Rose (pictured) has spent the last nine years in senior leadership roles at Microsoft, most recently as chief operating officer, global enterprise, a role she has held since March 2023.

Prior to this, Rose was president at Microsoft Western Europe and chief executive at Microsoft UK.

Other previous roles include managing director of the UK consumer business at Vodafone and executive director of digital entertainment and media sales at Virgin Media, as well as a 15-year spell at The Walt Disney Company, ultimately as senior vice-president and managing director of Disney Interactive Media Group, Europe, Middle East and Africa (Emea).

Rose has been a non-executive director on the WPP Board since 2019, and will be based in both London and New York, having citizenship of both the UK and US. She was awarded an OBE in the 2019 New Year Honours in recognition of her services to UK technology.

In her new role, Rose will work alongside Read to support the transition to new leadership until the end of this year. Rose will be paid £1.25m a year.

Philip Jansen, chair at WPP, said: “Cindy is an outstanding and inspirational business leader with extensive experience at some of the world’s most recognised companies and a track record of growing large-scale businesses. She has led multi-billion-dollar operations across the UK, Emea and globally, built enduring client relationships and delivered growth in both enterprise and consumer environments.

“Cindy has supported the digital transformation of large enterprises around the world – including embracing AI to create new customer experiences, business models and revenue streams. Her expertise in this landscape will be hugely valuable to WPP as the industry navigates fundamental changes and macroeconomic uncertainty.

“As an existing board member she understands our business and the needs of our clients, and we look forward to working with her in her new role as CEO.”

Rose said: “WPP is a company I know and love – not only from my six years on the board but as a client and partner for many years before that – and I couldn’t be happier or more excited to be appointed as CEO. I began my career in the creative industries and this feels like coming home.

“I am grateful to Mark for his many contributions to the business over the years and I look forward to working together to ensure a smooth handover.”

Read added: “Having worked closely with Cindy for the last six years, I am delighted to see her appointed as CEO of WPP. From her time on the board, she has real insight into our business and knows many of our clients, people and partners around the world.

“She brings deep experience of technology and AI and its transformational impact on business, and has successfully run large global organisations with talent at their core. After seven years as CEO, I know that I am leaving WPP in excellent hands.”