# Brad Simms

> Brad Simms co-founded GALE in Canada in 2014 and served as its founding CEO until retiring in 2025. He helped develop its combination of consulting, customer data, creative work and media, while championing career coaching and employee development. His earlier roles included senior leadership at SapientNitro, marketing leadership at TravelEdge and advisory work at MDC Ventures; he also led Crispin Porter + Bogusky from 2022 to January 2024.

- **Role:** Co-founder and retired founding CEO at GALE
- **Organizations:** GALE, SapientNitro, TravelEdge, MDC Ventures, Stagwell Media Network, Crispin Porter + Bogusky
- **Education:** Commerce degree (self-reported in a 2023 interview)
- **Known for:** Co-founded GALE and led its development from a seven-person agency into a global business., GALE was named fifth on the 2023 Ad Age A-List and Adweek’s 2023 Breakthrough Media Agency of the Year during his tenure., Led the agency during the 2024 launch of Alchemy.Ai.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2014** — Held senior leadership roles at SapientNitro and served as chief marketing officer at TravelEdge; exact dates not established.
- **2014** — Co-founded GALE in Canada and became its founding CEO.
- **2016** — Reported that GALE had more than doubled in size over the previous year, with office moves in Bengaluru, New York and Toronto.
- **2017** — A podcast biography identified him as an MDC Ventures advisor alongside his agency and marketing experience.
- **2021** — Took the global chief product officer role at Stagwell Media Network while continuing at GALE.
- **2022-10** — Became global CEO of Crispin Porter + Bogusky while retaining his other roles.
- **2023** — GALE reached nearly 800 people in 11 offices; Simms toured its offices to share the founding story.
- **2024-01** — Relinquished Crispin responsibilities to focus full-time on GALE.
- **2024-03** — Outlined GALE’s employee development investment and led the agency during the Alchemy.Ai launch.
- **2025-02** — Announced his retirement; the succession was made public on March 4.

## Achievements

- Co-founded GALE and led its development from a seven-person agency into a global business.
- GALE was named fifth on the 2023 Ad Age A-List and Adweek’s 2023 Breakthrough Media Agency of the Year during his tenure.
- Led the agency during the 2024 launch of Alchemy.Ai.

## Latest updates

- **2025-03** — GALE publicly announced Andrew Noel as global CEO and Sophia Zhang as CEO of North America following Simms’s retirement announcement the preceding month.
- **2025-02** — Announced retirement as GALE’s founding CEO, according to the March 2025 company announcement.
- **2024-10** — Published an essay arguing for brands to build owned platforms and intellectual property.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradthinks

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/brad-simms
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23