NEW DELHI: Communications firm Edelman has tapped Karima Zmerli as global head of performance and predictive intelligence for its data and intelligence unit (DxI). 

In the new role, Zmerli will lead performance and predictive intelligence globally and oversee media buying and marketing strategies for clients. She will be based in New York and report to Edelman DxI global chief data & analytics officer Yannis Kotziagkiaouridis. 

The hire is part of Edelman’s effort to grow its media, data and technology capabilities as clients adapt to digital transformation and major changes to the media ecosystem, such as the loss of Apple’s IDFA mobile identifier and third-party cookies phasing out.

Zmerli joins Edelman from the media agency world, as chief data sciences officer at GroupM’s Wavemaker since 2016, where she helped generate over $1 billion in new business. She joined Edelman to help clients adapt to new use cases for data and technology as privacy becomes top of mind.

“We have to open our horizons and think about the consumer relationship with the brand differently than in a transactional way,” Zmerli said. “Edelman is in a very unique position to understand consumer trust in corporations and brands, a fundamental element to brand strategy and communication.”

Zmerli is Edelman’s latest hire in a bid to bolster its research and data capabilities, with talent across data science, engineering, software development and performance marketing. Most recently, the firm hired David Bartram Shaw as SVP and global head of data science;  Anjuli Bedi as global head of behavioural science and psychometrics; Tim Hwang as global head of product; Jacob Loban as EVP and US head of performance intelligence; and Matt Sato as EVP