Research and analytics firm IRI has recruited a heavy hitter from Google with deep roots at Procter & Gamble Co. as its new CEO.

Kirk Perry, who’s been president of global client and agency solutions at Google since 2013, working with the biggest clients and agencies, is set to arrive in May. Prior to Google, Perry spent more than two decades at P&G, most recently as president of global family care. He was also previously a VP of U.S. operations and North America marketing. Perry's departure from P&G came as a surprise, given that he was widely seen by insiders as a leading candidate to eventually become CEO there.

The move comes as IRI and its marketer clients work to deal with the loss of cookies and other personal identifiers from Google Chrome and develop workarounds for targeting customers and evaluating marketing effectiveness.

Perry also sits on the boards of J.M. Smucker Co. and e.l.f. Cosmetics, the latter led by fellow P&G alum Tarang Amin.

He succeeds Andrew Appel, CEO of IRI since 2012, who was praised in a statement by IRI Chairman Jeffrey Ansell (a P&G alum who worked closely with Perry there), for having transformed the company and partnering with clients.

Perry, said Ansell, is “an impressive, well-respected leader whose background makes him uniquely suited to understand both the evolving needs of our clients and the power of harnessing data, insights and technology.”

“I look forward to building on IRI’s success, market position and competitive advantages to deepen its connection with clients,” Perry said.

At Google, Perry among other things, helped develop the customer teams that worked closely with big clients like P&G and helped guide their transition to digital marketing.