Back in May, Mills and Sinx, co-founders of ustwo, began to look for a dedicated CEO to drive the growth of ustwo’s global agency business. Eight months later, we’ve finally found the right fit and we’re really excited to welcome Carsten Wierwille as CEO of ustwo Studios.
"Over the past 14 years, ustwo has stealthily disrupted industries, defined new frontiers and delivered tangible results. Today, we are at an inflection point where we need to continue this momentum forward, but also optimize to drive growth”
Carsten brings with him a ton of great industry and leadership experience as well as real connection with ustwo’s commitment to independence, creativity, and culture. Hailing from Method, he’s got 15 years of experience in design, technology, and general management. Before that, Carsten spent over nine years at frog, where he led the company’s North America business and has also previously held executive roles at R/GA and Thinkmap, a data visualization pioneer, and at Accenture. We’re really excited by his track record of managing global product and design firms that have successfully launched and scaled innovative offerings. Not only that, he’s well versed in operating across various cultures and managing multi-studio environments – both cornerstones of ustwo Studios business and culture.
As CEO, Carsten will continue to further ustwo’s mission to design and deliver digital products that create meaningful impact and drive positive change for people, businesses and organizations. Working across our four studios in London, New York, Malmö and Sydney along with satellite operations in Los Angeles and Tokyo, he’ll lead the global studios to develop a long-term approach to growth and be responsible for the overall strategic and commercial performance of the business.
So, what does the man himself think about his new role? “ustwo understands that great digital products and services require a culture that is fully committed to talent, collaboration, experimentation, and craft. As the interest in design is expanding, and the market for digital services shifting, ustwo has a phenomenal opportunity to create meaningful impact. I’m incredibly excited to collaborate with Sinx, Mills, and the fantastic team at ustwo to help shape the future of the company.”
Mills and Sinx will continue to be as involved as ever in the running of ustwo. They’ll be assuming new roles within our diversified and growing businesses that really tally with their passions. Mills will lead ustwo’s ventures branch: ustwo Adventure, including Chairing its successful spin-off games studio, ustwo Games – best known for Monument Valley 1 and 2. While Sinx, who was previously CEO of ustwo Studios, will now become its Chairman. Carsten will continue to collaborate closely with both co-founders in these new roles, with the rest of the company structure staying the same.
Carsten is a natural leader and understands how to inspire our people and clients and continue to drive and evolve our approach to digital products and services
Carsten joins at a time when digital agencies and design studios are being swallowed up or acquired by management consulting firms. The role of an independent design firm like ustwo has never been more important which is part of what draws him to ustwo – and makes his role so vital. With his help, ustwo Studios will continue to nurture its unique culture, independent voice and collaborative approach to digital products and services.