In this new role, Ms. Lanford will be responsible for transforming the way Fitch leverages data across its businesses to enhance current products and internal applications, as well as exploiting the value of data for new product development.

Ms. Lanford joins Fitch from Red Hat (IBM), where she was the Vice President of Enterprise Data & Analytics. Formerly she held executive positions with Avaya and WPP. Ms. Lanford is a frequent keynote speaker on topics about building a data culture, data literacy, applied analytics/data science and women in STEM, and also sits on the Board of the School of Data Science at the University of Virginia.

"We are really pleased that Heidi has joined Fitch," said Paul Taylor, President and CEO of Fitch Group. "We have created the new role of Chief Data Officer in recognition of the critical importance of data to businesses such as ours. This role will help drive new product innovation and ensure we maximize the return on our data assets."