TOMASZ PIĄTKOWSKI

Fresh out of university, I joined my first media agency just as the internet in Poland was becoming measurable. I cut my teeth in planning, then pivoted to research, bringing data-driven thinking to campaign design when tools like Nielsen NetTrack and Gemius Megapanel were still industry novelties. It taught me one lesson I carry to this day: numbers are nothing without the human insight behind them.

I joined McCann at a pivotal moment. Tasked with building a digital media offering from scratch, I didn’t just design a department — I built a bridge between media and creativity.

In 2004, I earned one of Poland’s first Google certificates and founded an in-house Search Engine Marketing unit long before SEM became mainstream. As Interactive Media Director, I led a team of over a dozen experts, driving campaigns for icons like Polkomtel, Microsoft, LOT, and Nestlé.

GroupM called. I answered. Over a decade, I architected the digital powerhouse within Poland’s largest media holding.

I launched and scaled specialized departments: Search, Performance Marketing, Paid Social, Creative, Ad Operations — each built to anticipate the next frontier. In 2010, we ran Poland’s first demographic-targeted campaigns and signed the country’s first 3rd-party data deal with Nasza Klasa, launching our proprietary DMP. This wasn’t just about ads; we rewrote the playbook on audience planning in Poland.

As Managing Director, I oversaw a 100+ team, full P&L, and new business, ensuring innovation translated into consistent growth.

After a decade, I sought a new lens on innovation: venture capital. I co-founded one of the inaugural funds in the PFR Starter program, leading investments in nearly 20 startups with a total ticket over 50 million PLN.

In parallel, as Sales Director CEE at Meetrics, I introduced industry-first viewability standards to Poland, forging strategic deals with major publishers like WP Group and top-tier advertisers.

I returned to GroupM as Chief Digital Officer, this time to reimagine what a modern media group could be. I unified digital operations across four agencies (GroupM, Wavemaker, EssenceMediacom, Mindshare) under a single, agile structure.

Together with brilliant teams, we launched mSpark, an accelerator bridging startups with media tech, and drafted GroupM’s first AI-led transformation strategy, including the creation of AI Labs — a think-and-do tank for upskilling talent and developing AI products at scale.

In 2022, I stepped into the role of Chief Operating Officer, overseeing the integrated operation of four agencies, from planning to execution. One year later, I expanded this mission across eight CEE markets, driving regional transformation and harmonizing operations for faster innovation.