AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 22, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Stratfor, the world’s leading geopolitical intelligence platform, today announced the appointment of Chip Harmon as President to lead the firm into its next stage of strategic growth in the publishing, consulting and information services industries. Harmon will be joined by industry veteran Gemma Postlethwaite, who will serve as Stratfor’s new Chairman. Their combined appointments assume the corporate leadership role of CEO and Executive Chairman previously held by Dave Sikora. Sikora, who led Stratfor’s digital and business transformation since joining in April 2016, will continue to support Stratfor’s future endeavors in an advisory role for the company.
“We have spent the last 18 months in strategic and product transformation mode, and it’s now time to shift gears toward growth and optimization,” said Sikora, who led the launch of Stratfor Worldview, the firm’s new premier digital publication; Stratfor Threat Lens, the first in a suite of new enterprise level products; and the forthcoming Stratfor API release. “Chip’s strategic vision and extensive experience in the enterprise marketplace are precisely what’s needed now to fuel the next phase of Stratfor’s advancement. I can think of no one better suited to lead the company forward at this exciting time.”
Harmon has served as Stratfor’s chief sales and business development officer since March 2017 and led the creation of Stratfor Worldview for Enterprises, which launched in October, to provide organizations with a full array of enterprise-class geopolitical resources to power global strategies. His leadership also fueled the dynamic growth of Stratfor Threat Lens’ list of enterprise clients seeking to identify and mitigate threats to their people, assets and interests around the world. Harmon brings 28 years of leadership, sales management and business development expertise to Stratfor, including an extensive background growing technology organizations in the business intelligence, analytics, data integration and database industries. Prior to Stratfor, Harmon was vice president of global sales for Innography where he led sales initiatives, client adoption and product refinement to meet market demand.
“Stratfor offers a unique opportunity to deliver today’s companies unprecedented insight at the intersection of geopolitics and business strategy. We are introducing the value of Stratfor’s independent and unbiased geopolitical intelligence to a whole new generation of corporations who are increasingly challenged by today’s fluctuating international environment,” said Harmon. “While it may seem complicated, the wisdom conveyed by Stratfor’s analyst team, directly or through our solutions, helps our clients identify long-term opportunities and mitigate risk while their competitors are often distracted by the noise of today’s media landscape.”
Joining Stratfor as the company’s new chairman, Postlethwaite brings precise insight into what enterprise clients want and need from today’s information services industry. Before Stratfor, Postlethwaite served as CEO of PIRA Energy Group, a leading energy market analysis firm working with corporate clients across 60 countries; president of SMB and data services at Infogroup, a provider of business data and marketing solutions; and global head of alliances and commercial strategy at Thomson Reuters where she identified unique opportunities in the digital space.
“Stratfor is miles ahead of many competitors in this space, having already successfully developed a product architecture that supports both individual members and enterprise clientele with a model we can easily scale,” said Postlethwaite. “And Stratfor’s unbiased assessments and long-term forecasts for geopolitical risk offer the insightful, no nonsense foundation today’s Fortune 500 companies need to develop successful global strategies. This next stage in Stratfor’s growth promises to be especially dynamic and I look forward to supporting new opportunities as part of Stratfor’s ongoing transformation.”
The launch of Stratfor Worldview in 2017 and Stratfor Threat Lens in 2016 dramatically expanded the company’s ability to deliver integrated analysis, forecasting and actionable insights to clients. In addition to the firm’s premier Stratfor Advisory Services, the October launch of Worldview for Enterprises established Stratfor as a fundamental resource for companies navigating today’s increasingly volatile international environment. As the world grows increasingly interconnected, strategic business leaders can prepare their organizations with objective geopolitical intelligence and analysis that reveals the underlying significance and future implications of emerging world events by visiting Stratfor.com.
About Stratfor
As the world’s leading geopolitical intelligence platform, Stratfor brings global events into valuable perspective, empowering businesses, governments and individuals to more confidently navigate their way through an increasingly complex international environment. By leveraging a deep understanding of history, politics and geography in conjunction with the company’s unique geopolitical methodology, Stratfor delivers informed perspectives on today’s events and develops a more accurate view of the future.
For more information, contact:
Joshua Cook
Stratfor Director of Public Relations
pr@stratfor.com
512.744.4309
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3eac4a06-f6b6-494a-b2a3-7495e5673dc7