meet our members
Our ‘Meet our Members’ series spotlights the diverse voices shaping digital marketing across the region. In this edition, we feature Stuart McLennan, Senior Vice President, Strategic Markets at Rakuten Advertising and IAB SEA+India 2026 Strategic Advisory Board Member.
tell us about rakuten advertising, what is your mission?
At Rakuten Advertising, we turn complex partner marketing channels into high-performing revenue drivers, from Creator to Traditional Affiliate, and from Retail Media to LLM Visibility. We’re on a mission to build a future where partnership marketing is more connected, more measurable and more impactful than ever before. And with 30 years of industry experience and deep vertical, regional, and partner expertise, we can see what’s working across programs and markets and apply those learnings to what’s next for our clients’ business.
what hero product are you most proud of at rakuten advertising?
Earlier this year, Rakuten Advertising launched Mirai (meaning ‘future’ in Japanese), the first agentic AI purpose-built for affiliate and partner marketing. Mirai is more than a chatbot bolted onto an existing workflow. It brings together purpose-built skills to handle distinct parts of partner marketing program management, acting more like a team of specialists than a single tool. Developed in-house by our own data science and engineering teams, Mirai recently won the prestigious MarTech Breakthrough Award for AI Innovation.
what do you love most about working across southeast asia and india?
I love the challenge that comes with operating in such a diverse, fast-paced, ever evolving part of the World. Very quickly after moving here in 2016 I realised there is a huge opportunity in this region, but one that is not easily realised. I see that as incredibly exciting! What works in Thailand, doesn’t translate to Vietnam, something my US colleagues don’t always appreciate. And of course the benefit of my role is I get to travel to all these amazing countries and learn new cultures and ways of working I wouldn’t be exposed to in other regions.
what’s your favourite thing about being part of the IAB SEA+India member network?
This is my first year as a Board member, and I am thoroughly enjoying my time! Initially I was nervous about how best to contribute given Rakuten Advertising is not well known, and the work we do is quite different to Meta, TikTok, Google and the large holdcos. But the other board members have welcomed me with open arms and we all make time to hear the diverse perspectives. And this openness is matched by the passion of the Councils who are producing some extremely high calibre work. A testament to the talent in our region.
and finally, some may say, the most important question in our region – what’s your favourite food?
Ha, saving the trickiest question for last. Honestly, I love all the food in the region and have had the privilege of visiting many places, from rural India to buzzing Jakarta. But my go to for lunch is Nasi Lemak. However, I learnt very quickly people have very strong feelings, and sometimes arguments, on which is the best in Singapore. So I’m always open to suggestions!