Kirsty O'Connor

Kirsty leads Innovation, Digital & Intelligence at Burson, cascading transformative technology and thinking across the Middle East, Turkey and Africa region. She specialises in digital communications and data technology, sitting across Burson's sector teams to optimise and revolutionise client work, while driving internal innovation projects such as Artificial Intelligence.

Having spent eight years based out of Burson's Dubai office, Kirsty has built a team of 100+ data analysts, digital strategists and content creators focused on innovating the future of communications through technology, AI and creativity. In 2023, she was appointed to the Middle East PR Association's Strategy Board, named in PRovoke Media's Innovator 25 list for EMEA, which recognises the top 25 changemakers in the industry, and secured a spot in PR Week's Middle East PowerBook as an influential PR leader in the region.

 Educated in traditional PR before moving to digital practices, Kirsty can span the newsroom with skills in both traditional and digital communications. She has previously played digital transformation roles in PR agencies in the UK, taking organic social and SEO teams and transitioning them into earned media specialists.