It is a great honour and fills me with pride to be chairing the Dubai International Advertising Festival TV/Cinema, Print, Outdoor and Radio Jury.

For me, this is like a journey back home, as I was born in Iran. I am really looking forward to plenty of new and remarkable ideas and a lot of inspiration. After all, there have been many changes in the sector and in creative communications in the Middle East.

Amir Kassaei was born in Iran, brought up in Austria, and completed his higher education in France. His professional career began as a copywriter at TBWA\ and Barci & Partner, followed by stints as a copywriter, Creative Director and Executive Creative Director at Springer & Jacoby.

Since 2003, Amir has been Chief Creative Officer and Associate Partner at DDB Group in Germany, with offices in Hamburg, Berlin and Dusseldorf. Within two years, he catapulted the agency from nowhere to one of most creative in Germany and among the ten best agencies in the world, according to The Gunn Report 2005 – along the way gaining recognition as one of the world’s youngest and most successful chief creative officers.

Amir has developed campaigns for Mercedes-Benz, smart, Coca-Cola, Allianz, Apple and adidas, and is currently working for Volkswagen, among others.

With more than 1,600 national and international awards (Cannes Lions, Clio Awards, London International Advertising Awards, Epica, Art Directors Club Germany, Art Directors Club New York Festivals, Eurobest, Cresta, Golden Award of Montreux, The One Show, CCA and others), he is one of the most awarded creatives in the world. For example, he has won 25 Lions at the Cannes Lions Festival within the past three years.

Amir is a member of ADC Germany, ADC New York, D&AD and CCA. He has been judging at the world’s most famous award shows, including Cannes Lions and the Clio Awards, and has been a jury president at both Eurobest and Meribel.

According to the Big Won Report, Amir is among the three best chief creative officers in the world. DDB was voted the global agency network of the year by Adweek and, according to The Gunn Report, is the most creative network in the world.