Karen Boswell appointed as Chief Transformation Officer

M+C Saatchi is accelerating its global transformation with a new specialist leadership team built around Return on Cultural Power (RoCP), AI, data, product and effectiveness. As part of this, Karen Boswell, currently Global CEO for Consulting, Experience and Performance, is being elevated to the newly created role of Global Chief Transformation Officer, who will lead on the offering.

She is joined by Sarah Ellis-Davies, Global AI Strategy, Partnerships and Product Lead, and Nic English, Head of Effectiveness Solutions. Together they will build the products, tools and measurement that put the Group's creative talent to work on a bigger stage, and prove the commercial value of the culture it creates.

The appointments are a core part of M+C Saatchi's investment in the agency of the future, as technology, culture and client expectations reshape the industry. The Group's view is simple: creativity stays at the centre, and technology makes it go further.

In her Group-wide role, Boswell will define the next evolution of RoCP, lead how agentic AI transforms the way the Group works, creates and delivers value, freeing its people to spend more time on the ideas that move audiences, and shape the capabilities M+C Saatchi needs to compete and grow.

Since joining in July 2025, Boswell has led the Group's digital, data and AI transformation across its client-facing businesses and overseen its global product roadmap. She has more than 15 years' experience leading transformation, with senior roles at VML, WPP's The Pharm and adam&eveDDB.

Karen Boswell, Global Chief Transformation Officer, M+C Saatchi, said: 'The agency model has fundamentally changed. Every brand is asking the same question: what is culture actually worth to my business? The answer always starts with people. The ideas that move them, and the creative minds brave enough to make them.

“Return on Cultural Power gives us the thinking. Now we're building the data, the products and the agentic AI to prove its value for every client we work with. Not to replace creative ingenuity, but to give it more reach, more speed and more proof than it has ever had. Technology will rewrite how agencies work. Our job is to make sure people are still holding the pen.”

Ellis-Davies takes on the newly created role of Global AI Strategy, Partnerships and Product Lead. She will lead the next phase of the Group's AI strategy, build its product suite, secure innovation partnerships and create new revenue from its AI, data and technology capabilities. Working closely with Boswell, she will turn RoCP into products that give the Group's creative teams and clients sharper insight into culture, and represent M+C Saatchi's AI capability across the industry. She brings more than 20 years' experience in innovation, marketing and emerging technology, including senior roles at The Brandtech Group and Telefónica/O2.

English joined M+C Saatchi from VML in June in the newly created global role of Head of Effectiveness Solutions. Previously Lead Data Consultant at VML, after more than four years at Nike, he is building the data, tools and methodology behind RoCP, making it measurable, client-ready and able to show how cultural impact becomes business impact.

Dame Heather Rabbatts, Global Executive Chair, M+C Saatchi, said: “Our industry is changing what clients need from their agencies. We've spent the past few years transforming and connecting M+C Saatchi. Now we're turning that foundation into new capabilities, stronger propositions and growth.

“Karen's new role, alongside Sarah and Nic's appointments, puts our biggest priorities in the hands of specialist leaders. Great creative work has always been to our advantage. From how we use AI and build products to how we prove the commercial value of cultural power, this is an investment in making that advantage count for our clients and our business.'”