DEPT® 2024 Trends Forecast: Connectedness, Creativity & Culture

Tobias Cummins

Global SVP Clients & Managing Director Berlin at DEPT®

With experience in leading businesses in five countries, Tobias Cummins is DEPT®’s Global SVP of Clients and Managing Director in Berlin, responsible for business development across EMEA. Previously, as Managing Director of BYTE/DEPT®, Tobias oversaw expansion into New York and nurtured key relationships with major brands like Spotify, Google, and Twitch. 

Isabel Perry

VP of Emerging Tech at DEPT®

Isabel Perry, VP of Emerging Technology at DEPT®, is an expert in Al, Web3, and the metaverse, revolutionizing businesses and ranked among the top 15 advertising executives by Business Insider. At DEPT®, she leads a team of over 400 specialists in five continents delivering innovative, pioneering work for brands such as Google, eBay and Philips.
With a degree in Architecture from Cambridge, she brings a unique approach to design and user experience. During her eight-year tenure at BYTE/DEPT®, she built and expanded the tech team, launched chatbots, augmented reality, games and dynamic advertising for clients including Just Eat UK, Spotify, and Meta, and managed a skilled team, securing lasting brand success.

Steven Denekas

Global SVP of Creative at DEPT® & Chief Creative Officer at BASIC/DEPT®

Steven leads the creative team at BASIC/DEPT®, where he inspires an artistic approach to concepting experiences for the world’s most admired brands. From BBDO and Wieden+Kennedy to Instrument, he’s amassed an impressive list of partnerships and awards throughout his career for his work on Levi’s®, Canadian Club, Nike, Patagonia, and Sequoia Capital. His shifting career has shaped his current role in building teams and environments that cultivate ideas, scale companies, and deliver results. His mission is simple: do work that creates legacies.

Alexis Stepanek

Strategy Director at BASIC/DEPT®

Alexis Stepanek is a Strategy Director with over 10 years of experience working with brands like Sonos, Levi’s, Nike, Marriott, and General Motors to build innovative digital products and services. She approaches every day with curiosity and empathy, working at the intersection of culture, technology, and brand purpose. She has a successful track record of collaborating with brands to make a positive impact and create meaningful connections with their customers. Alexis is passionate about accessibility, tech ethics, and disability advocacy – striving to ensure the impact matches the intent, for all people. Prior to BASIC/DEPT®, Alexis worked at Edenspiekermann, MRM//McCann, Instrument, and AREA17.

Bob Briski

CTO – DEPT® AI

Bob Briski is a technology leader with 20 years of experience in data infrastructure and strategy. As the CTO of DEPT®/AI, he leads the agency’s AI initiatives and projects and is dedicated to understanding client’s’ unique business needs and translating those into practical, innovative AI solutions.

Pooja Dindigal

Global Head of Impact at DEPT®

Pooja leads sustainability & social impact for global digital agency DEPT®. Before joining DEPT®, she had been with B Lab, the non profit behind B Corp Certification for over 6 years, where she helped to grow the B Corp Movement & advise leading businesses on their sustainability & impact journey. Pooja has a deep passion for addressing the intersections of climate change & equity for all people. She’s an amateur outdoorist, pop culture & food lover.

Sandra Masiliso

Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Lead

Sandra is the Global Diversity Equity and Inclusion Lead at DEPT and has sound experience developing robust strategies, partnering with external organisations, holding executives to account, developing and coaching senior leaders and taking a variety of audiences on a change transformation journey via the use of sound storytelling channels. Prior to joining DEPT, Sandra worked as the Creative Diversity Lead at the BBC, the Equality Diversity and Inclusion Manager at Newton Europe and as a Management Consultant working with leading FTSE100 companies where she held key agile project management, change management and business strategy roles. Sandra can effectively engage with clients at a range of levels, understand their business challenges and conduct thorough research to produce quality documentation that determines their future strategy. Sandra has also worked within the charity, intergovernmental and academic sector and is an award winning, international, motivational speaker

Chris Brook

Vice President, Google Marketing Platform, Americas at DEPT®

Chris joined DEPT in December 2022 and oversees the partnerships, sales, and strategic consulting services for our clients’ Google Marketing Platform initiatives. Prior to DEPT, he was an original employee of MightyHive (now Media.Monks/S4 Capital), where he opened the NY office and led strategy across data & digital media, creative, content, and technology for clients like LG, Mondelez, Goldman Sachs Bank, TIAA, Caesars Entertainment, and Nationwide Insurance. Chris spends most of his time at his house in VT trying to predict the role that consumer privacy will have on our clients’ adoption of future-proof marketing and advertising technologies.

Joey Egger

MD at DEPT®/Family (APAC)

Emmy, Peabody, and Webby award-winning kids digital content specialist with 20 years of experience, including Sesame Workshop and ABC Kids. Joey and #teammoo are proud to collaborate, innovate, and play jazz flute with the world’s most respected kids’ content creators, non-profits, healthcare and educational specialists to bring their visions to life.

Charlotte Scorer

Head of Paid Social at DEPT®

Experienced paid social planner with a history of delivering innovative, effective and successful campaigns for clients across the full marketing funnel.

Nikki Melless

Media Director at DEPT®