David Droga Steps Down as Accenture Song CEO; Ndidi Oteh to take charge
Accenture
has announced that
David Droga
will step down from his role as chief executive officer of
Accenture Song
at the end of the fiscal year. He will transition to a broader strategic role as vice chair across all of Accenture.
Ndidi Oteh
, currently the Accenture Song Americas lead, will become CEO of Accenture Song on September 1, 2025. Oteh will also join Accenture's Global Management Committee (GMC).
Nick Law will assume the role of Song creative strategy & experience lead. He will also join Accenture's GMC.
Droga's decision to step down marks the end of a chapter defined by creative excellence and leadership. He assumed the CEO role in 2021.
During his tenure, Droga led Accenture Interactive through a period of rapid growth and transformation. He unified over 40 acquisitions and groups under the name Accenture Song.
He introduced a new operating model that integrated creativity, technology, design, AI, strategy, and data into one connected platform. He also assembled a leadership team.
As Droga remarked recently in a podcast, 'We are in the business of scaling excellence to help our clients grow and stay relevant. You start by hiring experts, not generalists, and then build a culture of solving, not selling.'
Within four years, Accenture Song grew from $12.5 billion to $19 billion in revenue (fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2024). It became the world's largest tech-powered creative company.
Accenture Song also established tech-infused creativity as a core offering of Accenture. The company won Grand Prix at the
Cannes Lions
Festival of Creativity every year, I-COM Data Creativity Awards, Red Dot Design Awards, Webbys, and its first Emmy.
Julie Sweet
, chair and CEO of Accenture, said, "David Droga has long been a singular force and a once-in-a-generation creative leader and business builder and he has lived our core value of stewardship and has developed the next generation of leaders who will build an even better Song. He brings humanity, imagination, clarity, and confidence to everything he touches and helps redefine how businesses grow and connect. His brilliance is matched only by his generosity, integrity, and belief in others. As Accenture's vice chair, his legacy and impact will continue for our people, our work, and our purpose."
Droga expressed his gratitude and confidence in the new leadership:
"It has been a privilege to be part of so many missions and cultures around the world. With such extraordinary leadership in place, it felt like the right time. I could not be more confident that Ndidi, Sean and Nick will continue building on Song's legacy of innovation, creativity, and performance. I am also deeply grateful for Julie Sweet's trust, our partnership, and what will be an enduring friendship.'
Droga's impact spans across industries and continents. As the founder of Droga5, he created one of the most admired and influential creative companies.
His
agency
earned 'Agency of the Year' honors more than 30 times. It was twice named 'Agency of the Decade' by Ad Age and Adweek.
Droga5 became known for work that was original, culturally resonant, and creatively fearless. Among his most iconic campaigns were those for The New York Times, the British Army, Under Armour, Marc Ecko, Meta, Game of Thrones, UNICEF, Amazon, the NSPCC, Puma, the New York City Department of Education, Tourism Australia, JAY-Z, JPMorgan Chase, and Coinbase.
These campaigns helped redefine what advertising could achieve in the digital age. Following its acquisition by Accenture in 2019, Droga5 became the creative cornerstone that evolved into Accenture Song.
Droga reflected on his career stating, "I honestly could not be more grateful for my career and the opportunities I've had. The people who believed in me, the talent I've worked alongside, the clients we've served, the trust, the ambition, the camaraderie, it's all part of me. After 30 plus years of leaping, I am ready to catch my breath. And being vice chair will allow me to do that, but also to contribute in new ways. I am also excited to spend more time suffixing: Thinking, daydreaming, advising, investing, giving, mentoring, exploring, learning, playing, appreciating, family-ing, sleeping-in-ing."
Droga began his career in Australia at the age of 18. He received top honors at the Australian Writers and Art Directors School.
By 22, he was executive creative director of the country's leading agency. He went on to lead award-winning agencies across Asia and Europe before founding Droga5 in New York in 2006.
The agency was named after a laundry tag his mother sewed into his clothes at boarding school. In 2012, Droga was named Global Australian of the Year by Advance.org.
This recognition was for his contributions to business, culture, and international influence. He is the most awarded creative in the history of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
He is the youngest recipient of its lifetime achievement honor, the Lion of St. Mark, at age 47. He has been inducted into multiple halls of fame globally.
He is widely considered one of the defining architects of modern marketing. He was among the first to champion viral, social, and earned media as central tenets of brand building.
His work is studied in classrooms and boardrooms. It is featured in Harvard Business School curriculum.
It is also included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
Oteh has been a trusted partner to many of the largest and most innovative Fortune 500 companies since joining Accenture in 2011. She has led complex digital transformations and consumer growth strategies.
Droga's tenure as CEO was marked by significant growth and transformation. He unified numerous acquisitions under the Accenture Song banner.
He also introduced a new operating model that integrated various disciplines. This model included creativity, technology, design, AI, strategy, and data.
His leadership led to substantial revenue growth and industry recognition. Accenture Song became the world's largest tech-powered creative company.
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