VML’s Debbi Vandeven on consolidation, AI and the skills creative teams now need

Debbi Vandeven, global chief creative officer of VML, says the agency is going through a period of accelerated change as WPP moves to a more centralised operating model.

On 26 February, WPP announced it would bring agency brands including Ogilvy, VML, AKQA and Grey together under a single WPP Creative umbrella, a significant structural change for the group.

In an email to VML staff, Jon Cook, who runs VML and has just been named CEO of WPP Creative, said there was no one he trusts “more implicitly” than Vandeven to ensure “VML’s creativity is continually reaching new heights”. He noted that they joined the agency at around the same time, have been “partners in building VML’s creative legacy” and that their partnership remains “extremely vital”.

Vandeven recently ranked as the world’s fifth-most-awarded chief creative officer in the 2026 World Creative Rankings. Speaking earlier this month, she acknowledged the strain of recent change. “Obviously, we have a lot of consolidation. VML has undergone numerous mergers, consolidations, and staff changes. I think that’s a bit stressful,” she said.

New leadership at WPP

Over a quarter of a century at VML, Vandeven has served under both of WPP’s previous chief executives: Sir Martin Sorrell and then Mark Read. She describes the current chief executive, Cindy Rose, as “wonderful”.

“I love to work with men too, but I was just really happy to see a female at the forefront of our company,” she said. “It’s hard to believe in something if it’s always male. But to have Cindy in charge has given that kind of renewed energy that is just different.”

She says she has spent time with Rose, whom she knew from WPP’s board before her appointment. “But I would just say for all of us, you know, it’s never an easy time when the whole industry shifts, right?”

Integration and AI

Even before WPP Creative was formally launched, VML had merged its creative teams in brand, design, commerce, social, production and health into a single unit, reflecting client demand for more agile, integrated teams. Health and wellness is growing quickly, and Vandeven is prioritising the skills needed to support the integrated model worldwide.

AI divides opinion among creatives, and consolidation has heightened concerns about job losses. But Vandeven says the tools available to her teams are enabling “pretty amazing” work on the concept side. She points to WPP’s Creative Brain, which lets teams enter briefs and ideas and explore different strategic routes, while stressing that it will never replace the human “big idea”.

The skills she looks for are changing. “Creative commerce is absolutely one of the fastest growing areas that you’re going to see,” she said, explaining that work must now drive purchase across channels as well as awareness. “The other one is social.” She cites Wendy’s as a social account VML has helped shape, and expects influencers to become more integrated into creative teams.

A smaller industry

Vandeven says leaders are looking closely at job roles as technology changes the work. Mentoring is still essential because junior people learn by doing, and she cautions that without recruiting and training young people there will be no senior creatives in future. “I will say this because I think it’s probably true globally, there may be a smaller number that get these jobs,” she said.

She confirmed that many clients are asking “all agencies” to become more efficient through AI, a demand she links to transitions within those clients’ own businesses. “I think the whole industry is going to be shrinking a bit,” she said. “Not just because of AI, but we are going to have some tasks that are going to go away.”

“But I want to be sure that we’re bringing in really good talent,” she added. “And I can never guess exactly where the industry is going, right? I think for all of us and my global team, we’ve talked a lot about just being willing to learn and change with what’s going on in the world.”

She argues that agencies need to be integrated across disciplines such as CX, commerce and brand design, because brand work alone is no longer enough. “You may shrink if you are only one type of company.”

Indies and in-house

Vandeven will be watching how independent agencies develop as a result, and how in-house teams evolve, wondering whether clients seeking efficiency will expand or reduce them.

“You’re looking for both things, you’re looking for efficiency, and you’re also looking for how to create campaigns and content at a rate that’s faster and make sure that the work is effective at every level? It’s an exciting time and, at the same time, it keeps you thinking, all the time,” she said.

Asked whether the industry keeps her on her toes, she said her “whole career has done that.”