Adland is undergoing a profound transformation, with creative work increasingly automated by generative AI and customer data being precisely harnessed to target the right person at the exact moment they’re ready to make a purchase. Even traditional billboards are making the leap into the digital realm.
As a result, technologists in a general sense are some of the most important people in the industry. These are the people leading the transformation of agencies, brands and beyond.
With such an important job, it was a near-impossible task to pick just ten amazing names – but alas, we had to! There are ten names on this list, but there are plenty more who just missed out. These lists are very subjective, and the gap between some of the placements is barely a hair’s breadth.
As ever, if you would like to nominate someone for our upcoming Best of the Best lists — Recruiters, Project managers, Data Scientists and Media Strategists — please email editorial@themisfits.media, and we’ll add it to our long list of names to consider. You should also check out our most recent Best of the Best Consumer PRs list.
Without further ado, here are B&T’s Top 10 Best of the Best Technologists!
10. Maurice Riley, chief digital officer, Publicis
Maurice Riley is the chief digital officer at Publicis, a seasoned digital strategist who believes in the transformative power of storytelling to connect people and brands. With a career dedicated to maximising the impact of connected storytelling through music, imagery, written word, data, and technology, Riley has collaborated with major brands like BMW, Campbell Arnott’s, W Hotels, Samsung, Virgin Australia, MTV and Procter & Gamble to craft compelling brand experiences that resonate with consumers.
Riley’s passion for storytelling began with music and evolved as he recognised the potential of data insights and technology to enhance narratives. His career journey includes roles at Nielsen, Visible World and Publicis-owned shop Digitas. Now, he’s got the top tech job within the Groupe. Here, he focuses on making beloved brands famous and transforming famous brands into iconic entities through data-driven and connected creativity.
9. Jacqueline Huvanandana, head of data science and analytics, WooliesX
Jacqueline Huvanandana is the head of data science and analytics at WooliesX with over eight years of experience in IT consulting, financial technology and engineering/medical research. Known for her strong communication skills, she excels at simplifying complex concepts. Huvanandana leads the delivery of data science and analytics roadmaps across various business units and teams, focusing on personalisation and measurement capabilities to enhance customer engagement through digital platforms, personalised offers, and digital media.
Her role requires extensive stakeholder management, strategic planning, execution and promoting data and AI literacy across the organisation. Huvanandana partners with leaders from digital, business, marketing, strategy, and technology sectors to ensure the successful delivery of data science initiatives.
She is passionate about fostering a culture of data-driven decision-making, encouraging rapid learning through experimentation, and taking a balanced, pragmatic approach to solving business challenges. Her passion and dedication is so evident that it led her to secure a Women Leading Tech Award last year in the Data Science category.
8. Anupam Wagle, chief technology officer, OMG
Anupam Wagle is the chief technology officer at Omnicom Media Group (OMG). He brings more than 20 years of experience in the marketing and technology industry, with a significant 12-year tenure at Omnicom. Over the course of his career, Wagle has been a vital part of numerous teams, working closely with diverse stakeholders to address and resolve a wide range of technical challenges across the organisation.
His deep expertise in software engineering and technology stacks has not only been a cornerstone in developing and optimising systems but has also played a key role in driving innovation at the forefront of Martech. Wagle’s contributions have been crucial in shaping our technological landscape and enhancing our strategic capabilities in marketing technology.
7. Mark Cripsey, managing director of commerce transformation, Accenture Song
Mark Cripsey is the managing director of commerce transformation at Accenture Song. He is an international business and technology leader known for spearheading major digital transformations and leaving sustainable legacies for top global retailers. With a dynamic and creative approach, Cripsey has extensive C-suite experience as a catalyst for change within large blue-chip organisations. His passion for delivering world-class customer experiences, coupled with his strong commercial acumen, has led to him developing high-performing, diverse teams that drive change at pace.
Cripsey’s career began as an engineer with Accenture in the UK during the first “dot-com boom”, eventually rising to CIO in the USA for one of the world’s largest retailers. His journey also includes leading large teams for Tesco in India and the UK and spending two years in non-profit work across Africa and Asia, where he leveraged technology to improve the lives of the digitally unconnected. Since moving to Australia in 2013, Crispey has taken on divisional leadership roles in omni-channel business for three of Australia’s most iconic retailers, earning a reputation for innovation and sustainable growth.
Cripsey is driven by a desire to harness emerging digital technologies to create sustainable value for all stakeholders, including shareholders, customers, employees and communities. He aspires to work with organisations that have a clear and authentic purpose, where he can continue to scale impact and make a positive difference.
6. James Wylie, chief information officer, Clemenger Group
James Wylie is the chief information officer at Clemenger Group, a customer-focused and results-oriented leader with over two decades of experience working with some of the world’s most creative minds. He is deeply passionate about leveraging technology to support business strategy, drive transformation, and implement organisational change that delivers measurable business and customer outcomes.
Based out of Auckland in his native New Zealand, Wylie has been with Clems for around 15 years, spending half of that time as the Group’s chief information officer. During that time, the business underwent some significant changes, and with Wylie’s steady hand on the tiller, its agencies produced some brilliant tech-focused work. A number of its staff even picked up gongs during our Women Leading Tech Awards and Danica Bellchambers, executive director of analytics at CHEP, even won the tech trophy at B&T’s Women in Media Awards on Friday. All are great representations of the culture that Wylie has helped foster within the Group.
5. Jo Magno, group product manager and group lead – video, photo, social, Canva
Jo Magno is the group product manager and group lead for multimedia at Canva, where she drives innovation in video, photo, and social media creation, making these tools more accessible through the use of AI and ML technologies. Her journey in product management has been marked by resilience and determination, sparked by an early career experience where she was told she wasn’t a “world-class” PM. Instead of letting this setback define her, Magno used it as motivation to work ten times harder, proving her capability in building world-class tech products.
Magno credits her growth to the mentors and coaches who believed in her and provided the guidance and opportunities that helped shape her career. She recently won the Women Leading Tech Product Award, a recognition of her decade-long dedication and the success of the product teams she has led. This achievement not only affirms her as a “world-class” product manager but also highlights her commitment to paying it forward by supporting others on their own journeys.
4. Rebecca Haagsma, chief product officer, Nine
From publishing B2B print and online titles in the mid-noughties to driving product innovation at Nine, Rebecca Haagsma has been at the forefront of tech in Australia’s digital media industry. The former publisher of B&T served as Telstra’s strategic partnerships lead before moving to Nine for the second time as its chief product officer in 2022. At Nine, she has played a pivotal role in developing the 9Now BVOD platform and driving its digital transformation across its many video, audio and online brands.
For most of her career, Haagsma has been at the cutting edge of technology and media. She is a trailblazer for women in the sector and one of a handful of female media executives who heads up product development within a large Australian company. ]
3. Tim Matheson, chief technology officer, WPP
Tim Matheson is the chief technology officer at WPP, with over 15 years of experience in Information Technology and Digital. He began his journey at DT in 2005 as Technical Director and now oversees all aspects of AKQA’s operations across the Asia Pacific region, which includes studios in cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Shanghai, Tokyo, Auckland, Singapore and India.
Throughout his career, Matheson has successfully delivered complex digital solutions for major Australian brands, including Myer, Bunnings, Coles, Honda, Optus and Tourism Australia. In recent years, he has played a pivotal role in expanding AKQA across APAC through strategic mergers and acquisitions of specialist digital businesses, further solidifying its presence as a leading brand experience agency.
2. Najla Haddad, chief product officer, M&C Saatchi Group
Najla Haddad is the chief product officer at M&C Saatchi Group. She is a high-energy and results-oriented senior executive known for thriving in creative environments with a track record in revitalising data-driven acquisition, retention, and loyalty marketing programs that drive growth for Fortune 500 brands in the United States and internationally.
Haddad excels in managing large budgets and identifying unseen opportunities. She leverages data and technology to create groundbreaking multi-channel experiences that enhance brand sentiment and engagement and generate additional revenue streams. She is highly regarded for her participatory leadership style and her ability to be innovative and entrepreneurial.
Haddad is particularly motivated to work with brands that are customer-focused, have ambitious missions, and foster a progressive culture. Her core competencies include brand development, digital and mobile innovation, CRM, loyalty, content marketing, and omnichannel strategies. She is strategic, creatively minded, and an exceptional communicator, with a talent for leading dynamic teams, building client relationships, and managing P&L. Her experience spans industries such as alcohol/beverage, CPG, financial services, retail, technology, telecommunications, and travel.
1. Ryan Menezes, CEO, GroupM Nexus
Ryan Menezes is the CEO of GroupM Nexus. He is an experienced digital marketing leader with a career that spans Australia, Canada, and Japan. He leads a diverse team of digital performance, technology, and commerce specialists, leveraging his commercial acumen and P&L management skills to surpass annual revenue goals consistently.
Menezes is known for his deep understanding of clients’ marketing objectives and his ability to execute strategies that exceed targets. He collaborates with business leaders and C-suite clients to develop digital roadmaps that drive business transformation. Additionally, he works with the leadership team to restructure the agency’s solution suite, organisational design, and ways of working, ensuring that GroupM Nexus remains at the forefront of the digital marketing landscape.
“Nexus symbolises the next phase of our group transformation. Christian Juhl, our global CEO, talks a lot about GroupM becoming more like a software company, how we enable that and become a simpler org to navigate, bringing forth the best capabilities and solutions for our clients,” he told B&T last year at our Best of the Best Luncheon.
“Nexus is the performance engine within that for the entire group. It’s where all of our data, technology, AI and amazing craft talent are incubated. Our vision is very simple. How do we lead the next era of media performance.”
… And that’s why Menezes is B&T’s Best of the Best Technologist.
