Dentsu Aegis appoints APAC, EMEA operating officers

Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) has appointed George Patten, who joins from Accenture, as regional operating officer for APAC.

Patten has been with Accenture for 15 years, and most recently led the Accenture Interactive Operations business. He has been based in Singapore since 2011.

DAN has also promoted Lauren Walker to regional operating officer for EMEA. She joined Dentsu Aegis in 2017 from IBM, and has served as chief data officer for EMEA. Neil Gissler, who joined DAN in 2016, continues as regional operating officer for the Americas. All three regional operating officers report to Volker Doberanzke, global president of business operations, who joined in March, as well  their respective regional CEOs: Takaki Hibino, executive chairman in APAC; Giulio Malegori, CEO in EMEA; and Nick Brien, CEO for the Americas and US.

The company said the appointments reflect its "commitment to business transformation and operational excellence, optimising its most important business processes to deliver consistent, world-class services to clients across every market and strengthening its capabilities to create more integrated solutions that solve bigger business challenges".

"To be the market leader in serving our clients and helping them to win in the digital economy, we must always be looking for smarter and better ways to serve their needs," Doberanzke said in a release. "In George, Lauren and Neil, we have three proven leaders with the ability to change the way businesses work through a focus on execution and continuous improvement.”

Hibino said Patten brings extensive management and digital experience to put in place best-practice operations and spearhead a data-driven, ideas-led and tech-enabled approach.