WPP has hired longtime Accenture veteran Baiju Shah as the new global CEO of its digital agency AKQA. 

He succeeds AKQA founder/CEO Ajaz Ahmed who led the agency for 30 years before stepping down last October. Earlier this year he announced the launch of a new agency called Studio.one. 

Shah served at Accenture for 25 years before stepping down at the end of May. He’s credited as a co-founder of the firm’s creative and marketing operation Accenture Song and had served as its global chief strategy officer. 

Most recently he led a team tasked with infusing AI across Song’s creative services.  

Shah also co-led Song’s design and innovation consultancy called Fjord, helping to expand it to 35 studios worldwide.  

Like other pioneering pure-play digital agencies AKQA had struggled to keep up with changing client needs in recent years which in turn led to weaker financial performance. Ahmed’s parting was less than amicable. 

In an interview in the spring, he was quoted in an article in the British Times 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 Shah’s appointment, outgoing WPP CEO Mark Read said he was “excited to see how he will redefine what a modern creative company can deliver for clients.”