The Management Team

Frederic-Charles Petit, Chief Executive 

  • Frederic-Charles Petit is the Founder and Chief Executive of Toluna plc. He holds a Masters degree in comparative jurisprudence from New York University and a diploma in advanced studies in international economic law from the Sorbonne in Paris (D. E. A.). He practiced as a French lawyer in the corporate department of Allen & Overy’s Paris office, before establishing Toluna in May 2000. 

Lowell Ricklefs, Group Chief Operating Officer

  • Lowell joined Toluna in October 2007. Prior to that he was the Chief Revenue Officer and EVP at GMI with responsibility for global sales, marketing, client services, EFS business and professional services, and helped lead their 3-year 1,004% growth. Before GMI, he was at $4B Rockwell for 18 years – most recently as Global VP of Channels and Business Manager for Rockwell Software. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin and has taught international business classes at Marquette and Kellogg.

Philippe Guilbert, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Innovation

  • Philippe Guilbert joined Toluna in 2007 as Sr VP in charge of Strategy and Innovation. Philippe defines Toluna’s new product development strategy. Before Toluna, he was Scientific Director of several TOP10 French Market Research institutes (BVA, CSA, TN Sofres). He has a diploma in advanced statistics (ENSAE) and economic sciences (Paris I university).  

Hugh Davis, Chief Strategy Officer

  • Hugh Davis is the Chief Strategy Officer for Toluna plc. Prior to the acquisition of Greenfield Online by Toluna in 2009; Davis was an Executive Vice President at Greenfield Online/Ciao Surveys. In 1994, along with Andy Greenfield, Hugh helped to start Greenfield Online. Since that time, he has been part of the executive leadership team. Davis has played a significant role in transforming the business from a two-person start-up in 1994 into a global, 600+ employee, publicly traded company (Nasdaq: SRVY). He was also instrumental in the ultimate sale of the business to the Microsoft Corporation in the fall of 2008 and Microsoft’s sale of the survey division to Toluna in July 2009.  Davis is an active participant in the market research industry, has published numerous papers, and is a frequent speaker on online data collection and new market research techniques including being awarded a patent for the online focus group. 

Val Karruck, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing 

  • Val joined Toluna in June 2005, bringing with him a wealth of experience gained in executive positions in high growth organisations. His global online research, media, technology and services expertise helps Toluna to focus on building long-term client relationships and successfully meet clients’ requirements. Val holds an Honours degree in Electronics from UMIST in the UK.

Keith Price, President of North America

  • Keith is President of North America for Toluna plc.  Keith is responsible for all facets of the company’s North American business operations.  Over the past 10 years of his career, Keith has held an executive position, taking responsibility for managing both day-to-day operations and strategic initiatives.  Prior to assuming his role at Toluna, Keith held the title, Executive Vice President at Greenfield Online, responsible for global sales, operations and marketing.  At Greenfield Online, Keith was a member of the executive team, responsible for the sale of Greenfield Online's custom consulting business to Taylor Nelson Sofres in 2002. He has 15+ years of experience in the market research industry. Keith is a graduate of Providence College, with a B.S. in Finance.  Keith is an active participant in the research industry, speaks regularly at industry events, and holds membership positions within the CASRO, AMA, ESOMAR and the MRA.

Frank Smadja, Senior Vice President of Research & Development

  • Frank is Senior VP R&D at Toluna where he is leading the R&D effort spearheaded by the social voting site toluna.com. Frank's experience lies in text analysis and communities. Before joining Toluna, he co-founded RawSugar a social bookmarking start-up that pioneered faceted search based on user tags. Prior to that, Frank worked at Bellcore, Lehman Brothers and several start-ups where he was responsible for solving a multitude of business problems using a selection of unique and fun technologies. Frank’s credits include multiple patents, refereed publications, book chapters and speaking engagements at leading conferences.  He earned his PhD and MSc in Computer Science from Columbia University, NY.

Mathilde Lelievre

Sales and Account Management