Leadership Transition at Assembly as APAC CEO Exits Post-Rebrand
Assembly Global replaces its APAC CEO with a federated leadership model following the ADK Global acquisition. What this means for agency consolidation in Asia.
Richard Brosgill has departed as CEO of Assembly Global's Asia-Pacific operations after six years in senior regional leadership and 16 years with the organization. No successor has been named.
Brosgill Exits at Moment of Regional Brand Unification
Brosgill's departure follows Assembly's unification of its entire APAC network under one brand from January 2026. The unified network spans nine markets: Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, India, and Australia.
He joined Forward3D in 2010 and relocated to Asia in 2016 for an intended one-year assignment that extended to a decade. He was promoted to APAC CEO in April 2023.
On LinkedIn, Brosgill stated he had "delivered on everything I set out to achieve — an award-winning, connected business scaled across truly diverse markets; winning, growing, and trusted by incredible brands." He added that he plans to spend time with family before pursuing his "next challenge."
Leadership Transition Follows ADK Global Acquisition
Brosgill led Assembly through three rebrands during his tenure: Forward3D to ForwardPMX, and then to Assembly Global in February 2022 following Stagwell's merger of the two agencies. That merger created a 1,500-person agency operating across 20 countries managing US$5 billion in annual billings.
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His final major project was the ADK Global acquisition, announced January 2025 and completed July 2025. The deal expanded Assembly's APAC footprint to more than 800 professionals across 12 to 14 markets, combining ADK's creative capabilities with Assembly's media planning and data services.
Yasuyuki Katagi, formerly of ADK Global, was appointed Chief Integration Officer, APAC, a newly created role to manage the cultural and operational merger of the two agencies.
Distributed Leadership Model Replaces Single CEO Role
Assembly has not named a single replacement for Brosgill. Instead, the organization has activated a federated regional structure: Vivian Mok expanded to SVP and North Asia Managing Director, Karen Ho leads Greater China, and Sharon Soh leads Southeast Asia. Retained ADK market CEOs remain in their respective markets.
Local leadership teams are expected to maintain client continuity while accessing Assembly's proprietary STAGE AI Experience Engine, the agency's technology platform being rolled out across all APAC markets from January 2026.
Assembly achieved B Corp certification in 2025, a governance milestone the organization has cited as a signal of institutional stability independent of individual leadership changes.
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Background: Assembly's APAC Growth Under Brosgill
Assembly, owned by Stagwell, positions itself as a challenger to the large global agency holding groups. During Brosgill's tenure, the agency expanded across Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Taiwan, India, and Malaysia, growing from a performance marketing specialist into an integrated agency offering brand strategy, creative, media, data, and commerce services.
Whether Assembly intends to appoint a single APAC CEO or maintain the distributed model as a permanent structure has not been publicly confirmed.
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