Snap has hired Anne Laurenson as the first Managing Director of Global Carrier Partnerships. Ms Laurenson joins from Google and – in a company first – will be the first Snap executive to lead a Global team, including the Americas, from outside the US. Anne will be based in Paris, France.
Reporting to Nana Murugesan, Managing Director, International Markets & Mobile Partnerships, Ms Laurenson will be responsible for Snap’s carrier partnerships strategy across the US and Latin America; Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and the Asia-Pacific regions.
Snap’s carrier partnerships strategy is to build and strengthen relationships with telecom carriers to create mutual business value and enable people all over the world to use Snapchat and benefit from the potential of Augmented Reality.
This is achieved through a range of initiatives, including service level collaboration to improve Snapchat accessibility, accelerating digital skills and creativity through creator-focused and other joint community investments, and leveraging 5G capabilities to change the way people experience places and events.
Prior to joining Snap, Ms Laurenson spent 14 years at Google, ten of those driving Android growth. She most recently served as the Managing Director for Android Partnerships for EMEA. In this role she was responsible for the overall strategy and execution of growing the adoption of Android ecosystem and Google services through partnerships with carriers, smartphone manufacturers and retailers in the region. Android is an Operating System developed by Google with 3 billion devices in active use.
Ms Laurenson has over 20 years experience in both the tech and telecom industries, and holds an Engineer’s Degree from Ecole Centrale of Lille and an MBA from HEC.
Ms Laurenson said: “I am very excited to join Snap and support its mission of empowering people to express themselves, and discover the world combining what they see in the real world with a digital experience through AR. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to Snap’s growth through creative partnerships with carriers globally, building on the great successes the team has already achieved in the US and internationally.”
Nana Murugesan said: “We are delighted to welcome Anne at such an exciting time for our business. She brings unique expertise and leadership experience to accelerate our growth with carrier partners. She will also support longer-term initiatives such as Spectacles and Snap’s Paris AR Studio, the first AR Center of Excellence in the world. We are particularly excited that Anne will be a global leader based outside the US. This is a significant step in our commitment to building a truly global team.”
