Brennan (pictured) has been the chief operating officer at Verto since 2018. Prior to joining the company, he held executive roles at Comscore, ARS and MSWResearch.

Verkasalo will remain with the business as founder and will focus increasingly on strategic partners, customers, vendors, marketing and public image. He will also work with Brennan on the company’s deployment of its strategy in behavioural research.

Founded in 2013, the company is headquartered in Helsinki, with offices in the US.At the end of 2019, it raised $16m in its latest funding round.

Verkasalo said: "Pat has done a tremendous amount of great work in shaping up our current strategy, staffing the organisation, and creating a variety of important and valuable business processes. His leadership has delivered significant improvements in our customer satisfaction and contributed to our maturity as a business.

"I am very happy to take this step as a company and continue collaborating with Pat throughout our new roles."

Liz Musch, chair of the board of directors, said: "Pat’s promotion is indicative of the positive evolution of this company and we believe Pat is the right leader to take us to new heights."