BT appoints Dentsu UK data chief to lead transformation

BT Group has poached Dentsu chief data and product officer Maddie Armitage to lead all its data and AI products, development and operations as part of its ongoing transformation.

Armitage, who has been at the agency for more than five years, sat on both Dentsu’s UK executive leadership team and media senior leadership team and has supported the business both locally and globally to shape and evolve its data strategy, products and services.

It was the first time in her career that Armitage had worked agency side; she succeeded Scott Thomson, who left Dentsu earlier that year.

Armitage also set up and ran Dentsu Data Labs in the UK, supporting media brands in delivering data driven solutions for clients.

Having started her career as a graduate account executive at Equifax UK in 1998, Armitage had spells at Freeserve, T-Mobile, Virgin Media and Sky before joining British Gas as chief product officer and head of digital transformation. After 18 months, she switched to EE as head of digital products and operations and then took up the role at Dentsu in 2018, with over 200 specialists across five locations.

On LinkedIn, Armitage wrote: “It’s been one of hell of a journey of learning and discovery. Not only how to run an effective business but most importantly, it’s taught me how to be the best leader I know I can be, balancing business needs with people at the heart.

“I feel so very blessed to have worked with such an amazing bunch of talented and inspiring people. You make me humble but at the same time excited about the future, as I will take these learnings and make sure I pay it forward in my next role.”

It is not yet known whether Dentsu has appointed a successor.

TOPICS:agency news BT data analytics data insight data strategy data-driven marketing Dentsu