Duncan Painter, chief executive of Omnicom’s AI marketing platform Omni and Omnicom Commerce lead, has left the business in a surprise move to take up a new role as a tech CEO in the UK.
He leaves the business less than three years after selling Flywheel, where he was CEO, to Omnicom in 2024. He is also the former CEO of Flywheel’s former parent company Ascential.
As of today (5 May), Painter has become the CEO of UK-based digital marketplace business Auction Technology Group, which is the parent company of auction sites The Saleroom, I-bidder, Bidspotter and Pamono.
At Omnicom, Painter will be succeeded in his leadership of Omni by its chief operating officer, Christine Gambino. Alex McCord will take on the additional responsibility for leading Omnicom Commerce alongside his role as CEO of Flywheel.
Gambino and McCord were also brought to Omnicom as part of its acquisition of Flywheel; Gambino as the then COO and McCord as president, enterprise.
Gambino said: “It's an honour to lead Omni at this pivotal moment when the platform is serving as a shared resource for the new Omnicom. Duncan has created an exceptional foundation, and I'm grateful for his partnership and leadership as we now accelerate adoption across the organisation.
“I look forward to ensuring teams across every discipline can leverage Omni's integrated capabilities to deliver measurable impact for clients.”
In his dual role at Omnicom, Painter was responsible for reorganising Omni, OmniAI, Artbot and the Flywheel Commerce Cloud into a single platform ahead of, and following, its acquisiton of rival Interpublic Group.
Painter said he had “complete confidence” in both Gambino and McCord’s ability to lead Omni and Omnicom Commerce and that his new role in the UK will allow him to be closer to his family.
Speaking about his time as CEO Omni, he added: “I'm proud of how swiftly we launched the next generation of Omni following the Interpublic acquisition, establishing it as a unified asset for the combined group.”
Omni and Flywheel will continue to operate as a core part of its Integrated Media capabilities, according to Omnicom.
Source: Campaign UK
