• by Joe Mandese , Today

Omnicom this morning announced long-time Flywheel Digital executive Christine Gambino has been named CEO of its homegrown artificial intelligence (AI) platform Omni, succeeding Duncan Painter, who is leaving Omnicom.

In a related move, Omnicom said long-time Flywheel CEO Alex McCord will now lead Omnicom Commerce, a unit that previously reported to Painter. 

Gambino, who joined Omnicom when it acquired Flywheel from Ascential PLC for $825 million in January 2024, has been serving as COO of Omni since October 2025.

McCord had been with Flywheel since 2016, when he joined from related company Compass Marketing Inc.

Painter, who had been a rising star inside Omnicom since he joined after serving as CEO of Ascential and negotiating the sale of Flywheel to Omnicom, has focused on integrating Omnicom's commerce, retail media, and proprietary data companies -- including Flywheel and more recently, Acxiom (acquired as part of Omnicom's purchase of Interpublic) had been seen by some as being a potential successor to Omnicom CEO John Wren.

In recent months, Omnicom executives have touted the company's proprietary data companies as contributing to Omni's competitive advantage vs. competing holding companies.

"I'm proud of how swiftly we launched the next generation of Omni following the Interpublic acquisition, establishing it as a unified asset for the combined group," Painter said in a statement adding, that he has "complete confidence in Gambino and McCord "as I move into my next chapter in the U.K., where I'll be closer to my family."

Omni and Flywheel will continue to operate as a core part of Omnicom's Integrated Media capabilities.