He will be tasked with leading YouGov's technology efforts to achieve high levels of innovation, quality, security, reliability and efficiency worldwide.
Floyd will report to chief executive Nadhim Zahawi and will sit on the operating board of YouGov. He will be based at its Palo Alto, California office, in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Prior to this appointment Floyd was chief technology officer and executive vice-president of Knowledge Networks, a US top 25 research company. He has worked in high technology firms for over 20 years, holding the post of vice president of engineering at companies including Preview Software, Optimal Networks and Systems & Networks.
Floyd has a doctorate in astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he also earned his masters and bachelor's degrees. He is an American citizen but grew up in Europe, Africa, Latin America and the US.
Floyd said: "Information becomes more valuable as it is delivered faster and more accurately to more people worldwide. My goal is to help YouGov become a global real-time enterprise that consistently delivers high quality information to its clients."
Zahawi said: "Michel reinforces our ability to innovate quickly while increasing the scalability and reliability of our core systems and processes."