AKQA promotes AI exec to leadership team
AKQA’s Rodney Greenfield has been promoted to executive director of AI and data at the global agency.
The appointment sees Greenfield move from his previous role as technical director — a position he stepped into in August 2019 after working as principal architect for Flybuys’ loyalty program owner, Loyalty Pacific.
AKQA says Greenfield’s work will consist of reworking the agency’s service offerings and strategy to better leverage AI. He’ll also sit as a member of the agency’s Australian leadership team.
“AI is now a battleground for agency differentiation, and Rodney’s elevation to the leadership team reinforces our commitment to treating it not just as a tool, but as a strategic foundation. Clients want faster delivery and lower costs – but quality is often the missing link,” the agency’s Australian managing director, Justine Leong, said in a press release.
“At AKQA, our craft-oriented, human-centred ethos doesn’t change with AI; it pushes us to expand the creative horizon, fusing intelligence, design, and visual storytelling to deliver richer, more resonant brand experiences. Efficiency should never come at the cost of humanity or craft. With Rodney, AKQA will be at the forefront of intelligent, adaptive, and human-led innovation.”
During his time at AKQA, Greenfield has worked with clients including Bunnings and Japan Airlines, the latter via growth modelling and journey mapping powered by AI.
(L-R): executive experience design director David Clarke; engineering director Miriam Healy; executive director of AI & aata Rodney Greenfield; chief growth officer Jeremy Smart; managing director Justine Leong; chief strategy officer Iona Macgregor; chief creative officer Tara McKenty.
Overall, his more than 25-year career has seen Greenfield take on various technology, software development and design roles.
They include (but are not limited to) a stint at agency Affinity ID (a New Zealand-based customer experience agency that was acquired by Publicis Groupe in 2019 and renamed to Digitas) that lasted a little over seven years, where he acted as client services technology manager, head of design and development and solution architect; chief technology officer at My Local Enterprises; and technical director and co-founder of development and design business Isurgery Limited.
In a release, Greenfield highlighted the opportunities AI presents for brands.
“What I admire about AKQA is its ambition,” he said.
“We solve hard problems in beautiful ways, pushing the craft further. Many talk about innovation, but AKQA delivers it with a level of elegance, depth and precision that’s rare.
“Too often, LLMs are deployed as cost-cutting tools and miss their potential to transform brand engagement. The real opportunity lies in creating contextually rich, visually immersive, and human-centred experiences that blend intelligence with creativity – enabling entirely new forms of emotional and experiential connection between brands and audiences.”
Greenfield’s promotion is not the only appointment news the WPP-owned agency has made in 2025.
It announced a fresh global CEO in July, and revealed that its executive technology director had been elevated to chief technology officer for the APAC region in June. Meanwhile, April saw the agency’s then-executive creative director, Tim Devine, unveiled as AKQA’s global chief invention officer. Sarah McGregor, an ex-Dentsu Creative executive creative director, was announced as his replacement in May.
Outside of leadership changes, AKQA announced the 2025 winners of its Future Lions competition with the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
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Matthew is the editorial assistant at Mumbrella. He joined the company at the end of September 2023.
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