DAIVID, the leading creative intelligence platform helping brands measure and optimise the effectiveness of their advertising at scale, today (11th June, 2026) announced that advertising and technology leader Steve Simpson has joined its board of advisors.

Industry veteran Simpson will work closely with DAIVID’s leadership team to help shape the company’s product strategy, strengthen industry partnerships, and support the adoption of its AI-powered solutions among global brands, agencies, and technology partners.

He brings more than three decades of experience across the global agency, media, and marketing technology ecosystem. During his career, he spent eight years as a senior global executive at Publicis Groupe and has held senior leadership positions at Dentsu, Starcom, Mindshare, and GroupM, where he also served for eight years as CEO of Business Science, the group’s analytics and effectiveness division.

His career has focused on the intersection of media investment, measurement, and effectiveness, making him a respected voice on measurement and marketing performance. 

As an investor, advisor, and fractional marketing and technology leader, Simpson works with high-growth companies on scalable approaches that connect strategy, data, and activation, translating complex technology into measurable business impact.

His appointment comes as brands and agencies place greater emphasis on creative effectiveness. As advertising volumes continue to rise, understanding what drives creative performance has become a key challenge for marketers.

DAIVID addresses this gap through AI-powered creative intelligence that enables advertisers to measure and optimise creative effectiveness at scale. The company is expanding its product capabilities and developing API partnerships designed to embed creative data directly into marketing processes. Simpson’s appointment reflects growing industry focus on creative measurement as a critical component of modern marketing.

Ian Forrester, CEO and founder of DAIVID, said: "Steve has joined us following a career spent inside some of the world’s largest media organisations, working at the intersection of media investment and effectiveness. He brings deep expertise in measurement at scale and a clear understanding of how marketing decisions are made inside major global organisations."

"His decision to back DAIVID reflects the growing importance of creative intelligence in marketing, as the industry looks to build the same level of rigour around creative as it has long had for media. His perspective will be invaluable as DAIVID continues to develop as a category-defining platform for creative intelligence."

Simpson joins DAIVID’s advisory group alongside several respected industry figures, including board chairman Rob Sherlock, previously chairman of ADK and chief creative officer at FCB; Carolyn Taylor, former CEO of culture consultancy Walking the Talk; and Phil Townend, formerly chief growth officer at Amplified and APAC chief revenue officer at Unruly.

Simpson said: "I’m excited to be joining the team at DAIVID at a critical time when outcome-based creative assessment becomes scalable. Creative has always driven 50–70% of campaign performance, and DAIVID delivers a new predictive performance signal for marketing decision-making. I look forward to working with the team on their next phase of growth."

With brands producing more creative than ever before, DAIVID's AI-powered platform enables advertisers to analyse creative at scale. Trained on tens of millions of human responses to advertising, DAIVID’s models predict the emotional and business impact of ads within seconds, without requiring audience panels. The platform maps performance across 39 distinct emotions, alongside metrics such as attention, brand recall and purchase intent, helping advertisers quickly identify which assets are most likely to perform at scale.

For more information on DAIVID’s solutions, visit daivid.co.