Leading Questions with Danny Holmes – Experian
Week in focus – Leading Questions
Experian’s consulting partner, media and agency, Danny Holmes, is in the hot seat to face our probing and quick-fire Leading Questions.
Over a sixteen-year career in media and consulting that included stints at Time Out and TripAdvisor, Danny Holmes, now a consulting partner, media and agency, at the data broker and credit reporting company Experian, has worked to support data-driven marketing efforts that translate into sales outcomes.
Holmes, a member of The Media Leader‘s Future 100 Club Class of 2025, speaks to The Media Leader about his approach to leadership, building a strong company culture, and how AI is changing his decision-making process.
Leadership
What are the principles that guide your leadership approach?
I’ve always believed leadership starts with curiosity and a willingness to challenge what feels fixed. Media has undergone constant reinvention, and the people who make the most impact are those who stay open to change and question established ways of working.
Ideas only matter if they translate into something tangible. A big part of my approach is taking complex concepts across data and identity, and making them practical and usable. That means connecting teams, aligning priorities, and ensuring innovation doesn’t remain theoretical. It needs to show up in how clients operate day to day, and in the outcomes they can measure.
How do you define success as a leader in today’s media landscape?
Success for me is about clarity. The media landscape is fragmented, data is abundant, and expectations are high. A strong leader helps people make sense of that complexity and act with confidence.
It also comes down to impact. This may be through developing strategies that produce tangible results for organisations, creating partnerships that advance the industry as a whole, or empowering teams to build their confidence and capability.
In the AI era, I think strategic thinking has never been more important. AI can accelerate execution and surface insights at scale, but it is the human role to determine where you are going and why.
Having people who can think at that strategic level and then translate it into action is what separates organisations that use AI well from those that are simply swept along by it.
You will know your business has effective leaders if your teams can think strategically, collaborate effectively, and deliver results that create meaningful outcomes.
What’s the toughest leadership decision you’ve ever had to make?
Right now, as an industry, I’d say we’re at a juncture with more unknowns than ever, both technologically and economically. So, in many ways, the toughest decisions are the ones we’re facing right here and right now: where to take our organisation in the AI era, knowing that any wrong moves will become evident far more quickly than ever before.
How do you personally stay ahead of industry disruption?
By staying close to change. From the early shift into digital to the evolution of identity and data, and now AI, I’ve found that the best way to keep up is to stay directly involved in the work itself.
That means spending time with clients, agencies, and partners, understanding the challenges they face, and testing new approaches in real-world scenarios.
Podcasts are probably where I get the most consistent insight day to day. A few I’d recommend to anyone in this space: AdTech God, Identity Architects, AI Driven Marketer, and Nudge. They keep me close to the conversations shaping the industry in a way that feels immediate and practical.
I also draw on foundations built over time. Completing my MBA in 2020, with a module specifically focused on competitive advantage through digital technologies, gave me a set of frameworks that I continue to build on as technology and the market evolve. That kind of structured thinking helps when the pace of change makes everything feel uncertain.
Industry events and forums play a role too, creating space to exchange ideas, challenge assumptions, and understand where things are heading collectively.
If you stay connected to the conversations shaping the future, you rarely have to predict it in isolation.
People and Culture
How do you build and maintain a strong company culture in times of rapid change?
In those moments, transparency and openness matter more than anything else. People need to understand not just what is changing, but why it matters and how they can contribute.
I’ve found that culture is strengthened when people feel empowered to question and contribute. Creating space for test-and-learn approaches helps teams stay engaged and adaptable. It also builds confidence over time. When individuals see that their ideas can shape results, they become more invested in both the work and the direction of the business.
How do you inspire your teams when uncertainty is the norm?
I believe that to truly inspire, you have to double down on purpose, delivered with sincere energy. When people see that you genuinely believe in the direction you’re heading, and that you demonstrate that commitment through both your time and your mindset, it fuels inspiration in those around you.
Equally important is creating an environment where people feel comfortable asking what are often called ‘stupid’ questions. When there is uncertainty, clarity is often lacking, and too often people stay silent out of fear of being judged. That leaves you with a team carrying anxiety and lacking direction, and that is never a recipe for inspiration.
What’s your approach to developing future leaders within your organisation?
Development starts with exposure. Giving people the opportunity to work across different areas, whether that is product, sales, or strategy, helps them understand how everything connects. That broader perspective is essential in a space as interconnected as media and data.
Alongside that, I think it’s important to encourage critical thinking. Rather than providing all the answers, it’s about guiding people to ask better questions and challenge assumptions. Mentoring plays a role here, but so does creating an environment where people feel comfortable stepping forward and taking ownership. Over time, that builds both capability and confidence.
How do you handle failure, both personally and within your teams?
Failure is an inevitable part of working in a fast-moving industry. The important thing is how quickly you learn from it and how openly it is discussed.
Personally, I see failure as a signal that something needs to be understood more deeply. Within teams, the focus is on creating an environment where people feel safe to test ideas, while also holding a clear standard for learning and improvement.
With the right balance, failure becomes part of progress rather than something that holds people back.
AI, Innovation and Skills
How is AI changing the way you lead and make decisions?
AI is adding both opportunity and complexity. On a practical level, it can serve as a means to populate a blank canvas, helping to accelerate ideation and early thinking, and as a soundboard for strategic decisions, enabling a faster and richer process than was previously possible. It has the potential to uncover patterns at a scale previously unattainable, but it also requires a strong foundation in data quality and interpretation.
From a leadership perspective, it reinforces the need for clarity. Understanding where insights come from and how they translate into real-world behaviour is critical. It also places greater emphasis on data literacy across teams, enabling people to engage with these technologies in a meaningful and responsible way.
That said, I feel strongly that pairing AI with our own expertise and judgement is important. Much like how Google Maps means many of us can no longer find our way around an unfamiliar town without it, we have to be careful not to outsource our critical thinking. The brain needs to be exercised. If we don’t stay sharp, we risk becoming dependent on AI rather than empowered by it.
What skills will define successful media leaders in the next decade?
I very much believe in the three Cs: Communication, Creativity, and Critical Thinking.
Communication and collaboration start with interpersonal skills – empathy, trust, and the ability to truly connect with people. It is fairly well documented that social media has had a negative effect on how we communicate with one another, and those skills have been in decline for some time. This worries me particularly for younger generations. Having strong communication skills is more important than ever, and yet seemingly rarer, which actually makes it a great opportunity for those who invest in developing them. It is not what it once was.
Creativity is about bringing something new into the world. Using your instincts, telling stories that land, and finding ways to bring ideas to life in a way that moves people. In an age where AI can generate content at scale, the ability to create something genuinely original will only become more valuable.
Critical thinking means challenging assumptions, identifying bias, understanding what is and isn’t relevant, and seeing the bigger picture. As data and AI become more embedded in decision-making, the ability to interrogate and contextualise information rather than simply accept it will define the strongest leaders.
Alongside the three Cs, adaptability remains key. The pace of change is unlikely to slow, so the ability to learn, adjust, and guide others through uncertainty will continue to define strong leadership.
What’s your advice for aspiring media leaders?
Focus on understanding how things work beneath the surface. It is easy to stay at a high level, but the real value comes from connecting strategy to execution and seeing how decisions play out in practice. Take the time to deeply understand the industry, how it’s evolving and where you can add the most value.
I would also encourage people to stay open to change. Some of the most valuable opportunities come from stepping into unfamiliar areas. Over time, those experiences build a broader perspective, which is essential in a landscape that is constantly evolving.
The Quick-fire Round
Which book would you make required reading for all media leaders?
The Brain Audit: Why Customers Buy (and Why They Don’t) by Sean D’Souza.
Which leader from TV, film, or literature most inspires you?
Bernard Marr. I’ve put much of my understanding of data and AI down to him.
What’s your go-to source for inspiration when you need it — work or otherwise?
My real inspiration in life comes from my four-year-old twins, Ivy and Leo. They get me up, get me straight, and keep a carrot dangling to get me moving.
Media lunch or media breakfast meeting, and why?
Media lunch, every time…. A late one at that.
Which media leader would you like to answer Leading Questions next?
Kara Osbourne Gladwell, global product architect officer at Dentsu.
Leading Questions is published by The Media Leader every Friday.