New Powerhouse Collective Established to Help National Brands Win Between the Coasts
DETROIT, MICHIGAN / ACCESS Newswire / January 29, 2026 / Today, leading Stagwell (STGW) agencies Doner and Colle McVoy joined forces to form DonerColle Partners, created to serve the brands that move America.
As the Midwest emerges as the demographic and cultural center of today’s consumer landscape, DonerColle Partners is strategically positioned to help brands connect where it matters most. Unifying operations across more than 500 employees in Detroit, Minneapolis and Chicago, the partnership is built on a foundation of modern creativity and is grounded in a genuine understanding of the people and places that drive American business. Geographically and fundamentally, DonerColle Partners is poised to more effectively and authentically relate to and embrace the sensibilities of everyday Americans who are often overlooked or disregarded by coastal agencies.
“These agencies have a proven ability to combine mainstream marketing with modern techniques and strong client relationships that drive real results,” Stagwell chairman and CEO Mark Penn said. “Together, we’re creating a combined offering that honors that legacy while embracing the future, leveraging AI, modern marketing and an informed perspective of the communities and consumers that shape America.”
Doner and Colle McVoy will maintain their unique identities and client relationships under DonerColle Partners. Structured as a strategic alliance rather than a merger, the arrangement preserves the specialized expertise and culture that have made each successful while enabling deeper collaboration, broadened creative capabilities, scaled media offerings and state-of-the-art production studios. The enhanced offering will be led by Jessica Henrichs as CEO and David DeMuth as executive chairman.
“The Midwest isn’t just where we’re based; it’s who we are. There is a sense of pride and a work ethic that shows up with purpose every day,” said DeMuth. “It’s a place where people care more about doing the right thing than getting credit for it. That spirit drives how we show up for each other, for our clients and for the brands we help build.”
Doner is known for its strategic acumen, award-winning work and integrated production studios across retail, CPG, automotive, consumer services, technology and health care brands, and is a recent two-time “A-List” winner. Colle McVoy, a recent national “Agency of the Year” honoree, adds strength in media, design, PR and integrated campaign execution, particularly across CPG, QSR, home, lifestyle, retail and agriculture categories.
“This partnership is about more than strength and scale,” said Henrichs. “We’re rethinking how agencies can come together to better deliver for America’s most iconic brands. We’re creating a partnership that’s agile, ambitious and deeply rooted in the values that matter most to clients today.”
DonerColle Partners’ client roster includes Stellantis, The UPS Store, Dairy Queen, La-Z-Boy, The Coca-Cola Company, 3M, Hackensack Meridian Health, Perdue Farms and McCormick & Company, among other major brands. The integration will begin immediately, with a phased rollout of combined operations, teams and branding throughout 2026.
About DonerColle Partners
DonerColle Partners is a newly combined Stagwell (STGW) partnership formed from two leading Stagwell agencies, each with 90 years of history. Grounded in a shared belief that great work comes from strong relationships, the partnership combines deep roots with modern marketing expertise across strategy, creative, media and digital, including AI-enhanced content development, insight generation and measurement. Built for the brands that move America, DonerColle Partners blends insight, craft and innovation to help brands connect meaningfully with people and drive lasting growth. To learn more, visit donercolle.com.
About Stagwell
Stagwell is the global challenger network transforming marketing through AI. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our specialists in 45+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for our clients. Join us at stagwellglobal.com.
CONTACT:
DonerColle Partners
Konnor Schmaltz
konnor.schmaltz@collemcvoy.com
Partnership aligns premier creator platform with leading AI marketing network to give brands access to the world’s most influential Creators, premium storytelling, and fandom at global scale
NEW YORK, NY and LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESS Newswire / January 22, 2026 / Spotter, the leading creator platform powering the next generation of entertainment, and Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW), the global challenger network transforming marketing through AI, today announced a strategic partnership to bring premium creator-led media into the core of modern marketing.
The partnership connects Spotter’s curated network of top long-form Creators with Stagwell’s global marketing network, enabling brands to move beyond one-off influencer activations and into sustained, high-impact creator-led programming.
Spotter contributes a premium creator content solutions and media network built on long-term partnerships with the world’s most influential Creators. Its proprietary licensing, analytics, and distribution infrastructure allows brands and agencies to engage creator-led media with the rigor, transparency, and scalability of modern television, while preserving the authenticity and cultural relevance that drive fandom.
Stagwell brings a global network of 70+ entrepreneurial agencies, deep brand-building expertise, and AI-powered marketing capabilities that integrate strategy, creative, media, and technology. This partnership enables Stagwell clients to activate creators earlier in the ideation process and connect creativity with measurable performance at scale.
“As Creators build the next generation of entertainment studios, brands need a credible, scalable way to work with creators as long-term partners,” said Aaron DeBevoise, Founder and CEO of Spotter. “Spotter brings that infrastructure to Stagwell, with a high-touch model built to solve brand challenges through access to top Creators backed by proprietary insights, brand-safe execution, and measurable results.”
“This partnership strengthens our cutting-edge AI solutions for influencer marketing,” said Mark Penn, Chairman and CEO of Stagwell. “By embedding creator-led media directly into our team’s workflows and RFPs, we’re empowering our agencies to deliver more authentic and effective solutions for clients.”
The two companies are already finding ways to activate alongside one another, including Stagwell joining Spotter’s annual Creator Summit in Montana earlier this month, bringing together 30 of the world’s top Creators for collaboration, ideation, and long-term brand planning.
About Spotter
Spotter is the leading platform powering the next generation of entertainment by connecting brands to the world’s most engaged Creator-led media and the most passionate fan communities at scale. Founded in 2019, the company provides creators with flexible capital and high-impact advertising solutions that help them produce and scale hit programming. Through deep, long-term partnerships, Spotter licenses content, unlocks predictable revenue for creators, and delivers premium storytelling opportunities for brands across culture.
Spotter Ads connects brands to premium creator-led media through proprietary performance data and audience insights. Generating more than 88 billion monthly watch-time minutes, with 71% on CTV, Spotter offers advertisers a transparent, brand-safe, and scalable alternative to traditional TV, powered by the most influential creators in the world.
About Stagwell
Stagwell is the global challenger network transforming marketing through AI. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our specialists in 45+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for our clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.
Contacts:
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK / ACCESS Newswire / January 20, 2026 / Stagwell, the global challenger network transforming marketing through AI, today announced the launch of Quarter Creek Ventures, a new incubator fund designed to fund and scale bold product and business ideas across adtech, AI implementation, and AI-enabled marketing services. Quarter Creek Ventures will provide capital, expertise, and market access to help innovators turn ambitious concepts into viable businesses.
Participants selected by Quarter Creek Ventures will receive:
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Seed funding to accelerate product development and market entry
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A founder-friendly ownership structure in which founders retain a majority stake while Stagwell actively supports scaling the business through access to its enterprise clients, capital, and infrastructure
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Hands-on mentorship from Stagwell’s senior leaders
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Operational support including strategy, design, technology, and go-to-market execution
“Breakthrough ideas rarely come from playing it safe,” said Mark Penn, Chairman and CEO of Stagwell. “As the global challenger network, we’re focused on building best-in-class products and fostering talent that push the industry forward and advance our broader vision for transforming marketing through AI.”
With the establishment of this new fund, Stagwell will build upon its past success incubating new business units, such as Targeted Victory, to continue providing growth capital and strategic expertise for exceptional startups and products.
The incubator will operate on a rolling basis with cohorts selected throughout the year. Applications for the first cohort are open. To submit an idea, email quarter.creek.ventures@stagwellglobal.com.
About Stagwell
Stagwell is the global challenger network transforming marketing through AI. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our specialists in 45+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for our clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.
Contact
Kara Gelber
PR@stagwellglobal.com
Samardzija to serve in this new role while continuing role of Stagwell’s Chief Data and Platforms Officer
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK / ACCESS Newswire / January 7, 2026 / Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW), the challenger network built to transform marketing, today announced it is unifying leadership of its media and commerce companies under Slavi Samardzija. Samardzija will continue his role as Stagwell’s Chief Data and Platforms Officer while serving as the network’s first Global Chair, Media and Commerce. This news follows the appointment of Zac Moffat as Global Chair, Communications and Advocacy, as announced last month.
In this new role, Samardzija will oversee the media and commerce agencies including Assembly, Business Traveler, Crispin, GALE, Goodstuff, Ink, Kenna, Locaria, and Multiview. This group vertical represents last twelve month net revenues of approximately $600m and over 3,500 employees across the world.
“Slavi brings over 25 years of experience in data and technology that will be foundational to our holistic data and platform strategy moving forward,” shared Mark Penn, Chairman and CEO, Stagwell. “As digital transformation and intelligent platforms continue to reshape our industry, Slavi is uniquely positioned to lead this next chapter for us.”
“Clients are looking for partners who can connect data, media, and commerce seamlessly across the entire customer journey. I’m excited to work across our Media and Commerce division to bring greater alignment, unlock the full power of our capabilities, and deliver more impactful, measurable outcomes for clients around the world,” said Slavi Samardzija, Global Chair, Media and Commerce and Chief Data and Platforms Officer of Stagwell.
Samardzija will continue to report to Stagwell Chairman and CEO Mark Penn.
About Stagwell
Stagwell is the challenger holding company built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our specialists in 45+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for our clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.
Contact:
PR@stagwellglobal.com
NEW YORK, NY AND LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESS Newswire / January 7, 2026 / Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW), the challenger network built to transform marketing, announced at the inaugural SPORT BEACH Tech Summit that SPORT BEACH will become its own business unit dedicated to serving as the premiere place to connect athletes, brands, and creatives through lived experiences – building communities that drive real growth.
This next phase for SPORT BEACH expands its core value proposition: innovative events, peer-to-peer relationships between brands and athletes that drive business outcomes, and active play as a key element of any experience.
Beth Sidhu will serve as CEO of SPORT BEACH while continuing her role as Stagwell’s Chief Brand and Communications Officer until a successor is named.
“We are making a major commitment to advancing our portfolio of sports marketing by turning SPORT BEACH into its own unit dedicated to bringing brands and athletes together in this tremendous growth area,” said Mark Penn, Chairman and CEO of Stagwell. “SPORT BEACH is where athletes and culture come together over business, culture and technology,” he added.
“We are excited to scale SPORT BEACH into a global platform where business leaders and trailblazing athletes connect to drive business at the intersection of sport and culture,” shared Beth Sidhu, SPORT BEACH CEO and Stagwell Chief Brand and Communications Officer. “SPORT BEACH is where deals start and we’re excited for what’s next.”
In addition to CES, SPORT BEACH will activate at major cultural moments across the calendar, including Super Bowl LX, NBA All-Star Weekend, Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, The World Cup Finals, US Open, and F1 Las Vegas. At each moment, SPORT BEACH will act as the hub for marketers, athlete-entrepreneurs and sport business professionals, with upscale hospitality, engaging stage conversations, and spaces and guests curated for quality networking. Events will be housed on SPORT BEACH’s AI-enabled app later this year.
Year-round partners including Diageo (exclusive spirits partner), NBCUniversal (exclusive broadcast partner) and PepsiCo (with Gatorade as the exclusive hydration partner) will help bring SPORT BEACH to life via expertise in innovative sport-brand collaborations at each SPORT BEACH moment. Additional partners will join activations throughout the year, including The Athletic, Business Insider, the Chicago Bulls, Fanatics Advertising, InMobi, Nielsen, Superside, Sweatworking, The Trade Desk, TransUnion, while on earth™ and more.
SPORT BEACH will help brands and athletes engage in three core ways:
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Events: SPORT BEACH is moving beyond the sand, bringing its signature event format to major cultural events throughout the year. New formats, including intimate salons, leadership summits, and the inaugural Sports Upfront, will surface insights on the business of sports, marketing and technology’s future, and emerging opportunities.
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Facilitation: SPORT BEACH creates spaces where a diverse group of people, industries, experiences and POVs connect to drive new business. SPORT BEACH will offer a formalized convening and facilitation service, bringing together like-minded groups to drive business outcomes.
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Editorial: SPORT BEACH’s new editorial platform will serve as an always-on source of the most interesting global stories at the intersection of sports, business, culture, technology and creativity. Across newsletters, www.SPORTBEACH.com and an upcoming podcast, SPORT BEACH will deliver unexpected conversations.
SPORT BEACH’s Advisory Board will be announced in February.
Stagwell invites brands, athletes, sports leagues, media platforms and other interested parties to reach out to SportBeach@stagwellglobal.com.
About Stagwell
Stagwell is the challenger holding company built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our specialists in 45+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for our clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.
About SPORT BEACH
Considered the authoritative voice on sports marketing, SPORT BEACH connects athletes, brands and creatives for curated experiences and conversations that drive growth at the intersection of sport, brand and culture. Launched in 2022 at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity by Stagwell (STGW), SPORT BEACH is now a year-round ecosystem spanning live events, brand activations, thought leadership programming, and a meetings and facilitation practice. Its convenings at the world’s most influential cultural and sporting moments serve as incubators for new partnerships, breakthrough creative, and industry-defining conversations. Learn more at sportbeach.com and follow us on Instagram @_SPORTBEACH_.
Contact
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK / ACCESS Newswire / January 6, 2026 / Allison Worldwide and Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW) are turbocharging their global communications capabilities and positioning for growth in healthcare with the appointment of industry veteran Wendy Lund as Global Chief Executive Officer, Allison Worldwide and Stagwell’s new Vice Chair of Health.
Joining Jan. 12, Lund brings more than three decades of expertise and visionary leadership to the dual role. She will be based in New York, reporting to Allison Worldwide Executive Chair Ray Day, as well as to Stagwell Chairman and CEO Mark Penn for the healthcare role.
Most recently, Lund served as Chief Client Officer of WPP Health, where she was responsible for strengthening WPP’s presence in the health and pharma sector, leading to considerable client expansion and growth. Previously, she was chief communications officer at Organon, a women’s health company that spun off from Merck in 2021. Before that, she was CEO of GCI Health, leading the agency to tenfold growth in 10 years.
Lund has a laser focus on clients and employees. Under her leadership, her agencies have been named a “best place to work” and “agency of the year” multiple times.
“Wendy is a proven communications agency leader, and her appointment signals the next step in turbocharging Allison’s growth for our clients and our business,” said Ray Day, Executive Chair at Allison Worldwide and Vice Chair at Stagwell. “She also shares our dedication to every client’s success through a world-class team delivering world-class results.”
As Global CEO of Allison, Lund will lead the agency’s global business operations, including supporting expansion plans and business strategy. In her role as Stagwell’s Vice Chair of Health, she will lead Stagwell’s strategy in this expanding global business sector and identify near- and long-term growth opportunities through full network integration.
“Wendy’s appointment as Stagwell’s Vice Chair of Health underscores our commitment to giving clients in the healthcare space a new solution from a challenger brand with fresh thinking, nimble delivery-speed and tech-driven strategies, tools and execution,” said Mark Penn, Stagwell Chairman and CEO. “In addition, with Ray Day and Wendy partnering together at Allison, we’re about to see what world-class growth looks like for Stagwell’s largest communications and PR agency.”
Lund’s professional recognition includes being honored as a Pinnacle Award winner in 2025 and MM&M’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2019.
“I am delighted to join Stagwell and Allison Worldwide as they continue to drive significant momentum and growth,” Lund said. “During the course of my career, I have led with a challenger mindset, and I look forward to partnering to create new kinds of impact and growth for clients worldwide.”
About Allison Worldwide
Allison Worldwide is a digital-first, data-led, and future-focused communications agency helping clients see around corners and be ahead of what’s next. Not too big and not too small, Allison provides end-to-end global communications, PR, influencer, analytics and marketing support to clients from the Fortune 500 to start-ups. Allison is owned by Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW), one of the fastest growing and most influential marketing and communications networks in the world.
About Stagwell
Stagwell is the challenger holding company built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our specialists in 45+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for our clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.
Contact
AI-native platform turns existing marketing stack into an intelligent system that learns from every campaign
LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESS Newswire / January 5, 2026 / Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW), the challenger network built to transform marketing, today announced the launch of “The Machine,” marketing’s first agentic operating system. Built by Code and Theory, Stagwell’s digital transformation agency and Adweek’s Most Innovative Agency of the Year, The Machine doesn’t replace marketers’ tools; it makes them more effective and predictive.
The Machine enhances the data systems and tools marketers already use, including Figma, Slack, Teams, Adobe, and performance dashboards. The Machine turns disconnected workflows into a unified system powered by AI agents and amplified by Stagwell’s agencies, products and data. With The Machine, every brief, creative asset and media plan feeds a system that learns, adapts and compounds. Each campaign makes the next one faster, smarter and more effective.
“The launch of The Machine, combined with our recent release of newvoices.AI and strategic partnerships with Palantir and Gradial, marks another milestone in cementing Stagwell as a leader in marketing AI,” said Mark Penn, Chairman and CEO of Stagwell. “This moment underscores Stagwell’s ability to deliver best-in-class solutions for clients and lead the industry through the AI era.”
“Most marketing AI tools ask you to rip out your infrastructure and start over,” said Dan Gardner, Founder and Chairman of Code and Theory. “The Machine does the opposite. It works where you work, improves and AI enables the tools you already use, and transforms existing operations into an agentic system. That’s the shift from isolated tools to a unified operating system.”
Code and Theory clients are already adopting The Machine’s early model. Stagwell will offer demos of The Machine at CES January 6-9 at booth #L2-P2, where attendees will see real use cases across the marketing organization, including:
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Cross-functional orchestration: Strategy, creative, production and media work from shared intelligence rather than siloed handoffs, reducing friction and accelerating time to market.
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Intelligence in context: Mini-Machine plugins directly into the tools marketers already in use, eliminating app-switching and workflow friction.
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Unified strategic spine: The Machine connects brand strategy, creative production and media performance into a single source of truth, ensuring every new campaign builds on what has already been learned.
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Creative content production at scale: AI-assisted workflows maintain brand integrity while dramatically increasing output velocity.
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Real-time tracking: Feeds into creative and strategic decisions, creating a closed loop where optimization happens continuously.
The Machine represents the culmination of Code and Theory’s work transforming marketing operations for enterprise clients including Qualcomm, TIME, Stanley Black & Decker, Henry Schein and T. Rowe Price. The agency’s historic 2024 included 11 top industry recognitions from Fast Company, Adweek, Ad Age, the ANA, Digiday, Campaign and the Shorty Awards.
“Clients have been asking for a solution that connects people, content, data, and technology to truly realize the value of AI, and The Machine delivers just that,” said Michael Treff, CEO of Code and Theory. “We’ve turned marketing operations into a unified system rather than a collection of tools to enable marketers to embrace the next phase of AI transformation.”
The Machine will be available for enterprise deployment in Q1 2026.
About Stagwell
Stagwell is the challenger holding company built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our specialists in 45+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for our clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.
About Code and Theory
The Code and Theory Network is the only technology and creative network with a balance of 50% creative and 50% engineers. Our unique makeup makes us the place where CMOs, CTOs and CIOs come together to drive results for their businesses. We partner with our clients to redefine what is possible to create lasting impact and drive long-term growth. Part of Stagwell, Code and Theory offers a global footprint and the capabilities to work across the entirety of the customer-facing journey, and implement the technology that powers it. The network includes the flagship agency Code and Theory as well as Kettle, Instrument, Left Field Labs, Truelogic, Create. Group, Rhythm and Mediacurrent. Code and Theory clients include Amazon, JPMorganChase, Microsoft, NBC, NFL and Yeti. For more, visit codeandtheory.com.
Contact:
pr@stagwellglobal.com
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / January 2, 2026 / Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW), the challenger network built to transform marketing, today announced its Chairman and CEO Mark Penn will attend the 28th Annual Needham Growth Conference in New York on Wednesday, January 14.
Penn will host 1×1 meetings throughout the day and participate in a fireside chat at 2:15 PM ET.
Visit stagwellglobal.com/investors to view upcoming investor events and programming from Stagwell. Reach out to ir@stagwellglobal.com with questions.
About Stagwell
Stagwell is the challenger holding company built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our specialists in 45+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for our clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.
IR Contact:
Ben Allanson
IR@stagwellglobal.com
NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW) today announced the launch of NewVoices.ai, a lifelike AI platform designed to redefine how organizations manage sales, customer engagement, and retention at scale. Built as an end-to-end operating system for modern revenue teams, NewVoices.ai functions as an independent sales agent that can book appointments, drive conversions, resolve questions, and handle customer concerns around the world, in any language, with a 24/7 instant response.
Unlike generic AI chatbots, NewVoices.ai is built as a true one-to-one intelligence layer that can engage in meaningful, information-based sales conversations at levels superior to typical existing sales conversations.
The platform continuously adapts to people’s preferences, history, and goals so every interaction is personalized. As you engage with it, the system keeps learning, becoming more attuned to people’s style and needs over time.
“NewVoices.ai is a new dimension in agent interaction with people to accomplish sales, appointments, research interviews and retention calls. We believe this opens up a huge new market for us,” shared Mark Penn, Chairman and CEO of Stagwell. “Agents like NewVoices are at the center of Stagwell’s strategy of AI transformation and new revenue opportunities.”
Powered by Stagwell’s proprietary data and designed for one-to-one personalization, the platform learns from every interaction to deliver responses shaped around each individual customer. The outcome is an AI workforce that feeds directly into an enterprise stack and delivers human-level tailored experiences that traditional systems lack.
Enterprises can deploy ready-made solutions or customize solutions for their own workflows, including:
- Sales and revenue
- Customer support
- Retention and renewals
- Payments and operations
- Surveys and feedback
“With NewVoices.ai, companies can replace fragmented sales workflows with a single, intelligent engine poised to disrupt the revenue ecosystem entirely,” said Eran Nizri, Founder of NewVoices.ai and The Marketing Cloud’s LEADERS and InfluencerMarketing.ai (IMAI). “NewVoices.ai is not just software or outsourcing – it’s a lifelike, always-on AI workforce that delivers measurable results from day one.”
For more information, please visit www.newvoices.ai.
About NewVoices.ai
NewVoices.ai is Stagwell’s AI Workforce platform and managed service for enterprise sales, support, retention, payments, and feedback. It combines AI agents, automation, analytics, and integrations with a managed operations layer to deliver human-level conversations at global scale.
About Stagwell
Stagwell is the challenger holding company built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our specialists in 45+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for our clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.
Media Contact
PR@stagwellglobal.com
Stagwell Chairman and CEO Mark Penn unveiled survey of 100 CEOs on stage at The Wall Street Journal’s 2025 CEO Council Summit
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW), the challenger network built to transform marketing, unveiled the results of a survey of 100 American CEOs to gauge sentiment on business priorities, economic outlook, and views of AI advancements heading into 2026. The study, conducted by Stagwell’s National Research Group (NRG), provides guidance on how CEOs are anticipating business, economic and political shifts leading into the new year.
Key findings from the study include:
- CEOs support AI as a transformative force: Nearly all CEOs (85%) see AI as entering a healthy growth phase rather than a bubble, with generative AI viewed as the most transformative technology of 2026. 78% of CEOs maintain they are bullish on AI’s impact on workplace efficiency and innovation.
- CEOs predict economic unease, but maintain measured confidence: While 62% of CEOs believe the U.S. is on the wrong track, nearly three in four (74%) express confidence in the resilience of the U.S. economy heading into 2026.
- Inflation, debt, and jobs dominate CEO agendas: Financial stability is the top policy focus for 2026, with managing inflation (61%), reducing debt (47%), and job creation (33%) marked as top policy priorities.
- Policy and political concerns weigh on CEO confidence: Regulatory and policy shifts (66%) and trade restrictions (60%), are expected to have the greatest impact on business. Nearly half (46%) are pessimistic about political leaders’ stability and predictability.
For the full results, visit stagwellglobal.com.
Methodology
The findings are drawn from research conducted by Stagwell’s National Research Group (NRG) with 100 U.S.-based CEOs leading organizations with 10,000 or more employees. The sample reflects a mix of CEO tenures, cross-industry representation, and B2B and B2C companies. The survey was fielded online between October 21 and November 10, 2025.
About Stagwell
Stagwell is the challenger holding company built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our specialists in 45+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for our clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.
Contact
Maggie Axford
pr@stagwellglobal.com