Battlefield Lessons in Agency Growth feat. Tracey Barber (Global Chief Transformation & Growth Officer, Havas)

Episode 29 of The Indian AdGeek features Tracey Barber, Global Chief Transformation and Growth Officer at Havas Creative Network, in a conversation that moves from war rooms to advertising's version of them. Tracey spent eight years as a Non-Executive Director at the UK Ministry of Defence while building her career at Havas, and she brings that same discipline to the biggest question facing global agency networks today: what needs to be transformed, and what simply needs to be replaced. We get into the mindset shift from winning pitches as Global CMO to re-architecting how an entire network creates value, the real signals that separate genuine transformation from relabelled old habits, and why Havas' Village model still holds up a decade after it was conceived. Tracey also gets into details about India's structural position in Havas' global playbook, what Converged.AI actually looks like when it is commercially deployed end to end, and the uncomfortable strategic challenge she would hand India's leadership for the next three to five years. This is a conversation about advertising's future told by someone who has spent equal time defending a nation and defending a network. Tune in for client stories, pitch stories, and one very direct answer on why clients are choosing ad agencies over management consultants. The Indian AdGeek streams on all podcast apps. Vishal Mehra on X