Sarah Thompson has been named CEO of Goodby Silverstein & Partners (GS&P). Thompson–the first to hold the CEO title at GS&P–brings deep experience building iconic creative agencies, leading global teams, and helping brands grow at the intersection of creativity, technology, and culture.
Thompson was a key architect of Droga5, widely considered one of the most successful creative agencies of its era. Over the course of 17 years, she helped build, scale, and eventually sell the agency to Accenture. As global CEO, she guided Droga5 through international expansion, earned multiple Agency of the Year and Agency of the Decade accolades–all while continuously evolving the agency to meet the needs of a changing industry.
Following Droga5’s acquisition in 2019, she was promoted to lead global communications and content at Accenture Song, where she oversaw more than 5,000 people across the company’s creative, media, and content agencies. There, she helped integrate creative thinking into a global consultancy, leveraging technology to unlock creativity at speed and scale for modern clients.
For Thompson, her appointment marks both a return to familiar creative roots and a bold step toward the agency’s future.
“What drew me to GS&P is their courage–their commitment to big ideas, their openness to evolve, and their belief that creativity can drive business and impact culture,” said Thompson. “This is a company that has stood the test of time because it works with integrity, adapts without fear, and truly believes that anything is possible.”
Thompson started her career at GS&P, working in account management for five years alongside now GS&P chief creative officer Margaret Johnson, who will be Thompson’s partner. “Sarah’s track record speaks for itself,” Johnson said, “but what excites me most is her energy, her generosity, and her belief in the power of creativity to evolve business and culture.”
Thompson joins a leadership team that has been expanded and strengthened over the last couple of years, led by its founders Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein, CCO Johnson, chief strategy officer Christine Chen, managing partner Brian McPherson, chief growth officer Cory Berger, head of inclusion and impact Dr. Jennifer Gomes, head of people Jill Sammons and a recently established leadership team in New York: executive creative directors Eamonn Dixon and Stefan Copiz, managing director Tom Powers and deputy director of brand strategy Katie Coane.
“Sarah has a rare ability to rally people around a shared ambition–growing client businesses through creativity,” said agency co-founder Goodby. “She also knows how to nurture a creative powerhouse without losing its soul. Under her leadership, her agencies have always delivered bold, modern work at global scale.”
Co-founder Silverstein agreed. “Sarah shares our DNA and our belief that creativity can solve any problem,” he said. “We couldn’t be happier about having her lead us.”
Thompson will be based in the agency’s New York office, which is now a core part of servicing pillar clients such as BMW, MINI, Frito-Lay, and Comcast. Over the past year, GS&P New York played a key role in partnering with the San Francisco office for wins including Zaxbys, General Mills, Brown-Forman, Xfinity, and Comcast’s corporate business. These wins have led to a 300% increase in net new business revenue overall for GS&P since July 2024.
In addition to her agency leadership, Thompson recently co-founded The HT40 Foundation and The Shoulder Check Initiative, a nonprofit focused on youth mental health that has gained national momentum. She also serves as chair of FundamentalCo, a private equity-focused strategy consultancy founded by Jonny Bauer that partners with GS&P on select growth-stage projects.
With Thompson at the helm, GS&P will continue building on recent creative successes–including widely heralded work for Cheetos and its AI-powered installations for The Dalí Museum–while scaling its capabilities in media, design, data, and emerging technologies.
“I’ve seen what’s possible inside large holding companies when creativity is empowered, integrated, and at the center,” added Thompson. “With GS&P’s unmatched creative core and Omnicom’s infrastructure in media, tech, and data, we have a powerful opportunity to define what a creative company of the future looks like.”
