Inizio Evoke has unveiled a trio of appointments, installing leaders across its media, artificial intelligence and client relationship teams.
The new hires are Jake Vander Linden, Brian Gundich and Barbara Patchefsky. Vander Linden has taken up the position of president of media, putting him in charge of the company’s media strategy, planning, activation, analytics and advertising technology capabilities. Inizio Evoke has tasked Vander Linden with scaling its media strategy using behavioral intelligence, analytics and real-time performance signals.
Vander Linden previously worked as executive vice president (EVP) of innovation and advanced activation at Moon Rabbit, an agency he joined in mid-2025. Earlier in his career, Vander Linden oversaw corporate media for L’Oreal USA.
Inizio Evoke hired Katie McCarthy as president of media in 2023. McCarthy’s LinkedIn page lists Merck & Co. as her current employer. The advertising executive took a U.S. oncology patient channel strategy and optimization role at Merck last year.
Gundich joined Inizio Evoke in the newly created role of EVP of AI enablement. The title gives Gundich a leading role in integrating AI across the business. Inizio Evoke envisions the new hire building an AI-enabled operating model with established governance, secure infrastructure and execution standards. Gundich previously worked at Omnicom and, before the takeover, Interpublic Group, according to LinkedIn.
Inizio Evoke appointed Patchefsky as global client lead. Patchefsky, who previously worked at Havas Health & You, “will serve as a senior commercial and strategic leader across priority client relationships,” Inizio Evoke said. The role requires Patchefsky to connect clients’ business objectives with Inizio Evoke’s platform.
While the new hires work in different functions, Inizio made the case that the roles are in interconnected areas of its model: how intelligence informs media investment, how AI-enabled innovation is operationalized at scale and how the full platform is mobilized around priority client relationships.