New York – November 07, 2026 -- Nearly 300 advertising executives gathered at Tribeca Rooftop on November 5 for 212NYC's 12th Annual Gala & Excellence Awards, where the digital advertising club honored five industry leaders under the theme "Humanity in Action: Staying Human in the Age of AI."
212NYC honors five executives from media, retail and consumer brands
The 2026 honorees span agency, streaming, packaged goods, beauty and marketing roles:
- Chrissie Hanson, CEO of dentsu North America Media Practice and Global Brand President of Carat, received the Human-Centered Leadership Award.
- Todd Kaplan, CMO North America at The Kraft Heinz Company, received the Industry Luminary Award.
- Jeff Lucas, Chief Revenue Officer at Tubi, received the Breakthrough Leader Award.
- Kory Marchisotto, President of e.l.f. Brands, received the Human Impact Award.
- Nick Tran, President and CMO of First Round Collective, received the Innovation with Impact Award.
Tobaccowala frames AI as an amplifier of human judgment
Rishad Tobaccowala, the club's 2025 Industry Luminary Award honoree, hosted the evening and delivered the keynote. He said the opportunity is to use AI to amplify "human imagination, judgment, and connection, not replace them."
212NYC President Jay Wolff said the theme reflects how AI is changing the way the industry works, connects and creates. Vice President Ritu Trivedi said the community has grown alongside digital advertising since 2002 and pairs a willingness to embrace change with the value of human connection.
Platforms, agencies and publishers back the gala as sponsors
Sponsors included Acast, Amazon Ads, Channel Factory x Omnicom Media, dentsu, DoubleVerify, Fanatics Advertising, Fetch, Fox, Google, iHeartMedia, Instacart Ads, Integral Ad Science, LoopMe, Media.net, The New York Times, Peer39, Raptive, Roku, Skydance Advertising, Tubi, Vevo, Walmart Connect, WPP Media and Zynga Ads. Kraft Heinz, e.l.f. Beauty and CÃROC Vodka also supported the event.