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Ajaz Khowaj Quoram Ahmed

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Ajaz Khowaj Quoram Ahmed[1]
MBE
Ahmed in 2015
Born1973 (age 50–51)
Taplow, Buckinghamshire, UK[2]
NationalityBritish[2]
OccupationCEO
Years active1994–present
Board member ofAKQA (1994–2024)[3]
Elton John AIDS Foundation[4]
Virgin Unite[5]
Mental Health Innovations[6]
Prism The Gift Fund[7]
Parents
  • Khowaj Ahmed[8] (father)
  • Sughran Ahmed[8] (mother)
Websitewww.ajaz.org

Ajaz Khowaj Quoram Ahmed, MBE (born 1973) is a British entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder and CEO of London-based new media company AKQA.

Early life

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Ahmed was born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire[2] in 1973[9] to parents from Punjab, India.[9] He grew up in Maidenhead, where his father, Khowaj Ahmed, worked at a Beechams factory, and his mother, Sughran Ahmed, worked at a hospital launderette.[8][9]

While in school, Ahmed was a paperboy and delivered newspapers to the UK headquarters of what was then the world's third-largest software company, Ashton-Tate. He wrote to the company requesting a job, and at 15, received an offer to work there during school holidays.[9] From 1989 to 1991, Ahmed served in the marketing department and eventually as a programmer.[10] He used the company's dBASE software to author an improved financial system for purchase orders.[9]

Career

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In addition to working for Ashton-Tate as a teen, Ahmed worked for video game developer Ocean Software.[9] He left school in 1992, and for the next year, he was a marketing and public relations employee for Apple UK.[11][10] He turned down a copywriting position at BBDO and a brand management position at Unilever[10] to begin a business studies degree at the University of Bath.[9]

In 1994, Ahmed decided to leave university and launch a multimedia agency.[10] There was a high level of interest in the World Wide Web at the time, and he felt that it was crucial to start a company right away.[10] He first undertook a "fact-finding" trip to the U.S. to find out how companies were using the Internet.[10] Following this, at the age of 21, he founded AKQA, named after his initials.[9][12]

Ahmed led the company as its CEO and public face,[9] and by 1999, it was ranked as the largest independent new media agency in the UK.[13] The company received an investment of $71 million from Accenture in 2001, and merged with three agencies in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Singapore, establishing itself as an international agency.[14][15] WPP acquired a majority stake in the agency in 2012, with the deal valuing AKQA at $540 million.[9] AKQA became an autonomous subsidiary of WPP.[15] In November 2020, WPP announced that Grey Group would merge with AKQA to form AKQA Group.[16]

Ahmed was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to Media.[17][18] Later that same year, he was awarded an honorary degree as Doctor of Business Administration from the University of Bath.[19]

Ahmed has authored three books, as of 2021: Velocity (2012),[20] Limitless (2015),[8] and Defeat (2019).[21] Velocity was co-authored by Nike's former vice president of digital sport Stefan Olander, and discusses how companies should embrace the digital world.[20] The book was a UK bestseller in non-fiction.[22] Ahmed has stepped down as CEO at AKQA and now serves on the board of trustees for non-profit organizations including the Elton John AIDS Foundation,[4] Virgin Unite,[5] and The Royal Foundation's Mental Health Innovations.[6]

Bibliography

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  • Ahmed, Ajaz (5 May 2012). Velocity : The Seven New Laws for a World Gone Digital. London: Random House UK. ISBN 9781448116898.
  • Ahmed, Ajaz (1 October 2015). Limitless: Leadership that Endures. London: Random House UK. ISBN 978-0091947569.
  • Ahmed, Ajaz; Watson, Christian (1 January 2019). Defeat. Ajaz Ahmed & Christian Watson.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "No. 62310". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 June 2018. p. B14.
  2. ^ a b c Dua, Tanya (15 March 2017). "Starting out with AKQA's Ajaz Ahmed: 'It's important to embrace disruption'". Digiday. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  3. ^ Cohen, David. "AKQA Founder Ajaz Ahmed Steps Down After 30 Years". Adweek. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Our Team". eltonjohnaidsfoundation.org. Elton John AIDS Foundation. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Ajaz Ahmed". unite.virgin.com. Virgin Unite. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Our People". mentalhealthinnovations.org. Mental Health Innovations. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  7. ^ "About". prismthegiftfund.co.uk. Prism The Gift Fund. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d Ahmed, Ajaz (2015). Limitless: Leadership that Endures. Random House. ISBN 978-0091955045.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Smith, Edwin (21 July 2012). "AKQA founder, Ajaz Ahmed: I have a duty now to WPP and Sir Martin". The Telegraph (London). Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Rosier, Ben (10 June 1999). "Web wonder - Ajaz Ahmed Co-founder AKQA". Campaign. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Media Top 100 2007: 93. Ajaz Ahmed". The Guardian. 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  12. ^ Spanier, Gideon (11 November 2020). "WPP merges AKQA and Grey to form AKQA Group". Campaign. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  13. ^ Anholt, Simon (1 July 1999). "Marketing Report: Top 140 Design Agencies 1999". Campaign (Magazine). UK. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  14. ^ Mcilroy, Megan (17 March 2008). "Digital A-List 2008 No.2". Ad Age. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  15. ^ a b Stampler, Laura. "AKQA Rejected WPP Twice And Dentsu Once Before Selling". Business Insider. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  16. ^ McCellan, Steve (11 November 2020). "WPP Merges AKQA And Grey Into AKQA Group". Mediapost. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  17. ^ "Ajaz AHMED". The London Gazette (62310). The Gazette is published by TSO (The Stationery Office) under the superintendence of Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO), part of The National Archives. 8 June 2018. 3041750. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  18. ^ Gwynn, Simon (8 June 2018). "AKQA founder Ahmed gets MBE in Queen's Birthday Honours". Campaign. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  19. ^ Puccinelli, Nancy. "Ajaz Q.K Ahmed MBE: oration". University of Bath. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  20. ^ a b Spanier, Gideon (9 May 2012). "ANALYSIS: Seven 'laws' to keep us on the digital pace". Evening Standard.
  21. ^ Ahmed, Ajaz; Watson, Christian (1 January 2019). Defeat. ASIN B08BWF6RG1.
  22. ^ "Bestsellers". The Daily Telegraph. 19 May 2012.
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