UWG Operations

UWG Inc.Creative OperationsMicrosoft 365 · Ziflow2026

Replaced Workfront with an intake, approval and proofing system built on Microsoft 365 and Ziflow. Audited, planned, built, piloted and trained in under three months; the first real job went through it on 11 September 2026.

Overview

Workfront, replaced.

UWG ran its creative intake, approvals, scheduling and proofing through Workfront. The contract was ending, and most of what Workfront did could be rebuilt on tools the agency already paid for. The one thing nothing in Microsoft 365 does is proofing: pinning a comment to a spot on an image, reviewing a video by timecode, comparing version three against version four.

So the plan had two parts: rebuild intake, approval, scheduling and tasks on Microsoft 365, and buy one proofing tool. I audited, planned, designed and built it, piloted it with a real job, and trained the agency on it.

At a Glance

At a glance.

Role

Design, build + rollout

From the intake audit to the training sessions.

Replaces

Workfront

Access ends 1 December 2026.

Built on

Microsoft 365 + Ziflow

Forms, Lists, Approvals, Power Automate and Planner; Ziflow for proofing.

Live

11 September 2026

First real job, run with a project manager who had never seen the system.

Training

Four role sessions

Project managers, creative and production, account leads, and the Chief Creative Officer.

With

Rivetta Goodrich · Shi Li Liang

Rivetta Goodrich, Senior Director, Project Management, on the process and the Workfront migration. Shi Li Liang, UWG IT, on Microsoft 365 administration for the platform.

Year

2026

Audit in June; live in September.

Ongoing 2026

The Process

Seven steps, one summer.

01 · Audit

June–July 2026

The creative intake end to end, field by field, and a read of how people at the agency actually communicate.

02 · Exit plan

6 August 2026

What Workfront does, what already-paid tools can replace, and the one date that protects the savings: the non-renewal notice.

03 · Decide

1–2 September 2026

The proofing tool, chosen on what client security terms require rather than on features.

04 · Build

Late August–September

An intake form, an approval chain, and everything that follows an approval created automatically.

05 · Pilot

11 September 2026

The first real job through the system, and ten faults found and fixed the same evening.

06 · Train

September 2026

Four sessions, each built for one role and what that role does in the system.

07 · Cut over

Through 1 December 2026

Workfront exported, reconciled and retired.

How a Job Moves

Intake to close.

Intake. The request is a short form: about eighteen questions a requester can actually answer, in place of a 173-column list nobody could fill in.

Approval. The creative director and account lead approve in parallel, the Chief Creative Officer by asset tier, and the project manager last.

On approval, the job gets its proofing folder, a designed PDF of the approved commitment as its first proof, a task on the resourcing board, and one email to everyone on the job with the kickoff invite already filled in.

After that, review rounds run in Ziflow, and the project manager records client approval, release and completion from one-click links in email.

What It Refuses to Do

Rules the system keeps.

It states facts and does not tell people how to do their jobs.

It never sends the same news from two systems. Ziflow already emails reviewers about proofs, and Planner already tells people they are assigned, so the platform stays silent on both.

Every name in every message comes from the live directory, so when someone leaves, the messages change with them.

An approve button never goes into a shared channel.

It sends its news by email, because a read of how the agency works showed that email and private chat are where people actually are.

My Role

One person, end to end.

As Director, Creative & AI Innovation at UWG, I ran the whole arc: the intake audit, the Workfront exit plan and its deadlines, the proofing decision, the design and build of the platform, the pilot, and the role-by-role training.

The build is covered by 53 automated tests, and every message the system can send was rewritten until a person could use it without having helped write it.