• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, April 28, 2025

Ajaz Ahmed, the founder and longtime CEO of WPP's AKQA who abruptly left last fall is launching a new agency on May 1.

The news broke on Sunday in the London newspaper, The Times, where Ahmed publicly spoke for the first time about disagreements between him and WPP CEO Mark Read over the running of AKQA.

Last week on a quarterly earnings call Read was quizzed about AKQA, its prospects and whether WPP was considering selling the agency. Read essentially said there are no current plans to sell the agency.

In the Times article, Ahmed was quoted as saying he felt that his "autonomy" had been eroded at WPP. He blamed some of the constraints he was under in managing the agency for its growth decline.

On his LinkedIn page Ahmed has posted a poem entitled, "Entrepreneurship Is Another Word For Love."

One telling line: "No high rise schemers will dictate our dreams or cage our freedom."

The page also has a teaser video for the new agency, called Studio.One. It's short and with two graphics: "Reincarnation Begins" followed by "May 1," when the shop officially opens its doors.

Ahmed’s new agency is based in London and backed by private equity firm Atrum Capital, according to the Times article.