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 Cjudge SAS 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).
Val Karruck, Senior Vice President, Client Services
- 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.
Vincent Boujnah (Finance Controller)
- Vincent is the Finance Controller of Toluna. Vincent has extensive experience in corporate finance functions, from both off-line and on-line (DoubleClick, Houra) businesses in France and in the United-States. He holds a Masters in Management from Audencia Business School (France).
Xavier Laurent, Chief Information Officer
- Xavier Joined Toluna in January 2006 as CIO and is in charge of global IT management including R&D and Technical Operations and support. Prior to joining Toluna Xavier was VP Operations and CIO of SYSTRAN, M365 and Scoot. Previously he worked for 10 years as Network architect in Banks (Société Générale) and Telecommunication Companies (Cegetel). Xavier holds an Engineering Diploma in Networks and Telecommunications.
Jean-Phillipe Rigaud, Systems Information Director
- Prior to joining the company in May 2001, Jean-Phillipe worked for AltaVista, Compaq and Cap Gemini. At Alta Vista he was responsible for the development of new services and search integration in France, at Compaq France he was in charge of the development of new functionalities between the company intranet and external systems and at Cap Gemini (where he worked between 1998 and 2000) he was in charge of the development of financial applications deployed across the French banking industry.
Laurent Sabouret, Panel & Communities Director
- Prior to joining the company in January 2004, Laurent was an online media Consultant for Optimum Media Direction, a subsidiary of Onmicom. Between 2000 and 2004 he was the Marketing Manager at Ciao.com, focusing on improving the growth and quality of Ciao’s online panels.
Mathilde Lelièvre, Delivery Director
- Mathilde Lelièvre leads Toluna’s global project delivery team. She worked in Hong Kong and Spain before joining the Toluna team in 2005. She has an extensive international background, and holds a Masters degree in International relations and Political science from the Institute for Political Sciences of Paris (Science-Po).
Marketing
Lee Powney, Head of Marketing
- Lee joined Toluna in June 2006 bringing with him a wealth of knowledge in strategic marketing planning. Lee has specialised in marketing communications, brand strategy and marketing information systems for five years in advertising, defence and B2B software markets.
Sales and Account Management
Martin Grupe, Sales Director Toluna Germany- Martin joined Toluna from Ciao, where he worked as a Client Development Manager for Online Surveys. Before this Martin gained expertise in online data collection and direct marketing as a Marketing Manager at Beiersdorf working on the NIVEA brand. Martin holds a Master Degree in International Business from University Maastricht in the Netherlands.
Mark Simon, Managing Director, Toluna UK- Mark Simon opened the London office of Toluna in June 2005, and has overseen the rapid growth of the UK operation. Mark has had a successful sales career at Greenfield Online and Ciao, and prior to coming to the online research industry, Mark spent 8 years in marketing services, latterly as Director of data broker List Experts. He has a degree in Business Economics from Southampton University.
Nader Kobeissi, Senior Director, Toluna North America- Nader joined Toluna in 2004 and has helped to develop the US market for Toluna’s European panel services. Prior to joining Toluna, Nader was a successful start-up investor within the European media and publishing industries, where he successfully developed multiple new business ventures.
