Unlocking commercial value by helping leaders across the enterprise spot opportunities and seize them.
Each of these started with the people who had a decision to make.
Unified the separate data practices across VML North America into a single Marketing Effectiveness & Intelligence practice, with standardized offerings, tools and delivery built to accelerate growth and profitability.
Lead a portfolio of more than 15 data and intelligence products for a major automaker. We defined what a data product is, scored every one, internal and vendor, on a single rubric for value and productization, and built a roadmap to scale what matters and retire what doesn't. I own the marketing-mix model that informs quarterly budget allocation and the executive scorecard for marketing leadership.
Helped define and launch VML's agentic analytics offering: governed data, live dashboards and a suite of analytics agents mapped to the marketing workflow, from audience clustering to anomaly detection and creative fatigue. It ships with a 10-week pilot-to-scale path, a certified operating model with human validation, and pricing.
A model nobody uses is worth nothing. The commercial return comes from knowing who has to act, what they are deciding, and what would make them trust the answer.
Every product I back has a named user, a recurring decision, a set cadence and a reason to be on the roadmap. Products that fail that test get fixed, absorbed or retired.
When a stakeholder does not adopt something, I look at the product first: whether it is useful to them, whether they trust it, and whether it fits their working week. Adoption is part of the product.
Scaled the intelligence team 3x while standardizing methods, the talent model and productized IP, so value compounds across accounts.
Advise C-suite leaders at Fortune 100 companies on growth, positioning and customer experience. Executive sponsor on the top 30 client relationships.
Named work from earlier roles and public talks. Current client names are held back for confidentiality.
Will Sandwick is Chief Data Officer for VML North America, where he leads Marketing Effectiveness & Intelligence, a practice of about 200 data practitioners serving about 50 client accounts. He builds data and AI products that leaders use to decide where to invest, and the teams that run them.
Will believes every data point is a chance to learn how people behave and what changes their behavior. He runs his teams on learning and experimentation, so that anyone can put a new idea forward and test it.
Before VML he held analytics leadership roles at R/GA, Droga5, The Barbarian Group and Blippar, working with brands including Nike, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Chobani, L'Oréal, Under Armour and UNICEF. His work has been cited in Adweek, Advertising Age, Forbes and CNBC, and recognized at Cannes Lions, the Effies, the Clios and D&AD Impact.
He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a degree in Economics and English from the University of Virginia. He is based in New York.
"Operates at the intersection of three capabilities rarely found in one leader."
Commercial strategist. Trusted advisor to C-suite clients.
Technologist and innovator. Creator of AI-enabled workflows.
Organizational architect. Cross-functional leader who multiplies impact across the organization.
"Hands-on ability to design, operationalize, and productize AI and analytics solutions."
"Insanely collaborative."
"I would want him on every team I have."
MBA, Executive Program, 2021–2023. Dean's Honors with Distinction (top 5%). Private Equity Program.
BA, Economics and English, 2005–2009. Echols Scholar.
"The Essentials of AI for Your Future Career," VML Sparks Future Talent Forum, 2025. "CX Measurement: From Moments to Individuals," Wunderman Thompson TRANSFORM, 2020. "Partnering with GSK to Predict Flu Outbreaks Based on Social Data," Netbase LIVE!, 2019.
Cannes Lions 2023 (Silver, Bronze) and Effie 2024 (Gold, Silver, Bronze) for #StandUpToJewishHate. One Show Gold for Nike+ GPS, 2011.
Work cited in Adweek, Advertising Age, Forbes, CNBC, Creativity Online, ClickZ and MediaPost.
Outside workExpert skier, city cyclist, intermediate surfer, occasional camper. Plays piano, guitar and bass.
Lead Marketing Effectiveness & Intelligence for the region: a practice of about 200 practitioners serving about 50 client accounts.
Ran intelligence for the New York office and built it into a function used across the network.
Managed directors and analysts across CPG, healthcare, fashion, ecommerce, spirits and financial services.