Michael Bürgi

Selecting the Adweek 50 each year gets progressively harder simply because the businesses we cover are increasingly fragmented and nuanced—making it more complicated to identify those who really stand out above their competitors in delivering gains for their C-suites bosses and boardrooms. What follows is the result of our months-long search for that talent and the debate about their inclusion and ranking on the “50.”

18. Kasha Cacy
President, UM U.S.
Est. 2014 revenue: $215 million

Since getting promoted to president of UM in August 2014, Kasha Cacy has overseen several major new-business wins including CVS Health, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Office Depot and True Value (among others). Over the past 14 months, Cacy has recorded a new business conversion rate of 50 percent—and she also helped the UM team expand its responsibilities for existing client BMW. In her current role, Cacy, 43, oversees a group of more than 1,000 staffers across UM’s six offices within the U.S. and directs efforts to promote and execute on the agency’s new “moments-based media planning practice.” She also leads all of the organization’s cross-channel buying and planning, data analytics and custom content practices as well as its strategy and business development efforts. —Patrick Coffee