Alpha Council
Laura Desmond
Chief Executive Officer, Smartly
Smartly, Adobe, DoubleVerify & women's sports investor
Laura Desmond is the Chief Executive Officer at Smartly, the leading AI-powered advertising technology company, transforming ad experiences for brands and their consumers.
She navigates the company's global operations, strategic partner investments, and product innovation to seamlessly unite creative, intelligence, and media buying. Before becoming Smartly's CEO, Desmond served as the Chair of the Board from 2020 to 2022, overseeing the company's pivotal acquisitions, including Viralspace.ai, a fast-growing startup in artificial intelligence for creative, and Ad.Lib.io, a next-generation creative optimization platform.
Prior to Smartly, Desmond was Chief Revenue Officer of Publicis Groupe and Chief Executive Officer of Starcom Mediavest Group, the #1 media and marketing services agency brand globally for five straight years under her leadership.
Desmond has worked with some of the biggest and most successful marketers worldwide, including Amazon, Coca-Cola, Visa, Spotify, Uber, and P&G. Desmond is a past chair of the Advertising Council and serves on the boards of Adobe, DoubleVerify, as well as Smartly.
Additionally, Desmond is a champion of the advancement of women's sports, serving as an early investor in Chicago women's sports franchises, including the Chicago Sky and the Chicago Red Stars.
