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Vertiv appoints Mike Giresi as global CIO to turbocharge AI and digital strategy
MUMBAI: In a move that signals its intent to double down on AI and digital transformation, Vertiv has roped in industry veteran Mike Giresi as its global chief information officer (CIO). Giresi, who takes charge on 30 June 2025, will lead the company’s push into AI adoption, cybersecurity, product security, and digital productivity initiatives aimed at sharpening execution and customer experience.
The NYSE-listed digital infrastructure player is betting big on AI-powered resilience and smarter operations, and Giresi is expected to be at the centre of this strategic shift. With over three decades of IT experience—20 of which have been in top leadership roles across Molex, Aramark, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Tory Burch and Godiva Chocolatier—he brings the right mix of scale, speed, and savvy.
“Strong digital and IT vision and execution are central to our strategy to continue to lead the industry and constantly augment the value we are delivering to our customers”, said Vertiv CEO Giordano (Gio) Albertazzi. “Mike deeply understands the opportunities of a rapidly evolving AI, digital and IT space and has the experience, the executional focus and expertise to reinforce our competitive advantages”.
Excited about the challenge, Giresi said, “I am excited to join Vertiv, helping the global teams to create accretive value through advancement of company digital strategy initiatives. By continuing to evolve and improve Vertiv customer experience, product development and manufacturing capabilities, we will take the next steps towards enabling accelerated adoption of AI and digitisation for hyperscale, enterprise and edge customers”.
At his most recent post as Molex CDO, Giresi led major digital pivots for the consumer electronics company. His résumé includes stints as CIO at Aramark, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Tory Burch and Direct Brands, where he played key roles in shaping IT systems that supported high-stakes, global operations.
Giresi holds an executive MBA from Saint Joseph’s University – Erivan K. Haub School of Business, and a BA in English and Information Systems from Seton Hall University.
With the announcement, Vertiv has made clear it intends to not just ride the AI wave but lead it, bringing both resilience and ROI into sharper focus through tech-backed leadership.
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Madison World to launch AI platform M BrAIn for media planning
Agency group invests about $1 million as it shifts to AI driven growth planning.
MUMBAI: If media planning once ran on spreadsheets and gut instinct, the next chapter may run on algorithms and curiosity. Madison World is preparing to roll out the first version of its proprietary artificial intelligence platform Madison M BrAIn in early April, as the independent agency group accelerates its transition toward AI driven planning and product led media services.
The platform, expected to involve an investment of around $1 million, is designed to reshape how the agency approaches strategy by combining internal knowledge, external data sources and advanced AI models into a single intelligence ecosystem.
According to Madison Media, OOH and Hiveminds partner and group CEO Ajit Varghese the initiative forms part of a larger structural rethink within the organisation. “Traditionally agencies built frameworks around media planning and allocation. We are redesigning that structure into what we call a Growth Planning System (GPS),” Varghese said.
The shift reflects a growing belief that effective media strategy must begin earlier in the decision making process. Instead of jumping directly to channel allocation, planners must first decode the market itself identifying consumer barriers, purchase triggers and the core challenges facing a brand.
Once those insights are mapped, agencies can build clearer growth agendas for clients and design media strategies that connect more closely with business outcomes.
To support that approach, Madison has built Madison M BrAIn as what it describes as a human AI cognitive ecosystem. Acting as a central intelligence hub, the platform aggregates proprietary insights alongside external data sources and large language models, enabling planners to access deeper market intelligence before building campaign strategies.
Varghese said one of the core objectives is to democratise knowledge across the organisation. “In the past, this level of understanding was largely available to senior leaders or experienced strategists. With Madison M BrAIn, even a junior planner should be able to access the same intelligence and approach clients with a far more informed perspective,” he said.
The agency has already implemented the new planning philosophy internally and completed three months of testing for the AI platform, with early trials showing encouraging results in terms of learning capability and system performance.
While the first version relied on global large language models, Madison is now developing its own proprietary Small Language Model (SLM) to serve as the core of the M BrAIn ecosystem.
“The SLM will be able to read global LLMs, but the LLMs cannot read the SLM,” Varghese explained. “That ensures all the intelligence we build remains within the Madison ecosystem and strengthens our proprietary knowledge base.”
The first version of Madison M BrAIn is expected to go live in early April, with a more refined version targeted by the end of June. Over time, the platform will integrate additional external data streams and APIs including consumer insight platforms, social listening tools and client datasets.
These integrations are expected to enhance the system’s learning capability and enable it to generate increasingly sophisticated strategic recommendations.
Although the platform is currently being deployed for internal use, Madison sees potential for it to evolve into a licensable product in the future.
“At the moment, our focus is to stabilise and strengthen M BrAIn internally. But over time there is potential for this to become a product that could be licensed externally,” Varghese said.
The AI platform is also part of a wider technology transformation underway at the agency group. Alongside M BrAIn, Madison is building a broader digital infrastructure called the Catalyst operating system, which aims to integrate operational processes, data and product platforms into a unified ecosystem.
This broader technology stack could require an additional $1 million to $1.5 million investment over time, though spending will be phased and reviewed regularly.
“We are evaluating progress every three months and prioritising the most critical capabilities first,” Varghese said.
Madison expects the full AI and operating ecosystem to be fully functional within 12 to 18 months, positioning the agency to combine human strategy with machine intelligence as the advertising industry enters its next data driven phase.
