Since taking the helm of Starcom Canada in January, Veronik L’Heureux, formerly president of Spark Foundry Canada, has doubled down on building local talent and fostering a distinctly Canadian identity.

But her vision doesn’t stop at people – she’s also integrating advanced technology across the agency, drawing on tools from acquisitions made by French parent company Publicis Groupe.

While AI continues to reshape the industry, L’Heureux remains clear-eyed: “It’s important that, as a society, we don’t start relying on AI and technology to do the thinking our brains should be doing,” she says. “I’m more focused on how it can enhance our capabilities, not replace them.”

Under her leadership, Starcom has spent the past year developing Publicis ID, its patented identity graph exclusive to the Canadian market. It launched in June 2024 alongside Growth OS, a data-driven marketing platform also built for Canada.

Working in tandem, Publicis ID and Growth OS now form the backbone of Starcom’s audience-first planning approach. Designed to unify proprietary, third-party and partner data with digital signals and behavioural insights, Publicis ID offers a comprehensive, single profile of the consumer. Growth OS, meanwhile, functions as an end-toend operating system, connecting agency teams and clients from the initial brief through to activation and measurement.