Leaders Panel: The Path to Insight Excellence with Kristi Brown, Michelle Sullivan, & Kristen Oeljtenbruns

Insight teams are at a crossroads: stay safe and stay small, or take bold steps to become strategic growth drivers.In this special live episode of The Insighter’s Club Podcast, we bring together three trailblazing leaders who are shaping the future of consumer insights. Recorded at The Stravito Insight Summit in Austin, Texas, Kristi Brown (Chick-fil-A), Michelle Sullivan (Target, General Mills) and Kristen Oeltjenbruns (Cargill) sit down to explore the path to insight excellence.In this candid conversation, we tackle some pressing industry issues:Why are insights teams still stuck in silos, and how can we break these barriers once and for all?Why delivering data alone is no longer enough and how to transform it into actionable storytelling.What’s the secret to embedding insights throughout your organization without losing ownership or control?Why democratizing insights is the key to the future and how gatekeeping can limit your career growth.If you're passionate about amplifying your impact as an insights professional, this episode is a call-to-action to elevate your approach and make a lasting impact across your business.Join The Insighter’s Club and get exclusive industry insights, expert analysis, and cutting-edge trends delivered straight to your inbox.

Too often, insight teams are asked to deliver fast answers, neglecting the time, tools, or trust to get them right. The cost of that remains usually invisible – until it’s not.In this episode, Jane Frost CBE, CEO of the Market Research Society, digs into why the true job of insight professionals is synthesis, not exclusively analysis, and what it takes to move from being data providers to trusted strategic advisors in today’s organizations. We also discuss:Why great insight is built on connection.The importance of stakeholder relationshipsHow treating insights as reusable assets strengthens long-term decisionsJoin The Insighter’s Club and get exclusive industry insights, expert analysis, and cutting-edge trends delivered straight to your inbox.

In this special episode, Thor Olof Philogène, Founder & CEO of Stravito, returns to the show to explore the biggest shifts reshaping the insights function in 2025. He and Ross take stock of a turbulent and transformative first half of the year, digging into what it really takes to move from one-off reports to insight systems that inform, influence, and endure.They discuss:The difference between insight that explains and insight that transforms.How AI can either flatten or enhance insight, depending on how it's used.How to turn one-off findings into long-term strategic assets.The 3 skills insight leaders need to drive change across silos.And more!Join The Insighter’s Club and get exclusive industry insights, expert analysis, and cutting-edge trends delivered straight to your inbox.a

Even the smartest insight is useless if it can’t cut through, move people, or drive action. In this episode, Evan Williams, Founder at Perennial Mind and former insights leader at Uber, Mondelēz, and General Mills, breaks down what most insight teams get wrong when trying to make their work stick. Ross and Evan talk about why simplifying insights doesn’t mean watering them down, how AI can help but not replace human thinking, and why great storytelling is often more powerful than another dashboard. We also cover:How simplification plays a crucial role in cutting through, but requires serious skill and careful thought.Why AI’s inability to extrapolate like a human, because of its lack of goal awareness, is a strategic risk.The importance of insight teams as R&D rather than validators.Why written communication is the most under-leveraged skill in the insights function, and the fastest path to real influence.Join The Insighter’s Club and get exclusive industry insights, expert analysis, and cutting-edge trends delivered straight to your inbox

As AI becomes more embedded in decision-making, insight teams face the quiet but urgent challenge of keeping up with tech while proving their strategic value across the business.In this episode, Febronia Ruocco, Global Strategic Insights & Analytics Director, returns to the show to share how the role of insight is evolving in the current AI era. She makes the case for decoupling insight from its traditional marketing home and positioning it as an independent, commercially focused function that partners across the organization. We also cover:How to balance AI-enabled speed with strategic depthWhy tailoring your message to each stakeholder makes the differenceThe risks of relying too heavily on generative AIHow bold insight leadership can influence commercial outcomesJoin The Insighter’s Club and get exclusive industry insights, expert analysis, and cutting-edge trends delivered straight to your inbox

What if the voice of the customer mindset is holding you back?In this episode, Nick Graham, Founder of Vertemis, and former senior insights leader at companies like PepsiCo and Mondelēz, draws on his 20+ years of experience turning insights into business impact. He breaks down why research often fails to land and what shifts you can make to more effectively drive influence.We also discuss:Why great research doesn’t always equal impactful researchThe importance of starting with the business problemThe value of storytelling and meaningful stakeholder relationshipsHow AI is reshaping insights workJoin The Insighter’s Club and get exclusive industry insights, expert analysis, and cutting-edge trends delivered straight to your inbox

The most valuable research doesn’t always come from large sample sizes, but from the ability to surface patterns, stories, and moments of clarity.In this episode, Lisa Payne, Global Director of UX Research at Condé Nast, explores how qualitative insights, often overlooked or undervalued, can serve as a critical driver of strategic clarity. She shares how human stories, when surfaced and scaled effectively, can move beyond anecdote to influence decisions at the highest levels.We also discuss:How to scale human stories using video and verbatim.Strategies for connecting insight teams and unifying research outputs.What “intent-first thinking” looks like in practice.The importance of embedding insights into decision-making at every level, including the C-suite.Join The Insighter’s Club and get exclusive industry insights, expert analysis, and cutting-edge trends delivered straight to your inbox.

Sound hits the brain faster than sight. Yet most brands focus almost exclusively on their visual identity, neglecting their sonic identity and all its growth potential.In this episode, we are joined by George Holliday and Luke Moseley, founders of Hear Me Out. Together, they explore why sound is one of the most overlooked (and powerful)  tools in brand strategy despite being one of the fastest ways to create emotional connections and boost ROI. We also discuss:How brands boost their ROI by 24% using just two seconds of sound.Why your audience hears your brand before they ever see it.The $150,000 mistake brands make with social media audio.How to make your audience feel something in under three seconds.Join The Insighter’s Club and get exclusive industry insights, expert analysis, and cutting-edge trends delivered straight to your inbox.

How much of your time goes into doing the research, and how much into communicating it? If driving impact is the goal, the communication side might deserve more of the spotlight.In this episode, Matt Roberts, VP of Business Intelligence at Formula E, shares lessons from 25 years of leading insights at organizations like Formula 1, Sky Sports, and ESPN. He explores why the real work begins after the research itself has ended, and why communication, not complexity, is the key to lasting influence in the insights industry. We also discuss:The importance of tailoring communication for different stakeholder types.Why delivery is just the beginning of the insight lifecycle.What a healthy, high-impact insights culture looks like + how to start building one.Join The Insighter’s Club and get exclusive industry insights, expert analysis, and cutting-edge trends delivered straight to your inbox.

People remember stories. They share stories. They act on stories. But no one remembers 120 slides of data.In this special unscripted episode, journalist-turned-consultant and Founder at EveryRung, Grant Feller joins Ross to explore how insights teams can adopt a newsroom mindset, build narratives that stick, and make their work not just memorable, but actionable.We also cover:The #1 reason insights fail to influence decisions (hint: it’s not the quality of the data).Why shrinking attention spans demand new formats for insight delivery.Practical strategies to make insights consumable, shareable, and impossible to ignore.Join The Insighter’s Club and get exclusive industry insights, expert analysis, and cutting-edge trends delivered straight to your inbox.