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.

Mikael Tiano, Chief Financial Officer

  • Mikael joined Toluna in May of 2010. Mikael serves as the company’s Chief Financial Officer and comes to us with over 25 years of international and finance experience. Mikael has held senior financial roles within the telecom branch of Vivendi, specifically as the Chief Financial Officer of the network and IT branch, and similar positions at SFR-Cegetel Group Morocco Telecom, and at the Seb Group. Mikael started his career in the banking industry at BNP Paribas then worked for the finance division of Danone Group before joining Ernst Young Advisory Servises in charge of the finance sector in Paris. His academic background include a MBA from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and a Master in economics from the University of Paris.

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. 

Philippe Guilbert, Senior Vice President Quality and Innovation
General Manager France

  • Philippe Guilbert joined Toluna in 2007 as Sr VP in charge of Quality 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, 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.

Jeff Scott, President of North America

  • Jeff joined the company in August 2010 and is responsible for all facets of the company’s North American business operations. Jeff has been leader in the digital information and media industry for 15 years as President of SourceMedia’s Banking Division, President of Accuity, Managing Director at LexisNexis, and CTO and Chief Product Officer for Thomson Financial. With roots in digital product development, and a passion for applying technology to grow businesses in innovative ways, Jeff has been at the forefront in successive waves of technology and business evolution with prominent roles leading enterprises in migration to the internet, in client-centric business transformation, and in the application of B2B and social media to business. Jeff has a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Dayton, and an MBA from the University of Maryland.

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, Vice President, Global Operations

  • Mathilde is Vice President, Global Operations at Toluna where she leads the global Client Services team. Mathilde joined Toluna in 2005 and grew her team from 3 employees in a single location to 400+ team members worldwide, servicing revenues which have grown to £49 million (2009).  In her position, Mathilde has been instrumental in defining and implementing the company’s operations strategy, and has been actively involved in the due diligence and integration of three acquisitions.  Before joining Toluna, Mathilde held positions at the CEFC, or French Centre for Research on Contemporary China, and more recently Ciao Surveys.  She obtained a BA in International Relations and Master in Political Sciences studies, receiving a bilingual diploma and speaks four languages.


Sales and Account Management