Takeshi Sano

Sano’s appointment is the first time Dentsu has handed the global CEO role to an executive whose career was built primarily inside the Japan business in more than a decade. His parallel mandate as CEO of dentsu Japan — the unit that throws off roughly 40 percent of group net revenue and more than half of operating profit — signals where the new leadership thinks the center of gravity should sit while the international business is rebuilt.

The flatter management structure announced alongside Sano’s appointment eliminated the standalone Global COO role and the global president-of-practices role, with regional CEOs and practice presidents now reporting directly to him. For an industry tracking how the holdcos respond to the Omnicom-IPG combination and Publicis’s Connected Media push, Dentsu’s bet is on tighter execution from a Tokyo-anchored leadership team — measured against management’s FY2027 targets of 4 percent organic growth and a 16-17 percent underlying operating margin.