AI Heroes

In this episode, Kyle Papanikolas, Insights Leader at McDonald's, shares a provocative theory about how AI is fundamentally dividing the insights profession into two camps—and why only one will thrive in the AI era.

With 20 years of experience spanning supplier-side research to leading insights at one of the world's most iconic brands, Kyle offers a candid perspective on AI's real-world impact. He reveals how McDonald's is navigating company-wide AI adoption, from rolling out Microsoft Copilot across the entire organization to the careful experimentation happening within his insights team.

Kyle doesn't hold back on the controversial topics. He explains why he's "very, very careful" about using AI to replace the voice of actual customers, sharing test results where synthetic panels produced completely different business conclusions than real consumer research. He outlines his philosophical stance that AI should never become the strategic engine of a business—instead, its role is to free up time and strengthen human strategic thinking.

The conversation explores a breakthrough macro trend forecasting project from four years ago that used AI to simultaneously analyze consumer demand, industry innovation, and government regulatory changes—demonstrating how AI excels at synthesizing diverse data sources while humans provide the strategic lens on business implications.

Kyle also addresses the transitional challenges large organizations face, from antiquated systems that make AI integration difficult to the "training wheels phase" most major corporations are experiencing. He shares practical advice for early-career professionals navigating an industry where technical expertise is becoming less valuable and strategic thinking increasingly critical.

This episode offers insights leaders a realistic roadmap for AI adoption—one that embraces automation for transactional work while doubling down on the irreplaceable human elements of empathy, strategic thinking, and customer connection.

Key Topics:

• The two-camp theory: how AI elevates strategic thinkers while diminishing technical-only roles

• Why synthetic consumer panels failed the real-world test at McDonald's

• Using AI as a strategic discourse partner, not a replacement for human thinking

• McDonald's company-wide Copilot rollout and team experimentation approach

• The macro trend forecasting case study: three-lens AI data collection

• Why AI should free up time for deeper human connection, not replace it

• Navigating antiquated systems and the "training wheels phase" of enterprise AI adoption

• Career advice for insights professionals in an AI-transformed industry

Guest Bio: Kyle Papanikolas is an Insights Leader at McDonald's with 20 years of experience in the insights industry. He began his career on the supplier side during the manual research era and has witnessed the industry's evolution through multiple technological transformations. At McDonald's, he leads insights strategy while championing AI experimentation and adoption across his team, balancing innovation with the critical importance of authentic customer voice.

Connect with Kyle on LinkedIn

Sarah Siddiqui leads portfolio strategy and innovation for Unilever Food Solutions in North America. With 13.5 years at Unilever spanning six categories and three markets, she brings a rare blend of retail consumer goods and B2B2C food service expertise to the AI conversation.

In this episode, Sarah shares her transformation from AI skeptic to strategic believer, revealing how a large CPG organization is actually implementing artificial intelligence across portfolio strategy and innovation. Her approach is refreshingly practical, avoiding buzzwords while showing real results.

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn

Beyond Speed and Efficiency - When AI Should Unlock New Possibilities

When Jenna Beglin evaluates AI tools for consumer research, she's not asking "can this make us faster?" She's asking a more fundamental question: "Does this enable us to do something we couldn't do before?" As a research and insights leader focusing on tech, Jenna has developed a clear philosophy about AI's role in research—one that challenges the prevailing obsession with productivity gains.

In this conversation, Jenna shares her perspective on why AI should be additive rather than simply time-saving. She discusses the tension between what she calls "the race to mediocrity"—where AI produces passable but uninspired work—and the genuine breakthroughs that happen when technology unlocks entirely new capabilities. From synthetic respondents to AI-moderated interviews, Jenna walks through her evaluation framework: Is this meaningfully better? Does this give us insights we couldn't access before?

This episode offers a practitioner's framework for thinking about AI adoption—focused not on doing the same things faster, but on genuinely expanding what's possible in consumer insights work.

AI Heroes: Lucy Richardson on Insight-Led Brand Growth, Boutique Agency Strategy, and Using AI Responsibly for Innovation 🎙️

In this episode of AI Heroes, host Dave sits down with Lucy Richardson, Managing Director of Brand Legacy, to explore how insight-led strategy helps brands grow — and what changes when AI becomes part of the agency and client toolkit.

Lucy shares how Brand Legacy has evolved since 2008, why the “translator” role between consumer truth and brand action matters more than ever, and how AI is shifting ways of working — from faster synthesis to more iterative, collaborative decision-making. The conversation also dives into sustainability, authenticity, and what it takes to adopt AI with rigour, trust, and real business value.

We also dive into:

• What insight-led growth really means and how agencies turn consumer understanding into clear brand direction

• How boutique agencies compete through flexibility, experience, and bespoke solutions — and where the model is under pressure

• Why iteration is essential with AI and how to move beyond polished outputs to deeper meaning and better decisions

• How client AI adoption varies by stakeholder and what it takes to build confidence, credibility, and governance

• The link between AI and sustainability, including “doing more with less” and designing more responsible brand solutions

• Why authenticity will become non-negotiable as AI makes it easier for consumers to verify (and challenge) brand claims

• What AI means for junior talent and why real humans and primary insight still matter in an AI-generated world

If you’re exploring how to blend AI, insights, and brand strategy — especially in multinational or fast-moving categories — this episode offers a grounded perspective on how to use AI as a force multiplier without losing nuance, trust, or impact.

Connect with Lucy on LinkedIn.

AI Heroes: Elle Park, Market research & CI Lead at Arcutis Biotherapeutic, on Building Pharma-Ready AI for Insights, Trust, and Real Business Impact 🎙️

In this episode of AI Heroes, host Dave Carruthers speaks with Elle Park, a pharmaceutical insights leader, about the real-world application of AI in highly regulated environments and what meaningful AI adoption for Insight actually requires.

She shares practical examples of how AI can add context for stronger decision-making, outlines how to measure real business value, and discusses what’s required for responsible AI adoption in pharma. A grounded conversation on using AI to support better decisions - not just faster ones.

We dive into:

• What “pharma ready” AI really means and why trust, transparency, and explainability matter
• How AI can improve insight quality and speed without compromising rigor or governance
• What it takes to evaluate AI tools properly, from pilots to proof of value
• Where AI is delivering value today for insights teams and where the next opportunities lie

If you are navigating the intersection of AI, insights, and strategy, especially in complex or regulated organisations, this episode offers practical guidance on how to move from experimentation to impact.

Connect with Elle Park on LinkedIn.

AI Heroes: Jason Hauer on Agentic AI, Predictive Insight and Compounding Innovation ⚡

In this episode, Dave sits down with innovation veteran Jason Hauer, founder of The Garage Group and now builder of a portfolio of AI native companies, to unpack how enterprise teams can move beyond experiments and turn AI into real revenue, speed and market impact.

Jason shares what he looks for when backing AI products for modern enterprises: robust security and LLM agnostic builds, yes, but more importantly, predictive intelligence that surfaces cultural and category signals early, automation that removes the bottom 80% of manual work and execution engines that take ideas all the way to shelf.

We also dive into:
• Agentic AI as an outcomes engine, from always on search to hands free concepting, testing and go to market
• Why leadership mindset, curiosity, experimentation and fluency now outperforms classic process optimization
• Predictive insight in the wild, including cultural trend detection such as GLP 1, flavor and ingredient foresight and faster retail sell in
• Avoiding new bottlenecks by pairing AI acceleration with partners who can execute at the same speed
• Compounding advantage, capturing and connecting learnings so portfolios get smarter, Oura style feedback loops
• Rethinking ROI, start with use cases linked to the P&L, iterate in public and scale what works
• How answer engines and agentic shopping will change brand discovery and why marketers must adapt now

If you lead insights, innovation or brand growth and you’re ready to shift from pilots to pipelines, this conversation is a practical playbook for building AI systems that predict, decide and ship.

Connect with Jason on LinkedIn to learn more about his AI ventures and follow One Strategy Studio for new episodes.

AI Heroes: Didem Molay on AI, B2B Marketing, and Driving Innovation at Unilever Food Solutions 🎙️

In this episode of AI Heroes host Dave sits down with Didem Molay, Regional Marketing Director at Unilever Food Solutions, to explore how AI is transforming marketing in the B2B space and what it means for insights, innovation, and organisational change across global markets.

Didem shares her journey from leading iconic FMCG brands to overseeing marketing for the Greater Middle East & Africa region at Unilever Food Solutions, where she focuses on unlocking data-driven insights for chefs, restaurants, and catering businesses. She reveals how AI has become an everyday tool in her work from the personal “aha moment” of using ChatGPT to craft Instagram captions, to integrating One Strategy Studio’s AI-driven frameworks into regional innovation projects.

We also dive into:

• How AI is reshaping B2B marketing and customer insights at scale

• The balance between speed, cost savings, and human creativity in marketing research

• Why breaking down silos and cross functional collaboration is critical in the AI era

• The challenges of adoption in large organisations and how to bring skeptical stakeholders on board

• The role of synthetic personas and the evolving frontier of AI driven research in hard to reach audiences

• Practical strategies for training, experimentation, and building comfort with AI tools across teams

If you are navigating the intersection of AI, insights, and marketing whether in B2B, FMCG, or global enterprises this episode offers candid lessons, challenges, and real world takeaways from a leader pioneering AI adoption at scale.

⁠Connect with Didem on LinkedIn.

AI Heroes: Tina Tonielli on Growth Mindset, AI in Healthcare, and the Future of Insights

🎙️ AI Heroes Podcast

In this episode of AI Heroes, we sit down with Tina Tonielli, a legendary leader in consumer healthcare insights, to explore how AI is reshaping one of the world’s most regulated and high impact industries. With decades of experience on household brands like Advil and Centrum, Tina shares her perspective on adopting a growth mindset, navigating the promise and pitfalls of generative AI, and building the next generation of insights functions.

Tina dives into her journey from marketer to insights leader, her early decision to embrace AI head on, and what it means to balance efficiency with true business transformation. Together, we unpack the challenges unique to healthcare, the tension between internal vs. external AI strategies, and why effective communication may just be the ultimate AI superpower.

We also cover:
• Why a growth mindset is the number one driver of AI adoption
• How to balance efficiency vs. effectiveness when measuring AI’s impact
• The importance of internal vs. external AI strategies in highly regulated sectors
• What healthcare can teach other industries about cautious but bold adoption
• How to preserve the human element — critical thinking, creativity, and stewardship — in an AI powered insights world
• Why AI is less a roadmap and more a muscle to build and flex

If you’re leading insights, healthcare, or simply curious about how to embed AI responsibly and effectively into your organisation, this episode is packed with wisdom, practical advice, and candid reflections from a true industry pioneer.

Connect with Tina on Linkedin

AI Heroes: Nendra‑Van Wielink on Media, AI & the Future of Integrated Insights
🎙️ Live from Cannes – AI Heroes Live

In this episode of AI Heroes Live, recorded at Insights Lighthouse during the 2025 Cannes Lions Festival, we sit down with Nendra‑Van Wielink, a media leader with over 20 years of experience and currently shaping media insights at Decathlon. Join us as she unpacks how the worlds of media, AI, and insight must converge to empower smarter decision-making.

Nendra offers a unique insider lens—from helping organise the inaugural Insights Lighthouse to actively participating in the mentorship program, in which she’s both a mentee and a mentor. She reflects on why collaboration is essential, the growing influence of AI in media operations, and how humanity must remain central amidst data expansion and automation.

We also dive into:

• Why media and insight teams must move beyond silos, and how to start the work of co-creation

• AI as an enabler, not a replacement—and how it’s reshaping media strategy while keeping humans at the helm

• The fragmentation of data—and a forward-thinking “magic button” vision for seamless insight delivery

• Building inclusive media strategies, informed by interdisciplinary collaboration and stakeholder empathy

• The power of community, mentorship, and learning firsthand via events like Insights Lighthouse

• Balancing data growth with clarity—how to stay grounded as intelligence systems multiply

If you're at the intersection of media, analytics, and AI—or just working to align your teams for a smarter future—this episode blends candor, clarity, and confidence to help you move forward with purpose.

⁠Connect with Nendra‑Van Wielink on LinkedIn.

AI Heroes: Dawn Cummins on Organisational Clarity, AI-Driven Productivity & the Power of Transparent Insights
🎙️ Live from Cannes – AI Heroes Live

In this episode of AI Heroes Live, recorded at Insights Lighthouse during the Cannes Lions Festival, we sit down with Dawn Cummins, former Unilever and Mars Wrigley insights leader and now a strategic consultant, to unpack how AI is reshaping organisational design, media analytics, and stakeholder alignment.

Dawn shares how she’s embraced AI both in client-side leadership roles and as a consultant—harnessing tools like intelligent scheduling, image recognition, and NLP to boost productivity, clarify stakeholder needs, and drive high-impact insight strategies across global teams.

We also dive into:

• How AI-powered productivity tools like Motion are reshaping the way consultants and teams operate

• The challenge of algorithmic competition within organisations—and why transparency is key

• A real-world case study of implementing "addressable audiences" at Mars Wrigley

• Why empathy and cross-functional collaboration are non-negotiable for landing complex analytics projects

• How to humanise the "black box" of AI and build trust in model-driven decision-making

• The danger of organisational silos—and how AI may be accelerating rather than solving this issue

If you’re building, scaling, or transforming insights and analytics teams, or navigating the complexity of deploying AI across functions, this episode delivers raw honesty, practical strategies, and deep foresight from one of the industry’s most candid voices.

⁠Connect with Dawn on Linkedin