Former MBM Founder and media/tech leader Matt Bale joins Together as in Senior Advisor role

Leading independent media agency Together has appointed one of New Zealand’s most experienced and respected media and technology professionals Matt Bale as Senior Advisor.

Bale joins Together with a focus on AI strategy and governance, supporting the continued evolution of Together’s agency platform ‘Tahi’ that has already delivered transformative client and agency capabilities in predictive analytics, campaign automation and media intelligence. His experience will also help embed robust AI governance across the business, complementing technical innovation led by Together’s in-house development team.

After exiting MBM at the end of 2022, which he co-founded in 2010, Bale has been building on his interest in algorithms and machine learning through the study of Artificial Intelligence.

He studied at Stanford University via the Graduate School of Business, earning a Certificate in AI and a Certificate in Prompt Engineering. At the same time, he also became certified in chatbot development through IBM’s Developer Program.

Currently, he is undertaking his continuing studies via Massey University, undertaking a Postgraduate Certificate in Intelligence and is a member of The Artificial Intelligence Forum of New Zealand (AI Forum).

Outside of his interest in Artificial Intelligence, Bale is the Chairperson of the world-class brewery Garage Project, and is a strategic advisor and investor in Youdooh, which is a technology platform that democratises the planning and buying of digital out of home and retail media screens for businesses across NZ and Australia.

Prior to founding MBM, Bale had a long, successful career in media and advertising, including GM of OMD Wellington, Planning Director Media at Clemenger BBDO and Media Director at Saatchi & Saatchi, as well as working in the Sydney and London markets, and he served on the Media Committee for the Commercial Communication Council in NZ for many years, and won the Inspiring Individual Award in 2016 at the Beacon Awards.

Says Bale: “I’m excited to bring my AI experience to Together, solving today’s challenges while building tomorrow’s opportunities as part of a really smart team.”

Says Suraj Barnawal, Chief Innovation and Technology Officer, Together: “We’re thrilled to welcome Matt to Together. His deep expertise is already helping us accelerate the next evolution of our proprietary agents, platforms, and automation tools, particularly as we expand our AI-first capabilities across media and marketing workflows. It’s a fantastic complement to the work our in-house technology team has led to date, and I’m looking forward to what we’ll unlock together on the road ahead.”