Vanessa Kingori, Condé Nast Britain’s chief business officer and Vogue European business advisor, is exiting the company to join Google, according to sources and internal communications seen by BoF.
In recent years, Kingori has been vital to helping Condé Nast navigate an increasingly challenging environment for legacy media players, spearheading innovative ways to open and expand new revenue streams like digital content creation for brand clients.
She will be joining Google UK as managing director of technology, with a focus on deploying new tools including artificial intelligence. In recent months, the search giant, like many other big tech players, has begun introducing features powered by generative AI. Shopping has been a key area of experimentation for the company.
Google’s new AI-powered virtual try-on tool lets users see what a clothing item looks like on a wide range of computer-generated models, and for the holidays the tech giant is testing an AI-powered feature that offers intelligent gift recommendations.
Kingori joined Condé Nast in 2009, becoming publishing director of GQ magazine in 2015 before moving to the same role at British Vogue in 2018, months after newly appointed editor-in-chief Edward Enninful set about rebooting the title.
Under Kingori’s watch, British Vogue experienced “unprecedented revenue growth” and became “extremely profitable,” Condé Nast told BoF in 2021.
Kingori’s success at British Vogue led to her 2021 appointment as Condé Nast Britain’s chief business officer, a newly created role intended to replicate British Vogue’s momentum across Condé Nast’s UK portfolio. She swiftly restructured Condé Nast Britain’s business, resulting in a 27 percent rise in revenue in the first half of 2022, the last period for which figures were available.
Kingori’s departure comes after years of restructuring at Condé Nast.
Next year, Edward Enninful will step down from his roles as European editorial director of Vogue and editor-in-chief of British Vogue, transitioning to a global advisory role at Condé Nast. Trusted American Vogue veteran Chioma Nnadi is taking the reins from Enninful as British Vogue’s head of editorial content.