Anatoly Roytman, a key brain behind Accenture Interactive, departs

Anatoly Roytman, one of the brains behind Accenture’s move into marketing services, is to leave the consulting giant after 11 years.

Accenture said Roytman, who is 58, is retiring at the end of this year as senior managing director of Accenture Interactive in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. 

Roytman joined Accenture in 2008 and was a key player in the creation of Accenture Interactive, the digital marketing services arm, in 2009 in the US.

He went on to lead the European operation and oversaw many of the most important, early UK acquisitions, including design agency Fjord in 2003 and creative shop Karmarama in 2016.

London-based Roytman explained in an interview with Campaign in 2017 how Accenture Interactive wanted to be an experience agency of record that could manage all aspects of the customer experience for clients.

He also memorably coined the phrase "cagency" to describe this new breed of agency that fused creative agency thinking and consulting strategy, although it was not an official company mantra.

Accenture Interactive said in a statement: "We can confirm that Anatoly Roytman will be retiring at the end of the year, following a brilliant decade-long career with Accenture Interactive.

"As one of the early founders of Accenture Interactive in 2009, Anatoly has been a key driver in building the business in a critical region and making Accenture Interactive what it is today."

Accenture Interactive will announce a successor to Roytman in the new year.

"We’d like to thank Anatoly for the rich legacy he’s left us, as we continue to further our mission to be the leading experience agency for clients, driving sustainable growth by creating meaningful experiences for customers, employees and citizen," the company added.

Brian Whipple, global chief executive of Accenture Interactive, said: "For the past decade, Anatoly has been a key driver in building the Accenture Interactive business in a critically important region. His vision and devotion have been instrumental in making Accenture Interactive the industry leader it is today.

"As a founding member of Accenture Interactive since the early days in 2009, he has taught all of us so much and I want to wish him all the best in his well-deserved retirement."

Accenture Interactive has grown strongly to become a $10bn revenue-a-year operation in the past decade and is set to have passed Interpublic, the world’s fourth-biggest ad agency group, in terms of sales this year.

Roytman was unavailable for comment. He has become a well-known figure in UK advertising circles, after speaking at events such as ISBA’s annual conference and Campaign's Media360.

He has "a big brain", according to Jon Wilkins, executive chairman of Karmarama, who described Roytman in 2017 as "very strategic" and "esoteric and leftfield".