Dr. Carlos
Merlo
9 Presidents · 3 Continents
20 years. 300+ campaigns. 4 languages.
Encuentro de Líderes de Comunicación y Asuntos Públicos
Directores de comunicación, asuntos públicos y legal comparten retos ante la IA y la desinformación. Victory Lab, Av. Presidente Masaryk 17, Polanco.
REGÍSTRATE EN LUMAA life on stage
160 + Conferences. 3 TED Talks. Harvard. UNAM. The UN.
Now booking
2027
The 2026 calendar is full. Leave your details to request a keynote and download the speaker kit: topics, formats and fees.
Cited worldwide
University presses, academic journals, government reports and doctoral theses cite Dr. Merlo’s work.
“Information Manipulation: A Challenge for Our Democracies” “Readers are introduced to notable figures, including Carlos Merlo, the “King of Mexican Fake News.”” YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS · 2023
On Samuel Woolley’s “Manufacturing Consensus” — International Journal of Communication “Victory Lab, an agency equivalent to Cambridge Analytica but on a smaller scale; at the head of this project is Carlos Merlo.” FLACSO MÉXICO · DOCTORAL THESIS · 2022
Romero, Doctorate in Political Science
FLACSO quote translated from Spanish.
Trusted worldwide
Governments, leaders and global brands.
International press
Interviews and analysis in leading international media.
PRESS ROOM →
Columns
Analysis on elections, AI, crisis and disinformation.
Lecture Notes: The Two-Step Flow, or Why Influencers Are an Old Idea
In 1944, researchers looking for the power of mass media found something else, people who passed ideas to their neighbors. Eighty years later, those opinion leaders have become news influencers with millions of followers. A guide to the two-step flow of communication, its critics and what it means for campaigns in the creator economy.
Paper Breakdown: AI Made Them Data Scientists, Until It Was Switched Off
A randomized trial with nearly 500 management consultants, now published in Nature Human Behaviour, shows that generative AI let non-specialists perform data science tasks far above their training. When the tool was removed, the new skills were gone. A breakdown of the design and what it means for teams that are reskilling through AI.
The Real Cost of Deepfake Ads Is Not Deception. It Is Doubt.
The 2026 midterms were the first U.S. election in which AI-generated ads became routine. Most of them fooled no one. That is precisely the problem. When synthetic images become ordinary campaign material, the damage is not only that false things look real, but that real things become easy to deny.
Managing Partner
of Victory
When the stakes are high, leaders turn to Victory.
DR CARLOS MERLO
Let's win
together.
Washington, D.C. 20001
United States
Polanco, 11560
Mexico