Digitas Strengthens Creative Capabilities with Key Promotion and New Hire from VML

Digitas, the Networked Experience Agency, today announces the elevation of Nat Resende to executive creative director, Chicago, and the hiring of McKay Hathaway, senior vice president, creative. They will report into Atit Shah, chief creative officer. Alongside Atit, Nat and McKay will further advance the agency’s creativity capability and leadership.

Following the recent introduction of Digitas AI, an AI-powered operating system and tool suite, the new creative leadership combined with the investment in technology, underscores Digitas’ commitment to strengthening its networked creativity approach. The offering leverages the skills of creatives, technologists, and data-fueled intelligence to drive creative output.  

Nat Resende has been elevated to ECD, Chicago where prior to this, she held the position as SVP/ group creative director. Nat has been instrumental in fostering creativity for a large international CPG account, thus elevating a portfolio of brands to new levels of cultural resonance. Notably, she recently developed an augmented reality platform for a snack brand that highlighted underrepresented BIPOC artists at the High Museum in Atlanta.

Throughout her career, Nat has won the Cannes Young Lions Competition, led award-winning work, such as Spike Lee’s commercial for Coin Cloud, and was recognized in Adweek’s Creative 100. As the leader of Digitas Chicago, she will continue to deliver diverse creative outputs, including culture-shaping networked campaigns, impactful brand storytelling, and AI-powered activations. She will continue to report to chief creative officer (CCO) Atit Shah.

McKay Hathaway, formerly executive creative director at VML, has joined Digitas as senior vice president, creative. At VML, he led the integrated Wendy’s AOR account, and his innovative and audience-focused portfolio has won him a Grand Prix and Gold Cannes Lions, Effie Awards, Ad Age A-List, and Campaign of the Year accolades.

"Nat brings a vibrant, modern and global-minded sensibility to our work and our collective vision. From leading on our ‘Unlock AI’ panel, to bias-breaking social activations, to her deft ability to unlock the power of emerging talent and teams, she has her eyes set on the future of our industry. And with McKay, we have gained a true maverick in the shaping of brands for new worlds; his rule-bending work on Wendy’s is just such an inspiration. The fact that they are both such empathetic and generous leaders — those who like to pull in outside experts, collaborators, and platforms — only furthers our vision for Networked Experiences,” said chief creative officer Atit Shah.