French-owned data-driven marketing group Artefact – which launched in the UK last October – is strengthening its data credentials with the appointment of the agency’s first vice-president of data.
Ryo Katsuki joins from sales intelligence and machine learning company Whalr, which he co-founded in 2015 and served as CTO for four years.
He will head up Artefact’s data analytics, engineering and data science teams in the UK, with a remit to bring high-quality data services to the agency’s clients and enhance its authority in the AI and data space.
He will report directly to Artefact UK managing partner Ashish Sidhra, who said: “Ryo is a great addition to the UK leadership team – his significant experience in the data and technology space will provide a huge boost to our client programmes, building innovative AI and data solutions for them.”
Katsuki has over 20 years’ core technology leadership experience, and an additional ten years in big data problem-solving and distributed-computing solutions. Before launching Whalr, he held senior positions with Atos-owned Cambridge Technology Partners, software and services company Novell, and online city transit guide HopStop in the US. Katsuki has also worked with omnichannel analytics company Kontagent, and several UK startups.
Katsuki said: “The work Artefact is doing across the world is ingenious and exciting – I look forward to developing the UK office’s current portfolio and expanding the client list.”
Artefact UK managing director Sarah De Martin, the former OMD managing partner who joined the business in January, added: “Since our initial UK launch late last year, we’ve been acquiring top-drawer talent on both client and agency side. Ryo’s knowledge and experience is second-to-none, and it’s an absolute coup to have him on board.”
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