Fremantle has created a strategic new role—Executive Vice President of Global AI—and appointed Kevin Lingley to lead it, with immediate effect. Reporting to Chief Legal Officer Matthew Wilson, Lingley will shape Fremantle’s AI vision, driving innovation, operational transformation, and growth through the responsible deployment of artificial intelligence across the company's production, distribution, and commercial domains.
Matthew Wilson commented on the significance of the appointment: “Welcoming Kevin as Executive Vice President of AI marks a significant step in Fremantle’s commitment to responsibly harnessing AI across our business. Kevin’s appointment reflects our ambition to embed AI at the heart of our strategy for both creative processes and operational transformation. His deep expertise and experience will drive new opportunities for creativity, efficiency, and growth, whilst also shaping an approach to AI that is responsible and aligned with our creative values. His leadership will be instrumental in integrating AI into our operations, and I look forward to working closely with him on this journey.”
Kevin Lingley himself reflected on the opportunity: “I am thrilled to be joining Fremantle at such a pivotal moment in the industry, and I look forward to leading and implementing the company’s AI vision and strategy across the business. My focus will be on harnessing AI technology responsibly and innovatively to support our teams, empower creativity, and unlock new opportunities for growth across the business. Fremantle, with its size and global reach, will provide the perfect foundation to shape an AI strategy with creativity at its core.”
Lingley brings more than 30 years of industry experience to his new post, including his most recent role at Spotify as Vice President of Content Platform. There he was responsible for developing the AI-powered system delivering the entire catalogue of music, podcasts, and audiobooks to its global base of 650 million users. His prior leadership roles include Senior Engineering Leader at Amazon Prime Video and Principal Engineering Leader for Xbox, TV, and Music at Microsoft, and earlier tenures at Amino, Fluorescent Media, SysMedia, Sony, Virgin Media, and Acorn.
Fremantle underscored its ethos in the announcement, stating that it is committed “to using AI to enhance creativity, empower our employees, and pioneer new, productive ways of telling stories, while upholding ethical principles, protecting IP, and supporting our global creative community.”
This appointment represents a substantial strategic acceleration by Fremantle, aligning its creative and operational priorities with AI-driven innovation. In tapping Lingley’s experience in scaling AI platforms to hundreds of millions of users and diverse content environments, Fremantle is laying the groundwork for bolstering productivity, audience engagement, and creative output in a rapidly evolving media landscape.