WPP chief executive Cindy Rose is continuing to build her new senior team by appointing the agency group’s first chief innovation officer, a new role created to drive its AI strategy and deliver technology-driven solutions for clients.
Elav Horwitz has been promoted from her role of executive vice-president and global head of strategic partnerships and AI solutions and will be responsible for connecting WPP’s clients with the company’s creative and strategic talent.
She has only been at WPP for just over a year, having spent nearly 15 years at McCann Worldgroup.
Her new remit will focus on fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation to drive applied AI and client transformation, and to redefine how clients engage with commerce, create compelling content and shape culture.
In her new role, Elav will continue to report to WPP chief technology officer Stephan Pretorius.
Elav also serves as an advisor to groups like the Spotify and Meta Creative Councils, and is a founding member of the female leadership community Chief.
WPP insists her appoinment reinforces its commitment to invest in technology and data and follows a series of recent hires to bolster WPP’s innovation capabilities, including Daniel Barak as WPP’s first global creative and innovation lead, Sarah Salter as VP of global partnerships and AI innovation and Mathieu Albrand as director of AI strategy and innovation.
The expanded team will continue to work closely with Elav and Stephan to drive WPP’s innovation agenda.
Cindy Rose said: “As we rewrite the marketing playbook for the AI era, we’re thrilled to have Elav lead our innovation agenda. This appointment underscores our investment to embed innovation into the core of everything we do, ensuring our clients benefit from the most advanced and effective solutions.”
Horwitz added: “Never before has the need for innovation and agility been more critical than in our AI era. We must show our teams, clients and the entire industry what’s possible by uniting the best talents, capabilities, partners and a forward thinking mindset, enabling us to deliver results in a matter of hours and make the future both tangible and democratised.”
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