As a follow-up to his keynote talk at TMRE 2019, I was able to sit down with Kirti Singh, Chief Analytics & Insights Officer of Procter & Gamble to discuss the evolution of the insights function at P&G, his view on the future of the role and the research industry, and the implications for insights & analytics suppliers.
It’s a rarity for a brand-side leader at Kirti’s level to be so accessible to the industry as a whole, so I jumped at the chance to schedule an interview and dive deep with Kirti on a variety of topics.
For a primer, you may want to read Kirti’s call to action from TMRE. Here is a quote that gives you a sense of where he is coming from:
“We are at a critical juncture in the industry, and simply put, the status quo is no longer an option. In its current set-up, our 100-year-old industry is unsustainable.
The time is ripe for Disruption. What we want to do is lead to this disruption, in a productive way. What we at P&G call constructive disruption. Constructive is a carefully chosen word. It’s one thing to disrupt and destroy value, but our job is to disrupt in a way that drives growth and creates value.
Increasingly, with the pace of change in technology, changing consumer needs, vast amounts of data, competition, and business leaders’ expectations – what’s needed from today’s analytics and insights professionals is dramatically different than just a few years ago. In a world of exponential change, the new need and expectation call for a radical transformation in the speed, cost, and quality of insights. If NOW is NOT the time for constructive disruption in our own industry, then I don’t know when that time would be.” – Kirti Singh, Chief Analytics & Insights
I wanted to explore those ideas (and more) in our discussion, and luckily Kirti was absolutely game. His openness, humor, and pragmatic focus made the discussion both enjoyable and very, very impactful. There is information that Kirti reveals on what they are looking for in partners that will have a dramatic impact on many supplier-side companies in our industry. Additionally, where P&G goes, so too goes many other companies so this is vital intelligence for the industry as a whole.
This is a “must listen” interview from one of the key global leaders in the industry. Enjoy!