How a Maltese creative built a global agency, and why he’s looking home

When Corel Theuma returned to Malta this month, it was not for a nostalgic homecoming.

The Maltese-born founder and CEO of US-based agency nmbl was on the island to formalise a partnership with BRND WGN, one of Malta’s leading branding agencies – a deal that ties his international career directly back to the place where it began.

The agreement sees nmbl acquire a stake in WGN Ventures, BRND WGN’s investment and expansion arm, with the aim of helping both companies grow beyond Malta and creating new opportunities for local creative talent to work with international brands. For Theuma, reconnecting with Malta was not simply symbolic, but a well-thought-out business decision.

“This isn’t about nostalgia,” he says. “It’s about recognising that there’s talent here that can compete internationally if it’s given the right support.”

Theuma, 35, moved to the US at 17, after his family’s green card application – filed more than a decade earlier – finally came through. The transition was abrupt and humbling. His family initially lived together in a cramped one-bedroom apartment in New York.

In Malta, visibility had been part of his upbringing. His father, Stephen Theuma, was a former Sliema Wanderers and Malta national team footballer, and the younger Theuma says people often stopped the family in the street to say hello. In New York, that disappeared overnight.

AI is a powerful tool, but not a replacement for human creativity- Corel Theuma

“In New York, nobody knows who you are,” Theuma says. “That alone resets your perspective very quickly.”

He enrolled at the School of Visual Arts to study advertising, but his career began to take shape outside the classroom in an encounter he describes as feeling “like a scene from a movie”.

While standing in line at a pharmacy, a woman ahead of him dropped her bag. As its contents spilled onto the floor, a handful of business cards slid out with them. Theuma noticed the logo immediately – Grey New York, one of the world’s most well-known advertising agencies.

He helped her gather her things, struck up a conversation and asked about internships. “I recognised the logo straight away. It was one of those agencies you dream about.”

The exchange led to an internship at Grey. He was hired full time after just two weeks. He was soon working on scripts for E*TRADE, including one campaign that later aired during the Super Bowl – an early milestone he credits with accelerating his career. The experience reinforced a lesson that would stay with him: in advertising, what you produce often matters more than formal qualifications. He left university to focus on the job.

He went on to work across multiple agencies during a period of rapid change in the industry, particularly as advertising shifted increasingly online. Theuma credits much of his development to early exposure to demanding creative environments and strong mentorship.

“When you’re surrounded by people doing this kind of work at a very high level every day, it changes how you think,” he says. “You start to see what’s possible – and what’s expected.”

Corel Theuma (centre, seated) with his staff at nbml.

Building nmbl

nmbl began modestly – “just me and my laptop”, as Theuma puts it – but grew quickly. Today, it is a mid-sized agency working with international brands including Nespresso, Canon and Vital Proteins.

The company has expanded year on year by combining creative work with close attention to results and audience response. Striking that balance, he says, has become more difficult as technology continues to reshape the industry.

The rise of generative AI has brought those tensions into sharper focus. Theuma describes AI as a powerful tool, but not a replacement for human creativity.

“I see it the same way I saw Photoshop when it first appeared,” he says. “It helps you do things faster – but it doesn’t think for you.”

His concern is that relying too heavily on automated systems risks producing work that feels generic. “A lot of output starts to sound and look the same,” he says. “Data is very clear-cut. Brands aren’t.”

While AI allows faster testing and quicker feedback Theuma argues that speed should not come at the expense of clarity and identity.

He also believes regulation has yet to catch up with technology, particularly when it comes to ownership and the use of creative work in training AI systems. “We’re still in the wild west phase,” he says.

Looking homeward

Despite building his career abroad, Theuma has remained closely connected to Malta – and outspoken about what he sees as the island’s biggest obstacle.

“The limitation here isn’t talent. It’s mindset,” he says.

He argues that Maltese creatives often underestimate their ability to compete internationally, despite advantages such as strong English-language skills, access to European markets and adaptability. Being from a small island, he says, should not become a ceiling.

That belief underpins the partnership with BRND WGN, which he sees as a way to link Maltese teams directly with international work rather than exporting talent permanently. The aim is not to shift jobs elsewhere, but to make Malta part of a wider creative network.