Industry Leadership Experience
Jean Michel Wu brings more than 25 years of leadership experience across Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, and executive search in Asia Pacific, advising some of the region’s most prominent agency and marketing organisations. He has held senior talent leadership roles with Ogilvy, McCann, and within WPP, the world’s largest creative holding group.
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Most recently, Jean Michel served as APAC CEO of Grace Blue Worldwide, the only global executive search firm dedicated exclusively to the advertising, marketing, and communications sectors.
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Alongside his operating experience, Jean Michel is extensively accredited in executive coaching and leadership diagnostics. He trained as an Integral Coach with New Ventures West, is certified in the Enneagram and Team Dynamics through Integral Coaching Solutions, and holds the Professional Certified Coach credential from the International Coaching Federation.
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He is based in Singapore with his wife and twin sons.
Experienced Leadership
My work focuses on shaping the people and leadership agenda for organisations navigating innovation, transformation, and growth across Asia Pacific.
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Over more than 25 years, I have partnered with startups, scale ups, and globally recognised businesses to build high performing teams, design progressive talent strategies, and strengthen organisational capability. My career spans multiple sectors and geographies, including London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Bangkok, and Singapore.
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Through Tripitakka, my work has spanned leading agency networks and marketing organisations across the region, including experience supporting businesses within Omnicom Media Group, Omnicom Advertising Group, Havas, MSQ, and other high growth and transformation stage companies. My approach combines commercial pragmatism with deep cultural insight, helping organisations make confident leadership decisions in an increasingly complex environment.
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Earlier in my career, I held senior talent leadership roles including Chief Talent Officer at McCann Worldgroup and regional talent leadership roles within WPP. I have supported leadership builds and talent strategies across WPP, IPG, TotallyAwesome, and other high growth organisations throughout the region.
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I am a Professional Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation and an accredited iEQ9 Enneagram practitioner. I work fluently in English and bring working proficiency in Mandarin and Thai, enabling me to operate effectively across diverse leadership environments.
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At the core of my work is helping organisations and leaders perform at their best by aligning people, structure, and strategy.
The Meaning Behind Tripitakka
Tripitakka takes its name from the ancient Pali word “Tripitaka,” meaning the “three baskets” of knowledge. Traditionally these represented three bodies of wisdom.
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For Tripitakka, the name reflects the combination of three disciplines that sit at the heart of the work:
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Executive Search
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Leadership Advisory
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Executive Coaching
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Together these areas support organisations and leaders in building the next generation of leadership across the agency and marketing ecosystem in Asia Pacific.