Humans & AI: How do we understand people better?

Reginé Gilbert is a transformation leader, international speaker, and author passionate about inclusive design and accessibility. With over a decade of experience, she has worked across industries, focusing on creating digital experiences that serve diverse communities. 

Maria will share real-world proof of the value of compassion in leadership and brand success. Maria will go back to the basics of what empathy is and what it looks like at work, bust myths about it holding leaders back, and share data on how empathetic leadership benefits the bottom line. 

We are living in an era of perpetual uncertainty. Conventional research often fails to grasp the nuanced complexity of contemporary culture. By framing culture as a dynamic narrative system that evolves and adapts, we can better equip ourselves to respond to change

In the way most organizations use personas, we're reducing our "consumers" to static characters from which we're somehow supposed to recall a real humanity. What if we start working with personas inclusively, knowing that no single person lives exclusively behind that mask?

Journalism has many links back to insights - from desk research, to talking to people, to delving into the story. Daniel will discuss how journalism is shaped by stories, how sometimes a big idea can be the wrong direction, why it’s okay to start again, and how research is central to everything he does. 

Tyler Converse is a consumer-centric marketer with a background in marketing, innovation and insights functions at Blue Bunny, CVS Health, Diageo and Suntory Global Spirits. Tyler has a passion for consumer behavior, believing that truly understanding them as people is the key to creating products and actionable strategies that resonate.

We're hoping that Decaffe will make an appearance on the day. But he's also a highly sought after and internationally renowned balloon artist (he takes bookings on decaffe@watchmethink.com should you need). And he's looking particularly booked up around March. We're doing our best to pull some strings. 

Gretchen Koch is an accomplished innovation leader with over 20 years of experience at Kimberly-Clark. Gretchen has led Front End Innovation & pipeline development for iconic CPG brands. She has a passion for identifying unmet consumer needs and translating them into successful business opportunities.

Amanda will be chairing our panel on the day. Before joining Watch Me Think, Amanda worked at PepsiCo as an Associate Principal Scientist. Her specialisms are Consumer Science, Sensory Science, design thinking, spinning a gazillion different plates without dropping any of them and restaurant recommendations (Chicago in particular!).