Barry Wacksman

Co-Founder & Chairman

Barry Wacksman is a thought leader in the field of digital transformation and the key architect of one of its leading companies, R/GA, where he spent 21 years prior to co-founding Proto. In 2011, Barry invented the concept of connected ecosystems as the most important business strategy to emerge in the 21st century, the key to the success of Apple, Amazon and Google. He co-authored the book Connected by Design (John Wiley & Sons, 2014) detailing the seven key principles of the strategy, which was selected for Gary’s Book Club at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show.

Barry started his career in the digital agency business in 1994, joining R/GA in 1999 to lead business development and corporate strategy. Under Barry’s leadership, R/GA grew from a company of 45 staff in a single office to a global network of 18 offices and 2,200 staff. He was instrumental in winning many of the firm’s key clients, including Nike, Johnson & Johnson, Verizon, L’Oreal, Nokia, Goldman Sachs, Walmart, MasterCard, Google and Samsung. In 2012, Barry launched a consulting business inside of R/GA focused on business transformation and corporate innovation.

Barry is the former Board Chair of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) and Miami Ad School. He currently serves on the boards of the ANA Education Foundation and ACT Responsible. He graduated from Ohio State University with a BA in philosophy and was a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at Syracuse University.