, to learn from their bad choices, to deal with the mystery that is followed by discovery. What do we do with the less shining aspects of intimacy when you become accustomed to always-on-demand, frictionless delivery of your every delight?”
The two speakers noted a “shopping mentality” in dating, where users treat finding a partner like fulfilling a checklist. Esther counters that humans seek real connection, which requires presence, not just ease. She critiques the performative, consumerist nature of modern dating where dates can feel like job interviews, leading to impatience and quick judgment. Finally, Esther emphasizes that technology tends to treat relationships as problems to be solved, but relationships are complex and don’t fit simple solutions. She closed the session by noting that, while AI could help foster genuine human connection, it could also increase social polarization.
The Last Day of VivaTech 2025
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