Andy Ankrah, Senior Director, Head of Technology Consulting

A fortnight post-graduation from Durham with a maths degree, I started at Merkle as a Technical Web Analytics Consultant. I progressed through senior, to managing a team of 6, to leading a division of 28. But my real transition came last year. In the context of a highly dynamic industry, rife with shifts in the technology landscape, Merkle was faced with an external pivot away from one of our key technology partners.

I seized the opportunity to meet these challenges by founding our UK Customer Experience Optimisation practice, just six years into my career. My team has been responsible for architecting Customer Data/Experience Platform solutions and aligning cross-channel programmes for CX management. We’ve also led global rollouts of new technology for some of our biggest clients (e.g. Stanley Black & Decker, Volkswagen Group). This has cemented our share of market, and allowed our clients to orchestrate data-driven, relevant and personally informed experiences across advertising, marketing, service and commerce. I've now joined the Solutions team as Senior Director, reporting to our Chief Strategy Officer, EMEA. I am building a technology consulting practice within the Strategy team. My aim is to accelerate our customer experience management vision, fuelling CX transformation for our clients. My practice will allow organisations to leverage expert consultation to establish what’s needed to attain their true customer experience management potential, and the sustained business value this unlocks – both in the tech they deploy but also in establishing the people and ways of working needed to operationalise at scale.