Let’s be real: the biggest story here might be that we’re hiring at all. We have a lot of open roles right now, fueled by some exciting growth and new-biz momentum so far in 2026.
But of course, the role I’m most excited about, which will have the biggest impact on our future as an agency, is our new head of creative, Kim Baffi. We’ve brought her on to lead our growing creative team after months of conversations with dozens of people, and thousands of applicants. It feels so good to have all that behind us, and even better because of who we ended up with.
Kim has spent her career leading creative teams at several big agencies, before spending 5 years leading the in-house creative team at Salesforce. She’s a true hybrid, who blurs the lines between client and agency environments. Between strategy and execution. Between brand and performance. And between AI innovation and human creativity.
That’s such a rare combination in a single person, and in our experience so far in 2026, it’s exactly what clients are looking for from their agency partners. Our business is growing because we’re able to deeply embed within our client orgs, we understand when to aim for a big idea and when to ship quickly, we work across a range of outputs and outcomes, and we help our clients navigate the changing tech landscape.
Kim’s take: “The future is fluid. Creativity has evolved from a siloed department into an operating system. Success now requires adaptable leaders with an audacious point of view, deep empathy, and the ability to use AI to amplify human insight at scale.”
With Kim onboard, we take all those skills from Good to Great, with a creative approach that merges the creativity and innovation of an agency partnership, with the efficiency and speed of an in-house team.
We have big creative dreams, and I’m so excited for Kim to help us make them come true.
A few Kim highlights:
- In-house experience: She spent 5 years as VP/ECD of Global Brand at Salesforce, ushering the brand into the AI era with campaigns like “Ask More of AI.”
- Agency-side: At BBDO, she steered the “Re-Established” brand overhaul for Wells Fargo. She also clocked time in creative leadership roles at AKQA, R/GA, 72andSunny, and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.
- Peers describe her as “a creative who could have been a strategist,” which is the best kind of creative.
- Based in Austin, TX, where she takes full advantage of the city’s live music scene.
Want to hear more about Kim and our creative path? Hit us up any time. And if you like what you’re reading and want to join Codeword at this exciting time, take a look at our open roles and see if there’s a fit.