Gut hires Andrea Diquez as the agency’s first global CEO

“We’ve grown to 450 people in five countries and six offices without a CEO and it’s getting to a point that, when we look at our ambition of becoming one of the most diverse, creative, and influential independent networks ever, we need help,” said Anselmo Ramos, Gut’s co-founder and creative chairman. “We’re not a startup anymore. We’re going to the next level.”

The agency currently has offices in Miami, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Toronto and Los Angeles. It has been expanding recently with Gut’s Los Angeles office opening three months ago, according to Ramos; its Toronto and Mexico City offices opened within the past two years.

Gut Toronto, currently at 60 employees, opened with Tim Hortons as its first client and recently was named creative agency of record for GoodLife Fitness. Gut’s Mexico City office, which will be opening its first physical space in 20 days, has around 35 employees and handles work for clients like Corona, Mercado Libre, and Popeyes.

The agency had been looking for a global CEO for two years, said Gaston Bigio, Gut’s other co-founder and creative chairman, who worked with Diquez while at Saatchi nearly 20 years ago in Argentina.

“When I said yes, it was because these two [Ramos and Bigio] were offering me something I’d never done before, and I pride myself in living a life of firsts,” Diquez said. “[Bigio] said ‘This is going to be the job of the rest of your life, because you have the freedom to do things that you’ve never done before’ and that’s really exciting.”

Bigio said the hire was made to help the founders devise longer-term strategies for the agency, while Diquez will be able to help manage leadership and client relationships across the network.

“We need time to think about the next five years,” Bigio said. “In order to do that, you need time to think, to make a proper strategy. You need time to decide what are the gutsy moves, the bold moves you want to do. And for that, you need to have people taking care of everything that’s going on in a good way.”