Ian Mackenzie has announced Monday afternoon that he is stepping away from McCann Worldgroup Canada.

“After almost nine years, across three IPG agencies, FCB/SIX, Performance Art and McCann Worldgroup (McCann, MRM and Craft in Canada), I’ve made the tough decision to move on to new adventures,” Mackenzie said in a LinkedIn post.

Mackenzie was the chief creative officer at McCann from March until November 2024, when Jordan Doucette was named the new CCO. At time, Mackenzie shifted his full focus to serve as McCann Worldgroup’s global AI creative lead.

He tells strategy: “Nine years is several lifetimes in advertising. Although I had the good fortune of working at a some different great IPG agencies in that time, I feel that in general I’d made much of the contribution I’d set out to make and this was a great time to push on to new challenges. From my standpoint, this is a very natural inflection point that leaves room for new voices and gives me the chance to try something new.”

When he was appointed to the role of CCO in March, Mackenzie led all creative work for McCann Worldgroup network’s creative operations in Canada, which included McCann, MRM and Craft, and offices in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary.

Before that, Mackenzie was the CCO of Performance Art, which was founded by CEO Andrea Cook.

Mackenzie’s appointment came as Performance Art’s creative technology, CRM, brand strategy and performance work, as well as its teams, were integrated within McCann and MRM. The company said at the time the move is part of a broader effort by the network to align its specialized capabilities. That included capabilities that have traditionally been housed within McCann Worldgroup’s boutique agencies, with its power brands of McCann, MRM, FutureBrand and Craft.

Mackenzie’s recent award-winning work includes the “Black Elevation Map” for Black & Abroad, which takes cultural data and visualizes them as points of interest on a dynamic, searchable elevation map of North America, overcoming the limited worldview of data bias and providing uplifting ways for travelers to interact with Black-owned businesses and cultural organizations. Another key work includes “The Greatest Guide” for Grupo Bimbo, which used AI and digital mapping to help foodies find more than 8,000 street chefs who were innovating with hot dogs and hamburgers.

“Across those nine years, a strong hunch has become a strong conviction. And the creative AI work I’ve had the privilege to work on and lead over the past few years makes it clear to me… this is just the beginning,” Mackenzie said on LinkedIn.

When asked about his next move, Mackenzie tells strategy, “I can’t share too much at the moment. But I do see my work as part of a kind of continuum that involves data, tech, AI and creativity in service of driving growth for brands. I’m excited to keep pushing at those frontiers in the months and years ahead.”

Mackenzie has earned more than 500 industry awards, including the Grand Prix in Creative Data at Cannes, the D&AD Black Pencil, Best of Discipline at One Show and the ADC Fusion Cube Grand Prix for DEI. Recently, Performance Art was ranked fourth on the ICA’s 2024 Creative Power List.

Mackenzie joined McCann Canada at a time of continued momentum and accolades for the agency, including being named strategy’s the Digital Silver Agency of the Year in 2024, the Bronze Agency of the Year in 2023 and the Silver Digital Agency of the Year in 2022.

McCann’s client roster in Canada includes Mastercard, Smirnoff, Nespresso and the Canadian Lung Association.