Our Leadership

Joe is a highly regarded transformational leader, with one of the most diverse backgrounds in the industry, which includes leadership roles at agencies that specialize in data (Epsilon Agency/Hawkeye), technology (Sapient/Razorfish), creativity (Saatchi/Team One), and media (Universal McCann), as well as founding two successful tech start-ups. Named one of the youngest CEOs at Publicis Groupe and at Interpublic Group, Joe has received numerous awards for creating diverse, equitable, and inclusive cultures, including Ad Age’s “40 under 40.”

In 2022, Joe joined Interpublic Group as U.S. CEO of Universal McCann. During his tenure, UM was named Campaign’s 2022 “Media Agency Global Network of the Year,” rose to #2 in RECMA’s rankings, added GEICO, General Mills, Boeing, Lucid, and Upfield to its roster, launched a first-of-its-kind commerce laboratory in NYC, and received ten “Best Places to Work” recognitions, including Fortune’s Best Workplaces and Campaign’s “Inclusive Workplace” and “Sustainability Standout.” Joe worked with Ryan Reynolds and Maximum Effort to bring industry-first creative content to life for brands like GEICO. Among many programs creating a culture of creativity and candor, every Friday, Joe hosted an all-agency get together over coffee called “Java with Joe,” where he answered anonymous questions with transparency and spotlighted employees’ diverse passions and backgrounds.

In 2019, Joe was named one of the youngest agency CEOs in the history of Publicis Groupe. Under Joe’s leadership, Hawkeye nearly quadrupled in size, becoming the largest pureplay CRM agency in North America, supporting clients such as Google, AT&T, FedEx, USAA, and Capital One. During Joe’s tenure, the agency was selected as a finalist for “Marketing Agency of the Year” and “DE&I Company of the Year” by The Drum, improved its profitability by more than 40%, and its employee retention rates were the highest across Publicis Groupe. 

To support the Groupe’s acquisition of Epsilon, Joe elauncdh and led the Groupe’s CRM Practice, integrating capabilities from Epsilon, Sapient, Publicis Media, and creative agencies, as well as strategic partners Adobe, Salesforce, and Microsoft. In its first year, the practice grew CRM revenue to $2B+, and was named a Leader in “The Forrester Wave™: Loyalty Service Providers.”

In 2017, Joe founded TiltShift, the industry’s first AR/VR/xR agency, helping to pioneer the commercial and consumer applications of this emerging technology, and producing experiences for Nike, Lexus, and Procter & Gamble, and then went on to be the central production capability across Publicis Groupe’s client roster during the COVID-19 pandemic, when traditional production methods were not possible. In 2010, Joe co-founded CloudTix, the world’s first software-as-a-service mobile ticketing platform, and qCloud, the world’s first cloud-based virtual waiting room and queuing system, in partnership with Amazon.

Joe is an avid student of leadership and studied under leadership guru and Pulitzer Prize nominee, Warren Bennis. Joe regularly speaks at conferences such as Cannes Lions, CES, and SXSW. He is a member of Ad Age and Meta’s “The List,” where he contributes to articles published in Ad Age. He guest lectures at Southern Methodist University and Chapman University. And he created “Launchpad” and “Rocket Fuel,” personal and professional development programs for high potential executive leaders and early-careers employees.

In 2005, Joe founded a non-profit in honor of his father Frank, an internationally recognized music educator. The organization produces the U.S.’s largest educational jazz festival.