AI giant Ekimetrics hires Angie French to drive growth

Ekimetrics – hailed as one of Europe’s most exciting tech innovators by UK Trade Commissioner Chris Barton but still relatively unknown outside the industry – has appointed former Meta and Kantar chief Angie French, with a brief to accelerate UK growth.

French, who has joined the company’s global leadership team as general manager and partner, brings a decade of experience in board positions at Meta, where she was director of marketing science (EMEA) as part of the Northern Europe leadership team, and Kantar, where she was CEO EMEA of Lightspeed (now Profiles).

As an experienced practitioner, French brings a wealth of expertise in solving business challenges through marketing science and AI.

Her appointment comes as part of Ekimetrics’ “Elevate 2028” strategy to become the global leader in business AI deployment at scale.

The plan is to elevate its hybrid model that combines technology with services, across areas including commercial and marketing effectiveness (including MMM), operational excellence, ESG transformation, and customer analytics.

The company’s offer is designed to meet the demands of FTSE 100, 250 and large-scale businesses seeking to unlock AI’s transformative potential for long-term impact. It already counts L’Oréal, AXA and Haleon (formerly GSK Healthcare), among its 350 clients across three continents. It also has industry partnerships with Google, Meta, Creative X, Effie, ISBA and the IPA,

Away from the day job, French works in academia at both the University of Cambridge, where she contributes to GenAI deployment executive leadership programmes, and the National Film & Television School, where she brings technology to life for the creative industries’ most promising future entrepreneurs.

She said: “The job of today’s CMO is more complex than ever. They’re dealing with significant technological advancements, ongoing channel fragmentation and high customer expectations against a backdrop of extremely competitive environments, economic headwinds and budget constraints.

“All of which demands technology, data and finance prowess, as well as creative flair and strategic acumen, to navigate optimal decision-making, capitalise on the AI-opportunity, and deliver marketing transformation.

“Our job is to give CMOs confidence in their delivery, by understanding the dynamics and challenges of both their role and their organisation and translating them into business value and demonstrable ROI. Which is why Ekimetrics’ suite of tech-plus-service solutions is such an exciting proposition, and why I’m thrilled to be taking the helm in the UK.”

Ekimetrics’ global CEO Jean-Baptiste Bouzige added: “Not only is Angie a smart, consummate practitioner and innovator, her ability to speak directly to CMOs on a C-suite to C-suite basis, combined with her growth track record and supportive leadership style make her the ideal choice to lead our Elevate plan in the UK.”