Published on: October 8, 2026
AKQA Australia has promoted Luciano Di Leonardo to Executive Technology Director, giving him a broader leadership mandate as the agency continues to strengthen its technology and engineering capabilities.
In his expanded role, Di Leonardo will head the Australian technology practice and engineering organisation while overseeing technology strategy for clients. His responsibilities will include technical programme delivery across the agency’s Australian client portfolio and leadership of teams comprising solution architects, technical leads, delivery leads and principal engineers.
A major part of his mandate will be accelerating AKQA Australia’s transition towards AI-native development. This will involve integrating agentic AI tools, contemporary engineering practices and new capability frameworks across the technology organisation.
Di Leonardo will report to Eric Orton, Chief Technology Officer, APAC. He will also work closely with Justine Leong, Managing Director, AKQA Australia, and the wider leadership team across creative, strategy, experience design and client services to strengthen technology’s role in the agency’s innovation proposition.
Speaking about his expanded role, Luciano said, “AI is a once-in-a-generation inflection point. In much the same way the internet reshaped our industry 25 years ago, AI is changing how we create, engineer and deliver experiences,” said Luciano.
“My ambition is to move technology beyond being a delivery partner to becoming an invention partner. That means being people-led and AI-amplified — using AI to extend the ingenuity, craftsmanship and creativity of our teams, rather than replace what makes them exceptional.”
Di Leonardo has been with AKQA for more than 15 years, during which he has worked across technical strategy, enterprise architecture and engineering transformation. Before joining the agency, he held technology positions in Australia and the UK across sectors including insurance, digital, product development and IT.
At AKQA, his client experience has covered commerce and retail, insurance, superannuation, travel, government and entertainment. His work has included engagements with AustralianSuper, Foodstuffs NZ, Inland Revenue NZ, Visit Victoria, HESTA, RACWA, Australian Ethical Super and Country Road Group.
One of his key initiatives was leading the digital transformation of Country Road Group. The project involved coordinating more than 30 stakeholders across three locations and offshore teams to build a serverless, edge-based headless architecture capable of deploying 24 websites in 240 seconds across four retail brands.
Di Leonardo also established and led AKQA’s 24/7 managed services support operation, implementing enterprise technology tools and updated operational SLA frameworks. Throughout his career, he has recruited, mentored and developed more than 100 technology professionals.
Eric Orton said, “Luciano has been at the heart of every major transformation in our business over the last 15 years, leading some of our highest-impact work across Australia and New Zealand. His leadership, technical depth and commitment to our teams and clients have helped shape so much of what we’ve achieved together.
“AI is bringing one of the biggest shifts our industry has seen, fundamentally changing the way ideas are conceived, built and experienced. I’m thrilled to have Luciano guiding our team and clients in Australia through this next chapter, and I look forward to what we’ll achieve together.”
Di Leonardo added, “I care deeply about this team and the future we can build together. I want to create a clear vision, elevate the people who are already pushing boundaries and make AKQA’s technology practice a place where exceptional technologists are proud to do the best work of their careers.”
Read more: Tyler Turnbull Set to Lead WPP Creative as Global CEO
