Bassel Kakish

Agency: Publicis Groupe ME&T

United Arab Emirates

Bassel is the Chief Executive Officer of Publicis Groupe, Middle East and Turkey. He assumed the role of CEO in April 2021 – managing over 3,600 professionals across various disciplines and markets spanning technology, marketing, creative, media and PR.

With 22+ years at Publicis Groupe, Bassel has held various strategic roles in the regional management team – acting as Chief Financial Officer, Chief Integration Officer, and co-Managing Director of Publicis Sapient in the Middle East. Under his leadership, Publicis Groupe has integrated operations across Creative, Media, and Sapient. He combined various Groupe functions to build a modular approach for clients’ business problems seamlessly, driven by the alchemy of creativity and technology. As CEO, he has strengthened and expanded the Groupe’s offering to help clients succeed through disruptive creative strategy, analytics and insights. His knowledge of the intersection of technology and the creative world, coupled with his financial acumen, has enabled Publicis Groupe to progress on the journey to transform as a Power of One vision driven by a common purpose, a powerful spirit, shared behaviours, and a relentless focus on clients. He has won Head of Agency for three consecutive years at Campaign Middle East Awards from 2022 to 2024.