Xaxis has announced that plista boss Nicolas Bidon is to take over as its EMEA chief executive, following predecessor Caspar Schlickum’s departure for Wunderman.

Bidon has led Xaxis’ ‘programmatic native’ platform plista globally since its relaunch in April, having been promoted from the role of Xaxis UK managing director.

He is replaced as plista global managing director by Jana Kusick (pictured, below), who steps up from her current position as managing director for Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

It follows the departure of former Xaxis EMEA head Schlickum earlier this month. He took up the position of Asia Pacific chief executive at fellow WPP agency Wunderman.

“Nicolas has been instrumental in the success of both Xaxis and plista over the past three years and his management expertise, product knowledge and market understanding makes him the ideal choice to lead all Xaxis operations across the EMEA region,” said Xaxis global chief executive Brian Gleason.

“He will play a prime role as we continue to advance our industry-leading market position and bring the benefits of our programmatic technology platform and know-how to new markets, advertising channels and audiences. We are also pleased to welcome Jana to the top job at plista, where she will drive global momentum for our fast growing native ad business.”

Bidon added: “Using programmatic technology and data to unlock additional value for clients and make advertising more welcome to consumers has been the basis of Xaxis’ phenomenal growth across the EMEA region.

“I am excited to get to work with the region’s advertisers and media owners as we continue to build a better online advertising ecosystem for the benefit of all.”

Prior to joining Xaxis, Bidon held the role of director of brand display for EMEA at Yahoo.