Rep Data Splits Leadership to Combat Sophisticated Research Fraud

NEW ORLEANS – January 08, 2026 – In a significant move to combat the rising tide of sophisticated survey fraud, data quality leader Rep Data today announced a strategic overhaul of its executive leadership, appointing former Kantar CIO Joseph “Joe” Baldini as Chief Technology Officer and Vignesh Krishnan, founder of the fraud-prevention platform Research Defender, to lead its newly formalized Product division.

The appointments signal an aggressive new phase in the company’s mission to protect the integrity of market research data, an industry currently grappling with unprecedented threats to its reliability.

The Escalating War on Data Integrity

The market research industry is facing a crisis of confidence. The insights that guide multi-million dollar business decisions are increasingly under assault from fraudulent data. Industry estimates suggest that anywhere from 15% to 30% of all survey data may be compromised, with some analyses placing the figure even higher. The economic fallout is staggering, with projections indicating that fraudulent activities could cost the global market research industry an estimated $350 million in 2024 alone.

This is not a problem of simple bots or disengaged participants. Modern fraud has evolved into a sophisticated operation utilizing AI-generated text, browser emulators, and advanced IP masking to create “good-looking fraud.” These fraudulent responses are designed to mimic legitimate participants so convincingly that they often bypass traditional quality checks, such as attention traps and basic open-end analysis. This deceptive data can subtly skew results, flatten key performance indicators, and lead organizations to make critical decisions based on a distorted view of reality.

The challenge has forced a reckoning within the industry, with organizations like ESOMAR and the Global Research Business Network calling for a more proactive, multi-layered defense. The consensus is clear: legacy methods are no longer sufficient, and the future of reliable insights depends on advanced technological intervention.

A Strategic Split: Separating Product and Technology

It is against this backdrop that Rep Data has made the intentional decision to separate its Product and Technology functions, a move that deviates from the common industry practice of combining them under a single leader. The company states this organizational redesign is engineered for clearer accountability, deeper focus, and faster execution in the fight against fraud.

“Creating dedicated Product and Technology leadership is a strategic move for Rep Data,” said Patrick Stokes, founder and CEO of Rep Data, in a statement. “As our platform expands and fraud tactics grow more sophisticated, we want product leadership staying tightly connected to the real challenges researchers face, while technology leadership focuses on building resilient, adaptable systems. This structure gives us the best of both with faster product development and a stronger, more scalable platform.”

This separation aligns with a growing trend in high-growth SaaS and data analytics companies, where the complexity of both customer-facing product strategy and underlying technological infrastructure demands specialized executive oversight. By dedicating a leader to product, the company aims to ensure its solutions are directly guided by user needs and evolving market challenges. Simultaneously, a dedicated technology chief can focus on the critical, non-stop work of building and hardening the systems that power those solutions, ensuring they are scalable, secure, and capable of outmaneuvering bad actors.

Assembling an Elite Team to Lead the Charge

To helm these newly defined divisions, Rep Data has brought in two industry heavyweights with proven track records in technology and product innovation.

Joe Baldini, the new Chief Technology Officer, brings over two decades of experience leading large-scale technology initiatives at global research organizations. As the former Chief Information Officer at Kantar, he was responsible for the technology strategy underpinning one of the world's largest research operations. His extensive career also includes leadership roles at Lightspeed GMI, Apollo Intelligence, and Premera Blue Cross, giving him deep expertise in building and scaling the resilient enterprise systems required for data-intensive industries.

“Rep Data is solving one of the most critical problems in modern research,” Baldini stated. “I'm excited to work more closely with the engineering and product teams to scale our platforms, strengthen fraud defenses, and ensure our technology keeps pace with the realities researchers face today.”

Leading the new Product division is Vignesh Krishnan, an executive whose career has been defined by his focus on market research technology and, specifically, fraud prevention. Krishnan is the founder of Research Defender, a leading anti-fraud system acquired by Rep Data in 2023. Before creating Research Defender, he served as VP of Product Management at Lucid, a major programmatic sample marketplace. His unique background, which spans engineering, entrepreneurship, and product leadership, positions him perfectly to translate the complex needs of researchers into effective, practical solutions.

“As Rep Data grows, it's increasingly important that product leadership stays closely connected to the real challenges researchers face,” Krishnan said. “My focus is on ensuring our products are grounded in those needs and that our teams continue building practical, high-quality solutions the industry can trust.”

Fortifying Defenses with Advanced Technology

The new leadership structure is set to accelerate the development of Rep Data's core platforms: Research Desk, its DIY sampling solution, and Research Defender, its flagship fraud prevention system. Research Defender already operates at a massive scale, conducting a reported 2.9 billion security scans annually to protect data integrity.

The investment in specialized leadership and technology underscores a broader industry shift. The most effective anti-fraud systems today move beyond simple IP checks and digital fingerprinting. They employ a multi-layered approach using AI and machine learning to analyze behavior in real time, identify patterns indicative of bots or survey farms, and adapt to new threats as they emerge. By bringing the architect of Research Defender in-house to lead product strategy, Rep Data is doubling down on this advanced, technology-first approach.

This strategic focus on strengthening its technological bulwark and aligning its product roadmap directly with the front lines of the data quality battle positions the company to not only serve its clients but also to contribute to a more trustworthy market research ecosystem. As businesses rely more heavily than ever on data to navigate an uncertain landscape, the integrity of that data has become paramount, making such focused efforts essential for the entire industry.