2026 Virtual Coaches
Samira Ansari
US Chief Creative Officer
Grey
New York
Samira Ansari is an internationally awarded creative leader with a career spanning continents, categories, and some of the world’s most iconic brands. As the newly appointed U.S. Chief Creative Officer for Grey, she leads the creative vision across the agency’s New York and Cincinnati studios, driving work that is culturally sharp, globally resonant, and Famously Effective.
A true homecoming, Ansari returns to Grey after two years as Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy New York, where she played a pivotal role in securing more than $40M in new business and elevating the agency to global creative prominence. Under her leadership, Ogilvy New York ranked No. 3 globally at the 2024 Cannes Lions Festival, contributed to Ogilvy securing Network of the Year, and celebrated Coca-Cola’s first Grand Prix in a decade with the widely acclaimed “Recycle Me” campaign. Her tenure also included landmark work such as Nestlé’s Sanpellegrino “With Love, Italy,” which earned the brand its first-ever Cannes Lion in 2025.
Across her career, Ansari has shaped work for major Fortune 500 brands and delivered breakthrough creative across platforms and markets. Her portfolio includes award-winning innovations such as the Sports Emmy, winning “McEnroe vs. McEnroe” for Michelob Ultra, the world’s first physical vs. virtual match between real John McEnroe and his digital avatars, as well as Michelob Ultra Courtside with the NBA and Microsoft, the culturally defining U by Kotex campaign that reshaped how the category markets to women, and Super Bowl work for Wheat Thins and Pringles. Earlier in her career, she partnered closely with Gabriel Schmitt at FCB, producing some of the agency’s most lauded work and contributing to a formidable creative partnership that continues today at Grey.
Ansari has been recognized on Adweek’s Creative 100, named the most awarded ECD in North America at The One Show in 2021, and honored by Cannes Lions, D&AD, Effies, Clios, ADC, and more. She has also served on multiple juries globally, lending her voice to the industry’s most respected creative stages.
A true homecoming, Ansari returns to Grey after two years as Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy New York, where she played a pivotal role in securing more than $40M in new business and elevating the agency to global creative prominence. Under her leadership, Ogilvy New York ranked No. 3 globally at the 2024 Cannes Lions Festival, contributed to Ogilvy securing Network of the Year, and celebrated Coca-Cola’s first Grand Prix in a decade with the widely acclaimed “Recycle Me” campaign. Her tenure also included landmark work such as Nestlé’s Sanpellegrino “With Love, Italy,” which earned the brand its first-ever Cannes Lion in 2025.
Across her career, Ansari has shaped work for major Fortune 500 brands and delivered breakthrough creative across platforms and markets. Her portfolio includes award-winning innovations such as the Sports Emmy, winning “McEnroe vs. McEnroe” for Michelob Ultra, the world’s first physical vs. virtual match between real John McEnroe and his digital avatars, as well as Michelob Ultra Courtside with the NBA and Microsoft, the culturally defining U by Kotex campaign that reshaped how the category markets to women, and Super Bowl work for Wheat Thins and Pringles. Earlier in her career, she partnered closely with Gabriel Schmitt at FCB, producing some of the agency’s most lauded work and contributing to a formidable creative partnership that continues today at Grey.
Ansari has been recognized on Adweek’s Creative 100, named the most awarded ECD in North America at The One Show in 2021, and honored by Cannes Lions, D&AD, Effies, Clios, ADC, and more. She has also served on multiple juries globally, lending her voice to the industry’s most respected creative stages.