Khai Meng Tham is one of the world's most awarded creative directors.
AdAge has called Khai “One of the world's most influential people in the communication business.”
Khai's story began at Central St Martins in London where he studied design and art history and was awarded a scholarship to pursue an MA in Film at the RoyalCollege of Art. Upon completing his studies, Khai went into advertising first at Leo Burnett London; and later in Singapore with stints at McCann Erickson and Bateys.
He joined Ogilvy & Mather in 2000 as Regional Creative Director of Asia Pacific where he led them to win Agency of the Year for eight straight years int he Campaign Brief rankings. During this time he was inducted into theCampaign Brief Hall of Fame.
In 2009, Khai moved to New York to assume the position of Worldwide Chief CreativeOfficer partnering with Miles Young who was the CEO. It was a role that had him overseeing the work of the entire O&M global network of more than 200 offices.
Three years into the role, he made advertising history by leading Ogilvy & Mather to win Network of the Year at Cannes five years in a row from 2012 through 2016.
He has also been credited with the agency’s first ever Global Agency of the Year accolade from Adweek in 2016.
Khai was appointed Co-Chairman of the Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide Board in January 2016. He was also Chairman of its Worldwide Creative Council. His tenure at Ogilvy ended in July, 2018. Since then, he has been involved in board roles and advising agencies, businesses and governments on strategy, marketing and brand building.
A multipleGrand Prix and Titanium winner at Cannes, Khai serves as president on numerous advertising juries and is a frequent speaker at creative forums and business conferences, including international advertising festivals and at the WorldEconomic Forum. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and is a contributing writer to The Guardian, Campaign and Forbes.
Khai also serves on the boards of Twitter Advisory Council, The Future of Storytelling, Miami AdSchool, Berlin School of Creative Leadership, including advisory boards of Manabie, Rethink Food NYC, and is involved with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
