Cloud-based mobile marketing platform AppsFlyer has appointed Alexia Nakad as General Manager, Western Europe and the Middle East. In this newly created role, Nakad will lead AppsFlyer’s growth and strategic expansion across Western Europe and the Middle East, as the company accelerates its omni-channel and data collaboration strategy across the region.
The appointment represents a key step in AppsFlyer’s continued evolution, helping brands to unify measurement, data collaboration, and activation across increasingly complex digital ecosystems.
“Alexia is a globally recognised leader with an outstanding track record of building and scaling high-performing organisations across multiple regions,” said Alex Grach, General Manager, EMEA at AppsFlyer. “Her deep expertise in data-driven marketing, commercialisation, and strategic partnerships, combined with her experience operating at scale in complex, multi-market environments, makes her uniquely positioned to lead EMEA West and accelerate our omnichannel and data collaboration ambitions.”
Originally from Australia and based in London for the past eight years, Nakad brings more than 18 years of experience driving growth, international expansion, and strategic partnerships across EMEA, APAC, and LATAM.
Most recently at LiveRamp, and previously at Acxiom, Nakad launched and scaled operations across more than 30 markets, led regional turnarounds following acquisitions, and brokered major partnerships with global brands including TikTok, Coca-Cola, Disney, and L’Oréal. She also led a landmark strategic partnership with leading Middle Eastern conglomerate Majid Al Futtaim, significantly strengthening LiveRamp’s presence in the region.
New Digital Age spoke with Alexia Nakad to find out more…
What attracted you to the role at AppsFlyer?
A lot of it comes down to two factors. One is really about the needs of the marketer and being able to support them across the industry. If we take a step back and look at what’s driving marketing today, it’s about being able to understand the value of the media that’s being invested, how that data is being used, and ensuring that trust is always central to that narrative.
If you’re a CMO today, you want to be able to go to your CFO or your CEO and say confidently: this is what my marketing dollar is doing. And you need to be able to say that in a very reliable way. The only way to effectively do that is through a source that is neutral and unbiased. That’s one of the key factors that drove me to AppsFlyer.
If you look at the foundation the company has built, it’s been a market leader in mobile attribution for a very long time. It’s also a founder-led business, which means there’s a very strong focus on customer needs. The DNA of the company is people- and customer-value-led.
That’s really important, not just professionally when you’re trying to support marketers, but personally too. It feels good to be part of a community that has that purpose internally and carries it out to customers and the broader industry.
To give you a sense of scale, AppsFlyer has around 15,000 customers globally, supports one in every three Fortune 500 companies, and operates across more than 190 countries. If you think about what the modern marketer needs, they need a stack that is global and unified. AppsFlyer has achieved that scale while still remaining trusted and neutral, and still keeping the customer at the heart of everything.
The future direction is about expanding that into what the company calls the modern marketing cloud – taking the strong foundation of mobile attribution and amplifying it across an omnichannel approach.
What will be your priorities in the role over the next year?
The company already has very solid foundations, and now the focus is on expanding those into this concept of the modern marketing cloud.
One of my core focus points is how we support that transformation for customers. How do we take that go-to-market narrative and really bring it to life? How do we scale the business and deliver on what the company is trying to achieve?
For me, that’s about bringing that vision to life in the regions I look after. My remit covers Western Europe and the Middle East, so the focus is on driving that transformation and showcasing tangible results there.
I’m also a very people-orientated person, so I’m looking forward to spending time with the team. In my first week I could already see how talented and excited everyone is, and we have a really formidable leadership team across EMEA and beyond.
And then the most exciting part is spending time with customers and the external market. Having conversations like this is valuable, and so is meeting customers directly, understanding their needs and making sure we’re aligned with them.
What kind of support are brand marketers looking for right now?
A lot of it comes down to understanding outcomes. AppsFlyer uses a phrase called the “fragmentation tax.” If you’ve worked in this industry for a long time, you’ll know we’ve always talked about data becoming more fragmented. As technology evolves, that fragmentation has only increased.
Now we’re entering a whole new phase with AI, and that will only drive the fragmentation even further. You have more channels, more methodologies, more sources of data, and everything becomes more complex.
At the same time, if you look at the macroeconomic environment, marketers aren’t being given unlimited resources to deal with that complexity. They’re being asked to do more with less.
So the core challenges for brands are actually very familiar: help me understand the value of the media I’m investing in; help me do that confidently and simply; and allow me to take consistent action to optimise it. It’s really a continuous loop of measurement and optimisation.
From the conversations I’ve had already, that is still very much what people want. And honestly, if you look back over the last 10 or 15 years of marketing, those core challenges haven’t changed all that much.
As a woman who has progressed professionally in the digital media industry, do you feel progress has been made for women more generally?
Yes, I do think progress has been made over the years, but, like anything, progress is a continuous process. The journey never ends.
I’ve been very fortunate in my career to be supported not only by great women but also by great men and allies along the way. I hope more people have that same experience and that we continue to push for it. Women’s empowerment is really important, but at the end of the day we’re all people. Supporting each other and empowering people to be the best version of themselves is something that’s very important to me personally.
One thing I’m really excited about at AppsFlyer is a programme called AppsFlyer Cares. Next week we’re going to a primary school in London to spend time with students, helping them think about their future and where they see themselves. Being able to give back to the community through initiatives like that is really valuable, and I’m very much looking forward to being part of it.
