The advertising, marketing and media industries as we know them are a thing of the past. Nowadays, the agencies who win will be those able to combine the best of people with the best of machines.<\/p>\n
That said, it can be a scary proposition for those involved. Too often, discussions about technology in the industry remain in the realms of redundancies, time saved or efficiencies gained. Those who can make things better with technology \u2014 not simply faster or cheaper \u2014 will be those who survive.<\/p>\n
We reckon this 10 (or, more accurately 11) below are as good as any.<\/p>\n
This list is a revised and sharpened list from last year and looks at the chief product and\/or technology officers (and other equivalent roles) from agencies and agency groups. We\u2019ve another eagerly awaited list focused on tech vendors coming soon.<\/p>\n
In the ranking, we\u2019ve considered innovation displayed by the businesses they work for as it relates to advertising, marketing and media.<\/p>\n
This list isn\u2019t solely focused on AI, either. Though as it is perhaps the transformational technology of our time (save the Betamax, of course) it features heavily.<\/p>\n
Want to make sure you or your colleagues are in upcoming lists? Make sure you NOMINATE NOW for B&T\u2019s Best of the Best. It\u2019s free and takes mere minutes.<\/a><\/p>\n 10. Matt Plant, head of behavioural science and AI Thinker, Thinkerbell<\/p>\n We\u2019re big fans of most things that Thinkerbell produces at B&T. But we\u2019ve been truly intrigued by the way the agency has started to apply AI and other new technologies. Matt Plant is responsible for a lot of it.<\/p>\n Within the agency, Plant is a leading figure showing and guiding all on what can be done to make more interesting work. For instance, its AI-driven bin chicken diss track<\/a> is one of the more interesting pieces of work we\u2019ve seen recently, as is the giant cassowary it used to promo XXXX\u2019s involvement in State of Origin<\/a>.<\/p>\n But it isn\u2019t just out-there creative that Plant has been busy working on. One industry insider told us that his work has provided \u201cbreakthrough\u201d customer understanding for several of Thinkerbell\u2019s largest clients, resulting in interventions beyond communications that deliver business results.<\/p>\n Plant also takes time to spread the good word of Thinkerbell\u2019s AI experiments far and wide, including on podcasts and other publications \u2014 though none as celebrated or prestigious as us.<\/p>\n 9. Vinne Schifferstein Vidal & Marie-C\u00e9line Merret Wirstr\u00f6m, co-founders, MC&V<\/p>\n Vinne Schifferstein Vidal and Marie-C\u00e9line Merret Wirstr\u00f6m, hailing from the Netherlands and Sweden, respectively, are two of the most well-known and thought-of technology leaders within Australia\u2019s advertising industry.<\/p>\n Schifferstein Vidal and Merret Wirstr\u00f6m founded MC&V in November last year after the MADE THIS production company, part of Clemenger BBDO, closed.<\/p>\n The pair\u2019s experience is second to none: Schifferstein Vidal was the founding managing director of Monks in Sydney in July 2020, which followed senior roles at Pearson and Dutch academic publishing business Elsevier. Merret Wirstr\u00f6m also served with Monks, as well as Vandal and Revolver.<\/p>\n It\u2019s still relatively early days for MC&V. But the production company, which offers hybrid production, AI-assisted creative development and fully AI-native campaign execution has signed the likes of Canva and Canteen as clients, as well as adding Jodie Heenan, Josef \u201cSeppi\u201d Scholler and Jagger Waters as AI directors to its roster.<\/p>\n 8. Jakub Otrz\u0105sek, SVP data and platforms, Monks<\/p>\n Jakub Otrz\u0105sek is Monks SVP of Data and Platform across the Asia-Pacific region. Hailing from Poland, Otrz\u0105sek moved to Sydney in 2016 taking on senior roles at Datalicious and MightyHive before becoming a cenobite and joining Monks.<\/p>\n His role with the S4 Capital-owned business is sprawling, encompassing customer data platforms, marketing mix modelling, optimisation and personalisation strategies and more.<\/p>\n Recently, the agency group launched Creative Intelligence, a new AI-powered solution designed to help brands better understand and measure creative performance.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a fascinating piece of kit, with Otrz\u0105sek explaining that it can pull apart creative to drive significant performance: \u201cWe are moving from simply knowing an ad performed well to understanding that a specific moment\u2026 drove the conversion. With AI, we can now scale those insights into production instantly.\u201d<\/p>\n 7. David Gatt, managing director \u2013 marketing operations & ecosystem integration, Omnicom Oceania<\/p>\n David Gatt might have only recently joined Omnicom, but he comes with some significant pedigree and the \u201csought-after\u201d leader was hand-picked by CEO Nick Garrett. Gatt\u2019s role sees him work with CEOs, CMOs, CDOs and senior marketing leaders to redesign how marketing, media, data, technology and AI come together.<\/p>\n Having held senior roles in both Accenture Song and more recently Deloitte, \u2018Gatty,\u2019 as he\u2019s known to his friends, has been leading the charge around AI, agentic workflows and marketing intelligence.<\/p>\n With Omnicom Oceania pursuing its strategy of moving upstream and creating more integrated, end-to-end marketing systems for enterprise-level brands, Gatt\u2019s role is likely to only gain importance. He\u2019s only been with the business since April, but we\u2019re expecting much more to come.<\/p>\n 6. Tim Matheson, president, Australia & New Zealand, WPP Enterprise Solutions<\/p>\n Tim Matheson\u2019s experience within the industry takes some rivalling. He\u2019s spent the past six years as WPP\u2019s chief technology officer in Australia and New Zealand. Before that, he spent some 15 years with AKQA \u2014 including when it was known as DT \u2014 rising to become its executive operations director for APAC.<\/p>\n As of this month, however, he is now the Australian and New Zealand president of WPP\u2019s new Enterprise Solutions arm. For the uninitiated, WPP Enterprise Solutions is its new business unit offering clients proprietary solutions spanning AI, intelligence, loyalty, commerce and content. Earlier this year, Salesforce lauded WPP for its leading work on customer experience for clients.<\/p>\n 5. Lucio Ribeiro, chief AI and innovation officer, TBWA<\/p>\n There are few in the industry more well-known and well-liked than TBWA\u2019s chief AI and innovation officer, Lucio Ribeiro.<\/p>\n He\u2019s been with the Omnicom agency for a touch more than a year and has set about positioning TBWA, as well as Omnicom Oceania more generally, as a true leader in the space. He\u2019s done so through its RISE AI visibility strategy \u2014 many agencies have subsequently launched similar tools \u2014 and DISRUPT, the country\u2019s first dedicated AI film festival.<\/p>\n Prior to his time at TBWA, Ribeiro built three businesses, led innovation and technology for corporates including Optus, Seven West Media, and Nine, and consulted to global brands from Mercedes-Benz and BMW to Mondelez and Goldman Sachs. During his time with Optus, in particular, he helped to drive the adoption of 5G technologies and formed strategic partnerships with AWS, Nvidia and SpaceX.<\/p>\n 4. Josh Lamont, head of tech and ecosystems, Accenture Song<\/p>\n Josh Lamont has been Accenture Song\u2019s head of tech and ecosystems for the past two years and plays a significant role across the business.<\/p>\n Currently, he leads a team of 400(!) Accenture\u2019s marketing, digital products, commerce, As Accenture Song agency Droga5 told us as part of its recent Agency Scorecard (8.8\/10)<\/a>, it is starting to move from \u201cshorter-term, campaign-only engagements\u201d to \u201cdeeper, more integrated partnerships spanning creativity, media, customer experience, data and technology\u201d. Clearly, Lamont has a lot on his hands but we reckon he\u2019s the man for the job.<\/p>\n 3. Poorani Adewole, chief data, tech and analytics officer, EssenceMediacom<\/p>\n
sales and service functions across Australia and New Zealand. That role means he\u2019s on the front line delivering results for clients including NRMA Insurance, Qantas, AGL and more.<\/p>\n