Elizabeth Ross

As a child, one of my most vivid memories was visiting my Godmother in Chicago. One day, I spent time with her friend who worked in advertising—and something clicked. I was captivated by the energy, the creativity, the possibility. On the way home, I told my Dad, at 11, that I was going to live on Lake Shore Drive and work in Advertising. I did exactly that. My path led me through an incredible career in the industry I’ve loved since childhood. As CEO of Periscope, a Minneapolis agency focused on world-class, idea-driven work, I helped lead its sale in early 2019 to Quad, a $132.5M all-cash deal. Packaging and selling that business taught me volumes about risk, about brand value, and about the power of resilience. Today, I lead SH/FT, where we’re harnessing the power of AI to fundamentally reimagine how businesses connect with their customers. The journey has been both rewarding and challenging, navigating private equity backing, complex debt structures, and building a company brick by brick. Each twist in the road has reinforced my belief that grit and vision aren’t optional. Over time, I’ve come to believe that AI isn’t just a technological breakthrough, its greatest value is as a near-perfect mirror. It reveals patterns in us: our decisions, our blind spots, our truths. If we let it, AI can make us more empathetic, more self-aware and better equipped to lead. Throughout my career, I’ve spent countless hours in conference rooms (usually with terrible Thai food) grappling with complexity, data, and transformation. The common thread? When you focus on an extraordinary idea, especially one powered by the right technology, everything else starts to make sense. My mission has always been simple: to do things people love. Companies don’t hire us to be safe, they get enough of that inside of their own companies. They hire external partners to help them grow. The best growth comes from connection, not consensus. Because the opposite of love isn’t hate. It’s indifference. The industry is evolving fast. But the opportunity to sit at the intersection of creativity and technology—to help shape what’s next is endlessly inspiring. One of my favorite quotes comes from Alvin Toffler. "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn." The future belongs to those who can see the humanity in the data and the data in our humanity and ultimately, the ability to unlearn all that we know. I’m here for that future. And I’m just getting started.