Who Is Sohel Aziz?

Sohel Aziz, the regional managing director of the UK, Ireland and Africa at Accenture Song, is shaping the next chapter of the agency in the UK—one that brings together creativity, technology, and data&AI in a way that truly delivers for brands. And that means making bold moves. Accenture Song is uniting its UK creative agencies under a single vision, with Droga5’s management team at the helm. “We are the world’s largest tech-powered creative group. This move reinforces that position by bringing our talent together to deliver even more brand momentum for our clients,” Aziz says.

Accenture Song is combining its UK creative agency capabilities into Droga5 London and has appointed a management team to run the merged business. Tara Ford, the chief creative officer at Droga5 in Australia and New Zealand and across Accenture Song in Asia-Pacific, has been announced as the CCO at Droga5 London. Will Hodge, chief strategy officer at Accenture Song and previously co-chief at Accenture Song, is now the CSO at the enlarged Droga5 London. Bill Scott, chief executive of Droga5 London since 2015, dropped his additional role as marketing practice lead of Accenture Song in the UK, Ireland and Africa last year to focus on the Droga5 business.  Then, late last year, Aziz hired Rebecca Bezzina as marketing practice lead for the UK, Ireland and Africa. She joined from R/GA, where she spent ten years in three separate stints, most recently as EMEA CEO. Both Scott and Bezzina report to Aziz.

Aziz discusses his mission to combine strategic insight into creativity, customer experience, and digital transformation as well as what that means for the future of marketing.

But first, who really is Sohel Aziz?

Born in Bangladesh and raised in Singapore, Aziz was immersed in a multicultural environment from the start. With a natural affinity for maths and science, he originally envisioned a career in architecture. And there’s a certain poetry in the way Aziz talks about architecture. For him, it’s not just about bricks and mortar, but about the elegant design of complex systems—whether that’s building large-scale digital platforms or reimagining business strategies for some of the world’s biggest brands.

“I saw architecture as the perfect balance of art and engineering,” he recalls. But his father, a professor at the National University of Singapore, nudged him in a different direction. “He pointed out it would be five years of study, followed by a decade of being someone’s draftsman. That didn’t sound as appealing,” Aziz says. Instead, he leaned into his love of technology.

A self-confessed computer geek - he was president of his school’s computer society - he studied computer science and information systems at university, with a focus on advanced mathematics and algorithm analysis. “Surprisingly, my undergraduate thesis was on neural networks,” he says. “It’s funny how the world has caught up with what I was working on 35 years ago.”

Aziz began his career in the early days of digitisation, joining Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) in Singapore.

“We were focused on how to use tech to transform businesses,” he says. “I coded for 15 years - building complex banking systems and even tax platforms for governments.” But it was during a stint in France with Andersen’s emerging technology team that Aziz truly found his stride. Based in a hub near Cannes, he worked alongside tech giants like IBM and DEC Systems as part of a French government initiative to create a Silicon Valley-inspired innovation cluster. “It was like a SWAT unit for emerging tech,” he explains. “We were sent across Europe, Africa, and the US to work on cutting-edge projects—everything from early e-commerce systems to web technologies.”

After a brief detour to business school at INSEAD, Aziz moved to San Francisco during the dot-com boom, joining The McKenna Group, a consultancy known for its work on Intel’s iconic ‘Intel Inside’ brand and marketing strategy. When the bubble burst, he spent nine months in limbo—running, kickboxing, and contemplating his next move. “I realised I hadn’t fallen out of love with tech," he says. "In fact, I was more into it than ever.”

Aziz’s return to technology saw him join Infosys, where he built and led the company’s tech strategy and architecture practice in North America. “We scaled it from a couple of people to 150, running projects across the US,” he says. When Infosys tapped him to replicate the model in Europe, he and his wife, whom he met in France during his time with Andersen Consulting, decided to make the move.

"My wife, Gaëlle, insisted we settle back in France, where her family is. So, we moved to Nice, and I spent four or five days a week travelling around Europe, but always came home to the South of France.” It was during this period that Aziz found himself increasingly drawn to the world of design and digital experience.

“I started brushing up against the design agencies—Sapient, Razorfish, and Digitas,” he says. “We were building large, complex websites and e-commerce platforms, and I was fascinated by the intersection of tech and creativity.”

When Accenture launched its digital arm, Accenture Interactive (now Accenture Song), in 2013, Aziz knew it was the place for him. “They were putting real investment behind the vision. I jumped ship - and it’s been a fantastic ride ever since.” He was then promoted to lead Song’s France and Benelux business. “We made five acquisitions in the region, redesigned the team, and integrated it into a single operating business” And did some exciting work for clients like Randstad, Booking.com, and Stellantis.” Now he is spearheading Accenture Song’s next chapter, helping brands navigate the rapidly shifting landscape of AI, data, and digital transformation.

“I’ve always believed in balancing the reality of delivery with the vision of what’s next. It’s about keeping one foot firmly in the now, while the other explores what’s possible.” For Aziz, the architect in him hasn’t probably really left—it’s just evolved. Only now, he’s building the future of business, one digital blueprint at a time.

The following Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.

Creative Salon: The evolution of Accenture Song has been fascinating—there’s been so much reinvention, from the Droga5 acquisition to leaders like Dame Annette King shaping the agency’s direction. And now Accenture Song is combining its UK creative agency capabilities into Droga5 London. But tell us what attracted you to Accenture in the first place and also and how do you see Accenture Song’s position now compared to the major holding companies?

Sohel Aziz: I think it comes down to something I’m personally passionate about: the fusion of creativity and technology. Growing up, I was always fascinated by advertising - my elder sister was the marketing director for Porsche in South East Asia back in the ‘80s. I’d watch her work and became obsessed with the creativity coming out of the sector. Bizarrely, in Singapore, we used to get broadcasts of the Clio Awards, and my sisters and I would watch them religiously every year, just to see the ads.

That early fascination with creativity, combined with my background in technology, is why I’ve stayed with Accenture Song. It’s the intersection of the two - something David Droga articulates so fluently - that really differentiates us. We’re not just about solving marketing problems. We show up at the intersection of a business and its consumers, which goes far beyond just advertising.

CS: The bringing together of Accenture Song’s UK creative agency clients, talent and capabilities under the Droga5 banner. Tell us why?

Sohel Aziz: Last year we announced that Mark Green would lead Droga5 as Global CEO. We took that opportunity to ‘double down’ on a global opportunity to reinforce and expand Droga5 London. This move not only strengthens Droga5’s leadership but signals a bold creative reinvention – bringing together Accenture Song’s UK creative agency clients, talent and capabilities under the Droga5 banner. It marks a simplification of Accenture Song’s creative offering in the UK, with clients now benefiting from world-class strategy, creative firepower and global scale – all in one place and with access to the unrivalled range and scale of Accenture Song’s tech-powered creative capabilities.

I’m so thrilled to have Rebecca on board. She’s absolutely brilliant. She deeply understands brands and how to elevate them creatively, but she also knows how to transcend into digital channels with impact and performance in mind. She’s been a fantastic partner in shaping our proposition and helping us rethink where we’re going with our Marketing practice. Over the past 12 months, we’ve been busy evolving. One of the big moves that Annette (King) helped us with was bringing Unlimited into the fold. Chris [Mellish] and the team offer a full breadth of capabilities - they’re exceptional at creativity and connections. While some may perceive them as a CRM agency, they’re far more than that. They offer a fully integrated proposition, which is why they’re such a great fit for us. In a world of infinite consumer choices, we believe that starting in the middle of the decision-making process, where understanding occurs. Brands must bring together data, creativity, and technology to deliver emotionally relevant and personalised value in these moments that matter. Unlimited, powered by Accenture Song’s transformation, tech, and data capabilities, allows us to power up the work in new ways. This is perfectly illustrated by the McDonald’s win last year.

It’s about creating one integrated force that offers clients creativity, data, tech, and scale - seamlessly.

CS: That’s interesting. So, how does that intersectional approach set Accenture Song apart?

Sohel Aziz: It’s all about breadth. The way we’re different is that we cover the entire customer life cycle. Most agencies focus on one part - whether it’s marketing, commerce, customer service, or digital channels. We integrate all of it and focus on growth.

For example, we’re not just driving awareness and consideration through creative campaigns. We’re also shaping how brands show up at every touchpoint - whether that’s through e-commerce, B2B sales channels, or customer service interactions. Every single one of those experiences needs to be meaningful, relevant, and personalised. We have dedicated teams for marketing, commerce, and customer service, along with specialists who optimise the digital channels and platforms where these interactions happen. That could be a brand’s own website or app, or third-party platforms like Amazon or Tesco.com. The goal is to ensure consistency and relevance across the entire customer journey, not just at the top of the funnel.

CS: It sounds like that end-to-end capability gives you a broader remit than most agencies. Does that make it harder for clients to understand your full proposition?

Sohel Aziz: Our breadth may make us harder to define compared to traditional agencies. Instead of being known for one specific service, we’re orchestrating across the entire customer experience. That means we’re engaging with a broader range of client stakeholders - CMOs, CTOs, heads of customer service, and more, which sometimes can make us harder to categorise.

But the flip side is that it allows us to drive genuine business outcomes. We’re no longer in the world of justifying the validity of attribution models. We can commit to tangible results, whether that’s cost efficiency, improved NPS scores in a contact centre, or top-line growth by integrating marketing and commerce strategies.

CS: And where does media sit in this model?

Sohel Aziz : Media, for us, is more of an enabler than a standalone service. We’ve always had a digital media offering, primarily focused on performance and personalisation. Rather than competing with the major media agencies, our focus is on activating media through data.

So, instead of seeing media as a commodity, we view it as part of a broader conversion and personalisation proposition. For us, it’s not about having massive media budgets under management. It’s about using data and insights to make media work harder - whether that’s driving conversion, optimising performance, or boosting sales. It’s not about scale - it’s about effectiveness. We focus on outcome-based media, using data to deliver specific business results, whether that’s improved performance, higher conversions, or increased sales.

CS: You’ve mentioned creativity being woven into everything you do. How does that extend beyond traditional brand campaigns? And your mission to combine strategic insight into creativity, customer experience and digital transformation - explain that to us.

Sohel Aziz: Creativity is at the heart of everything we do - it’s not just limited to big brand campaigns. Our flagship creative team, led by Droga5, still delivers the big, bold brand work—you saw that with our two Super Bowl ads this year. But creativity also flows through every touchpoint across our business.

For example, in commerce, creativity shows up on product detail pages. It’s about ensuring the content, design, and experience elevate the brand above the noise, even in transactional spaces. In customer service, creativity is applied to voice, tone, and design. Take Voxi, Vodafone’s Gen AI-powered chatbot for Gen Z - it wasn’t just functional, it was designed with an authentic, on-brand voice that resonated with the audience.

To make this happen, we’ve embedded our creative teams across all four areas: marketing, commerce, customer service, and digital experience. This ensures that the magic of creativity shows up whether you’re engaging with a TV ad, a chatbot, or a customer service experience. Creativity is what makes every interaction feel distinctive and on-brand.

CS: From your conversations with marketers what’s the current mood around AI, data, creativity, and creative outcomes?

Sohel Aziz: I think you’ve hit on a critical tension in the industry—the balance between creativity and technology. Marketers today need to strike that balance between magic and math. The magic is the creativity that builds brand equity and emotional connection, while the math is the performance data and accountability that CFOs demand to justify marketing spend.

I’d break it down into three key areas where reinvention is necessary:

The Work: The core responsibilities of marketers have shifted. Many are now administrating rather than strategising—caught up in project management and brief orchestration, instead of driving brand impact and business growth. We believe AI, tech, and data can free up marketers to refocus on strategy, positioning, and growth, rather than just delivery. This is where specialist expertise becomes crucial—senior marketers need to own the strategic thinking, not just oversee logistics.


The Worker: The capabilities and skill sets required in marketing are evolving. Marketers need to be tech-enabled, but not tech-driven. It’s about understanding insights and how to apply them, not just being overwhelmed by data. They also need to rethink their agency partnerships—what to outsource versus what to keep in-house as core competencies.


The Workbench: Marketing needs to adopt the same automation and orchestration that functions like finance and supply chain have. We call this the workbench—a set of tools and workflows that automate and streamline marketing processes. This creates operational efficiency while giving marketers the breathing room to focus on strategic work.


Many senior marketers are re-evaluating their capabilities, structures, and agency partnerships. They’re asking: What’s core to our business versus what can be handled by external partners? What are we getting—or not getting—from our agencies? Where do we need new skill sets in-house to keep pace with AI and data-driven marketing? We’ve been helping clients define this new model, which we call “Marketing Reinvented.” It’s built on the three pillars I just talked about.

This is the moment for marketing to reclaim its strategic seat—owning a broader set of accountabilities, from driving revenue and customer retention to influencing pricing strategies and business outcomes. It’s not just about delivering campaigns—it’s about delivering growth.