In this episode, Ajaz Ahmed, the CEO and co-founder of digital creative agency AKQA, argues that chaos and unpredictability are the enemies of a well-run company. He is convinced that “exceptional discipline and organisation” are the keys to high performance and it’s a trait he’s witnessed repeatedly among successful clients.
Ahmed’s backstory is straight out of the Silicon Valley playbook. In 1994, aged 21, he dropped out of university to launch AKQA with friends, from his parents’ basement. As he told Campaign in 1999: 'There was a lot of talk about the information superhighway and we knew if we didn’t start then, we would have missed out forever."
The gamble paid off. His first client was Microsoft, he was a millionaire by 24 and in 2012, he sold a majority stake in his business to WPP, in a deal that valued AKQA at $540m (£348m at the time). He has since been awarded two honorary degrees.
So it’s a good thing that he didn’t listen to his school careers advisor who told him to work in a factory like his father.
On the podcast, he explains how his agency’s “operating system” provides clarity to employees, his one-minute MBA for CEOs and why good leadership is really about one thing: being a decent human being.
Credits
Presenter: Kate Magee
Producer: Til Owen
Art direction: David Robinson
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