Every year in the GRIT Insights Practice Report, the GRIT Future List honors up and coming stars in market research. To give you a deeper look into what makes these folks so special, we’ve interviewed the 16 honorees. We hope you enjoy getting better acquainted with the future of insights. For more on the GRIT Future List Honorees, be sure to check out the GRIT Insights Practice Report.
Danielle Todd, Account Director, Relish
What advice do you have for folks hoping to start a career in insights?
Follow your passion. It can be easy to try to fit in with a company, but your passions, your interests and your perspective all feed into shaping how you see the world. It’s this plurality of visions that are required to accurately represent the world in all its beauty.
Mark Micheli Vice President, Experience Innovation & Product Strategy, Kelton Global
When did you know you wanted to enter a career in insights, and what inspired you?
As a journalist, I felt we did a great job of telling human stories but not of understanding our audience. So I rolled into marketing, where I found we did a better job of understanding our audience but lost the human connection that gave our understanding context. It was when I rolled into UX and human-centered design that all the seemingly disparate experiences I acquired suddenly clicked into place.
Marin Mrša CEO, Peekator
What trends do you see making headway on the horizon of insights? What trends do you think will falter in years to come?
I think that we all are focused on the wrong things. AI and Machine Learning are pretty common these days and everybody is focusing on them. We will all use them, but we need to look to them as a tool for making our products and services better.
Jimmy Zollo Co-Founder & CEO, Collaborata
If you could change one thing about insights, what would it be?
There are far too many organizations that view insights and marketing research as a “nice to have” and not a “need to have.” The industry must do a better job fighting for itself, especially given current economic conditions.
Alyona Medelyan CEO, Thematic
What trends do you see making headway on the horizon of insights? What trends do you think will falter in years to come?
More and more people are becoming data literate, whether it’s understanding charts, relying on data rather than intuition or understanding the limitations of data. We will continue to see an increase in data literacy in the next 10 years and with that an increase in the quality of insights derived from data.
Nihal Advani Founder & CEO, Qualsights
Nihal Advani Where do you see the future of insights heading in the next 10 years?
I believe we will see the below 3 trends over the next 10 years:
- An increased focus on generating deep/authentic insights but with much more speed/agility, thanks to advancements in video and AI and a blurring of lines between qualitative and quantitative
- A significant increase in gathering contextual insights and observed behavior techniques vs relying on recall-based methods or self-reported surveys
- The ability to capture data passively to get to true behavior observation & understanding, powered by wearable cameras and biometric sensors
Andrew Konya CEO, Remesh
When did you know you wanted to enter a career in insights, and what inspired you?
I was inspired by friends in conflict zones in the middles east who were being negatively impacted because their governments did not understand them. It became clear that understanding populations better was really hard, and that doing it better could have a large positive impact on the world. At that point, I decided that I wanted to shift my career away from physics and focus on the problem of enabling anyone to instantly understand a population.
Hannah Marcus Strategist, Discover.ai
If you could go back in time to when you first started your career, what advice would you give to your younger self?
I wasted a lot of time when I was younger grappling with imposter syndrome – I’d want to tell myself that there is no ‘secret answer’ to how to be a semiotician or a researcher; what you learn from the people around you is as valid as any official training course. Also not to stress as much about finding the ‘perfect’ job – it’s the unexpected twists and turns that have brought real value and excitement.
Olivier Tilleuil CEO & Founder, Eyesee
What trends do you see making headway on the horizon of insights?
I expect that in the next decade, we will witness the needle move from 20:80 to 80:20 in favor of implicit vs. explicit insights. We see a more widespread awareness and use of the unconscious measurements – and the clients that try it and stay with it. Further, in-context testing is something that will become commonplace, with the testing environments as accurate as possible.
Athena Lam Lead, Piccolo Portfolios
What challenges do you see facing newer MRX professionals as technology advances?
As with numerous industries, technological advances have lowered barriers for creating new projects and types of surveys. A deeper challenge, which may not seem like one initially, is giving due attention to MRX foundations. Technology is only as effective as its user is self-aware.
Ujwal Arkalgud CEO, MotivBase
Where do you see the future of insights heading in the next 10 years?
The ability of machine intelligence to get better at interpreting and decoding the subtext behind what people talk about all over the world.
Ellen Pieper Chief Client Officer, Research Results, Inc.
Ellen Pieper Where do you see the future of insights heading in the next 10 years?
In data collection, we are often so wrapped up in the details that sometimes we miss the problem we are trying to solve. By focusing on the problem, we remain focused on the WHY behind what we are doing, and it will help us think outside of the box. As more aspects of the research process become automated, and we use new data sources, it will be even more important to make sure we are keeping the WHY in mind.
Amy Greenwood Head of Research & Insight, FlexMR
What do you think the key characteristics or qualities of a leader are? How does this play into MRX?
I think there are two key defining characteristics that any good leader should strive for. The ability to make decisions even under difficult circumstances, and the capacity to place their team first.
Fraser Bruce Consultant, Customer Reach, Canadian Tire
Why are you excited to be a GFL honoree? Or what does being a GFL honoree mean to you?
It’s always a great honor to be recognized for the work you’ve done over a period of time. I was airdropped into insights with zero experience and being an honoree confirms I’ve come a long way since then. Having seen past Future List honorees, I know I’m in an extraordinary company. The Future List contains people working on the cutting edge of insights in various industries. I’m lucky, proud, but most of all humbled to be surrounded by a very impressive list of honorees.
Muriel Silva Consumer Research Manager – North America, Lactalis Canada
What is the most valuable lesson you have learned from market research?
Business empathy: the key to a successful market research outcome is the brief. You need to understand the business need and really grasp the implications to be able to recommend the course of action and ensure at all stages of the project that you have that end goal in mind
Barb Paszyn Research Management Director, Sklar Wilton & Associates
If you could change one thing about insights, what would it be?
I feel like a lot of research is being commoditized and the quality of work isn’t being considered. Some clients just want insights quickly. But those insights take time and care to develop. We need to value ourselves as professionals. Otherwise, other people won’t.
In getting better acquainted with these honorees, it’s clear the future of insights is as bright as ever. For more on the GRIT Future List and the future of the Market Research industry, you can check out the GRIT Insights Practice Report.