AKQA appoints Helder Santo as CEO, Americas

AKQA has appointed Helder Santo as Chief Executive Officer of the Americas. Helder will join the Global Executive Committee and report to AKQA Global CEO Baiju Shah.

In this role, Helder will lead AKQA’s strategic growth and operations across the Americas, partnering with clients and teams to shape the full customer experience for their brands. Drawing on more than two decades of experience at the intersection of creativity and technology, he brings a hands-on, entrepreneurial approach to helping organisations turn new technological possibilities into meaningful products, services and experiences.

His appointment reflects AKQA’s continued investment in leaders focused on building what comes next for clients at the frontier of imagination and technology.

“Helder brings a powerful combination of creative leadership, technological fluency and business instinct,” says Global CEO AKQA Baiju Shah “The first horizon of AI has largely been about efficiency. The next horizon will be defined by the companies that use it to build brand authority and trust through exceptional creative work and meaningful experiences. Helder has spent his career helping organisations translate technological change into exactly that kind of value.”

Recognised for helping organisations rethink how brand, products and experiences come together, Helder has led transformative work for some of the world’s most influential brands. His distinguished career spans leadership roles at global agencies including Digitas, McGarryBowen, R/GA and Wunderman Thompson, as well as founding ventures such as AIDAx, later merged with U.N.N.A.M.E.D. This breadth of experience, from global agency leadership to building new ventures, shapes his approach to connecting brand, product and emerging technology, grounded in a deep commitment to craft.

Helder Santo said: “I experienced firsthand how the internet, mobile and social media reshaped the relationship between brands and people. AI represents an even more profound shift.
Over the past few years, I stepped away from executive leadership roles to study this transformation more closely, working alongside founders, technologists and designers. That experience reinforced my belief that the most exciting companies today are those pushing the boundaries of creativity and technology. AKQA has long operated at that intersection, and that instinct to push at the edge of what’s possible makes this a natural fit. I’m excited to work alongside the extraordinary talent across the organisation to help our clients shape what comes next.”

Helder Santo joins AKQA during a period of strong momentum, marked by recent global client partnerships and ongoing collaborations with leading companies such as Nike, Google, Lexus, Volvo and TikTok.

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