Toronto-based CRM agency William Thomas Digital continues to build on its martech goals by hiring Bob Sybydlo as director of marketing automation solutions.

Sybydlo was most recently director of marketing technology for FCB/Six, and also brings experience from Chicago-based email marketing company Yes. Over the course of his career, he has worked with clients including eBay, Air Canada, CIBC, HP, Dominos, Samsung, BMO and BMW.

“What we needed was really someone who was coming from a platform agnostic space,” says Greg Elliott, managing director at William Thomas Digital. “Bob’s background was unique in the sense that he comes from a technology space… and [spent] time as a marketing technologist within the agency world.”

In May, William Thomas hired Anne Chudy (from Ariad) and Tim Cormick (from Juniper Park\TBWA) as joint strategy leads, tasked with leading and developing the personalized experience strategy at the agency. When it comes to CRM, Elliott says, the space has evolved, with more focus being placed on automation as the practice transitions to “truly” personalized experiences.

“Customer expectations have elevated,” he says. “For brands to keep up and agencies to keep up, we need to make sure we have deep technology expertise.”

As a consultant within the technology space, Elliott sees William Thomas as a bridge connecting the strategic and technological thinkers in the industry, an area Sybydlo fits between. Elliott forsees leaders like Sybydlo – born in the software world, but with a passion for marketing – becoming more common.

“That’s going to be a new mold of what a marketer needs to be,” he says, understanding strategy but also the technological tools. The Canadian market is incredibly competitive, he continues, particularly in Toronto when it comes to technological innovation. “Talent is hard to find, it’s one of our biggest challenges.”

William Thomas has been adding new hires over the years, says Elliott, and the traditionally digital agency continues to invest in technological skill sets. “Where we’ve doubled down on strategy and doubled down on our creative side, we’ve also doubled down on our technology side,” he says, calling it a unique value proposition.

The agency’s clients include Scene Loyalty, Loblaw, The Body Shop, Scotiabank and Cadillac Fairview.