Speaking to Research, Hayward (pictured) said his departure from Dunnhumby was on good terms. However, he was reluctant to talk about his future plans and it is unclear whether he has a new role lined up at an established company or whether he is pursuing a new venture.

Whatever the venue, Hayward says he will remain in pursuit of the “holy grail” of marketing: that is, a real understanding of how and why consumers act as they do, and how they are influenced by marketing communications.

“What’s going on in the area of insight and marketing and consumer data is pretty transformational in terms of our ability to get to a real understanding of cause and effect, and to really get to know what’s going on out there,” he said.

In one of his last major projects for Dunnhumby, Hayward oversaw the development of a panel called Shopper Thoughts, which aimed to get closer to the how-and-why of consumer behaviour by collecting survey and shopping data from a single panel of 65,000 Tesco Clubcard members.

He joined Dunnhumby in October 2004 from trend consultancy The Henley Centre where he was executive chairman. Prior to his six-year stint at The Henley Centre, Hayward was managing director of the BBH Futures arm of ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty.

Dunnhumby had not returned calls seeking comment at the time of publication, and it is not known whether the company is looking to appoint a direct replacement for Hayward.

His departure coincides with another senior change at the firm. Simon Hay, Dunnhumby’s longest-serving employee and former client services director, has returned to the UK after six years heading up the company’s US operation.

Hay takes up the role of head of UK & Ireland, leaving chief operating officer Stuart Aitken overseeing the US business. Co-founders Clive Humby and Edwina Dunn continue to lead the business as chairman and chief executive respectively.

The firm recently expanded into Canada through a joint venture with retailer Metro. It also acquired KSS Retail, a developer of price modelling and optimisation software.