Adform poaches Rubicon Project’s European leadership duo
In a move that signifies its lofty ambitions, Adform has announced the dual appointment of Jay Stevens and Oliver Whitten (both formerly of Rubicon Project) to C-level roles within the Denmark-based outfit.
Adform has today (16 June) announced that Jay Stevens (pictured above, left) and Oliver Whitten (above, right) have joined Adform’s executive team, serving as chief revenue officer (CRO) and chief operating officer (COO) respectively. Both played a significant role in the global expansion of former employers Rubicon Project, which they both vacated recently.
Stevens begins his role immediately, while Whitten will formally join in August, following the completion of his duties at Rubicon Project (as exclusively revealed by The Drum earlier this week), with both reporting directly to Adform chief executive Gustav Mellentin upon assumption of their duties.
As CRO, Stevens will have responsibility for driving global revenue across all Adform markets, including Europe, the U.S., Asia Pacific and Latin America. Prior to joining Adform, Stevens served as general manager, international for the Rubicon Project, where he successfully built and managed the company’s expansion efforts outside of North America.
Meanwhile, Whitten will be tasked with scaling Adform’s global commercial operations, leading the business in Europe as well as global client service, operations and business development. Prior to joining Adform, Whitten served as Rubicon Project EMEA SVP and managing director, a role he assumed after Stevens’ departure from Rubicon in June.
Stevens told The Drum: “Adform already has a significant footprint in the Nordics, and across Europe, plus the US, now the next stage is building that out further. The second piece is putting together an organisational design that allows us to scales in an organised way. Oli will be a big part of that.”
Whitten added that Adform’s ad tech stack and attitude towards client servicing attracted him to the role. “It’s gratifying that Adform has opted to buck the industry trend of rolling back support and is, instead, expanding it. As the complexity of digital advertising increases, ad-tech providers need to work as partners with their clients, and that is precisely Adform’s approach,” he said.
Last year, Adform raised $21.25m in new funding to expand its workforce, and to open new offices in Asia Pacific and Latin America, a development which quickly followed the arrival of media agency veteran Anthony Rhind as Adform’s CSO. Mellentin commented that the pairing’s expertise will help take Adform to the next level as “a global leader in the digital advertising ecosystem.”