Tinuiti Kicks off 2022 with Two C-Suite Leadership Hires: Chief People Officer and Chief Financial Officer

Largest Independent Performance Marketing Firm Bolsters Exec Team Diversity with Seasoned Technology Industry Executives

Tinuiti, the largest independent performance marketing firm across Streaming TV and the Triopoly of Google, Facebook, Amazon, announced the appointments of Jeff Batuhan as Chief People Officer, and Lori Varlas as Chief Financial Officer, ushering in a new year of continued talent expansion and business growth.

The two tech industry vets not only have experience in entrepreneurial, fast-growth, and large -scale companies, but also bring additional diversity to the executive leadership team. With their appointment, Tinuiti’s C-suite is now 44 percent women and 33 percent BIPOC. Of Tinuiti’s entire employee base, 61 percent identify as women and 32 percent as BIPOC, so the next generation of up-and-coming leaders at the company is well-positioned to further diversify its leadership roles.

“Jeff and Lori, both renowned leaders in their respective areas of expertise, arrive at Tinuiti just as we’re on pace to triple in size from the start of 2021 to the end of 2022. They have exactly the right experience needed to meet us where we’re at—big company, fast growth, but still entrepreneurial at the core. Multiple times throughout their careers they’ve helped organizations scale and innovate, all while staying true to the values and culture of the company. I have no doubt Jeff and Lori will help us achieve fast & healthy growth, while also generating happiness across all our stakeholders: people, clients, partners and shareholders.” – Zach Morrison, CEO, Tinuiti

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Jeff Batuhan, Chief People Officer:

Batuhan will be responsible for the company’s strategy in managing 1,000+ people. With surging growth across its workforce—a year-over-year increase of over 53%—Tinuiti has bucked the trends associated with industry talent wars. Batuhan will continue to innovate on the company’s mission to “grow happiness,” which has helped it achieve double the industry’s retention rate during the so-called “War For Talent.” Batuhan’s remit is to further cement Tinuiti’s position as the premier career destination for top talent and to lead all aspects of talent management, recruitment, leadership development, diversity, equality and inclusion, leadership development, and employee learning.

“I’m thrilled to join a diverse and impressive leadership team with a relentless focus on people, company values and mission. Tinuiti has an unbeatable culture and it’s my intention to help to innovate, celebrate, and enhance that culture. The mindset at Tinuiti is to always be proud of what you built, but never be satisfied and continue to evolve. I’m eager to amplify the amazing groundwork already present at Tinuiti, and I look forward to unleashing the greatness of every Tinuitian within an innovative culture, where all voices are heard.” – Jeff Batuhan, Chief People Officer, Tinuiti

Batuhan brings more than two decades of U.S. and global experience to the role, joining the Tinuiti from digital media measurement and analytics software platform, DoubleVerify, where he served as Chief Talent/People Officer, leading a rapidly growing headcount and business revenue. Prior to DoubleVerify, Batuhan was the first Head of Global Talent Acquisition at WeWork. Before that, Batuhan spent over a decade with Stryker, one of the world’s leading medical technology companies, where he helped expand the company’s workforce globally across APAC, EMEA, and the Americas.

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Lori Varlas, Chief Financial Officer

Varlas joins Tinuiti with more than 35 years of extensive global finance and operational experience across finance and accounting, corporate governance, risk management, and operations. Varlas will play a key role in Tinuiti’s long-term strategy including growth, strategic investments, M&A, and performance excellence. Varlas will also build on the firm’s many successful innovations in the financial realm stemming from its “Culture of Ownership,” which encourages employees to act like owners by giving everyone a stake in the company.

“I am delighted to join the Tinuiti team. The Company has had incredible growth and success to-date while relentlessly focusing on helping their customers succeed in the marketplace. Tinuiti is a truly innovative leader in the industry and is well-positioned with amazing white space, growth opportunities and tailwinds. Tinuiti’s “Culture of Ownership” with employees and strong financial model are key components to driving future success and growth. I’m excited to be part of Tinuiti’s future.” – Lori Varlas, Chief Financial Officer.

Most recently, Varlas was Chief Financial Officer at Hitachi Vantara, the digital infrastructure, data management and analytics, and digital solutions subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd. This included her Board of Director appointment to oXya, a Hitachi Group company, a global leader in technical services, cloud solutions, and managed services for SAP clients. Prior to Hitachi Vantara, Varlas was CFO at Central Garden & Pet Company, and held executive roles at Sun Microsystems and PeopleSoft. Varlas began her career at PwC where she served for 7 years.

Building on Years of Growth Momentum for 2022

Tinuiti has experienced rapid expansion, growing seven times in size since 2017, closing out a strong year. In late 2020, Tinuiti partnered with New Mountain Capital, a leading growth-oriented investment firm and announced an all-star board of directors including Kevin Mayer, formerly of Disney and TikTok, Anneka Gupta, former President of LiveRamp, and George Gallate, former CEO of Havas. In 2021, Tinuiti completed two major acquisitions: Amazon-specialist agency, Ortega Group, to create the industry’s most robust full-service Amazon and marketplace program, and digital streaming agency, Bliss Point Media, which transformed Tinuiti into the largest independent purchaser of streaming/OTT media in the U.S.

Tinuiti is one of the winningest firms in the industry for both culture and performance, including including ranking #1 in Ad Age’s 2019 and 2020 Best Workplaces, receiving an Employer of the Year and Top Boss awards from Digiday, and being named to Inc.’s Best Places to Work list in 2020 and 2021. The firm pulls in Employee Net Promoter Scores unheard of in the industry with a consistent eNPS of over 50 and ranks way above the industry average for its employee retention rates.

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