The question of what to do with all this artificial intelligence, once you have built it, turns out to require its own executive.

R/GA has appointed Sadie Thoma to the newly created position of global chief business officer, a title that suggests the agency believes it has something worth commercializing and now needs someone to do the commercializing. Ms. Thoma, who spent the last 14 years at Google, will oversee the agency's efforts to turn its AI capabilities into revenue, including a product called Brand DNA Sequencer, which trains AI agents to generate assets that match a brand's visual identity.

Ms. Thoma told Campaign that the challenge facing most businesses is not introducing new tools but integrating them into existing structures and partnerships. "Nobody's a know-it-all when it comes to AI; we're all learn-it-alls," she said, deploying the sort of phrase that travels well in conference keynotes.

The hire marks Ms. Thoma's return to the agency world after a considerable absence. She last worked on the agency side at Gotham, where she was managing partner from late 2008 to early 2011 — which is to say, during the financial crisis and its immediate aftermath, a period that tested the fortitude of anyone trying to sell creative services. She joined Google in 2011 and most recently served as director of ads marketing.

"Google showed me the power of pairing deep technical expertise with creative ambition," Ms. Thoma said. "I'm here to bring that Google lens, pace, rigor and relationships to help R/GA's clients build real, lasting growth."

R/GA, which has been part of the Interpublic Group of Companies since 2007, has spent recent years positioning itself as an agency that builds technology products rather than simply campaigns. The creation of a chief business officer role suggests the agency now believes it has enough products to warrant someone whose job is, essentially, to sell them.

(Whether the market agrees remains, as always, the market's decision.)

Original story published in campaignlive.com: "R/GA hires former Google exec Sadie Thoma as global chief business officer | Campaign US"