Capital Markets Day speakers

Ajaz Ahmed

CEO, AKQA

Ajaz Ahmed is CEO of AKQA, the ideas and innovation company he founded aged 21. Today, AKQA is one of the world’s most awarded agencies and a recognised leading global workplace. AKQA employs over 5,500 people across 50 studios and subsidiaries. In 2021 he launched the ajaz.org fellowship which provides grants to charities and was the winner of the Spear’s Impact Award 2022. Ajaz is the author of four books including the best-seller Velocity. In addition to his responsibilities as CEO of AKQA, Ajaz is a Trustee on the charitable boards of  Mission 44 (founded by Sir Lewis Hamilton), Elton John AIDS Foundation and Virgin Unite founded by Sir Richard Branson and Jean Oelwang.

Christian Juhl

Global CEO, GroupM

As the global leader of the world’s largest media investment organisation, Christian Juhl has rapidly established GroupM as a force for change in the advertising industry. Appointed as Global CEO in late 2019, Juhl has unified the company behind a shared purpose - making advertising work better for everyone - and enacted an ambitious transformation agenda to evolve the organisation’s culture and business operations.

Under Juhl, GroupM and its agencies Mindshare, Wavemaker, and EssenceMediacom are reimagining the media business for the 21st century, using data, technology, and media-driven creativity to connect brands and customers in new ways. Powered by the performance marketing and data units GroupM Nexus and Choreograph - both launched under Juhl - GroupM delivers breakthrough innovation in addressable content, AI-enabled programmatic media, commerce, and data services and enables its agencies to drive growth and help clients navigate today’s complex marketing environment. During Christian’s tenure, GroupM has collectively led the industry in both new and retained business as measured by the independent research bureau COMvergence.

With GroupM representing more than $60B in annual advertising spend on behalf of 70% of the world’s largest advertisers, Juhl leverages the company’s unique scale to advocate for the interests of brands and customers alike. He is a champion for GroupM’s Responsible Investment Framework and its critical industry initiatives in the areas of media decarbonisation, diversity and inclusion, brand safety, data ethics, and responsible journalism.

Previously, Christian served as Global CEO of Essence where he was instrumental in driving the company’s meteoric growth and shaping its inclusive, open culture. Christian joined Essence in 2013 to lead North America after spending 14 years at Razorfish.

Daniel Hulme

Chief AI Officer, WPP; CEO, Satalia

Daniel Hulme (PhD) is a globally recognised expert in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and investor in Emerging Technologies. He's the CEO of Satalia, an award-winning company that provides AI products and solutions for global companies. Satalia joined the world's largest marketing company in 2021, WPP, where Daniel is now the Chief AI Officer; helping define, identify, curate and promote AI capability and new opportunities for the benefit of the wider group and society. Daniel has been recognised as one of the top 10 Chief AI Officers globally.

With over 25 years academic experience with AI, Daniel received his Masters and Doctorate in AI at UCL. He was previously Director of UCL’s Applied AI MSc (Business Analytics), where he is now UCL’s Computer Science Entrepreneur-in-Residence and a lecturer at LSE's Marshall Institute, focused on using AI to solve business and social problems. Daniel is also an Impact Board Member of St Andrew’s University Computer Science department.

Passionate about how technology can be used to govern organisations and bring positive social impact, Daniel is a popular keynote speaker specialising in the topics of AI, ethics, metaverse, emerging technology, innovation, decentralisation and organisational design. He is a serial speaker for Google and TEDx, holds an international Kauffman Global Entrepreneur Scholarship, and is a faculty member of Singularity University.

Daniel is a contributor to numerous books, podcasts and articles on AI and the future of work. His mission is to create a world where everyone has the freedom to spawn and contribute to innovations, and have those innovations become free to everyone. He has advisory and executive positions across companies and governments, and actively promotes purposeful entrepreneurship and technology innovation across the globe.

Devika Bulchandani

Global CEO, Ogilvy

Devika Bulchandani is a world-class marketer who leads with passion, purpose, and an uncompromising focus on creating impact. As Global CEO of Ogilvy she is responsible for all aspects of the creative network’s business which spans Advertising, PR, Consulting, Experience, and Health across 131 offices in 93 countries.

Under Devika's leadership, Ogilvy achieved three consecutive years of growth and garnered multiple accolades. In 2023, Ogilvy was ranked as he most creative and effective agency network by WARC. The agency was acknowledged as one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies, received the Global Agency of the Year title from Adweek and Campaign, and secured Network of the Year honors at prestigious events like Cannes, the Clios, One Show, and LIA—often maintaining this recognition for multiple consecutive years.

As a leader who believes in the power of creativity to make a positive impact on society, Dev’s proudest achievements have occurred at the intersection of the social causes she champions and brand-building efforts on behalf of clients. From the iconic Fearless Girl campaign advocating for increased female representation on corporate boards, to the transformative Morning After Island initiative, instrumental in overturning a 2009 Honduras decree banning emergency contraception, to the mobilising WOMAN CORP, driving the Equal Rights Amendment in the U.S., to Ogilvy’s ongoing collaboration with Dove to help end race-based hair discrimination through the passage of the CROWN Act—Devika has been the driving force behind work that transforms culture and society.

Born in India, she received her bachelor’s degree in English and Psychology at St. Xavier’s in Mumbai before going on to receive her master’s in Communications at the University of Southern California. Dev and her husband live in New York City with their son and daughter, whom they are raising to be enlightened individuals unafraid to change the world for the better.

Evan Hanlon

Global CEO, Choreograph

Evan Hanlon is the CEO of Choreograph, and serves on the Group-M Global Leadership Team. With a background rooted in creative strategy, he firmly believes that the path to creative transformation starts with a fundamental shift in data and technology. His mission is to bring Choreograph products and thinking to visionary brands that are ready to take bold risks.

In his most recent leadership role, he served as the Global Client Lead at The Pharm, a multidisciplinary agency exclusively dedicated to the Walgreens Boots business within the WPP network. In that role, he had a front-row seat to witness the power of Choreograph's technology. He began his WPP career at Xaxis in 2011, as the founding member of the audience strategy department, and has successful leadership turns at GroupM, [m]PLATFORM, and Essence, where he built up a product mindset and organization, serving as Global Chief Product Officer.

Evan is a serial hobbyist. His most recent pursuit is pottery, but he's been a lifelong creative doer as a writer, filmmaker, skateboarder, and budding punk rock guitarist.

He's a native of Long Island, New York and resides in Brooklyn.

Joanne Wilson

CFO, WPP

Joanne Wilson is Chief Financial Officer at WPP plc.  Joanne was formerly the Chief Financial Officer and Chair of the ESG Committee at Britvic.

Prior to Britvic Joanne enjoyed a successful career at Tesco where she gained extensive experience both in the UK and internationally in a variety of financial and commercial roles. These included Chief Financial Officer of dunnhumby, a global leader in customer data science.

Joanne began her career at KPMG, where she qualified as a Chartered Accountant and spent three years in Hong Kong. She is currently a non-executive director of Informa plc (LSE:INF). 

Jon Cook

Global CEO, VML

Jon serves as global CEO of VML, an agency he’s been an integral part of for the past 28 years. The merger of Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R was announced in October 2023; the expanded company became operational in January 2024. The unified agency combines world-class creativity with deep expertise in data, marketing technology and platforms. VML — one of the world’s largest creative agencies — is a global network of nearly 30,000 individuals across more than 60 markets. Jon is a member of the WPP Executive Committee.

VML is proud to serve some of the world's most recognised and respected brands, including AstraZeneca, Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, Ford, Intel, Microsoft, Nestlé, The Coca-Cola Company, and Wendy's. Principal office locations include Detroit, Kansas City, London, New York City, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore and Sydney.

Under Jon’s leadership, the agency was recognised as 2023 Network of the Year by the New York Festivals, the ANDYs and the ADC Awards. The agency was also recognised as top 2 on Ad Age’s A-List and ranked seventh globally at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity; it has also been named Cannes Lions Entertainment Agency of the Year three of the past six years.

The agency garnered a 2023 One Show Penta Pencil for Wendy’s, recognising five years of marketing excellence. It was also recognised by the Forrester Wave™ Reports, which named WPP a “Leader” in Commerce Services, Global Digital Experience Services, Global Marketing Services and, most recently, Marketing Measurement & Optimization. Additionally, VML Health was a top 10 MM+M Agency 100 recipient.

Prior to taking the helm of VMLY&R in 2018, Jon served as VML global CEO starting in 2011. During his tenure with the original VML, the agency grew from 30 employees in Kansas City, Missouri, to more than 3,000 employees across six continents. Jon helped VML garner A-List honours from 2016 to 2018.

Jon is committed to equity, inclusion and belonging at VML. In 2023, the agency was named Agency of the Year for the second consecutive year by New York Festivals 3D DE&I Awards and was recognised by Fast Company as a Best Workplace for Innovators. VML has twice been identified by the Human Rights Campaign as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality, and it repeatedly has been recognised by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption as one of the top 100 Adoption-Friendly Workplaces in the U.S. In 2022, the agency was named among the top three on LinkedIn’s list of the 25 best advertising and marketing companies for jobseekers, and a Best Place to Work and Best D&I Initiative by Campaign. The agency has twice received a perfect score on the HRC Corporate Equality Index.

Jon graduated from the University of Missouri in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. In 2018, Jon delivered the commencement address at the Missouri School of Journalism graduation ceremony. He was named to the 2023 Campaign US 40 Over 40 list and is a graduate of the FBI Citizens Academy. Jon relishes spending time with his wife, Lisa, and their three daughters. The family especially enjoys hiking together.

Laurent Ezekiel

Chief Marketing & Growth Officer, WPP; CEO, WPP Open X

Laurent Ezekiel is a global industry leader creating the future of marketing for the world’s most iconic brands. Recognied by Business Insider as a key driver in WPP’s transformation, Laurent was the first Chief Marketing & Growth Officer appointed on behalf of the creative transformation company. 

Laurent has led WPP to the top of global new business league tables by integrating diverse, integrated teams of experts in creative, media, social, PR, data and commerce. He assembles the best talent across WPP to achieve creative impact at scale which has led to numerous industry awards including Creative Company of the Decade at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2020. Laurent is known for inspiring teams to deliver modern marketing solutions and meaningful experiences for future-forward businesses including Coca-Cola, Nike, Amazon, Netflix and Google.

Laurent led the multi-agency, multi-disciplinary, global team that was appointed global networked marketing agency partner for The Coca-Cola Company in 2021. Reported as the industry’s most significant pitch, Laurent was the key architect in creating WPP Open X, a bespoke agency model that is integrated at its core and unprecedented in its scale. Indeed his leadership as CEO of WPP Open X, this dedicated team is reinventing marketing across The Coca-Cola Company’s 200 brands across 195 countries and building the client-agency model of the future.

Laurent holds a Masters in Environment & Development, embodying his commitment to helping WPP make a positive impact on the planet. Laurent is a proud father of three, passionate supporter of Arsenal FC and fiercely loyal Coke Zero customer.

Manolo Arroyo

Chief Marketing Officer, The Coca-Cola Company

Manuel “Manolo” Arroyo is EVP & Global Chief Marketing Officer for The Coca-Cola Company. He is responsible for the five Global Category teams, Integrated Marketing Experience (IMX) including Media, Digital Marketing, Design, Marketing Assets (Music, Sports, Entertainment and Influencers), Human Insights and Marketing Performance, Marketing Operations & Capabilities and the Marketing Transformation Office.

Arroyo’s career spans across Europe, USA, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Mexico, where he has built and led highly performing and engaged diverse teams.

Arroyo was named CMO in 2020. From 2019 to 2020 he served as President of the company’s Asia Pacific group. He was responsible for operations in the group’s five business units. He was also responsible for the company’s Bottling Investments Group, primarily focused on key markets in Southeast and Southwest Asia. Arroyo served as President of the Company’s Mexico business unit from 2017 to 2019.

Arroyo left Coca-Cola in 2014 to rejoin S.C. Johnson & Son, as SVP & President of Asia Pacific. From 2015 to 2016 he served as CEO of Deoleo, the publicly traded worldwide leader in branded olive oil, including the Bertolli brand.

Prior to that, he was President of the Coca-Cola Southeast and West Asia (SEWA) business unit from 2006 to 2009 and President of the ASEAN business unit from 2010 to 2014, where he led structural refranchising in Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, The Philippines, and the Company’s first ever entries in Myanmar/Burma and Laos. This role included a remarkable turnaround of our business in Thailand and Vietnam.

He began his career with Coca-Cola in 1995 and went on to hold a variety of marketing roles in Spain and in Global Strategic Marketing in Atlanta and general management roles, including Marketing Director and General Manager for sparkling brands for the company’s Iberia business unit from 2000 to 2004 and General Manager for Spain and bottling sales company from 2004 to 2006.

Before joining Coca-Cola, Arroyo worked for two years in marketing at S.C. Johnson & Son and two years in the Corporate Office Staff of the Chairman & CEO at Banco Santander in Madrid, Spain.

Arroyo is member of the board of Coca-Cola EuroPacific Partners and has served in the boards of Coca-Cola Andina (Chile), ThainamThip Ltd (Thailand) and Coca-Cola COFCO (China). Arroyo earned double major degrees in Business Administration and Law, both from ICADE in Madrid.

Mark Read CBE

CEO, WPP

Mark was appointed CEO of WPP in September 2018. Having held multiple leadership positions at WPP since he joined in 1989, Mark has a deep understanding of the industry. As Head of Strategy and then CEO of WPP Digital he was responsible for WPP’s first moves into technology. In 2015, he became Global CEO of Wunderman, which he transformed into one of the world’s leading creative, data and technology agencies.

Earlier in his career, Mark co-founded internet start-up WebRewards and specialised in media and marketing as a principal at consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton.

He was recognised as an Involve Heroes Champion of Women in Business for the fifth consecutive year in 2022 and was named #1 in the 2022 Empower Advocates list which recognises leaders who create diverse and inclusive business environments. Mark was voted the industry’s Most Influential Person of 2019 in Econsultancy’s Top 100 Digital Agencies report and in 2021 received Fellow of the IPA status for outstanding services to the industry in the IPA's New Year's Honours. In 2022, he was appointed to the Natural History Museum’s Board of Trustees by the UK Prime Minister. Mark was awarded a CBE in the King’s New Year Honours 2024 list, for services to the creative industries.

Mel Edwards

Global President, VML

Mel Edwards is the Global President of VML, the world’s largest creative company combining brand experience, customer experience, and commerce. VML was formed in October 2023 following the merger of Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R.

Prior to being named Global President of VML, Mel was Global CEO of Wunderman Thompson, overseeing 20,000 employees across 90 markets, including creatives, data scientists, technologists, and storytellers. Under Mel’s leadership, Wunderman Thompson became one of the most awarded networks for creativity and innovation, crowned Campaign’s ‘Global Integrated Network of the Year’ and named as a ‘Standout’ agency on Ad Age’s A-List in 2023, and winning Cannes Lions Grands Prix for three consecutive years (2021, 2022, and 2023).

A catalyst for business transformation, Mel is recognised as a leader with a proven record of helping marketers anticipate and navigate change, and is a hugely respected voice in the industry. She has featured in Campaign’s A-List, The Drum’s Digerati, HERoes Women Role Models, and Ad Age’s European Women to Watch. In 2023 she was named Business Woman of the Year in Marketing and Communications at the European CEO Awards, and Agency Leader of the Year at the Campaign Global Agency of the Year Awards.

Mel lives in London with her husband, Rich, her children, Honor and Mack, and their dog Whiskey.

Richard Glasson

Global CEO, Hogarth

Richard is the Global CEO of Hogarth Worldwide and a member of the WPP Global Executive Committee. In his 14 years at Hogarth, the company has grown organically from 100 people largely based in the UK to over 7,500 employees in 36 cities around the world.

Prior to joining Hogarth, Richard was CEO of Gyro International, the world’s leading B2B specialist. He is on the board of SportsAid, the charity supporting talented young athletes to achieve their ambitions in sport and life, and Chair of TASS (the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme). Richard relocated from London to New Jersey in 2022. He is married with three children and outside of work is a keen cyclist, skier and theatregoer.

Rob Reilly

Chief Creative Officer, WPP

Rob Reilly is the Global Chief Creative Officer of WPP and one of the world’s most celebrated creative leaders. He joined WPP in early 2021 to help realise its ambition to become the most creative company on the planet. His role is to champion creativity within and beyond the company – fostering a culture that delivers extraordinary work for WPP’s clients, collaborating with technology partners to fuel creativity needed for their platforms. In his short tenure, WPP has already achieved the highest honor at the Cannes Festival for Creativity in 2022 – Creative Company of the Year.

As the host of WPP’s new video podcast Screaming Creativity, Rob is joined by influential leaders from across the industry to engage in bi-weekly, candid conversations about creativity in all its forms with guests including actor and comedian Marlon Wayans, former Apple SVP and CEO of Burberry Angela Ahrendts, Microsoft’s Chief Brand Officer Kathleen Hall, The Coca-Cola Company’s CMO Manolo Arroyo, and more.

Before WPP, Rob spent seven years as the Global Creative Chairman of McCann Worldgroup, where he led the agency’s creative resurgence – which included collecting the Network of the Year award at Cannes Lions in 2019. Before moving to McCann in 2014, he was Partner and Worldwide Chief Creative Officer at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, which was named Advertising Age’s Agency of the Decade during his tenure. Rob is known for helping to create some of the most talked-about ideas of recent times, for the most impactful global brands. Highly-awarded, culture-shaping work he has overseen includes the “Fearless Girl” statue on Wall Street for State Street Global Advisors and Mastercard’s “True Name” card. As well as winning numerous awards himself, Rob has chaired several industry award show juries, including Cannes Lions four times.

He is a member of The One Club for Creativity Board – a non-profit organisation dedicated to creative excellence and the development of young, diverse talent. In his spare time, he and his wife live in NYC and share a home in Shelter Island where Rob is trying to hold on to his youth by playing “old-man” soccer and basketball with the locals.