Archetype strengthens APAC leadership for AI visibility push

Archetype APAC has expanded its regional leadership team as it ramps up VISTA, its consulting framework designed to help brands improve their visibility across AI-powered discovery platforms.

As part of the move, the agency has promoted Mei Ling Yeow (pictured middle) to executive vice president, APAC head of strategy and innovation. It has also appointed Florence Mae Jarillo (pictured left) as APAC data and insights lead, while Simon Lesch (pictured right) has joined the regional senior leadership team as APAC head of AI and transformation.

The appointments come as brands increasingly look to adapt their communications strategies for an AI-driven search and discovery landscape, where generative AI tools are playing a growing role in how consumers find and evaluate information.

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In her expanded role, Yeow will lead Archetype APAC's strategy and innovation agenda, with a focus on growing the agency's AI visibility consulting capabilities, strengthening its advisory services across the region and helping clients integrate business strategy, communications and technology.

Meanwhile, Jarillo will oversee the agency's regional data and insights function, translating audience, brand and campaign data into actionable strategies for clients.

Lesch will lead the integration of AI across Archetype's consulting and creative operations, with a focus on embedding AI into agency workflows and supporting clients' AI transformation initiatives.

The appointments support the expansion of VISTA, Archetype's consulting framework that brings together strategy, communications, AI, data and analytics to help organisations strengthen how they are represented and discovered by AI systems.

According to the agency, the framework is built around five pillars: visibility, identification, signals, trust and attribution. It aims to help brands improve how they are recognised by both people and AI-powered platforms by aligning earned, owned and executive communications with data and measurement.

The agency said the expanded leadership team reflects its continued investment in AI-led consulting capabilities across the Asia Pacific region.

“Most of the conversations I’m having with clients right now are about planning the road ahead and how to integrate efforts to move the visibility measures. Nobody has AI visibility fully cracked yet. There’s no established playbook, and that’s the honest state of things right now: chaotic, but urgent," said Yeow. 

She added, "What we’ve found is that having a consulting framework that acknowledges this and yet embraces testing and validation is critical. VISTA gives clients a way to step in, start moving and evolve their approach as they go, while connecting what they’re doing to what’s actually changing, attributing action to impact, not just activity to hope."

According to Yeow, success in an AI-driven landscape will depend less on visibility through volume and more on consistently sending clear signals wherever stakeholders seek information.

In tandem, Jarillo said, "Data only matters when it improves the quality of decisions. Our role is to turn signals into insight, and insight into strategy clients can act on. By strengthening our data and insights capability across APAC, we can help clients better understand audiences, measure what matters and design campaigns that are more relevant, responsive and effective."

Meanwhile, Lesch added, "AI has changed the operating model of communications, but it has not replaced strategy, judgement or creativity. The opportunity is to use AI to remove friction, accelerate workflows and create more space for higher-value thinking. For clients, that means faster decisions, smarter execution and communications programmes that can adapt with greater precision.

The development comes as brands increasingly rethink how they build visibility in an AI-driven discovery landscape. A recent report by VaynerX and Profound found that AI answer engines are relying more heavily on third-party sources such as social media, creator content and user-generated content when recommending brands, rather than brand-owned messaging.

The report also pointed to a broader shift from traditional web search towards a "recommendation era", where consumers are increasingly turning to AI platforms directly for product recommendations and information.

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