Bob Lord
President
Horizon Media
Bob Lord is a global executive leader and technology visionary with more than three decades of experience transforming organizations through technical innovations, leveraging data, and developing open ecosystems. As President of Horizon Media Holdings and Interim CEO of Horizon Global he is leading a reset of the agency model focused on transparency, future-forward collaboration, and simplicity.
At Horizon, Bob oversees its portfolio of marketing services and connected intelligence divisions, including Horizon Media, Horizon Next, One Horizon, Blue Hour Studios, Horizon Commerce, Horizon Business and the Horizon product organization. Fueled by his technical acumen and guided by his product discipline, Bob has driven market differentiation for Blu Platform - Horizon’s AI-native intelligence engine that unites strategy, insights, activation, and reporting in real time - and enabled access to clients of Fortune 500 companies. His emphasis on enterprise innovation and technology modernization positions Horizon as the leading independent, people-first organization and strategic growth partner for brands navigating AI-driven marketing transformation.
Before joining Horizon, Bob served nearly a decade at IBM as the company’s first Chief Digital Officer, where here revolutionized the company’s go-to-market strategy by building a powerful open ecosystem of developers, partners and clients. He led key divisions to sharpen IBM’s strategic focus, launched the Call for Code initiative - the largest tech-for-good initiative of its kind focused on addressing social and humanitarian issues - and served as Executive Sponsor of IBM’s Black Community, helping to champion diversity, equity, and inclusion across the company.
Earlier, Bob transformed digital marketing as Global CEO of Razorfish, guiding its integration into Publicis Groupe, and later as President of AOL, where he helped pioneer programmatic advertising and contributed to its multibillion-dollar acquisition by Verizon.
Bob serves on the boards of Integral Ad Science, Delve, and Certified Collectibles Group, and has previously held roles with Williams-Sonoma, Screenvision Media, and several Blackstone portfolio companies. An Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School, he teaches in the Scaling Technology Ventures program and co-authored Converge: Transforming Business at the Intersection of Marketing and Technology.
Bob is a strong advocate for inclusive leadership and collaboration to drive industry transformation. His work has earned him multiple industry honors, such as MediaPost’sExecutive of the Year 2025, Adweek’s Top 50 Executives and CRN’s 50 Most Influential Channel Chiefs. He holds a BS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Syracuse University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Outside of work, he is an avid cyclist, and triathlete who values time with family above all.
At Horizon, Bob oversees its portfolio of marketing services and connected intelligence divisions, including Horizon Media, Horizon Next, One Horizon, Blue Hour Studios, Horizon Commerce, Horizon Business and the Horizon product organization. Fueled by his technical acumen and guided by his product discipline, Bob has driven market differentiation for Blu Platform - Horizon’s AI-native intelligence engine that unites strategy, insights, activation, and reporting in real time - and enabled access to clients of Fortune 500 companies. His emphasis on enterprise innovation and technology modernization positions Horizon as the leading independent, people-first organization and strategic growth partner for brands navigating AI-driven marketing transformation.
Before joining Horizon, Bob served nearly a decade at IBM as the company’s first Chief Digital Officer, where here revolutionized the company’s go-to-market strategy by building a powerful open ecosystem of developers, partners and clients. He led key divisions to sharpen IBM’s strategic focus, launched the Call for Code initiative - the largest tech-for-good initiative of its kind focused on addressing social and humanitarian issues - and served as Executive Sponsor of IBM’s Black Community, helping to champion diversity, equity, and inclusion across the company.
Earlier, Bob transformed digital marketing as Global CEO of Razorfish, guiding its integration into Publicis Groupe, and later as President of AOL, where he helped pioneer programmatic advertising and contributed to its multibillion-dollar acquisition by Verizon.
Bob serves on the boards of Integral Ad Science, Delve, and Certified Collectibles Group, and has previously held roles with Williams-Sonoma, Screenvision Media, and several Blackstone portfolio companies. An Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School, he teaches in the Scaling Technology Ventures program and co-authored Converge: Transforming Business at the Intersection of Marketing and Technology.
Bob is a strong advocate for inclusive leadership and collaboration to drive industry transformation. His work has earned him multiple industry honors, such as MediaPost’sExecutive of the Year 2025, Adweek’s Top 50 Executives and CRN’s 50 Most Influential Channel Chiefs. He holds a BS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Syracuse University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Outside of work, he is an avid cyclist, and triathlete who values time with family above all.