AKQA adds creative and experience leadership

Valleau joins from Accenture Song, while Swaby takes on a newly created role after more than 15 years at AKQA. Together, they will lead the studio’s Creative and Experience disciplines.

AKQA has appointed Elizabeth Valleau as Executive Creative Director and promoted Nick Swaby to Executive Experience Director at its London studio, expanding its senior leadership team across creativity, experience design and technology.

Valleau joins AKQA from Accenture Song

Valleau previously served as Executive Creative Director at Accenture Song and brings more than two decades of experience building global teams spanning design, engineering and storytelling.

Her career has included creative innovation work for organisations including Meta and R/GA, with a focus on emerging technologies, platforms, products and brand ecosystems. Her work has received recognition including Cannes Lions Grand Prix and Titanium awards, as well as honours from D&AD, The One Show and ADC.

As Executive Creative Director, Valleau will lead AKQA London’s Creative team across conceptual creativity, design and technology.

Swaby takes on newly created experience role

Swaby has been promoted to Executive Experience Director following more than 15 years with AKQA. He has designed products and services for brands and consumers while building multidisciplinary teams that bring together creativity, strategy and technology.

In his new role, Swaby will lead AKQA London’s Experience discipline, overseeing product strategists, UX designers and creative developers. He will work with clients and multidisciplinary teams on products, services and experiences incorporating emerging technologies.

AKQA strengthens London leadership team

Jules Ward and Drew Eldridge, Managing Directors, AKQA London: "AKQA has always believed that the most impactful ideas emerge when creativity, design and technology work as one. Elizabeth and Nick bring exceptional leadership, complementary expertise and an ambitious vision for the future of our London studio. Together, they will strengthen our creative culture, help our teams thrive and continue delivering innovative experiences that create meaningful value for our clients."

Elizabeth Valleau, Executive Creative Director, AKQA London: "AKQA stands out as the sharp end of the creative innovation spear. It’s an institution that has constantly pushed the conversation of craft, culture, and technology forward. I’m thrilled to join the extraordinary London team and create work together that makes the future feel more optimistic, effective, and meaningful."

Experience team focuses on AI-enabled products

Nick Swaby, Executive Experience Director, AKQA London: "As AI transforms what’s possible for digital products, we have an opportunity to bring our disciplines together in new ways to create experiences that couldn’t exist before; more intelligent, intuitive and valuable for the people who use them. I’m looking forward to working with our teams and clients to define what that future looks like."

The appointments bring together creative and experience leadership as AKQA continues to combine technology and creative disciplines across ideas, products and experiences for clients.

www.akqa.com

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