My Esomar Council Application

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I’ve been a member of the market research and insights community for over 20 years, with my first Esomar Congress coming in Amsterdam in 2011. During that time, I have been lucky enough to work for a range of businesses within our sector; research agencies, consulting firms, online panel companies and more recently Research Technology (ResTech) businesses. I describe myself as a “generalist” – I’m fluent across many functions of a business including both commercial and finance, and I now spend my time using these skills to support a range of startups and growth companies at the advanced technology / AI end of our sector, as well as working at board level for non-profit organisations. 

Like many of us, I can see that there are big, rapid changes coming through the adoption of AI. Naturally, there will be protagonists and sceptics, and there will be successes and challenges, but overall I expect to see a big change to our eco-system, and therefore to the workforce of people that call Market Research home. We risk becoming an “aging industry” – unattractive to the next generation of workforce, and increasingly slow to evolve, and the coming years will be significant in how that plays out. 

As our leading global industry body, it’s therefore important that Esomar helps to lead us all through these changes and challenges, and I am therefore applying to the Esomar Council for the coming term. I now have the relevant experience and background to add value to our community; both in the general “big picture” sense, but also in the financial sense – I currently serve as a board Treasurer for a non-profit and I would also like to take up the role of VP and Treasurer for Esomar. Most importantly, I also now have the time and the desire to “give back” to a community that has served me so well throughout the course of my career, and hopefully I can be part of an industry body that will serve others equally well in the future.