Inside Leo: Amitesh Rao on the creative power play behind Publicis Groupe’s big merger

On January 14, Leo Burnett announced its merger with Publicis Worldwide to create a new entity—Leo. Storyboard18 caught up with Amitesh Rao, Chief Executive Officer, South Asia – Leo, Publicis Health, and Publicis Business. In this conversation, Rao discusses the significance of the merger, how the pitching process in advertising has evolved, and why data-driven creativity is now central to marketing strategies.

Read more: Publicis Groupe merges Leo Burnett with Publicis Worldwide agencies to create Leo

Edited Excerpts

Early 2025 brought a wave of consolidation and restructuring in the advertising world. With Leo Burnett and Publicis Worldwide merging to form Leo, what does this move signify? How does it help you stay ahead of competitors?

Publicis Groupe is the world’s largest holding company, with a deep-rooted belief in the power of technology and creativity. Across the globe, we have several creative agencies doing exceptional work. The idea behind bringing strong creative brands under the Leo umbrella is to consolidate this incredible talent into one cohesive global network.

It allows us to deploy talent for brands more seamlessly and effectively—bringing together strategic thinking, knowledge pools, data, and creative minds from multiple markets, especially for our global clients.

Have your responsibilities changed following the formation of Leo?

I continue to lead Leo in the South Asia region.

This merger isn’t a structural change aimed at optimizing investment, reducing leadership, or cutting costs. It’s about consolidating talent. Our client relationships remain unchanged—teams are the same, and our mandate remains to build brands with strategic and creative excellence.

With Cannes Lions around the corner, how have client expectations evolved? How has that shaped Leo’s creative output?

When I returned to advertising, Cannes 2024 was my first visit. I noticed a marked shift in the kind of work being celebrated—real work for big brands that creates tangible impact on business, communities, the planet, and people.

That’s why Leo has done well at Cannes—and we hope to repeat that success. We’re now ranked the world's most effective creative agency on WARC, which reflects the kind of work we’re delivering across major brands like Whisper, Lay’s, and Gatorade.

Our work is long-term, built on relationships that often span decades. These clients aren’t just chasing awards—they expect strategic and creative excellence that drives brand and business growth. Recognition at Cannes is a byproduct of that work.

How has the pitching process in advertising evolved? How did Leo perform in 2024?

2024 was a remarkable year for us—we onboarded nearly 50 new clients.

Much of our growth came from deepening relationships with existing clients—not because their ad spend increased, but because we offered broader, integrated solutions across shopper marketing, experiential, content, digital, and commerce.

We also saw strong growth from global mandates, particularly across Southeast Asia, MENA, Europe, and China. That international momentum was a key contributor to our performance last year.

This year, several tech giants—including Google—announced AI-led layoffs. What’s your take on AI’s impact on the workforce?

AI is one of the most transformative developments in human history. It’s already reshaping how we live and how businesses function. It’s making us more efficient and improving output, automating many mechanistic tasks in our industry.

I don’t think AI will eliminate jobs—it will redefine them. Over the next five years, the old FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) model will diminish. We’ll still have people doing creative work, but they won’t all be full-time employees. The gig economy will become crucial in talent-driven industries like ours.

With AI being embedded into agency functions, how do you see it fuelling creativity rather than limiting it?

There’s been some concern about AI diminishing creative thinking, but I see it very differently. AI and data allow us to process enormous volumes of information to uncover powerful insights—insights that are at the heart of great work.

Understanding consumers, brands, marketplaces, and broader societal shifts is essential. AI helps us read these signals with more precision, enabling sharper and more effective creative solutions.

Creative companies have always relied on data in some form—be it market research, interviews, or intuition. At Leo, we’re investing heavily in using AI not just for operational efficiency but also to uncover insight and spark creativity.

How lucrative is the digital medium compared to traditional platforms for Leo?

Client media spends have already undergone a significant shift from traditional to digital, and that trend continues.

Consumers don’t distinguish between TV, digital, print, commerce, or experiential—they interact with brands. Our role is to deliver creative solutions across all touchpoints.

Strategic and creative thinking remain central. Depending on the problem, we calibrate investments across mediums accordingly. The industry is evolving beyond siloed specializations. Labels like "creative," "media," "digital," or "SEO" are becoming increasingly irrelevant.

How central is data-driven creativity to marketing strategies today?

It’s absolutely fundamental.

Data helps marketers identify and target audience segments with incredible precision. Beyond targeting, it sharpens the messaging—allowing us to craft impactful communication for specific cohorts and measure its effectiveness.

So data works both ways: it helps define the “who,” and it shapes the “what” and “how.” That’s what makes it so powerful in driving modern marketing strategies.

What key advertising trends did you observe in 2024? What’s your outlook for the future?

Talent and capability mix are defining factors. At Leo, we’ve been building a diverse talent pool—from aerospace engineers and lawyers to dentists and strategists.

Advertising has always been an industry of misfits—people who thrive creatively, often from unconventional backgrounds. Over the past decade or so, the industry became boxed in. That’s changing now.

Creativity is no longer limited to those who can write scripts. It’s about minds that think creatively—regardless of where they come from. And in the next five years, agency structures will evolve to reflect this.

We’ll collaborate with a growing pool of freelance and gig-economy talent—people who may give us their time, but not their entire careers. Creative agencies need to embrace this model.

Commercially, I foresee a shift too. Clients will increasingly pay for the power of ideas, not just the time spent. The FTE model—where 10 full-time resources are tied to a project—is slowly fading.

What matters more now is the impact, effectiveness, and creative value of the work. Future agency models will need to reflect that.