Alex Walker

About

25 years at the frontier of digital commerce

Alex Walker is Managing Director of Havas Market UK, a 150-person performance marketing and commerce agency within Havas Media Network — named Performance Marketing Agency of the Year by PMW and Silver at Campaign's UK Agency of the Year Awards. He leads a team spanning paid search, SEO, retail media, social commerce, marketplaces, and data and analytics.

Alex founded Expert Edge in 2016, building it into a leading e-commerce consultancy before its acquisition by Havas Group in 2022. Prior to that he was a Senior Product Manager at Amazon UK and COO at WeFarm. He began his career founding Indigo Clothing — a custom printing and promotional merchandise business — while an undergraduate at the University of Cambridge.

He holds an MBA from HEC Paris and serves on the IAB UK Retail Media Working Group. He is a regular contributor to industry publications including The Media Leader, Campaign, The Drum, and The Grocer, and a recognised thought leader on the evolution from SEO to Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) and the impact of AI on search behaviour and performance marketing.

Based in Yorkshire, he is a long-distance runner, cyclist, and builder of AI tools.

Career

Experience

• 2024 – present
  Managing Director

  Havas Market UK · Havas Media Network
• 2022 – 2024
  Non-Executive Director & Founder

  Expert Edge (acquired by Havas Group)
• 2016 – 2022
  Founder

  Expert Edge
• Prior
  COO

  WeFarm
• Prior
  Senior Product Manager

  Amazon UK
• 2002 – present
  Founder

  Indigo Clothing

Recognition

Awards & lists

• 2026
  The Drum Commerce Media Power 100

  Named among 100 executives shaping the future of commerce media, in partnership with Rokt — view the list
• 2025
  Media Leadership: Team of the Year

  The Media Leader Awards — Havas Media Network UK — read more
• 2025
  Performance Marketing Agency of the Year — Silver

  Campaign UK Agency of the Year Awards — Havas Market UK — read more
• 2025
  Performance Marketing Agency of the Year

  PMW Awards — Havas Market UK
• 2024
  Beyond the Funnel Innovation — EMEA

  Amazon Ads Partner Awards — Havas Market UK — read more

Speaking

Speaking engagements

• 24 Mar 2026
  Brand to Basket, Fully Connected: Increased Value and Limited Waste

  Marketing Procurement iQ Conference — The Oval, London. Co-presented with David Howlett, Head of Data Sciences, Havas Market.
• 2025
  Speaker

  Marketing Procurement iQ Conference — London. Author of associated piece: No More Death by a Thousand Cuts.
• 5 Jun 2024
  Panel Speaker — Retail Media & Marketplace Strategy

  Mirakl Summit London 2024 — Glaziers Hall, London. Panel discussion on retail media and eCommerce platform strategy as part of Mirakl's "Go Beyond" Summit World Tour.
• 2024
  Speaker

  eTail UK 2024 — London. Annual e-commerce and retail conference.

Expertise

Areas of focus

Alex is a practitioner and public voice across performance marketing, retail media, and the application of AI to commerce. His current thinking centres on how large language models are reshaping search and discovery — and what that means for brands and agencies.

Press & Publications

In the media

• Apr 2026 How Is AI Impacting Search and How Can Adland Help Brands Navigate This? IPA
• Mar 2026 Performance Marketing Agency of the Year 2025 — Havas Market UK wins Silver Campaign
• 2026 Commerce Media Power 100 — named among 100 executives shaping the future of commerce media The Drum
• Feb 2026 Loyalty That Works Retail Gazette
• Oct 2025 Search Was Always a Vanity Metric – Why I'm Unworried About Its Decline The Media Leader
• Sep 2025 Navigating Adland in a Time of 'Information Overload' Performance Marketing World
• Sep 2025 The Weather Is Changing: Publishers Fret Over Google AI Overviews Campaign
• Jun 2025 "Retail Media Shouldn't Just Be a Line on the Plan" ExchangeWire
• Apr 2025 No More Death by a Thousand Cuts MXPIQ
• Mar 2025 Lidl's TikTok Shop Success Is a Bellwether for FMCG Brands The Grocer
• Jan 2025 Havas Market and Search Laboratory Merge for "Limitless Performance" Prolific North
• Jan 2025 Havas Market and Search Lab Merge for New Chapter DecisionMarketing
• Nov 2024 Marketers Are Keeping a Close Eye on Amazon's Shoppable Prime Ads This Thanksgiving Digiday
• Apr 2024 Forget the FOMO, E-commerce Isn't an 'All or Nothing' Challenge for Brands The Drum
• Apr 2024 Supermarket Loyalty Cards: The £2bn Customer Data Battle The Telegraph
• Oct 2022 Havas Group Accelerates E-Commerce Growth Through Acquisition of Expert Edge LBBOnline
• Oct 2022 Havas Bolsters Ecommerce Arm with Expert Edge Acquisition Adweek
• Sep 2022 These Entrepreneurs Left Amazon to Found Their Own Adtech Startups Business Insider
• Apr 2022 European Logistics Startups and Amazon Aggregators Business Insider
• Oct 2021 The European Rollup Buying Amazon Sellers and Turning Them Into Huge Brands Business Insider

Contact

Get in touch

For speaking opportunities, media enquiries, or to discuss performance marketing and commerce strategy.