MUMBAI: WPP’s data investment management arm Kantar has appointed Efrain Ribeiro as its chief research officer (CRO), effective 1 November.

Ribeiro takes over the role from Renee Smith, who is leaving to join the Colorado-based research company GutCheck.

He was previously CRO of Kantar subsidiary Lightspeed Research.

As Kantar CRO, he will drive both quality and innovation across its 12 operating companies, especially in the fast-developing area of mobile research, and act as a catalyst for collaboration with the operating company teams on the development of new products and solutions.

Kantar president Wayne Levings said, “In Efrain, we have the ideal replacement for Renee. He has almost 40 years of experience and will be able to both pick up and continue to drive our research agenda, which includes putting mobile first and bringing technology to the heart of what we do.”

“I’d like to thank Renee for her valuable contribution over the past five years. She has been an inspirational CRO and a very popular colleague and we all wish her well for the future,” Levings added.