Guggino spent around 12 years at American Express, most recently as director of insights, global brand and advertising.

Her appointment, effective immediately, will support a new broader focus on sectors across Strat7 as the group looks to bring together sector knowledge and specialist capabilities around the needs of clients.

Based in the US, Guggino will work directly with clients and alongside Strat7’s teams, initially helping to develop opportunities in financial services by connecting clients with relevant expertise from across the group. She will also work closely with teams developing Nucleus, Strat7’s AI hub.

Barrie Brien, chief executive at Strat7, said: “Sarah brings more than a decade of senior client-side experience and a strong understanding of the US insight market. She knows what clients need from their insight partners and how to make insight more useful inside a complex global organisation.

“Sarah’s appointment will help us deepen our relationships with key global clients, bring more of the group’s capabilities to the market and accelerate our growth there.”