Serving our clients around the world

Eric knows the Verian business intimately, given its previous history as Kantar Public and his 18-year history as the Global CEO of Kantar, where he grew the business from the ground up into an operation turning over $4bn in annual revenues. Alongside his role at Verian, Eric is also a Board member at Morning Consult and a Board advisor at Phoenix Court VC.   ​
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Eric has previously served as an advisor to the UK Government on e-commerce and business, and as a non-executive at DFID (The Department for International Development) and has played an integral role in helping many brands expand both locally and internationally. 

David Miliband is President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, a New York-based humanitarian non-governmental organisation. ​

From 2007-2010 he was UK Foreign Secretary, and from 2001 to 2013 MP for South Shields. He was head of the Downing Street Policy Unit from 1997 to 2001, Minister for Schools 2002 to 2004, and Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2006 to 2007.​

Commenting on his appointment as Non-Executive Director to the Global Management Board at Verian, David added: “I love the purpose that sits at the heart of this business - delivering better outcomes for individuals, governments, society as a whole, and particularly for those whose voices may not otherwise be heard.”

Matthew Postgate has over 25 years’ experience managing the impact of digital technology. Previously, Matthew was the BBC’s Chief Technology and Product Officer with responsibility for building the corporation’s world leading mobile services. Notably, Matthew was also part of the leadership team that conceived and launched BBC iPlayer. He currently works in climate technology and is lead NEM at UK Strategic Command within the Ministry of Defence. As well as his Global Board role at Verian, Matthew is also a Non-Executive Director of Arqiva and M2A Media. Matthew is also a member of the Raspberry Pi foundation and a Fellow at the Zinc start-up incubator.​

On his appointment as Non-Executive Director to the Global Management Board, Matthew commented: “I’ve been involved in the benefits that technology innovation and transformation can bring when truly aligned to human needs and challenges for over 20 years.”

Michelle Harrison works as an advisor to governments and corporations around the world to build and deliver better public policy.​

She was the Founding CEO of Verian, leading the organisation for its first decade, during which time she established it as a division of Kantar and then led its evolution to a privately owned independent company and the largest specialist public policy consulting business outside of the US. She is Chair of the Verian Institute for Public Impact, and a regular platform speaker and media commentator on issues of geopolitical and social change.

Michelle was previously the Founding Global CEO of the WPP’s Government and Public Sector Practice, which pioneered a paradigm shift in applied behaviour change communications for public policy and scaled across every continent.

Throughout her career, Michelle has held NED and Trustee roles in the areas of public realm innovation and social investment, including at Nesta (2012 – 2018) and Social Finance (2019 – 2025). She has served on numerous advisory committees for U.K. government. She sits on the Advisory Board of the Reykjavik Global Forum and is the co-founder of The Reykjavik Index for Leadership. 

Philippa has extensive commercial and operational leadership experience in information, data and analytics  businesses such as the RELX group, Financial Times and Reuters. Prior to joining Verian in 2024, Phil was Chief Operating Officer at I.C.I.S, a petrochemicals data and analytics business – but she has also worked in other diverse markets such  Financial Crime and Compliance, Aviation and Intellectual Property.

As Global CEO of Verian, she will accelerate innovation in the collection of data and use of AI, expand current offers and best practice to more markets, and simplify our structure and ways of working as well as help create and deliver an accelerated growth plan.

Phil is passionate about building business cultures and is committed to nurturing talent within organisations. She has an eclectic range of hobbies from knitting and skiing to singing in a choir – and a strange fascination with mountains, despite being scared of heights.

Zarina is Global Chief People Officer and a member of both the Executive Committee and the Board.  ​

She has deep experience and a strong track record of delivering results on a global basis, embracing the nuances and complexities of designing and implementing effective people strategies across multiple markets. ​

Zarina is passionate about Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) - not only fuelled by lived experience - but in a quest to further her own deeper understanding of intersectionality and the complex forces that work to either propel, or hinder, high-performing and inclusive cultures. At Verian, Zarina leads on DEI globally to ensure it is a core pillar and driver for growth as part of our commitment to being a fully purpose-led business. 

Kathryn originally joined Verian’s Global Executive Board as Global Head of Behavioural Change and Communications and to build on Verian’s heritage of delivering ground-breaking behaviour change programmes. Previously she was the Executive Director at WPP’s Government and Public Sector Practice setting up operations in Australia and New Zealand, and ultimately moving to the US to deliver growth in the Federal Government market. After serving as interim Chief Operating Officer in 2024, Kathryn was appointed as Chief Client Officer..

She believes in the power of leveraging behavioural science and rich insight to shape communications and other interventions to achieve more effective policy outcomes in the communities we serve – creating a healthier, safer and more connected world. A Georgetown University graduate with a BSBA in International Business, she values the diversity of cultural backgrounds our experts around the world bring to our work.

Steven Ramsey joined Verian Group in 2024 as Chief Financial Officer and is a member of the Global Executive Committee.

Steven has over 20 years' experience supporting teams and global organisations in achieving their financial and strategic goals in both private and public listed environments. Previously he was the CFO at Capco, a management & technology consultancy dedicated to the financial services and energy industries. During this time he partnered with senior leadership to provide insights and guidance on business performance, growth opportunities and risk management.

He has an energy and a focus to deliver an industry leading value added finance function to support growth across Verian Group that is built off a strong financial process and control environment.

Bern joined Verian as Chief Technology Officer and is a member of the Global Executive Committee.​

Bern is a solution-oriented and creative technology leader, with over 20 years' experience in the data and insights industry. He has a strong focus on the transformational opportunities that technology can bring, recognizing that technology and business strategy go hand-in-hand.​

At Verian, Bern's role is to ensure that our clients and our colleagues can benefit from technological capabilities that drive quality, efficiency, innovation and growth.

Gavin’s background is in senior client-side roles in the finance category, then running his own agency (Meerkats) which became the largest and most successful independent agency in the Western Australian market before selling to WPP and Wunderman Thompson where he then rose to CEO nationally.

He has led purpose-led businesses for over 15 years and has a clear understanding of the application of the concept for strategy, our people, our clients, product innovation and strong commercial returns.

He’s known for his people first approach, close connection with clients and entrepreneurial thinking.

Roelof Jan leads Verian's European business from Brussels. He leads a multinational team of renowned experts across Europe that enables clients to access best-in-class knowledge, insights and advice to shape their future public policies.   ​

He has a vast experience in advising public sector clients in both international and national projects on a wide range of themes, and has an outstanding track record as a policy advisor to the EU Commission, international financing institutions and national public sector clients. Roelof-Jan brings decades of experience to the leadership of our European business from consultancy and research firms, overseeing our teams across the continent providing industry-leading evidence, consulting and innovation across the region. ​

Before joining Verian in 2019 he was leading the European Institutions market for Ecorys across the different countries.

Ingo joined the Global Executive Board in September 2020 as Chief Executive Officer for Germany. At Verian, Ingo leads a top team of researchers and consultants, generating insights into human attitudes and behaviour, to improve the public realm. He also manages the Joint Venture of the leading German political polling business, Infratest dimap. 
 
In 2021, he set up the Public Innovation Data Hub, and is in charge of managing the partnership with start-up businesses to deliver AI-powered solutions to our clients. 
 
Ingo graduated from the University of Applied Sciences, Rheinland-Palatine, studied in the MBA program and worked as a graduate assistant at the University of South Alabama, and completed an Executive Leadership programme at INSEAD. For three years he was a member of the Effie Advisory Board and Jury in Germany.
 
He joined from Nielsen where he was Head of the Executive Board in Germany, overseeing their market and media research businesses for over six years. 

Craig has over thirty years’ experience of working for, and with the public sector. At Verian, Craig leads a world class team of researchers and specialist consultants focused on understanding human behaviour and using that insight and evidence to deliver data-driven problem solving to improve public policy making and society.   ​

Prior to leading the UK team at Verian, he was a senior civil servant in the UK government and is well used to navigating complex and politically sensitive environments. Following 25 years in the public sector Craig led business development for EY’s UK Government and Public Sector Practice.  ​

Craig has a deep interest in understanding human behaviour, unlocking social mobility and the power of education to change lives. As someone with an ADHD brain and coming from a dyslexic family, Craig is passionate about championing the power that diversity, in all its forms brings, to organisations and society. 

Sandra brings over two decades of expertise in policy and social research consulting. Her focus areas include behavioral communications and design, public engagement, program evaluation, and data analysis within sustainability contexts. She plays a crucial role as a senior advisor on social, policy, and sustainability issues for government, non-profit sectors, institutions, and foundations.  Recognised as a thought leader and frequent public speaker, Sandra holds a MSc in International Business 4.0 (specialising in Green & Digital Transformation) and is certified as a Board Director (SID), Trainer (ACLP), and Facilitator (IAP2).