Gen Kobayashi, ENGINE Creative

Gen Kobayashi is a forward-thinking strategy leader who believes strongly in diversity of thought in the planning discipline. Since joining ENGINE Creative as Chief Strategy Officer in May, he’s brought together a 30-strong team of strategists across a broad range of backgrounds to deliver a unified approach for clients based on his firm belief that every strategist should “be the first creative eyes on every brief.” Gen was proud to lead an ENGINE team that won an IPA Effectiveness Award for Royal Navy and two Effie Awards for Modern Slavery and Santander. The agency also landed DMA Gold for its ‘Chapters of Chill’ work for Churchill – an audiobook series to help provide much-needed moments of mindfulness for families across the UK. Gen’s broader contribution to the industry has included a focus on promoting greater diversity in the strategy discipline through his work with the Diversity Task Force, NABS and the APG.