Kantar installs technology and innovation hub in Porto
The hub starts with 150 engineers and plans to create 400 new jobs by 2026. "It's a fantastic city to live and work in, which gives access to an increasing number of talents," said the company's CTO.
Kantar will expand its presence in Porto, where it entered last year through a €4.3 million investment, with the installation of its first global technology and innovation hub (GTI hub), in a decision that “aims to develop advanced technologies considered strategic for differentiation” of the company.
In a statement sent to ECO, the British multinational says the new hub in Porto will serve as an incubator for new technologies for products and platforms that will “enhance the next phase of growth for Kantar and its clients”. There are 150 jobs to be filled until the end of 2022, but there are plans to create 400 new jobs over the next four years.
Recruitment will kick off for software engineers and data engineers that will work on the Kantar Marketplace platform, as well as the Global Security and Infrastructure Transformation teams. In the medium term, the group, which employs 27 thousand people and has clients in over 90 countries, wants to turn Porto into a centre of excellence in the areas of Cloud, Infrastructure Engineering and Application Support. In addition, the city “will serve as a base for Kantar’s community of digital nomads, formed by senior staff of the company”.
Kantar’s chief technology officer (CTO), Alex Cesa, refers to the choice of Porto for the first global technology and innovation hub as “an important step” in the goal of “building a team and a technology base that accelerates Kantar’s growth in a solid way”.
“It’s a fantastic city to live and work in, giving us close access to a growing pool of tech talent. Plus the fact that we are in Porto will further enhance Kantar’s attractiveness as a great place to work in technology,” she adds.
The Porto City Hall underlines that the arrival of the multinational company was facilitated by InvestPorto, the municipal agency created to promote high value investments for the sustainable growth of the city.
