04 March 2026
Havas Media Network North America appoints Sharona Sankar‑King as Chief Data and Product Officer.
Havas Media Network, North America appoints Sharona Sankar-King as Chief Data and Product Officer.
As data complexity and AI reshape media, Havas Media Network has built the infrastructure to lead through Converged.AI. Sankar-King’s appointment marks the next chapter, accelerating that competitive edge to deliver smarter, faster results in a marketplace defined by speed, growth, and intelligence.
New York, NY – Havas Media Network North America announced the appointment of Sharona Sankar-King as Chief Data and Product Officer, effective February 2026. Reporting directly to North America CEO Greg James, Sankar-King will lead the agency’s data, analytics, and technology strategy alongside its and product function, including Havas’ Converged.AI platform, across the U.S. and Canada. She will work to advance Havas’ data and AI capabilities at the speed and scale the market now demands.
The media industry is at a genuine inflection point. The convergence of AI, data fragmentation, evolving privacy frameworks, and the accelerating complexity of the media marketplace has raised the bar for what agencies must deliver. Clients are demanding intelligence that is faster, more precise, and more accountable. Sankar-King’s appointment positions Havas to meet that demand and to lead where others are still catching up.
“We continue to focus on clients, not the chaos of the industry. Our clear, transparent approach to data and technology, deployed through Converged.AI, is a good example of that. Sharona understands how to apply solutions to clients’ real problems—she will embed data and AI into how we invest, operate, and innovate, pairing human insights with machine capability to deliver measurable results that matter for our clients,” said Greg James, CEO, Havas Media Network North America.
Sankar-King brings more than 25 years of experience operating at the highest levels of data, AI, and marketing strategy across agencies, consultancy, and technology. She joins from Harte Hanks, where, as Chief Customer and Data Officer, she built and scaled data-enabled solutions, deepened strategic client engagements, and led enterprise-wide transformation across customer and data functions.
Prior to Harte Hanks, Sankar-King spent more than six years as an Expert Partner at Bain & Company, leading global work in customer engagement, marketing transformation, advanced analytics, and AI-driven growth for some of the world’s most demanding clients. Her agency career includes senior executive roles at BBDO as EVP, Head of Marketing Science, and at WPP Media where she served as Managing Partner leading digital media optimization and advanced analytics across North America.
Her expertise spans generative AI strategy, CRM, personalization, go-to-market strategy, and data-driven transformation across CPG, retail, financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, automotive, and luxury sectors.
Sankar-King will oversee Havas’ analytics practice, CSA, the agency’s Data & Tech Consulting arm, and the Converged.AI product organization. She will drive the advancement of the agency’s partnerships and products function, deepen capabilities in advanced targeting, measurement, predictive modeling, and performance intelligence, and ensure Havas’ data infrastructure delivers faster, smarter, and more accountable outcomes for clients across North America.
“The agencies that will lead the next decade of media are the ones that understand how to put human intelligence and machine capability to work together in a way that is accountable and built around what clients actually need,” said Sankar-King. “Havas has the foundation, the platform, and the competitive positioning to do exactly that. The opportunity in this market is significant, and we are in a strong position to take it.”
Sankar-King’s appointment adds a rare combination of consulting rigor, agency fluency, and AI expertise to Havas Media Network North American executive leadership team. Having scaled organizational capabilities across Bain, BBDO, and WPP, she brings both the strategic and operational depth that will strengthen Havas’ ability to deliver intelligence-led solutions at scale, and provide clients with data-driven accountability that sets a new standard in the market. As the leading challenger agency in North America, Havas Media Network enters its next chapter with the talent and expertise to define the future of media.
About Havas Media Network
Havas Media Network combines human ingenuity with machine intelligence to drive clients’ business growth. Through our operating model – Converged.AI – we help brands stay relevant and grow in a world that never stands still. We are part of Havas, one of the world’s largest integrated content, media and communications groups with nearly 23,000 people working across media, creative, production and technology. Havas Media Network creates personalized and seamlessly-connected customer journeys through future-forward capabilities in activation (Havas Play), commerce & performance (Havas Market) and data & tech through (CSA). Our agencies are home to more than 10,000 media specialists across +140 countries, with 73 Villages that bring together talented people across all disciplines to work side-by-side to serve our clients. Clients include BBC, Canal+, Credit Agricole, Decathlon, Dolce & Gabbana, EDF, Emirates, Fidelity Investments, Grupo Carso, Hyundai, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Kia, Leroy Merlin, Lidl, LVMH, PNC Bank, Puma, Reckitt Benckiser, Red Bull, Sanofi, Shell, Telefonica, YUM Brands, among many others. For more information, visit the website or follow Havas Media Network on LinkedIn @Havas Media Network or Instagram @havas_media_network.
Press Contact
Amanda Dyke
Managing Partner, Marketing & Communications
Havas Media Network North America