The Global Leader in Creative Operations

John Batter is the Chief Executive Officer of XR and brings deep experience across the entertainment, media and technology industries, having held leadership roles in both software and data companies and major studios. He has served on XR’s Board of Directors since 2022 before being appointed CEO in 2025.

Prior to XR, John was CEO of MarketCast, where he led the company’s digital transformation and accelerated the growth of its research and advertising effectiveness solutions for global brands, studios and media companies.

Earlier in his career, John was CEO of Gracenote, where he established the company as the global leader in entertainment metadata and drove innovations in contextual advertising and measurement, culminating in Gracenote’s acquisition by Nielsen in 2017. He also held senior leadership roles at DreamWorks Animation, contributing to blockbuster franchises such as Shrek and Madagascar, and later launched M-GO, a streaming on-demand service backed by DreamWorks and Technicolor, which was subsequently acquired by Fandango.

Chandler leads the global finance organization at XR with a focus on financial strategy and planning. Most recently he was the CFO of NielsenIQ (formerly known as Nielsen Connect), and a key member of the management team transforming the global company. Prior to that, Chandler was the CFO of Tribune Media Company, where he spent 21 years.
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Chandler has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of two digital media companies, CareerBuilder and Classified Ventures (Cars.com and Apartments.com), and has served on the management committee of two cable television networks, the Food Network and the Cooking Channel.

Blair Robertson is the Chief Product Officer at XR, driving the company’s strategic product direction to deliver advanced creative technology solutions for the global advertising and entertainment industries. With over 20 years of experience in Adtech, Martech, and Fintech, he has a proven track record of innovation at the intersection of technology, data science, and product development.

Previously, Blair was Head of Product Strategy at Innovid (Acquired by MediaOcean) following the acquisition of TVSquared, where he served as Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President. Over his 10-year tenure at TVSquared, he played a key role in scaling the company and transforming the advertising ecosystem through cross-platform delivery and measurement solutions.

Eric's career spans more than 25 years across the technology, media, and professional services sectors. Eric has built and guided legal teams and orchestrated complex business transactions throughout his career. He has spearheaded Private Equity carve-outs, multinational mergers and acquisitions, and provided strategic counsel on critical areas including cybersecurity, privacy, labor & employment, intellectual property, and corporate governance.
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Most recently, Eric was the Chief Legal Officer at Vialto Partners, a carve-out of PwC's Global Mobility practice, where he built their first legal team from scratch. Prior to Vialto, Eric spent more than 20 years at Nielsen where he was right in the middle of the media and advertising ecosystem, holding a variety of legal roles in the United States, China, and Australia.

Kouros Esfahany serves as XR's Chief Technology Officer, driving the company's research & development initiatives to new performance levels and spearheading the development of innovative, AI-driven, customer-focused products and solutions. With over two decades of robust software development experience across enterprise management, e-commerce, digital and programmatic advertising, Kouros brings a wealth of expertise to his role.

Prior to joining XR, Kouros held various executive positions at Emodo Inc, FreeWheel, a Comcast company, eBay, CA Technologies, and Hewlett-Packard. In addition to leading product development, Kouros contributed to overall strategy, market positioning, and client relationships. Kouros is a published author and holds 14 U.S. patents, reflecting his dedication to innovation and technological advancement.

Michael McGuire is President of XR Pay, XR’s division dedicated to comprehensive payroll and financial solutions for the advertising and entertainment industries. Michael brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in enterprise hardware, software and services spanning the financial, technology and entertainment industries.

He was most recently COO of FilmTrack, the industry leader in handling the complex intellectual property management process for the Media and Entertainment Industry, where he led the company to a successful exit. Previously, Michael was the EVP of Sales and Marketing for FastPay, a leader in B2B fintech for the digital media space, where he was instrumental in growing the portfolio from $500M to over $1.6B in 18 months. He also held senior positions at organizations including Velocify (acquired by Ellie Mae), Siebel Systems (acquired by Oracle), FileNet (IBM) and Ascendant Technology (Avnet). Michael has been recognized for his achievements in growing revenue, building strategic partnerships and implementing process optimization to ensure consistency and efficiency.