This week's London appointments

Paul Smith, ServiceNow

ServiceNow, the digital workflow company, has announced that Paul Smith has joined the company as senior vice president and general manager, EMEA.

Paul joins the company from Salesforce, where he held a number of pan EMEA roles and most recently served as executive vice president and UK general manager.

He brings to ServiceNow 17 years’ experience in leadership and senior management roles in the technology industry, with a track record in leading sales, go-to-market operations and developing new markets to drive triple digit growth.

ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott commented: “ServiceNow is leading the workflow revolution as companies worldwide transform themselves into modern digital enterprises.

“The best leaders and top talent want to work for companies like ServiceNow, where they can create the future.

“We are thrilled to have Paul Smith join our team, serve our customers and lead our EMEA region to new heights on our journey to becoming the defining enterprise software company of the 21st century.”

Paul said: “ServiceNow is the workflow leader and one of the most exciting and innovative growth companies in the world.

“The pristine nature of the single Now Platform gives ServiceNow that rare combination of scale with agility.

“It’s this exact blend that customers are demanding of their critical partners as they wrestle with digitally transforming their businesses to navigate the change that is yet to come.”

“There are moments in your life when career defining opportunities present themselves; ServiceNow is one of those for me.

“The talented workforce and commitment to customer and partner success sets it apart from other global brands.

“I’m thrilled to join and privileged to have the opportunity to lead the EMEA business during the next phase of growth.”

Emil Bielski, Croud

Global digital marketing agency Croud has announced the appointment of Emil Bielski as UK managing director.

Emil brings 15 years’ experience working in digital marketing, starting his career at i-level, one of the largest independent digital agencies at the time, before taking on more senior roles in planning and new business within Group M.

Most recently, Emil held the position of chief strategy officer at iProspect where he led all craft disciplines, data teams and strategic planning.

In his new role as Croud’s UK managing director, Emil will sit on the agency’s new operational board and report into CEO and co-founder Luke Smith.

Emil’s key focuses will be clients, data and insights, planning, e-commerce and Google Marketing Platform.

Luke Smith, CEO and co-founder of Croud, commented: “I’m delighted to welcome Emil onboard; he’s going to be a key part of the next era for Croud as we develop our business further into data, technology and consultancy.

“What impressed me most since speaking to Emil is just how well regarded across the industry he is.

“His time spent working for network agencies and understanding the opportunity for Croud in today’s landscape makes him a great fit for where we’re headed; continuing to grow our offering as a fully-integrated digital-first global media agency.”

Emil said: “What excites me most about Croud is how customer-centric it is already - from the Serpico in-housing proposition through to the Croudie network, Croud delivers excellence at speed for clients.

“The Croud operational model is the template for the agile agency of the future.

“The ability to stay ahead of change, rather than simply follow it will be the difference between agencies such as Croud - which will thrive in the new era - and those that are left behind. It’s a great time to be joining the team.”

Edgardo Savoy, TransferGo

TransferGo, a money transfer companies, today announced the appointment of Edgardo Savoy as its new chief technology officer.

Edgardo will be responsible for leading TransferGo’s team of more than 60 engineers and driving the company’s technology roadmap with a focus on customer experience.

Bringing over 25 years of product and technology experience to TransferGo, Edgardo has held senior positions at Paddy Power and Lastminute.com, and has led large scale global technology and product teams whilst working in South America, Europe and the UK.

Daumantas Dvilinskas, CEO and co-founder, commented: “Edgardo is a great example of the type of individual we look to hire – someone who understands our ethos and the relentless focus we place on improving the lives of our customers.

“I’ve no doubt that with his drive, leadership and ability to solve complex customer experience challenges through technology innovation, we will exceed expectations and will continue our assault on being the fastest, most reliable, remittance company not just in Europe, but globally.”

Edgardo said: “I can’t think of a more exciting time to join TransferGo.

“The culture of innovation and passion for providing users with a fantastic experience is something I have deep affinity with.

“I’m looking forward to guiding an incredibly talented engineering and product team to even higher heights as we enter this new phase of growth”.

Xavier Llerena, FreeWheel

FreeWheel, a Comcast Company and the provider of video advertising software, has announced the appointment of Xavier Llerena as Senior Director, DSP Partnerships.

In his new role, he will manage buyside relationships, set the vision for DSP strategy, and oversee FreeWheel’s DSP partnerships team across Europe.

He comes to FreeWheel from InMobi, where he was most recently head of programmatic and the strategy & operations lead for Europe.

Xavier said: “I am excited to join FreeWheel during these times of change which are only accelerating the shift to CTV and addressable TV advertising.

“FreeWheel has a strong footprint of European publishers and, by leveraging my previous experience with the local buyside, I hope to further strengthen our position in Europe.

“I am looking forward to contributing to FreeWheel’s mission to create the leading TV marketplace bringing together buyers and sellers of premium video advertising.”

Justin Beere, VP, DSP Partnerships at FreeWheel, said: “Xavier is the perfect person to develop FreeWheel’s DSP relationships.

“He has a strong sales background in the European divisions of major advertising players, which has given him the right connections and a strategic understanding of the market.

“Furthermore, Xavier knows FreeWheel’s proposition for premium video and how to elevate our addressable and CTV offerings at a critical time for the industry. I am very pleased to have him on the team.”

Leona Bell, Oliver Gillies and Chiara Bruno, Fifty-Five London

Fifty-five London, a global data company, has made three key appointments to its analytics and media teams as it continues to expand.

Two new consulting managers are joining the leadership team in the London office of Fifty-five.

Leona Bell has extensive experience as an analytics leader in her previous roles, agency-side as head of data analytics at Engine Group and client-side as head of webaAnalytics at Maplin Electronics.

Leona will use her experience to lead analytics missions among Fifty-five extensive range of travel and retail clients.

Oliver Gillies also joins as consulting manager, coming with a plethora of agency experience including Merkle Periscopix where he was search director and Zenith where he was performance media search director.

Oliver will support the growth of the media practice where he will lead a range of attribution and enhanced audience-targeting missions.

Additionally, Chiara Bruno joins as project lead from Publicis Emile where she was campaign manager, and will take up the critical role of coordinating and delivering Fifty-five consulting teams as they integrate their client’s analytics and prospecting data in a variety of Cloud-based missions.

Richard Wheaton, MD, said: “In these uncertain times, the need to increase the effectiveness of digital marketing has become an even more vital driver of business performance.

“We look forward to welcoming our new team members ‘virtually’ who together will enhance our leadership team and help us continue to grow our capacity to support our fantastic portfolio of clients.

“We are in a period of high growth in the UK, due to our clients continuing to invest in data and technology solutions that enable them to improve marketing, advertising and customer experience, and I’m delighted to be able to announce these hires during the lockdown in the UK.”

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