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Team leaders

Meet our leadership team

Ceo

Daniel Wirth - Kynetec CEO
Daniel Wirth
Chief Executive Officer
Daniel Wirth
Chief Executive Officer

Before being named CEO in March 2020, Daniel served as Chief Operating Officer for Kynetec’s crop division. In this role he was responsible for the company’s worldwide sales and product operations including team management, product development, sales activities and client support.

In his 15 years with Kynetec, Daniel has held leadership positions in North America and Europe, and has helped transform Kynetec from a niche marketing research business in the UK and USA into a recognized global leader providing mission critical data for clients in more than 50 countries.

Daniel holds advanced degrees in Marketing Research, Business Administration, and Psychology.

Daniel is based in St. Louis, USA.

Executive Committee

Colin Siren
Colin Siren
Chief Operating Officer, Animal Health
Colin Siren
Chief Operating Officer, Animal Health

With more than 20 years of experience in animal health and marketing, Colin brings a deep understanding of the world’s companion animal and livestock markets.

He joined Kynetec in 2016, holding roles relating to customer insights, and global key account management and led the successful rollout of the market-leading PetTrak data analytics service in North America - now live in multiple countries. His areas of specialization include veterinary channel transactional data analytics, pricing, customer segmentation, brand health, and new product development.

Colin has managed hundreds of studies relating to animal health topics across more than 30 countries. 

An active voice in the industry, he co-authors extensively on vital animal health issues. His research is published in journals like the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Prior to joining Kynetec, Colin was Vice President for Ipsos Animal Health after starting his career in marketing with Siemens and Mercedes-Benz. Colin is based near Toronto, Canada.

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Paul Walker
Chief Operating Officer, Agriculture
Paul Walker
Chief Operating Officer, Agriculture

Paul is responsible for leading our global agriculture team. He and his team are responsible for the crop, seed, sustainability and machinery subscription portfolio.

The portfolio includes our farmer panel “FarmTrak” in around 50 countries, and sigma, which provides insights for global strategic decisions in crop protection and seed. His team also provide client-driven customer insights and advanced analytics on business topics related to opportunity assessment, pricing, user experience, communication, concept testing, segmentation, branding, customer experience and channel & sales force.

Prior to joining Kynetec, Paul was the Chief Commercial Officer for a financial insights organisation. With more than 25 years of experience within the field of data, insight and research, Paul has spent the majority of his career at Nielsen, leading multicultural and functional teams. He is an international leader, having lived and worked in multiple countries, including Turkey, Russia and Switzerland.

Paul is based in the United Kingdom

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Peter McDowell
Chief Financial Officer
Peter McDowell
Chief Financial Officer

As the chief financial officer at Kynetec, Peter provides leadership for the Finance, Human Resources and Legal functions and manages various key stakeholder relationships. In addition to leading and developing his own people, he enjoys working with dynamic and diverse teams across the business, helping them to make the right decisions to enhance value.

Peter's senior and general management experience of over 20 years, which has and continues to be international, ranges from small business through to larger corporations. He prides himself in being able to find pragmatic solutions to challenging and complex issues. He is based in the United Kingdom.

Vadim Dolt - Chief Technology Officer
Vadim Dolt
Chief Technology Officer
Vadim Dolt
Chief Technology Officer

As Chief Technology Officer, Vadim is responsible for leading our global technology team, as well as defining and executing a technology plan to deliver unique data solutions and insightful analytics across agriculture and animal health.

Vadim is a versatile, high-energy, and results-driven leader with 25 years of experience in delivering business transformation and innovation. Prior to joining Kynetec, Vadim was the Senior Vice President of Technology for an international consulting agency, where he delivered digital transformation initiatives for Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 clients.

Vadim has received multiple recognitions and accolades that included Webby Awards and the Apple innovation award. He is recognized for his thought leadership, having presented at various CMS, eCommerce and marketing conferences.

Vadim is based in Dallas, Texas.

HR

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Lorraine Matthews
Head of Global HR
Lorraine Matthews
Head of Global HR

With nearly 30 years of expertize in HR and operations, Lorraine is a results-focused leader who delivers talent acquisition, retention and solutions that help harness the full power of Kynetec’s most valuable assets – our people. 

As the Head of Global HR at Kynetec, Lorraine and her team are responsible for planning, developing and leading HR strategies. Lorraine is a trusted advisor to other senior leaders within the business in areas including compliance, succession planning, talent management, change management, performance management, learning and development, employee relations, compensation and benefits.

Prior to joining Kynetec, Lorraine was Head of Global HR at Quantel Ltd, a pioneer manufacturer of television and film production equipment.

Lorraine qualified from Oxford Brookes University with a Diploma in Personnel Management, and immediately became a Member of The Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (MCIPD).

Lorraine is based in the United Kingdom

Client Services Leadership Team

Dr Nomman Ahmed - Executive Director, Global Practice Advanced Analytics & sigma
Dr Nomman Ahmed
Executive Director, Global Practice Advanced Analytics & sigma
Dr Nomman Ahmed
Executive Director, Global Practice Advanced Analytics & sigma

Nomman has more than 10 years of experience in agronomic research. He holds a PhD in Agricultural & Development Economics from the Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany. Prior to joining Kynetec, Nomman served as a board member for Kleffmann’s consulting business and was regional manager for Asia-Pacific.

Nomman also has several years' experience in academia, including the Centre for International Development & Environmental Research in Germany, during which he coordinated a consortium of multiple scientific research centres in Central Asia. He’s authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and papers and presented at events covering agricultural and climate change economics, agchem and seed markets.

At Kynetec, Nomman has significantly enhanced our data analytics capabilities, adding depth to our Crop and Animal Health market insights. He has also worked extensively with our customer insights team to deliver mid/long term forecasts for many of our clients’ markets and products.

Julie Andrews - Senior Vice President, Animal Health Customer Insights, North America
Julie Andrews
Senior Vice President, Animal Health Customer Insights, North America
Julie Andrews
Senior Vice President, Animal Health Customer Insights, North America

Julie has more than 30 years of experience in customer insights research, including extensive expertize with pricing, product concept, brand performance, segmentation and satisfaction research. She has conducted thousands of in-depth interviews each year with producers, nutritionists and veterinarians representing all aspects of companion and food animal production.

Julie’s passion for animal health stems from childhood, from being raised on her family’s dairy farm in Linn, Missouri. She earned a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Missouri, Columbia and an MBA from the University of Missouri, St. Louis.

Julie manages a team of research professionals primarily based in the USA and Canada. She works with her team, managing and collaborating on all aspects of Animal Health customer insight projects, many of which are global, and include working with research partners representing over 30 countries.

Julie is based in St. Louis, USA

Jan Bahlmann – Head of Animal Health Customer Insights Europe
Dr. Jan Bahlmann
Head of Animal Health Customer Insights Europe
Dr. Jan Bahlmann
Head of Animal Health Customer Insights Europe

Jan leads a team of market researchers across Europe and has more than 15 years of experience in Customer Insights research and client consultation. His experience in quantitative and qualitative research is backed by a comprehensive understanding of the animal health, pet care and food animal production markets. Jan’s deep knowledge of industry economics and marketing enable him to provide clients with answers to complex business questions and deliver actionable recommendations.

Jan has a family background in swine and poultry farming. He holds a doctorate degree in agricultural economics from the University of Goettingen. Over the years he has worked for a number of market research agencies.

Jan is based in Germany.

Catherine Bras-Sionneau - Executive Director, Crop, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)
Catherine Bras-Sionneau
Executive Director, Agriculture, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)
Catherine Bras-Sionneau
Executive Director, Agriculture, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)

Catherine has more than 30 years of experience in the agricultural and animal health business, within the domestic French market and globally. She has worked on the client side as a sales representative, marketing manager and a business intelligence manager for a major global dairy company.

Catherine joined Kynetec in 2005 and has managed dozens of multi-country customized market research projects for various crop protection and animal health manufacturers, to support innovative marketing activities.

In her current role, Catherine leads the Agriculture activity in the EMEA region, with teams in 13 countries, responsible for commercialization, client service, data acquisition and production. Together with her team, she aims to provide clients with the most consistent, timely and highest-quality insights in the industry.

Catherine is based in France.

André Dias - Executive Director, Crop, Latin America
André Dias
Executive Director, Agriculture, Latin America
André Dias
Executive Director, Agriculture, Latin America

André brings client and agency experience in market and customer insights to his role as Executive Director for the Agriculture division across the Latin America region. In his current role he leads a team of more than 100 research professionals across the core agricultural markets in Latin America. He is also the country lead for Brazil.

André has more than 25 years of experience in the agricultural sector. He has worked on the client side in various sales and marketing roles for several of the largest crop protection players.

Prior to joining Kynetec, André was a Senior Managing Partner for Spark, providing strategic information services for Brazilian agribusinesses. André joins Kynetec following the acquisition of Spark in July 2022.

André is based in Brazil

Ai Chen Kueh - Executive Director, Crop Customer Insights, Asia-Pacific
Ai Chen Kueh
Executive Director, Agriculture Customer Insights, Asia-Pacific
Ai Chen Kueh
Executive Director, Agriculture Customer Insights, Asia-Pacific

Ai Chen has been involved in agricultural market research for more than 15 years, with her focus on the Asia-Pacific region. She has conducted studies related to crop protection, seeds, animal health, pet care, agricultural machinery and the food chain.

As Executive Director of Customer Insights in the Asia-Pacific region, Ai Chen handles both qualitative and quantitative research projects. In addition to being familiar with various qualitative methodologies, Ai Chen is also well versed in leading-edge statistical techniques and tools such as segmentation, pricing, driver analysis and conjoint analysis. She has also worked on tracking studies focusing in design, methodological solutions and analysis.

Ai Chen leads a team of experienced qualitative and quantitative researchers in Australia, China, Malaysia and India.

Ai Chen is based in Malaysia.

Jordan Le Roux
Jordan Le Roux
Senior Director, Sustainability, Agriculture Subscription Services
Jordan Le Roux
Senior Director, Sustainability, Agriculture Subscription Services

Starting his career in US dairying, Jordan joined Kynetec in 2007, spending 5 years in the UK working on qualitative and quantitative customer insights in crop and animal health. Jordan's deep and practical understanding of the challenges faced by farmers provides the foundation of his ability to interpret insights to the benefit of his clients.

On returning to his home country of France, Jordan's work with Kynetec extended to managing crop subscription services, and more recently leading sustainability development with a team of 8 people. In this role, Jordan shapes the commercial approach, client services and operations within sustainability in both crop and livestock. As a result, Jordan and his team actively support clients in the agribusiness, food and other sectors to measure, report and improve the environmental impact of farms globally.

Jordan holds a Master of Science degree in Agriculture from ISARA-Lyon, France and a Professional Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), UK.

Maria McWhorter - Executive Director, Crop, North America
Maria McWhorter
Executive Director, Agriculture, North America
Maria McWhorter
Executive Director, Agriculture, North America

With more than 15 years of agriculture and animal health market research experience, Maria brings a comprehensive understanding of custom methodologies and services to provide clients with in-depth and timely market and customer insights for clients. In addition to years of experience conducting focus groups with a variety of audiences, adapting marketing communication testing for agricultural brands, and providing insights on projects ranging in scope from exploratory research to pricing studies, Maria has experience in managing global teams within Kynetec. In her current role as Executive Director, she leads a team of more than 30 researchers located in the US and Canada.

Prior to her market research career, Maria worked as a business consultant for enterprise software implementation. Her educational credentials include a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with High Honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Maria is based in St. Louis, USA.

Edith Printz (1)
Edith Printz
Executive Director, Agriculture Subscription Services, Asia-Pacific
Edith Printz
Executive Director, Agriculture Subscription Services, Asia-Pacific

Edith has been involved in agricultural market research for more than 15 years. Her extensive expertize includes qualitative and quantitative studies in both custom and syndicated research. Relocating from Europe to Australia in 2009, she has substantial experience within Australia, as well as across the Asia-Pacific region.

Prior to joining Kynetec in 2017, Edith was with the international agricultural market research agency, the Kleffmann Group. At Kleffmann, Edith held a number of positions, including leading research projects in Eastern and Western Europe, product management for their global crop protection and seed tracking service and finally Managing Director for their Australian business.

As Executive Director for Agriculture Subscription Services at Kynetec, Edith leads a team of research professionals across Australia, China, India, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Japan.

Edith is based in Melbourne, Australia

An Segers - Executive Director, Global Account Management, Crop
An Segers
Executive Director, Global Account Management, Agriculture
An Segers
Executive Director, Global Account Management, Agriculture

An has more than 15 years of experience in marketing research in general, and over 12 years of experience in market research specializing in the agricultural and horticultural sectors. She has profound expertise in managing global teams, projects and clients, both for qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.

In her current role, An, together with her global team of senior client service staff, is responsible for account management for international clients in crop protection, seeds, machinery, fertilizers, and other adjacent markets. She has an additional interest in tracking research and sustainability topics.

An holds a university degree in business economics with a major in marketing and marketing research. 

An is based in Antwerp, Belgium.

Ralph Schickel - European Animal Health Subscription Team Lead
Dr. Ralph Schickel
European Animal Health Subscription Team Lead
Dr. Ralph Schickel
European Animal Health Subscription Team Lead

Ralph has 10 years of experience relating to companion and food animal market insights. Through analysis of veterinary channel transactional data, Ralph and his team provide insights on channel, manufacturer and brand performance in Germany, France, UK and Poland. As a veterinarian he has a deep understanding of the animal health market. Prior to joining Kynetec in 2014, Ralph worked in a number of marketing and technical roles for various manufacturers in the animal health industry in the US and Europe.

Ralph earned a DVM, Veterinary Medicine from Ludwig-Maximilians, University of Munich, Germany and an MBA from the Texas A&M University, Mays Business School.

Ralph is based in Germany.

Belén Valverde - Global Customer Insights Practice Leader, Crop
Belén Valverde
Global Customer Insights Practice Leader, Agriculture
Belén Valverde
Global Customer Insights Practice Leader, Agriculture

Belén has more than 20 years’ experience within the field of data, insights and research. With a strong track record of delivering a wide range of crop-related qualitative and quantitative Customer Insights projects locally, regionally and globally, Belén is well respected by clients globally.

In her previous role, Belen led the market research team at AINIA, an agricultural and food industry association based in Valencia, Spain. Also, she taught qualitative methodology on marketing research for post-degree courses at Valencia University.

Belén is based in Valencia, Spain

Dr Mike Witt - Executive Vice President, North America
Dr Michael Witt
Executive Vice President, Animal Health, North America
Dr Michael Witt
Executive Vice President, Animal Health, North America

Mike has many years of client-side experience, having worked for Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) for 17 years in various marketing and commercial leadership roles in Canada. At BI, he was instrumental in successfully launching many new products, leading large and companion animal commercial teams, and experienced in utilizing data and insights from the client perspective.

At Kynetec, Mike is responsible for leveraging the strengths of our customer insights and subscription services portfolio to help clients realize the full value of our "One Kynetec" data, analytics and insights offer.
Mike is a qualified veterinarian from the University of Guelph. He also holds an MBA.

Mike is based in Ontario, Canada.