Khaled AlShehhi is an innovative marketing leader who has made significant contributions to the field of advertising and marketing in the MENA region. He has transformed the way the UAE government communicates by introducing original, creative, and humanizing content that has positively impacted millions of people globally.

Under his leadership, the UAE Government Media Office has received over 200 awards from some of the most prestigious creative and marketing shows around the world, including Cannes Lions, LIA, CLIO, ONE Show and Dubai Lynx. Khaled's unique approach to creativity has made him a sought-after speaker, sharing his story about how government creativity can be turned on.

He has earned leadership roles in various organizations, including the Global CMO Growth Council, New York Festival AME Advisory Council, World Media Group’s Brand Advisory Board, The Public Relations and Communications Association Executive Board and Middle East Public Relations Association Strategy Board. Khaled has been recognized for his outstanding contributions to the field, including winning the World Media Group Award for Content Leadership & Innovation in 2022, the Honorary Award of the 2022 Effie MENA, and being named Advertising Person of the Year at the Dubai Lynx 2023, Digital Professional of the Year 2021 by The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) and Marketing Game Changer by Campaign Middle East in 2020. He has also been featured in the Arabian Business’ 2021 Power List of individuals who are shaping the future of the Middle East.

Caio Barsotti holds a degree in History and Geography and a post-graduate degree in Marketing from ESPM-Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing. He has worked in Brazilian agencies such as Salles, Almap and DPZ, and in vehicles such as Lance newspaper, Rádio Scala FM, TV Sorocaba (SBT TV affiliate) and Yahoo.

Between 2003 and 2006, at the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil, he held the position of Secretary of Integrated Communication of SECOM-Secretariat of Social Communication, developing the activities of coordination and supervision of government agencies´ advertising. During this period, he was a Board member of ABA-Brazilian Association of Advertisers as Vice-President.

He was a member of the Board of Directors of Brasilprev between 2006 and 2009.

In 2006 he took over the commercial board of the 8 television stations of Rede Paranaense de Comunicação-RPC (Globo TV Affiliates), from where he left to join CENP-Executive Council of Standard Rules, a private entity that promotes and ensures the best commercial practices in the advertising market, ensuring the existence and competitiveness of its agents (advertisers, agencies and vehicles), regardless of their size and resources.

He is currently President of CENP, helping companies to understand the legal and conventional standards to conduct business in a safe, transparent, fast environment and compliance with the Standard Standards of Advertising Activity.

Saul Betmead de Chasteigner, Chief Marketing Officer, United Nations World Food Programme

Saul has recently made the transition out of the agency world to be the most senior marketer at the United Nations World Food Programme, the world’s largest humanitarian organisation and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2020. His objective is to create a brand worthy of the amazing organisation, its impact and its people.

Prior to joining the UN, he was Chief Strategy Officer for VMLY&R in EMEA and CSO WPP special projects.

At VMLY&R he sat on the Global Executive board, Global Creative Board and Global Strategy Board.

He co-authored the 2016 D&AD, Multiple Cannes Grand Prix winning McWhopper idea for Burger King, the 2015 Cannes Media Grand Prix, Global WARC Innovation winning ‘Red Light’ idea for Vodafone Turkey, and most recently the Cannes Glass Grand Prix 2019 & Cannes Titanium 2019 winning Last Ever Issue, Gazeta.pl.

2019 also saw him give his first TedX talk, where he explored ‘What makes a great idea?’, graduate from Oxford University with a Masters in Strategy & innovation and marry the love of his life (hence the slightly unwieldy new second name).

Born and bred in Cambridge UK, he also spent many years living in Australia, where he was the Captain of the Australia’s North Bondi Surf Lifesaving Club, the largest volunteer surf lifesaving club in the world, and was New South Wales Champion Lifesaver on three different occasions (which he admits is a little strange for an Englishman). He received a personal commendation and Australain citizenship from the Australian Prime Minister for his contributions to the community and the Lifesaving Movement.

Mick Blore is the CEO of Wolves, an independent Marketing, Advertising and Strategic agency in South Africa.

He has more than 20 years of experience in the industry and has creatively led many of the world’s best agencies and network across Africa; including McCann Worldgroup, Y&R, Saatchi & Saatchi, The Jupiter Drawing Room JHB and more.

Mick is one of South Africa's most awarded creative's with multiple accolades from around the world.  His work has been featured in university texbooks in the USA, he regularly lectures at South Africa's leading advertising schools and universities, and he sits on various industry forums. The work Mick did on Nugget Shoe Polish became the most awarded campaign in the history of South African Advertising in any medium in its time.

Mick has also represented Africa as a member of the Executive Juries of the prestigious Clios and New York Festival Awards, and has also judged the London International Advertising Awards, the APEX Effectiveness Awards, as well as the South African Loeries Awards, amongst others.  

He is the only South African to be invited to sit on The Global Advisory Boards of the New York Festivals and AME Awards.

Mick has been featured by The One Show, the Who’s Who of Lürzers Archive, and is a member of the Who's Who of Southern Africa initiative.

Nicky Bullard is the Group Chief Creative Officer for MullenLowe Group UK. She was the first creative woman to become chair of a UK marketing agency, that being multi award-winning MRM//McCann in London. Creatively recognized across nearly all the major shows, Nicky thinks she’s probably worked across every media and sector - but direct and digital are where her heart lies. She’s been writing professionally for 30 years and despite running a huge operation, she also keeps her hand in writing and ideating as often as she can. She is a fierce champion of the customer and believes insight is all. She is also hugely passionate about effectiveness - it’s only great work if it works.

Nicky says that the campaign of her career is the one we’re all living right now, the campaign for equality. Nicky has been featured in the Financial Times HERoes list for the last two years.

Currently Greater China Group Chairman of CHEIL Group, Pully Chau has 30+ years of advertising, branding and management experience in Asia and 20 years in China. She is a highly innovative game-changer and launched “Amazing Factory” one-stop creative hot house in Cheil Group to integrate all capabilities under one roof. She is leading a Group of 1,200 people in 7 cities in Greater China with holistic capabilities in Digital, Media, Retail, PR, Brand experience, eCommerce, Data-Marketing, Auto-Marketing, etc.

In 2019, Pully led a creative task force, which fruitfully picked up 6 Cannes Bronze lions and 27 shortlists as well as a long list of international awards (246 international awards in 2019-2020), including the D&AD pencil for Cheil China. She relentlessly focused on building agency reputation, through winning new businesses and awards (e.g., Volkswagen global brand). In 2020, Campaign Brief Asia named Cheil Worldwide Beijing Top 3 Hottest Agency in China. Pully has received numerous awards for her contributions within the industry including 30 Outstanding People over 30 Years by the China Advertising Association, and 21 Global Innovators of 2013 by Internationalist USA. She judged 2013 Cannes Creative Effectiveness and 2019 Cannes Industry Craft and has been a regular speaker in forums.

Experience:

2020 – present         

Cheil Group Chairman-Greater China

2015 – 2020

Cheil Group Chief Executive Officer (In charge of “Amazing Factory” integrated creative resources under one roof)

2016 – 2018

President, Effie Awards Greater China (appointed by CAA and Effie Worldwide)

2010 – June 2014

Chairman & CEO, FCB Greater China

2000 – Jan 2010

CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi China

1993 – 2000

Regional Account Director (P&G) Asia Pacific at DMB&B; then Managing Director Hong Kong & South China

1990 - 1993

Group Account Director, BBDO Hong Kong

Started in Ogilvy & Mather.

International Speaking experiences:

2020 Cannes Lions Live “Future Gazers” Speaker

2019 Cannes Lion- Women Power panel speaker for Cheil Worldwide, Debussy theatre

2008 & 2009 "China in Cannes" keynote speaker at Debussy theatre China Ad Congress, Beijing (2006-7)

Award judging experience:

Cannes Lions Industry Craft Final Jury - 2019 (Reference: OBE Sir Trevor Robinson)

Cannes Lions Creative Effectiveness Final Jury - 2013

Spikes Creative Effectiveness Final Jury - 2018

President - EFFIE Greater China Award 2016/17/18

Head of Jury - EFFIE Greater China 2011/2012/2013/2014/2015

Notable achievements in last 15 years:

China Adman of the year 2007 (awarded by China Ad Association)

Top 10 Executives 2004 (China Ad Association)

Most accomplished advertising women 2005 (China Women Magazine)

30 contributors for 30 years of Chinese ad history 2008 (awarded by China Ad Association)

10 years' contribution to China Advertising (ROI Festival 2013)

Olay 20 years in China- recognition as key contributor at P&G Global event in Beijing, 2009.

21 Global Innovators of 2013 (awarded by Internationalist USA)

As an award-winning creative leader, she has spent over 20 years moving brands forward with creative solutions that deepen consumer engagement and emotional connectivity.

Currently she is the VP, Creative, New York Times Advertising. As the creative lead of the department, she oversees the T Brand creative team and operations responsible for building bespoke creative content, bringing brands closer to the prolific storytelling of the New York Times.

Previously, she held the posts of Chief Creative Officer at Fake Love and HelloSociety– the Brand Experience and Influencer agencies of New York Times Advertising. Both agencies enabled T Brand to expand its “off platform” capabilities and further enable brands to have impact in the world.

In addition to her time with The New York Times, her creative leadership roles at global brand, The Walt Disney Company and advertising giant, DDB Chicago, have fueled her career with a trifecta of publisher, brand and agency side creative experiences.

Throughout her career she has serviced blue-chip brands spanning a wide range of consumer categories. She has created award-winning work garnering accolades and recognition from Cannes Lions, The Effies, Communication Arts, The Art Directors Club, Chicago Creative Club, London International Awards and others. She has contributed op-eds to industry publications and provided thought leadership as an award show juror, featured panelist, sought-after mentor, and speaker at national industry events.

Gordon was born 1978 – coincidentally the last year his beloved footballclub won the championship in Germany. He spend as much time at university as he could ending up with a PhD at the University of Cambridge. Since then he works in advertising developing strategies for brands across Germany, Europe and sometimes even the globe always aiming to make brands part of popculture. He also published extensively in the Journal of Brand Management, the German Harvard Business Review, McKinsey’s Akzente and more. Today he is Head of Planning of BBDO in Germany.”

Originally from Ireland, Rory has worked at agencies around the globe in Dublin, Sydney, London and he currently leads the strategy department at Special Group Auckland.

He’s created highly successful campaigns for brands such as Air New Zealand, Guinness and Tourism New Zealand that has seen him win Cannes Lions, D&AD and One Show Pencils.

At AMV BBDO, where he was a Board member, he won over 100 creative awards including 10 Cannes Lions and two Gold IPA effectiveness awards for his work on the Guinness ‘Made of More’ campaign.

His recent work for Tourism New Zealand, saw Special Group win New Zealand’s first ever Global Effie award for the campaign Good Morning World along with a number of ‘Campaign of the Year’ titles.

Under his charge, Special Group has catapulted to New Zealand’s leading agency, recently being awarded Agency of the Year by Campaign Magazine, B&T Magazine and Campaign Brief.

Rory was also crowned Campaign Magazine’s Australia/New Zealand’s Strategic Planner of the Year in 2020.

As BCW’s Chief Creative Officer, Fede Garcia is responsible for driving powerful and provocative creative and expanding the agency’s bench of creative talent worldwide. A copywriter by training, Fede is renowned for big ideas that challenge convention, inspire delight and provoke action. With strategic rigor, a global perspective, and a track record of game-changing ideas, Fede helps BCW move people in unexpected and fascinating ways.

A native of Argentina, Fede’s 25-year career in advertising has spanned roles in Buenos Aires, Tokyo, and New York. Fede spent four years with Huge, most recently as Global Executive Creative Director, with creative oversight of the agency’s Brooklyn headquarters and key global accounts. Before that, he was Group Creative Director at Translation in New York, where he worked on the NFL, History Channel and HBO, among others. Prior to this, he spent four years with Ogilvy Tokyo, where he oversaw the creative development of celebrated campaigns for many of the agency’s premier accounts, including Coca-Cola, American Express, IBM, Citizen and more.

Fede’s work has been recognized by the Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, Clios, Effies and London International Awards among many others, and it has been featured in news outlets around the world such as USA Today, The Washington Post, The Mirror, The Independent, Fox, People Magazine, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Business of Fashion, Business Insider and many more. He’s also a member of the Advisory Board of the New York Festivals and the AME Festivals, and has sat on the jury of numerous award shows.

Dominque Hickey is Chief Strategy Officer for Howatson+Company.  Previoulsly Dom was Head of Planning at DDB and has been leading the strategic thinking across the Westpac business for the past three years. In 2017 she was DDB Group’s employee of the year.

Starting out client-side Dom has worked in a diverse range of roles from designer and senior marketer to suit and strategic planner Dom has worked strategically on a broad range of industries including Financial services, Publishing, Retail, Loyalty, and FMCG.

Prior to DDB Dom has worked in CX and digital agencies as Head of Planning for Wunderman and Planning Director at Lavender.

A planner that doesn’t believe in silos, she is passionate about creating great work in any channel and working with collaborative integrated teams.

She is a part of the Smith Family iTrack mentoring program, the She Says mentoring program in Sydney and regularly supports young people within the industry teaching at Miami Ad School, ADMA and Comms Council.

The 2019 Drum Global Ranking announced the top 100 Chief Creative Officers in the world, and there were only 8 women in the list. One of them is Merlee Jayme. Merlee is the Global president of Dentsu mcgarrybowen and the Chairmom of Dentsu Jayme Syfu. She is the first Filipino to be awarded: The Creative of the Year for Southeast Asia by Campaign Asia Pacific Agency of the Year and the Asia Women Marketeer 2019. Her works push insights and innovation. She has won major awards including a Cannes Lion Grand Prix for Mobile, Grand CLIO, NYF Grand Awards, D&AD yellow and wood pencils, LIAA and Gold Effies. She has led her agency to win key accounts: Coca-Cola, Nestle, Shell and Wyeth. Merlee is a seasoned judge in major award shows, an international speaker, one of CNN’s Leading Women, a feminist who leads dentsu’s #sistergood project for women leadership, a best-selling author/illustrator of a creative handbook titled “Everyone Can Be Creative", a mom to 4 beautiful girls, and an inspiration in breaking the glass ceiling in this mad men's world.

Renowned for his integrity and leadership, Kandeban Balendran (Kandee) is a corporate business leader, entrepreneur, marketer, academic and one of the most celebrated media personalities of Sri Lanka.                                        

An Alumnus of the prestigious Harvard Business School, MBA from Victoria University, Australia and an alumnus of the Creative Leadership Programme at Berlin School of Creative Leadership.      

Over the past two decades, Kandee has been a pioneer in the world of media, marketing, and advertising in both Sri Lanka and India. Moving out of corporate career, Kandee wanted to create opportunities for young future makers through education reform, technology, creativity and innovations. 

Founded the Academics Group, the first cross-sector education think-tank in Sri Lanka together with his wife Vidhya Kandeban, launched the world’s most awarded advertising school Miami Ad School in Sri Lanka and started EMBRAX, a New Age/ New Era Creative, Digital and Marketing Solutions Company – all in year 2020.

He was the former CEO & Director of Sparks Sri Lanka, a fully integrated Creative, Media, Advertising and Digital Marketing Company, CEO of Brandcom (Former Rediffusion Y&R Sri Lanka) and also the Celebrity Host of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” in Sri Lanka and The Socio-Political Show “Minnal” Prime Time Show. 

He was also the former Marketing & Sales Director of MTV Channels Network in Sri Lanka,  Director, Business Development of MBC Radio Networks, Digital Head of MTV & MBC Networks, Channel Head of Shakthi FM, Head of Sales MTV & Shakthi TV,  Head of AAHAA 91.9 FM, NBC, India.

Kandee was also the mastermind behind many successful campaigns which includes #LoveLifeHIV Awareness Campaign, #SafeRoadsSri Lanka – a National Road Safety Project, Diabetes Free Sri Lanka, “Fight Dengue. Save Lives” Campaign which reached out to millions around the country. He is currently spearheading #SafeChildSriLanka, an yearlong National Child Safety Campaign together with the Pediatric College of Sri Lanka.

He was interviewed and twice featured by the Harvard Business School, and was also featured titled “Dreamer” among selected young global leaders who are making a difference around the world. Kandee was listed among the 20 most inspiring young global leaders as part of #FutureChasers campaign by the government of Australia, recognized by Austrade with the Australian Alumni Excellence Award for Business Administration and Leadership, Young Alumni Achiever Award winner of Victoria University, listed among 10 most influential young global leaders of Tamil Community by Canada based TC magazine, and he is the first Sri Lankan to be on the Grand Jury panel of both New York Festival’s Radio Awards since 2012 and AME Awards for Marketing Effectiveness since 2018.

Janis Middleton, EVP, Executive Director of Multicultural and Inclusion Strategy

Janis has years of experience in the content and media space and has led various clients, such as The Home Depot, Buffalo Wild Wings, SunTrust (now Truist), Hanes, American Standard, Aaron’s, and Krystal to success. Her background has made her extremely knowledgeable in developing and implementing people-focused strategies, which ultimately led to her current role in leading the agency’s diversity and inclusion efforts. As an Atlanta native and graduate of Clark Atlanta University, Janis has always had a passion for building and cultivating environments that provide equal opportunities for all people to thrive. Not only does she have tremendous influence inside the walls of 22squared and Trade School, but she’s also paving the way for her community by serving on the Board of Directors for Breakthrough Atlanta and as a leading member of Advertising for Change.

Zak started his career at Chiat/Day and BBDO. In 1999, he joined TAXI and helped build the agency into one of the top shops on the Gunn report. Over the past decade, Zak has been busy building Zulu Alpha Kilo into a globally awarded 110-person independent. In 2016, his shop was named Ad Age’s Small Agency of the Year, the first time a non-U.S. agency had ever won overall top honours. Zulu was also awarded as Ad Age’s International Small Agency of the Year in 2017. Most recently, Zak was featured in the May and April issues of Forbes magazine after Zulu was recognized as one of North America’s best small companies and praised for challenging the business conventions of the industry.  Zak has both judged and been awarded at the One Show, D&AD, Cannes and Communication Arts.

Tahaab Rais is the first Chief Strategy Officer for Publicis Groupe in the region.

I enjoy strategy, data, ideas, effectiveness and innovation - and develop winning teams and future leaders. The company that I lead the Strategy Office for, across MENAT, is consistently ranked among the top agencies in the world for its effectiveness and strategic thinking. And my teams are stars. I also drive the company's creative excellence ambitions through initiatives and trainings.

The challenge of finding THE right solution for businesses makes me tick. Inquisitive about people - their differences, attitudes and beliefs - and the joy of helping people and brands be happier, excites me.

I possess strategic, creative consultancy, integrated marketing, data analysis and leadership experience spanning MEAT and Asia, covering Business and Data Strategy; Brand, Content and Digital Strategy; Cross-channel Integrated Solutions; Relationship Marketing and Customer Experience Management.

Enjoying being creative, I'm practical with technology and the constantly evolving world of the web. I'm anti-theory. Making things happen excites me. And the results achieved are a testament to my drive.

I've worked on Finance, Insurance, Telecommunications, FMCG, Luxury, Travel & Tourism, Retail, Automotive, Petroleum, Entertainment, Real Estate brands across MEA and Asia-PAC., such as HSBC, HSBC Amanah, Coca-Cola, Emirates NBD, Emirates Islamic, Mastercard, Sony, Nokia, J&J, Kraft, Nestle, Kit Kat, Reckitt, Dettol, Unilever, OMO, Knorr, AXE, Jif, Lipton, Ford, Arla Foods, Babyshop, Home Centre, L'Oreal, Nike, Harvey Nichols, UAE Government, Majid Al Futtaim, ALDAR, Microsoft, AstraZeneca, al hilal bank, Babyshop, Home Centre, Ferrari World, Qatar Petroleum, Shell, Egypt Tourism Authority, Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Jawwy, SABB, SABB Amanah, Ooredoo, Aspire, Orange, Boubyan Bank, Bank Muscat, Meethaq, Castrol, Hindustan Petroleum, Exide, Marico, Atlantis and Taj Hotels, among others.

The work has enhanced the agencies' reputation across Cannes, Effies, D&AD, Andy's, Clios, Jay Chiats, WARC, Dubai Lynx, One Show, Loeries, London International Awards, Webby's, New York Festivals, Gerety, Caples, AdFest, AdStars, AME, among others. My strategy team members are some of the most awarded ones in the world for strategy, and I'm the most awarded CSO from MENAT.

Besides being a CSO, I'm also a globally awarded film director and songwriter, and you can view my work on: https://vimeo.com/tahaab

Aside from work, I create ideas to help solve societal problems as an individual through my own personal non-profit venture. And I speak worldwide on creativity.

Alex Schill was born with a Canadian passport and studied at the University of Fine Arts in Berlin. In 1994 he started his career at Germanys former hot shop agency No.1 Springer & Jacoby as junior copywriter and was asked in 2003 to lead the agency as Chief Creative Officer. In 2006, Alex left Springer & Jacoby to become Associate Partner and Member of the Board at Serviceplan Group. 
Since 2008 he is Chief Creative Officer of the entire agency group worldwide. He is presently in charge of more than 24 agency locations and 4.200 employees globally.
In just five years Alex Schill brought Serviceplan to the front row in national and international creative rankings. In 2016 the agency ended up No.1 in the German Creative Ranking (Horizont), No.1 in the Digital Ranking (BVDW), No.1 in the Media Ranking (Recma), No. 1 in the Design Ranking (Red Dot) and No. 1 in the Efficiency Ranking (w&v). 
In recent years Alex has won more than 75 Cannes Lions, including two Grands Prix in 2012 and 2013 and is a regular speaker on the international creative awards circuit. He has given keynote speeches at Cannes, Eurobest, Dubai Lynx and the Loerie Awards and also been Jury president at Cannes Lions, CLIO, Eurobest, LIA and at the D&AD.

Alex is a proud Father of 3 beautiful children and collector of historic motorcycles that he races on events all around the world.

As Chief Executive Officer of TBWA\WorldHealth, Robin prides herself on bringing disruptive thinking to some of the world’s most ambitious healthcare brands. She partners with her clients to liberate brands from conventional pharma thinking and realize a more purposeful future. Robin considers herself “chief culture officer” and works hard to create an agency environment in which innovation, creativity, and positivity thrive. 

Robin is on a mission to make healthcare advertising a destination career for young people. Robin founded The Young Globals, a competition that exposes college-aged students to the rewards of healthcare advertising. Winners receive a paid internship at a leading healthcare agency.

Robin rose up through the creative ranks and, prior to her current role she was Global President of TBWA\WorldHealth. Previously she  served as Chief Creative Officer of Corbett Accel Healthcare Group. Under her leadership, the agency received numerous industry awards, including Clio Health Best of Show and IPA Best of Health. Robin served as Jury Chair for Clio Health and The Global Awards, as well as jury member for the Health Effies and Cannes Lions Health. She is especially proud to serve as 2019 Cannes Lions Pharma Jury President.

Dörte Spengler-Ahrens, CCO at Jung von Matt/SAGA.

Dörte studied Visual Communications and started her career as an Art Director before switching to copywriting.

After working in several agencies, she went to work at Jung von Matt where she became a Creative Director after only three years. 

In 2000, she founded her own company MARIA.

Dörte returned 2002 to Jung von Matt to set the agency JvM/Spree in Berlin with two partners and became a partner and share holder.  

After that, she launched the first international branch called Jung von Matt/9 and several other Jung von Matt companies (JvM/Pulse, JvM/Fleet, JvM/Elbe) working for all big JvM clients including BMW, BVG, Mercedes-Benz, NETTO, NIVEA, Sixt, Zalando, etc.

In November 2016, she founded Jung von Matt/SAGA -which stands for Spengler-Ahrens-Giest-Agency- with Managing Partner Stephan Giest. 

Dörte is one of the most awarded German creatives, long term Committee Chairwoman and now Vicepresident of the Art Director’s Club (ADC), curator of the ADC Festival and Congress Hamburg, Advisory Board Member of the D&AD and New York Festival, as well as a juror in all the communication industry’s most important international award juries every year (LIA, Clio, One Show, Cannes, ADC*E).               

She was awarded Germany’s Agency Head of the Year 2018, served 2019 besides other juries as Chairwoman and Jury President of the ADC*E Festival.

Doerte has won over 600 awards in her carrier including several Grand Prixs.

She loves her work, only more she loves her husband Tobias Ahrens, her son Bela and the family dog Tyson. She also loves to travel and to meet people – preferably, all at the same time.

Aki (he/him/his) lives and works at the nexus of consumer culture and connected technologies. He applies data-centric, and radically-collaborative sensibilities to build creative solutions that provide value for people.

As the new Chief Strategy Officer at Cashmere/LA, Aki marks a return back to culture-driven strategies and ideas for brands (having started his career in music marketing). At Cashmere, Aki is charged with honing the agency’s strategic processes for scale & growth – and ultimately linking into the broader Media.Monks and S4 Capital “API” of services.

Previously, Aki was Chief Strategy Officer at Leo Burnett/Chicago, where he helped update the strategic approach for brand, digital, and data integration at one of the most storied agencies in the world. There he introduced innovative forays in AI, Web3, and Multicultural Intelligence for brands like Kelloggs, Jim Beam, Bank of America, Samsung, Messenger, US Cellular, and more.  Aki co-led a strategic resource and accelerator for all the creative agencies across Publicis – to operationalize 'general market' teams who are increasingly-challenged with how to become more culturally-fluent in an era of an increasingly-diverse mass market. 

Aki leaves Leo Burnett having helped the agency achieve 2022 Agency of the Year at One Show, ADC and Clios, Best in Show at One Show, Addy, Communication Arts and AICP, Titanium and Grand Prix at Cannes – and more proudly – a wealth of gold, silver and bronze strategy and effectiveness awards across 2022 Effies (incl 2nd Most Effective Agency Network – Leo Burnett Worldwide), WARC Awards for Effectiveness, ARF Ogilvy Awards for Research, and Jay Chiat Strategy Awards.

Guy’s overseen a series of multi award-winning campaigns across the worlds of consumer and health advertising, including pharma, direct to consumer & public awareness campaigns.

He studied at the UK’s leading advertising creative school, and began his career at Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, working on Pepsi, Wrangler Jeans and others. Guy’s campaigns have been recognized for both creativity & effectiveness at award shows worldwide, including Cannes Lions, Clios, EFFIES, D&AD, EPICA Awards, London International Awards, Eurobest, One Show, Creative Circle, Lürzer's Archive, Creative Floor, Global Awards and more.

In 2020, Guy was instrumental in launching IGNITE, a global initiative to promote young & diverse creative talent at McCann Health.

Pratik Thakar is Head of Global Creative Strategy & Content, Coca-Cola at The Coca-Cola Company and leads the creative, content and design excellence across Coca-Cola Company’s ASEAN 10-plus markets. He leads various global charters and incubates innovative and creative marketing solutions for the entire brand portfolio of the company.

He held leadership roles in many global ad agencies before joining Coke. His 18 years of industry experience covers stints in India, Southeast Asia and Greater China for Grey Group, McCann Worldgroup, Saatchi & Saatchi, DDB and Lowe.

A strong advocate of creative technology and collaborative innovation, he founded Grey Innovation lab as chief strategy and innovation officer for Grey Group Greater China. Before joining Grey, he was the chief strategy and innovation catalyst at McCann Worldgroup, where he was highly regarded for his integrated creative strategies and disruptive ideas in design, branded content and digital technology-led innovation on brands such as Puma, L’Oréal Group, MasterCard, Nestlé, Intel and Coca-Cola.

He has also served in advisory roles for start-up accelerators throughout Asia Pacific, getting the front row seat to the most cutting-edge technology and innovations of tomorrow. This combination of veteran brand strategy, multi-regional experience, and ahead-of-the-curve innovation places him as a leading voice for creative technology and 10X approach of building high-tech start-ups.

In her role as CSO Winger leads a multi-discipline strategy group of data fiends, insight hunters, and strategic masterminds who are in relentless pursuit of the truth about humanity and culture.

In her 20 year career at VML she’s worked with brands ranging from cereal to software. Her happiest days at the office are spent with teams of unruly geniuses gathered at a whiteboard, creating ideas that will have an outsize impact on brands and the world.

Amy grew up, professionally speaking, in New York’s start up scene then known as Silicon Alley, where the first generation of community and content-based web experiences were born.

Amy is a graduate of Cornell College with a Bachelor of Special Studies in Writing and American Studies.