Ajaz Khowaj Quoram Ahmed [1] | |
|---|---|
 Ahmed in 2015 | |
| Born | 1973 (age 50–51) |
| Nationality | British [2] |
| Occupation | CEO |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Board member of | AKQA (1994–2024) [3] Elton John AIDS Foundation [4] Virgin Unite [5] Mental Health Innovations [6] Prism The Gift Fund [7] |
| Parents | |
| Website | www |
Ajaz Khowaj Quoram Ahmed, MBE (born 1973) is a British entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder and CEO of London-based new media company AKQA.
Ahmed was born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire [2] in 1973 [9] to parents from Punjab, India. [9] He grew up in Maidenhead, where his father, Khowaj Ahmed, worked at a Beechams factory, and his mother, Sughran Ahmed, worked at a hospital launderette. [8] [9]
While in school, Ahmed was a paperboy and delivered newspapers to the UK headquarters of what was then the world's third-largest software company, Ashton-Tate. He wrote to the company requesting a job, and at 15, received an offer to work there during school holidays. [9] From 1989 to 1991, Ahmed served in the marketing department and eventually as a programmer. [10] He used the company's dBASE software to author an improved financial system for purchase orders. [9]
In addition to working for Ashton-Tate as a teen, Ahmed worked for video game developer Ocean Software. [9] He left school in 1992, and for the next year, he was a marketing and public relations employee for Apple UK. [11] [10] He turned down a copywriting position at BBDO and a brand management position at Unilever [10] to begin a business studies degree at the University of Bath. [9]
In 1994, Ahmed decided to leave university and launch a multimedia agency. [10] There was a high level of interest in the World Wide Web at the time, and he felt that it was crucial to start a company right away. [10] He first undertook a "fact-finding" trip to the U.S. to find out how companies were using the Internet. [10] Following this, at the age of 21, he founded AKQA, named after his initials. [9] [12]
Ahmed led the company as its CEO and public face, [9] and by 1999, it was ranked as the largest independent new media agency in the UK. [13] The company received an investment of $71 million from Accenture in 2001, and merged with three agencies in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Singapore, establishing itself as an international agency. [14] [15] WPP acquired a majority stake in the agency in 2012, with the deal valuing AKQA at $540 million. [9] AKQA became an autonomous subsidiary of WPP. [15] In November 2020, WPP announced that Grey Group would merge with AKQA to form AKQA Group. [16]
Ahmed was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to Media. [17] [18] Later that same year, he was awarded an honorary degree as Doctor of Business Administration from the University of Bath. [19]
Ahmed has authored three books, as of 2021: Velocity (2012), [20] Limitless (2015), [8] and Defeat (2019). [21] Velocity was co-authored by Nike's former vice president of digital sport Stefan Olander, and discusses how companies should embrace the digital world. [20] The book was a UK bestseller in non-fiction. [22] Ahmed has stepped down as CEO at AKQA and now serves on the board of trustees for non-profit organizations including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, [4] Virgin Unite, [5] and The Royal Foundation's Mental Health Innovations. [6]
WPP plc is a British multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology, and commerce holding company headquartered in London, England. It is the world's largest advertising company, as of 2023. WPP plc owns many companies, which include advertising, public relations, media, and market research networks such as AKQA, BCW, CMI Media Group, Essence Global, Finsbury, Grey, Hill & Knowlton, Mindshare, Ogilvy, Wavemaker, and VML. It is one of the "Big Four" agency companies, alongside Publicis, The Interpublic Group of Companies, and Omnicom Group. WPP has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Sir Martin Stuart Sorrell is a British businessman and the founder of WPP plc, the world's largest advertising and PR group, both by revenue and the number of staff. Upon being ousted in April 2018 following an investigation by WPP's board into personal conduct and use of company money, Sorrell was the longest-serving chief executive of a FTSE 100 company.
J. Walter Thompson (JWT) was an advertisement holding company incorporated in 1896 by American advertising pioneer James Walter Thompson. The company was acquired in 1987 by multinational holding company WPP plc, and in November 2018, WPP merged J. Walter Thompson with fellow agency Wunderman to form Wunderman Thompson. In October 2023, WPP announced yet another merger in which Wunderman Thompson, along with another group agency VMLY&R, would cease to exist and create a new combined entity named VML. This took effect on January 1, 2024.
Grey Group is a global advertising and marketing agency with headquarters in New York City, and 432 offices in 96 countries, operating in 154 cities. It is organized into four geographical units: North America; Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.
AKQA Inc. is a digital design and communications agency owned by WPP. It was founded in London in 1994 and expanded internationally in 2001 through a merger with agencies based in the United States and Singapore. It operated as an independent agency until 2012, when it was acquired by WPP. Initially the firm focused on technology and digital projects, later broadening its focus on design and innovation to services including product and spatial design. In 2020, WPP announced it was merging Grey Group with AKQA to create the AKQA Group. The resulting agency has around 6,000 employees in 50 countries.
LBi International N.V. was a global marketing and technology agency, now merged with Digitas to form DigitasLBi.
Wunderman Thompson was a New York–based global marketing communications agency with 200 offices in 90 markets. It was part of international advertising group WPP Group. Wunderman Thompson was formed in 2018, when parent WPP merged agencies J. Walter Thompson and Wunderman. On 17th October 2023, WPP announced the merger of Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R into a new agency VML. On January 01, 2024, Wunderman Thompson ceased to exist.
Ashley Modurotolu Banjo is an English dancer, choreographer, and television personality. He is the leader of the street dance troupe Diversity who won the third series of the television talent show Britain's Got Talent in 2009. Banjo has been a judge on television dance competition shows, including Got to Dance (2009–2014), Dance Dance Dance (2017). and Dancing on Ice (2018–present). In 2016, he was a co-presenter for the Saturday night BBC game show Can't Touch This.
Superunion, known as Superunion Worldwide Limited legally, was a global brand and design consultancy, headquartered in London. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of WPP. Superunion was formed after five agencies merged in January 2018, and employs 500 people across 16 offices.
James Hilton is an English designer based in London.
Blue State Digital is an adtech that specializes in online fundraising, and campaign consultancy. The company was founded by 4 former staffers of the Howard Dean 2004 presidential campaign. The company became notable after providing digital strategy and technology services for the 2008 and 2012 Barack Obama presidential campaigns.
Carolyn Dailey is a British-American entrepreneur and commentator. Based in London, she was formerly Time Warner's top executive in Europe. In 2016, she launched Creative Entrepreneurs, a membership-based learning and networking platform to help creative people build successful businesses in the creative industries.
24/7 Media, formerly 24/7 Real Media is a technology company headquartered in New York City and 20 offices in 12 countries, specializing in Digital Marketing. It provides for publishers, advertisers and agencies globally. It was formerly listed as "TFSM" on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The company was purchased by WPP plc in 2007 for $649 million. David J. Moore is the chairman, founder and CEO. He also served as chairman of the Interactive Advertising Bureau. In December, 2013, 24/7 Media announced it would merge with GroupM subsidiary, Xaxis.
Map Project Office is an industrial design studio based in Central London, working with both major brands and start-ups in the consumer technology space. The studio works with abstract technologies in the artificial intelligence, augmented reality and the IoT sectors, creating accessible experiences for the end user.
FGS Global is a strategic advisory and communications consultancy formed in 2021 by the merger of Finsbury Glover Hering and Sard Verbinnen & Co. It is a subsidiary of Kite Bidco Inc., an entity controlled by investment funds managed or advised by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (“KKR”)
Essence was a global data and measurement-driven full service agency that merged with Mediacom in January 2023 to form Essence Mediacom,. Prior to the merger, Essence had 20 offices in 12 countries and a staff of approximately 2,000. Essence managed over $4B in annualized media spend globally, with clients such as Google, The Financial Times, Target, NBCUniversal, BP, FrieslandCampina, L’Oreal and Tesco Mobile. In 2015 Essence became majority owned by WPP, and a part of GroupM, the WPP media investment management operation. It had offices in Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, USA, Canada, Germany, and the UK.
Bookmark Content and Communications, sometimes shortened to Bookmark or Bookmark Content, is an international content marketing and communications agency. It is a member of the Spafax Group, a WPP company. It was rebranded in 2016 after the merger of Spafax Content Marketing and Forward Worldwide and operates out of nine cities in North and South America, Europe and Asia. Bookmark specializes in content marketing, digital marketing, public relations, CRM, social media, magazine publishing and media sales. The company serves a number of major clients in industries including luxury, travel and hospitality, finance, real estate, automotive, beauty, and retail.
Wunderman was a New York City-based global digital agency. It was part of Young & Rubicam Brands and a member of international advertising group WPP Group.
Air Vice-Marshal Anthony Sean Corbett, is a retired senior Royal Air Force officer.
Preston Martin Charles Rabl is a British investment banker, stockbroker and co-founder, with Martin Sorrell, of WPP, the world's largest advertising company.