Publicis Sapient announces John Maeda as Chief Experience Officer

Maeda joins Publicis Sapient from Automattic, where he served as the Global Head of Computational Design and Inclusion.

Publicis Sapient, the digital business transformation hub of Publicis Groupe, has announced today the appointment of John Maeda as Chief Experience Officer. The selection of Maeda, one of the world’s creative leaders of computational design - the convergence of design and technology - signals Publicis Sapient’s ongoing commitment to pushing the boundaries of how businesses create exponential value for their customers and markets.

“John Maeda is one of the most extraordinary design and technology thinkers of our age, with an exceptional pedigree as a leader helping companies to push the boundaries of creativity and innovation to reimagine their business and industry," said Nigel Vaz, CEO of Publicis Sapient

In this
role, John joins the Creative Executive Collective of Publicis Groupe whereby creative
leadership is multi-faceted and structured to develop the necessary broad palette
of creativity for the modern world – dynamic creativity brought to life through
stories, experiences and innovation.

“Publicis Groupe is one
of the only companies in the world that can connect the full customer journey through
creativity - where story meets experience as the bridge to technology, all
powered by data. With his expertise and leadership in connecting design and
technology to create more powerful products, services, and experiences, John
adds incredible strength to our ability to create meaningful experiences for customers”
said Nick Law, Chief Creative Officer for Publicis Groupe.

Maeda’s role as Chief Experience Officer forges an engineering and design
partnership at the highest level, unconventionally decoupling experience from
the traditional creative lead, and instead pairing it with the EVP of Engineering.
This action draws on the strength of Publicis Sapient’s history of tightly
synergistic technology and experience, and signals a deeply technologically
grounded future where creativity is fully integrated.

“We have always believed
that the brand is the experience and the experience is the brand and, within
Publicis Sapient, spent nearly three
decades utilizing the disruptive power of technology and design to help
digitally enable our clients' business in their pursuit of next. By fusing strategy and
consulting, experience and engineering with an enduring culture of problem-solving
creativity, we are able to partner with our clients to both identify and unlock
how they create value for their customers and markets.” said Nigel Vaz, CEO of
Publicis Sapient,

Along with spearheading design globally Maeda
will spend time on people, bringing his commitment to inclusion and talent
development to the table - vital components to unlocking real value for
clients.

“Our clients have long been seeing a need for technology
and media to work hand-in-hand without losing or degrading the creative
product. Maeda’s history of fostering inclusive thinking as the key to
excellence in creativity is exactly in line with the strategic pillars for
Publicis Groupe in our talent and culture development,”
said Carla Serrano, CSO, Publicis Groupe.

John
Maeda said, “When a technology becomes commoditized, the quality of
experience becomes the key differentiating factor. But you can’t have a
great experience without being paired with great technology. Publicis
Sapient brings to its clients full-stack engineering capabilities blended
with its rich history at the forefront of creativity technologies —
stretching back to the 90s back when I first knew about them in my MIT
days. Aspiring to empower established businesses at all scales to realize
great experiences for their customers to push back on Big Tech is in line
with where my heart is right now. I’m looking forward to the impact we can
make and excited to join this great, multi-disciplinary team.”

Maeda
joins Publicis Sapient from Automattic, where he served as the Global Head
of Computational Design + Inclusion. Maeda serves on the Board of Sonos, the
Smithsonian Design Museum and Weiden + Kennedy, and is the author of five books
including the bestselling, “Laws of Simplicity.”

Maeda
was the recipient of the White House’s National Design Award, the Tribeca
Film Festival’s Disruptive Innovation Award, and his work is represented
in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. He holds degrees
in Electrical Engineering + Computer Science from MIT, an MBA from Arizona
State University, a PhD from University of Tsukuba in Japan, and has
received three honorary doctorate degrees.

Prior
to Automattic, Maeda held the roles of Design Partner at Kleiner Perkins
and Design Advisory Board Chair of eBay, Inc. Before that, he was a
tenured research professor at the MIT Media Laboratory and 16th President
of the Rhode Island School of Design.