R/GA Expands Global Google Leadership Team to Drive the Next Era of AI-Powered Innovation

R/GA, the independent creative innovation company, has announced a significant strategic expansion of its dedicated global leadership team for Google. Following a year of successful collaborations with Google, R/GA is making a strategic investment in its leadership team, appointing six senior leaders across client engagement and creative to supplement its existing best-in-class global Google team.

Leading the expansion is Tish Karunarathna, who has been promoted to vice president and managing director of client engagement. Tish relocates to San Francisco from R/GA Australia, after spending over a decade in the region helping global organisations unlock new value through digital transformation. At a pivotal moment when R/GA is harnessing AI to elevate creativity and efficiency, his deep understanding of technology, culture, and change management will help R/GA deliver even greater impact for Google.

He is joined by Mauro Alencar, who returns to R/GA as executive creative director for Google. A globally recognised creative leader with more than two decades of experience, Mauro has previously worked with some of the world’s most respected agencies and brands — including R/GA, AKQA, Publicis, and BBDO/Organic.

These moves signal a new chapter in the R/GA’s long-standing partnership with Google, designed to meet the evolving demands of the intelligence age.

To further bolster R/GA’s Global Google team, the agency has also invested in the following additional appointments:

• Vanessa Lai - who joins from Monks as group creative director, intelligent systems. With a background in building new AI systems and leading innovation, Vanessa will play a pivotal role in leading the creation of AI systems leveraging Google AI.
• Kyle Wheeler - promoted to global executive creative director, Kyle moves to R/GA’s New York office after seven highly successful years as group creative director at R/GA UK.
• Magda Tomaszewski - appointed as group account director, client engagement, Magda brings deep expertise in delivering innovative, culturally-resonant work and will partner closely with Karunarathna to drive client impact.
• Brady Ambler - appointed as VP executive strategy director and based in San Francisco after previously leading strategy for R/GA in the APAC region. He brings a breadth of experience, especially in the gaming and technology space.
  

“This is a deliberate investment in the future of our partnership, ensuring we have the right mix of AI fluency, cultural insight, and creative craft to help Google continue to lead in this new era. Growing our leadership team across Google, reflects our commitment to driving stronger outcomes for our clients and accelerating the growth of our work with Google,” said April Quinn, president of the Americas at R/GA. “They exemplify the calibre of creative and strategic leadership that drives business transformation and inspires the next wave of innovative work.”

Joining R/GA’s proven global Google account team, these new appointments are a strategic investment, designed to augment the existing global leadership team across brand, experience and communications, that have successfully grown the global partnership to date.