Richard Brosgill has resigned as APAC CEO of Assembly, ending a 16-year tenure that took him from intern at a London performance shop to one of the region's most recognisable agency leaders.
Brosgill announced the departure on LinkedIn. "I'm proud to say I've delivered on everything I set out to achieve—an award-winning, connected business scaled across truly diverse markets; winning, growing, and trusted by incredible brands; remarkable talent with leading technology at the core; and an ambitious culture of builders," he wrote. He plans to take time with his family before the next move.
Brosgill's next move and his successor at Assembly remain unannounced.
Brosgill began his career in 2010 at Forward3D, a Camden-based performance agency, after a near-miss: offered the role at interview, told the next day the business had "taken another direction," then called back a fortnight later. He took the second offer and by 2016, he relocated to Asia for what he expected to be a year. He stayed for ten, growing Assembly's footprint across Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Taiwan, India and Malaysia.
He was named a Campaign 40 Under 40 winner in 2020.
Brosgill has tracked three rebrands from Forward3D to ForwardPMX to Assembly Global in February 2022, which came via Stagwell's merger of Assembly and ForwardPMX into a 1,500-person agency across 20 countries, to sit within a media network managing $5 billion in billings. The deal allowed the agency to move beyond its performance-only roots into integrated and business solutions. Brosgill was elevated from managing director to APAC CEO in April 2023.
In June 2024, Stagwell rebranded digital commerce firm Brand New Galaxy across Europe, MENA and the US—as Assembly, folded its 400-strong commerce unit into the agency and boosted global headcount by 20%. Though BNG had no direct APAC presence, the regional dividend came in terms of tech benefits. "It brings more than just capabilities—it introduces a wealth of technology," Brosgill told Campaign Asia-Pacific at the time, singling out AI-driven marketplace assessment tools and a sentiment analysis tool that mines reviews and public discourse to inform brand and media strategy.
Under his watch, as reported by Campaign's Agency Report Cards, the business posted revenue growth of around 25% in both 2022 and 2023 before easing to 15% in 2024, and is in double digits in 2025, with client pullback in China the primary drag. In 2024, Assembly also pivoted into healthcare, upgraded its proprietary operating system STAGE to integrate local platforms including XiaoHongShu, Baidu, Kakao and Yahoo! Japan, and achieved B Corp certification in 2025.
Assembly's acquisition of ADK Global, Stagwell's first APAC deal, closed in July 2025, to create a 14-market, 800-person operation positioned as the region's largest integrated challenger network. Brosgill has led the integration while running both businesses. "The market doesn't need another Publicis or WPP," he told Campaign Asia-Pacific at the time. "What we're building is sharper, more agile, and more in tune with how clients want to work today."
"I walked in as an intern and leave as APAC CEO," he wrote on LinkedIn.
Source: Campaign Asia-Pacific