Behind AKQA’s leadership exodus—11 execs leave following founder’s exit

Erik Rogstad, managing partner of AKQA, has resigned from the WPP-owned digital agency he’s been with for nearly 25 years. He is the latest in what will now be 11 executive exits at AKQA Group following the resignation of Ajaz Ahmed, its founder and CEO, in October. Rogstad, who confirmed his resignation in a LinkedIn post on Friday, joined AKQA in 2000 and had led the shop’s Washington, D.C. and Atlanta offices since 2012. Ad Age Tech Power List 2025 We’re looking for top digital innovators from agencies, brands, platforms, ad tech companies and tech startups Enter here The following executives have also departed or resigned from their positions: Ron Peterson, managing partner who oversaw the U.K., Sweden, Middle East and Northern Africa, South Africa and Belgium; Johnny Budden, global chief creative officer; Luiza Baffa, managing partner, overseeing Sao Paolo; Romain Lartigue, managing director for Continental Europe and Paris; Chris Henderson, managing director for Amsterdam; London Managing Director John Bernard; London General Manager Liz Swanson; Sweden Managing Director David Wedebrant; MENA Managing Director Nic Camacho; and Managing Partner and Global Chief Marketing Officer Sam Kelly. All of these executives either declined or were not available to comment. Rogstad wrote on LinkedIn: “The post I never imagined writing: After nearly 25 years, I’m officially out of AKQA.” He wrote that he is “forever grateful” for AKQA’s founders including Ahmed with entrusting him early on in helping establish the agency in the U.S., as well as other team members he spent most of his career with. “Many will never know or appreciate how unique this group of people is or all they have accomplished, but perhaps that is what makes it all so special,” Rogstad said in the post. “My wish for all reading this is they have the chance to work with a team as wonderful, and embrace every moment of it while you are in it because sadly, it doesn’t last forever.” In December, AKQA announced a global reorganization under three market P&Ls: the Americas, EMEA and APAC. Leading those efforts is Stephan Pretorius, interim chair of AKQA and chief technology officer at WPP. It also named replacements for some of the above executives including Henderson, who was replaced by Hannah Shevell as managing director in Amsterdam, and Lartigue, who was replaced by Victor Davoine, managing director in Paris. AKQA is still looking to hire a global chief technology officer, global chief strategy officer and global CEO. Ahmed was 21 when he founded AKQA in 1994. His decision to step down came as a surprise, multiple sources said. Most of the executives named in this article resigned due to Ahmed’s sudden departure, according to multiple people close to the situation. Ahmed declined to comment on the situation. Beyond the executives named, 15 employees also departed from AKQA’s Sao Paulo Studio shortly after Ahmed’s exit. One former executive said the studio had around 75 employees before their departures. WPP declined to comment for this story. “We announced a new global executive committee and structure in December last year, announcing three regional CEOs and AKQA’s new model,” an AKQA spokesperson said in a statement. “It would not be appropriate to comment on the circumstances of individual departures, but we remain grateful for the exceptional leaders who have shaped AKQA and those who continue to drive our success.” Also read: 60 predictions for creativity in 2025 While it’s unclear exactly what led to Ahmed’s departure, several former executives said that throughout the year WPP had been progressively looking to change aspects of AKQA’s operations, such as how the agency shows up during WPP client opportunities. “The teams are being told ‘do not tell the client you’re from AKQA, leave your brand name at the door’ … in almost every WPP client opportunity,” one former executive said. Another aspect said to be changing according to one source is having WPP global client leads start to oversee AKQA clients, a former executive claims. “There’s a lot more forceful pressure from the GCLs [global client leads] to lead the relationships with the clients,” the former executive said. “Once you have a GCL in place, then the next thing you know, the interests of the GCL become more distanced away from a true understanding of the original client request or the ask.” New: WPP employees appear to push back on return-to-office policy A second source, someone close to the matter, said WPP had assigned some AKQA client wins last year to other agencies without explanation, frustrating agency leaders including Ahmed. WPP declined to comment on these claims. WPP has been undergoing structural changes at its agencies for the past few years. Last January, WPP simplified its reporting structure by creating six lead agency networks: AKQA, Ogilvy, VML, Hogarth, GroupM and Burson.

Behind AKQA’s leadership exodus—11 execs leave following founder’s exit

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