Havas Invests in Its CX Network with the Appointment of David Shulman as CEO

Havas announced today the appointment of David Shulman as CEO of its global CX network. David becomes the network’s inaugural CEO and will lead the more than 1,800-person group that sits across 26 Havas Villages, in more than 19 countries around the world, all operating in a fully integrated way as One Havas.  

David’s resume includes CEO of Omnicom Group’s Organic, President at Wunderman, and, most recently, chief experience officer for VML. David began his career on the client side in brand strategy at Jaguar. He will be based in New York and report to Donna Murphy, global CEO of Havas Creative Network and Havas Health & You.  

“In today’s marketing landscape, CX has become intrinsic to business success. We are thrilled to welcome David to the Havas family. His leadership will further unify Havas’ existing brand partnerships and strengthen the network’s ability to better meet the business transformation needs of our clients,” commented Yannick Bolloré, chairman and global CEO, Havas.  

“We’ve seen great momentum across our global client portfolio since aligning our CX agencies,” said Donna Murphy. “With David at the helm of this new network, we’ll deliver increased brand value with even more meaningful experiences. David’s extensive digital transformation and strategy experience, both in and outside of the agency world, make him an ideal leader for this critical role.” 

Since 2020, Havas has been integrating and aligning the CX capabilities of its specialty shops such as BETC Fullsix, Think Design (user experience) and Gate One (a digital and transformation consultancy) among others. Under David’s leadership, there will be the right structure and approach for CX to fully operate as a network to create meaningful experiences. With the global CX market growing by approximately 11% year over year*, Havas will now be ideally positioned to capture a large portion of that market.  

“Customers are holding brands accountable to deliver on the promises they communicate. Havas’ strength in Creative, Health, and Media, matched with a powerful CX network, creates a unique formula to deliver meaningful experiences that help brands differentiate and win. I am thrilled to join such an outstanding team to drive growth for our agencies and the brands we serve,” said David.  

David joins with a strong team in place that includes Ol Janus, global chief data officer; Pat Thistlethwaite, global chief growth officer; Dennis Urbaniak, global chief experience officer; Umbar Shakir, MD experience consulting; Olivier Vigneaux, MD EMEA; Esteban Calvo, MD LatAm; Prashant Tekwani, managing partner India, as well as working closely with established CX leaders across the network.