AKQA global marketing chief Sam Kelly departs

Sam Kelly, managing partner and global chief marketing officer at AKQA, has left his role.

Kelly has spent close to 17 years at the digital design and communications agency. Joining as business development manager in 2008, he was named managing partner and global CMO in 2018.

His departure follows that of Ajaz Ahmed, founder and chief executive of AKQA, who resigned in October 2024.

Kelly said: “After 17 remarkable years at AKQA, I've made the decision to embark on a new adventure. AKQA is a truly special organisation that has consistently pushed the boundaries of what's possible in our industry. Under Ajaz's visionary leadership, we've built something extraordinary—an agency that puts creativity and innovation at its heart. 

During his career, Kelly established AKQA’s Future Lions programme at Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, a global creative competition for students set during the festival, now in its 20th year. 

Posting on LinkedIn, Kelly said that, as a recently qualified England Athletics Coach, he would be dedicating the "coming months" to coaching his daughter. 

In March this year, AKQA merged operations with fellow WPP agency Grey in five different markets. These were Australia, Belgium, Italy, United Arab Emirates and China.

In addition, Grey has been part of AKQA since the end of 2020, but this was for financial reporting purposes, and the two agencies have continued to operate as separate brands.

Campaign has approached AKQA for comment.