Data Gurus Podcast | Insights on Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Market Research & Data Collection

Rob Wengel, Chief Executive Officer and Board Director of Radius, joins us to discuss how a 30-year-old research firm is embracing an AI-first approach. He explains why Radius acquired One Strategy Studio, how its five AI models work alongside human strategists to cut research timelines from months to days, and why none of it changes what the business is really selling: trust.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

00:00 Introduction to Rob Wengel and Radius.
06:57 How five boutique agencies became one without losing what made them work.
12:49 What it takes to build one firm without one prescribed way of working.
17:58 What changes when sixteen weeks becomes a matter of days.
24:23 Meet the five AI models behind Radius’s virtual research team.
27:46 Why Radius is rethinking decades of supply-side thinking.
28:20 What Gen Z gets right about brand trust.

Thanks for listening to the Data Gurus podcast, brought to you by Infinity Squared. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review to help get the word out about the show, and be sure to subscribe so you never miss another insightful conversation.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Radius, Rob Wengel’s research and insights firm, built from five acquisitions including One Strategy Studio

One Strategy Studio, the AI-first strategy agency Radius acquired, built around a five-model virtual research team (Sammy, Hayden, Skyler, Ollie, and Finn)

The New Gen Z Loyalty Economy report, Radius and One Strategy Studio’s study on Gen Z buying behavior, referenced in the discussion on brand loyalty and trust

#Analytics #Data #MRX

Host Sima Vasa talks to Sascha Eder, Co-Founder and CEO of NewtonX, about why he built the company around quality instead of speed or price, and how nine years of holding that line shaped its research model. Sascha also unpacks NewtonX’s new synthetic personas for B2B research, and the lesson from his own team that’s cost him the most whenever he’s ignored it.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

00:00 Introduction.
01:53 Sascha’s path from pro track and field to founding NewtonX.
04:48 The value proposition that keeps NewtonX’s expert network coming back.
09:12 Entering the research industry without a background became NewtonX’s biggest advantage.
13:28 Why NewtonX chose quality over speed, and speed over price.
17:18 NewtonX’s take on the synthetic data debate splitting the industry.
21:11 The founder mistake Sascha Eder says costs the most, always.

Thanks for listening to the Data Gurus podcast, brought to you by Infinity Squared. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review to help get the word out about the show, and be sure to subscribe so you never miss another insightful conversation.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

NewtonX Website

Synthetic Personas

#Analytics #MA #Data #Strategy #Innovation #Acquisitions #MRX #Restech

On this episode, host Sima Vasa talks to Michael Ramlet, Co-Founder and CEO of Morning Consult. Michael shares how Morning Consult has scaled from a startup with a newsletter to a global leader in delivering real-time consumer insights used by central banks, hedge funds and Fortune 500 companies. He explains why owning the supply chain for data collection is critical to quality, how the industry must embrace cultural change, and the importance of connecting insights to financial outcomes.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

(03:31) Real-time data is essential for informing business decisions at the highest levels.
(05:53) Controlling the supply chain of data collection leads to better quality and cost efficiencies.
(10:42) Ownership of quality requires end-to-end accountability, not reliance on third parties.
(14:04) Insights functions must connect their work directly to financial outcomes to stay relevant.
(19:44) AI can democratize access to structured data, making insights more actionable across organizations.
(21:29) The role of insights teams is evolving — those who don’t adapt risk becoming obsolete.
(25:32) Finance teams are emerging as key users of insights data alongside marketing and strategy.
(30:32) Aligning company culture around intensity and accountability is key to sustaining growth in a fast-changing industry.

Thanks for listening to the Data Gurus podcast, brought to you by Infinity Squared. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review to help get the word out about the show, and be sure to subscribe so you never miss another insightful conversation.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Morning Consult Website

#Analytics #MA #Data #Strategy #Innovation #Acquisitions #MRX #Restech

Kelly Monahan, Co-Founder of Beyond the Desk, joins host Sima Vasa to challenge the assumption that AI is responsible for today’s workforce crisis. Kelly argues that shareholder-primacy doctrine, adopted wholesale since a 1970s Milton Friedman op-ed, created the fragile leadership culture now cracking under macroeconomic pressure — and that AI is being used as a convenient scapegoat. Kelly also covers Gen Z’s rejection of corporate theatrics, the three foundational skills for AI literacy and why the future of work is likely to be smaller, more distributed and harder to navigate without domain expertise.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

00:00  Introduction.

03:50  A single 1970s op-ed reshaped business philosophy and created today’s command-and-control culture.

07:45  Predicting engagement scores from one boardroom question about trust reveals deep leadership gaps.

12:30  AI is being used as cover for bad strategy, not as the primary cause of workforce disruption.

17:20  Only 30% of Gen Z aspires to leadership, signaling a values crisis for corporate America.

23:00  The PLOT framework helps leaders share power, listen, own outcomes and extend trust to Gen Z.

27:30  Domain expertise, not tool familiarity, is the true first pillar of AI literacy in any organization.

Thanks for listening to the Data Gurus podcast, brought to you by Infinity Squared. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review to help get the word out about the show, and be sure to subscribe so you never miss another insightful conversation.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Reclaim the Plot (Kelly Monahan’s book):

https://reclaimtheplotbook.com

Beyond the Desk:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/beyond-the-desk-llc

#Analytics #Data #Strategy

Mike Nash, CGO of KS&R, joins Sima Vasa to make the case that thought leadership is now one of the last places where B2B companies can genuinely differentiate, and that the gap between volume and quality has never been wider. Mike argues that original insight, not AI-assisted content, is the only thing that changes how executives see a problem, and breaks down the three-pillar framework KS&R uses to evaluate whether a piece of work actually qualifies. He also introduces the ECHO Index, KS&R’s new synthetic data governance product designed to help firms evaluate which synthetic models to trust.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

00:00  Introduction

05:52  Original insight, not optimised content, is what defines quality thought leadership

08:42  90% of executives use thought leadership to guide purchases, only 15% call it quality

11:30  Thought leadership departments are now appearing in construction and manufacturing firms

18:55  The tension in a topic is the hook, and finding it takes deliberate front-end work

24:05  KS&R Echo brings governance and transparency to synthetic data model selection

27:10  Speed and cost dominate synthetic mandates, but one bad decision erases the ROI

Thanks for listening to the Data Gurus podcast, brought to you by Infinity Squared. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review to help get the word out about the show, and be sure to subscribe so you never miss another insightful conversation.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Mike Nash:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-nash-ksr

KS&R LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/ks&r

The Global Thought Leadership Institute:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtli-apqc

KS&R ECHO Index (Synthetic Data Governance):

https://www.ksrinc.com/ksr-introduces-the-echo-index-to-bring-greater-transparency-and-governance-to-synthetic-data/

#Analytics #Data #MRX

Dr. Olivier Toubia, Glaubinger Professor of Business at Columbia Business School, joins Sima Vasa to discuss his landmark study building digital twins from over 2,000 real participants — and what the results reveal about the genuine limits of synthetic data in market research.

Olivier explains why digital twins skew hyper-rational, why a 0.2 correlation with real human behavior is the honest benchmark, and why the “better, faster, cheaper” promise of synthetic data still has a question mark on “better.”

Olivier also covers the hybrid panel model for keeping digital twins calibrated over time, the structural advantage of within-person A/B testing with synthetic respondents, and what the neuromarketing hype cycle can teach the industry about moving faster toward evidence-based answers.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

00:00  Introduction.

02:07  From operations research to marketing, Conjoint analysis and capturing human preferences with math.

03:54  The adoption cycle repeats: every new technology prompts replication before reimagination.

05:44  How synthetic data evolved from basic LLM personas to data-rich digital twins with real heterogeneity.

11:54  The 0.2 correlation finding: digital twins and humans, and calibrating what that actually means.

14:41  Twins skew hyper-rational, struggle with affect-based decisions, and perform better on text than video.

17:06  The “holy grail” of “better, faster and cheaper,” and why “better” still carries the biggest question mark.

23:33  The hybrid panel model: synthetic at scale, small human sample running alongside to keep twins honest.

Thanks for listening to the Data Gurus podcast, brought to you by Infinity Squared. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review to help get the word out about the show, and be sure to subscribe so you never miss another insightful conversation.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Columbia Business School Digital Twins Lab

https://business.columbia.edu/ai-in-business/labs/digital-twins-lab

Prolific

https://www.prolific.com

Hugging Face (Digital Twins dataset)

https://huggingface.co/datasets/LLM-Digital-Twin/Twin-2K-500

Qualtrics
https://www.qualtrics.com

#Analytics #Data #MRX

Dr. Poornima Luthra, Author, Educator and Keynote Speaker, joins Sima Vasa to make the evidence-based case that DEI backlash is rooted in fear, not fact, and that most organizations have never done the systemic work required to make inclusion stick. Poornima draws on two years of primary research — interviews, discourse analysis and emotion coding — to identify five core fears driving resistance and explains why reframing DEI as uniqueness, fairness and belonging changes the entire conversation. She also covers what active allyship actually requires and why homogeneous organizations can’t generate the innovation that today’s business environment demands.

Key Takeaways:

00:00 Introduction.

10:15 DEI resistance exists on a spectrum, from hesitation to overt backlash, and is always rooted in fear.

12:24 Five fears drive the backlash: change, getting it wrong, discomfort, taking action and lack of positive impact.

16:00 Short-term metrics obsession is the structural reason organizations fail to sustain inclusion work.

19:09 Diverse hiring in a regulated pharma AI team succeeded when leadership committed to a longer onboarding runway.

21:00 Most data still shows that majority dominant groups hold the vast majority of top roles and wealth.

23:47 Reframing DEI as uniqueness, fairness and belonging neutralizes the opposition because everyone wants those things.

29:22 Active allyship requires self-work first: curiosity, honest introspection on privilege and bias buddies for ongoing accountability.

Resources Mentioned:

“The Art of Active Allyship” by Dr. Poornima Luthra — https://www.amazon.com/Art-Active-Allyship-Behaviours-Inclusion/dp/8797290327

Dr. Poornima Luthra TED Talk (2019) — “Why GQ is the kind of intelligence we all need” — https://www.ted.com/talks/poornima_luthra_why_gq_is_the_kind_of_intelligence_we_all_need

Thanks for listening to the Data Gurus podcast, brought to you by Infinity Squared. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review to help get the word out about the show, and be sure to subscribe so you never miss another insightful conversation.

#Analytics #Data #Strategy

Thor Olof Philogène, Founder and CEO of Stravito, joins Sima Vasa to discuss knowledge discovery at scale and how AI-powered insights intelligence can turn fragmented enterprise research into a competitive asset.

Thor also covers Stravito’s AI + human expertise model, the launch of AI personas that simulate consumer perspectives from real segmentation data, and why insights professionals are uniquely positioned for the current AI moment.

Key Takeaways:

00:00  Introduction.
04:15  The right team outranks capital and strategy every time.
05:00  Psychological safety eliminates political overhead and unlocks organizational capacity.
08:14  Getting people to use data is harder than acquiring it.
08:49  Large enterprises commission enormous research but rarely know where it lives.
11:13  A neutral, agnostic layer surfaces trusted answers from one place.
16:24  Purpose-built AI informed by human expertise outperforms general-purpose tools.
27:19  AI personas simulate consumer perspectives from real segmentation data in real time.
31:45  Insights professionals have spent their careers training for the AI moment.

Resources Mentioned:

Stravito | Website
Lavazza x Stravito AI Personas — Ad Age
Euromonitor
Mintel

Thanks for listening to the Data Gurus podcast, brought to you by Infinity Squared. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review to help get the word out about the show, and be sure to subscribe so you never miss another insightful conversation.

#Analytics #MA #Data #Strategy #Innovation #Acquisitions #MRX #Restech

On this episode, host Sima Vasa talks to Jason Cohen, Founder and CEO of Simulacra Synthetic Data Studio, about the limits of traditional research, the evolution of synthetic data, and why causal modeling matters more than larger sample sizes. Drawing on his experience building and exiting Gastrograph AI, Jason explains how real-world data gaps undermine decision-making and how synthetic data can support scenario-based predictions when applied responsibly.

Key Takeaways:

00:00 Introduction.
05:24 Most brands can’t know in advance if research data is “correct.”​
09:44 Generic LLM personas rarely represent any real population.​
13:08 Cross‑coverage lets AI infer missing audience segments.​
16:04 Synthetic data is real when it’s actually used.​
19:36 Diversity in base samples drives credible synthetic expansion.​
23:28 Sample boosting alone doesn’t fix bad research outcomes.​
25:08 Synthetic data scales insights for hard‑to‑reach cohorts.​
26:08 Misused synthetic personas can drive completely wrong decisions.​

Resources Mentioned:

Simulacra Synthetic Data Studio | Website

Thanks for listening to the Data Gurus podcast, brought to you by Infinity Squared. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review to help get the word out about the show, and be sure to subscribe so you never miss another insightful conversation.

#Analytics #MA #Data #Strategy #Innovation #Acquisitions #MRX #Restech

On this episode, David Wellisch, Co-Founder and CEO of Collage Group, talks to Sima Vasa about cultural intelligence as a measurable driver of brand relevance, growth and purchase intent. David shares his path from AOL and private equity to founding Collage Group. He explains how understanding consumer values, linking insight to activation and leveraging proprietary data and AI helps brands drive meaningful business outcomes.

Key Takeaways:

00:00 Introduction.
03:15 Identifying demographic shifts creates massive entrepreneurial opportunities.
06:43 Marketers must link cultural insights to shareholder value.
09:44 Targeting consumer values is more effective than demographics. 
13:31 AI makes proprietary data sets massively more discoverable. 
17:03 Understanding the why allows for better business strategy. 
20:54 Successful companies solve problems rather than just selling.

Resources Mentioned:

Collage Group | Website

Thanks for listening to the Data Gurus podcast, brought to you by Infinity Squared. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star review to help get the word out about the show, and be sure to subscribe so you never miss another insightful conversation.

#Analytics #MA #Data #Strategy #Innovation #Acquisitions #MRX #Restech