AI, Career Evolution, and Leadership in Market Research with Katie Egge, Salesloft

[00:00:00] Welcome to MRII’s Insights and Innovators podcast, where we talk to top market research professionals to get their inside stories about innovative and enduring best practices. Sawtooth Software is a leading provider of advanced tools for computer and internet interviewing, conjoint analysis, max diff scaling, perceptual mapping, and more, all backed by our unparalleled support team.

[00:00:25] Now here’s your host for today’s episode. Katie Egge is RVP at Salesloft and having been recognized as one of the 30 under 30 age winners represents the next generation of research industry leaders. Let’s explore her career journey thus far as well as her perspectives of what she has seen thus far in her career.

[00:00:46] I’m John Last, president of Sports Leisure Research Group and past president of MRII. In this episode, we’re going to spotlight one of the dynamic young voices in market research. Currently R VP at Salesloft, Katie Egge has been recognized as a [00:01:00] 30 Under 30 winner, and when not coordinating marketing research, is a mentor for the Women in Research Mentorship Program, and is a recurring guest speaker for market research classes at Johnson and Wales University, as well as the University of Rhode Island.

[00:01:12] Katie, it’s great to have you on Insights and Innovators. Thank you, John. Happy to be with you. Likewise. So let’s dive right in. And for many of us, the industry kind of found us rather than us taking a directed and intentioned path to it. Um, you’ve only worked in market research, to my understanding, in your career.

[00:01:30] So I’m curious what drove you here and what’s compelled you to stay within it? Yes. Well, it also wasn’t totally a linear path, but I did find the industry Perhaps a little bit earlier than some. I stumbled into the market research industry during my undergraduate degree at Johnson and Wales University.

[00:01:50] My undergraduate degree is in sports and entertainment event management. Whoa, you have that in common actually. Yes, yes, [00:02:00] exactly. So I thought I would be coordinating large scale conferences, trade shows, sporting events. But because I was an honors program member at Johnson and Wales, I had to do a thesis my senior year.

[00:02:14] So I proposed to the thesis committee that I wanted to understand the differences between traditional 5K road races and obstacle course races, such as Tough Mudder, Spartan Race, that had become quite popular at the time. And they said, okay, this works, it’s an event, it’s sports, but this also sounds a bit like a market research study.

[00:02:37] So they paired me with the head of the market research department at Johnson and Wales, Dr. Fruzzetti. And through that experience, I realized this is what I want to be doing. This is very fun. I enjoy this. So I decided to stay on. I did my master’s in business administration and focused a lot of the courses there for branding, marketing, and then ultimately [00:03:00] took that experience and entered the industry.

[00:03:02] Wow, lots of commonalities there. I kind of stumbled into it that way from being in the sports business as well. But this is about you. It’s not about me. And talk to us a little bit about your career journey. Then once you kind of finished that work, you dove right into the profession and you’ve made a few pivots along the way.

[00:03:20] Talk about how you’ve kind of grown into your current role. Yes. So I have a bit of a unique background where I’ve been in the market research industry my entire career, but I’ve also been in commercial or client facing roles the entire time. So my very first position, I started as a client operations coordinator at Kantar, helping scope programs for clients, helping assess the sampling feasibility as well as programming and hosting capabilities for surveys.

[00:03:49] From there, I then took that expertise, went to Paradigm Sample, did very similar things with my own book of clients that I was helping to support. And then that was the first half of my [00:04:00] career, very traditional survey based research methodologies. I decided that I wanted to try something new to me and get into more behavioral market research techniques.

[00:04:11] So then I joined Nailbiter, which is a company that’s leveraging video based market research at scale. Went to Zappy to try out Agile research techniques. And then ultimately landed at BlackSwan, where I’m at today. Using AI predictive analytics and social data to help understand the future of innovations.

[00:04:32] So, so, you know, you, you had that initial foray and as an undergraduate. I can kind of remember, you know, when I got out of graduate school, you know, you come in with all this theory and all this expectation and, and then the reality hits, you know, the pragmatism comes about what, what surprised you when you first came in, what, what didn’t meet those initial expectations and was kind of proven wrong.

[00:04:54] Yes. Well, I had the leg up where I knew that I enjoyed [00:05:00] my thesis program. And so I had a feeling that I would enjoy the industry. But you hear from those outside the industry, there’s a lot of banter and talk about what the industry is like. You hear economics and data science and statistics. And when you hear all those conversations, you wonder, is the industry the industry.

[00:05:17] Quite dry. Can it be exciting when you have so much scientific rigor behind it? But that was quickly disproven when I was in the industry, because I realized what we’re doing is we’re at the forefront of change, everything new, cultural shifts, new product, innovations, understanding. Unmet consumer needs changing shopper behaviors.

[00:05:40] So quite quickly, I realized that it’s actually very exciting place to be. It just so happens to be backed up by a lot of the data and statistics. Yeah, you’re, you know, I knew from the moment that I first met you that you’re a storyteller. You’re a people person. It’s, it’s refreshing. It’s, it’s not.[00:06:00]

[00:06:00] Foreign to kind of what I see the people that we work with being as well. When you think about people entering the profession today, you know, a lot to kind of come in with that misnomer that it’s very, you know, kind of esoteric or rigorous. What are the skill sets that that you see is most critical for people that are coming in and and how do you kind of draw the lines for how people develop and refine those skills if they may be deficient one way or the other?

[00:06:29] Yeah, so my number one piece of advice for those entering the industry is to stay curious. I feel like curiosity can help you then evolve where you want to go within the market research industry, but you need that curiosity because it is the backbone for anything, any type of research technique or methodology, way of partnering, whether your agency side or client side, that desire to want to learn more, discover what’s new or what’s [00:07:00] around the corner is the cornerstone of anything in our industry.

[00:07:04] So having that curiosity is my first piece of advice. And then the second piece of advice is to build a network. So what I’ve really enjoyed about the insights industry is the people within this industry. It’s just such a great group of very supportive people that help each other out and help drive the industry forward.

[00:07:25] So from day one, reaching out and building those connections across the industry, building that network is also a key to success, because then you can take the, the curiosity, you can take the network. And then as you start to learn more the day to day of what it means to be in the industry, Figure out what technical skills you need to get into the exact pocket of the industry that you then want to pursue, whether it’s being a specialist or a generalist again for somebody that may be relatively newer to the profession, [00:08:00] is there a proper balance or in a interplay between those soft skills and the more technical skills?

[00:08:07] It’s I’m curious again, you know, to use your word and to quote Ted lasso. Yes, be curious. Um, hopefully people get that. Um, what’s the right balance? Because, you know, on the one hand, we hear people talking about well, in some ways, research has become a little bit lazier, a little bit watered down. And then another hand, you know, you hear it’s it’s it’s refreshing to see people coming in that understand the people side of the business.

[00:08:33] What’s what’s the right balance? Um, Yes, so I do believe that our industry, but frankly, many industries in this day and age, mandate the balance between the two. It’s quite hard to truly thrive in the industry over indexing on one or the other. So the technical skills are necessary to get the core. Of the job accomplished with the rigor that’s necessary to maintain quality thresholds and [00:09:00] progress the industry forward, but it can’t just be the technical skills alone to to truly get that seat at the table.

[00:09:09] Having those softer skills are imperative. Because people want to hear stories, they need to see the vision for how this data and insights can bring about change and drive business outcomes forward. So it is the balance between the two, but that’s why I recommend starting with the soft skills. And then the curiosity to explore and learn all the pockets of the industry can then help you identify which pocket you want to be in, then take the time to find the mentors or those that are excelling in that space and learn the technical skills that are needed to also be successful.

[00:09:47] So I want to shift gears a little bit and talk about leadership, something that you’ve had the opportunity to move into that type of a role still at a relatively younger age or younger career stage. [00:10:00] What what are today’s leaders need to be thinking about, particularly culturally, in terms of how the workplace and how teams are built, you know, it seems to me is as one that’s also always trying to kind of stay ahead of the curve that that’s changed a lot in recent years, you know, from when I first got into the industry.

[00:10:19] Give me your perspective on how things how things look in terms of leadership and you know how you perceive it to be different. Maybe than it was 1015 years ago before you got into it. Yes. So the one theme that will continue to always play a role is the need to be an expert at what the job scope is that you’re doing.

[00:10:41] So to have some type of technical expertise and it can be dependent on it. Which stage of your career you’re in. So entry level positions require entry level expertise and then going and building up from there. That will always be a truth. But where I see leadership and things [00:11:00] evolving is where the work gets done and when the work gets done, especially with advancements in technology.

[00:11:07] Because we we see now it’s a remote a tech forward world. So we find more and more businesses that are either remote first hybrid structures. Yes, there is a return to office going on at some businesses, but we will never see every single business go back to fully in person. So that’s a big shift that’s here to stay is the flexibility of where the work gets done and then hand in hand with that.

[00:11:34] Mhm. I think we’re still early stages of this and we’ll continue to see this grow and develop even more. So is when I think we’ll start to see less emphasis on a structured nine to five work day and more. So as long as you’re accomplishing the core elements of your job, the hours that you’re working aren’t as important.

[00:11:55] And as a leader, yes, this actually is a bit more challenging because now. There’s a lot of [00:12:00] variability as to where the team is working physically, as well as what hours they’re working. So that’s where, from a leadership standpoint, it can be very important to set the right expectations so everyone’s clearly aligned on.

[00:12:14] What those expectations are, as well as setting the appropriate boundaries to bring some structure to the flexibility and then also embracing asynchronous means of communication. So obviously nothing’s ever going to replace getting in a room together. Or getting on a video call and talking one on one.

[00:12:34] But considering these dynamics, becoming fluent at asynchronous means of communication is going to be a big shift, too. So, long form, written strategy documents, or leveraging really, um, in depth agendas for meetings so everyone can be prepared and join those meetings ready to discuss what the topics are at hand.

[00:12:54] That’s how I’m seeing leadership evolve. You mentioned a term a little earlier in our [00:13:00] conversation that, you know, I’ve always, it’s kind of always gets me thinking about it. It’s something that I’ve kind of valued acutely throughout my journey. And that’s this whole proverbial seat at the table, which I was always, I was surprised, frankly, because I always had it.

[00:13:14] And I didn’t realize how unique that was, as strange as that sounds, um, but that’s becoming so important. It’s always been important. And I want to go past the cliches, like, okay, how do you get to the seat at the seat of the table? Well, you offer actionable insights, um, what, what tactical skills and approaches have you seen that are most effective in, in, in putting researchers in a key, in a key strategic role, whether it’s at a client organization or a provider organization, how do you get there?

[00:13:44] Yes. Yeah. And I’m a great person to ask because of my commercial bend. So what I see works is that we need to take the work we’re doing, the market research, the insights, and translate it to the bottom line. If we can show how the insights we’re [00:14:00] generating either prevent a loss of revenue or help inspire significant revenue gains, then you get a seat at the table because right then and there you are influencing the future of the business and the revenue that it’s generating.

[00:14:16] That’s what the business is there to do. So that’s key. But then the other factor going above and beyond just that is if you can understand what the strategic objectives are. Of the senior leadership team at that organization, and it can map the insights to directly address those objectives and showcase how you can make a significant positive forward trajectory versus those objectives.

[00:14:39] That’s also key. So that’s what I found works in practicality at getting the seat at the table. Yeah, I think that second piece is so critical. It’s almost akin to like reading the room and being there for those that are in the ultimate leadership positions in your organization. Because if you can empathize with that, if you can think ahead and be that step [00:15:00] ahead, it’s kind of like the old, you know, take the sports metaphor.

[00:15:02] Wayne Gretzky used to say, I want to anticipate where the puck is going to be and get there first. That’s a way to really kind of demonstrate and advocate for the benefits of what insights, you know, bring to an organization. I know also you obviously in your role now and you’ve talked about it. You are definitely one of those who have kind of gone full bore embracing of these wonderful Vogue initials AI, which I often joke about, you know, if I had 10, 000 for every time I heard that I could have, you know, retired 16 years ago.

[00:15:35] You know, AI has been positioned out there as this disruptive and evolutionary force that’s transforming the industry, and I want to play devil’s advocate for a bit because I’ve always structured my organizations in ways that put more emphasis on being consultative and strategic and thoughtful and rigorous and leveraging the competitive advantage of having vertical industry expertise that’s brought about by personal experience rather than, [00:16:00] you know, looking for shortcuts or automation that I think sometimes can lack the ability to contextualize or, or put it into the right perspective.

[00:16:08] And we talked about that seat of the table. And I believe that automation or AI can certainly provide rudimentary process efficiencies. I do share a concern that, that overemphasizing this runs the risk of marginalizing the value of MR. I mean, you know, if somebody is thinking that, you know, I can do this so quickly and it’s so easy, anybody can write a prompt, you know, what do I need marketing research for?

[00:16:31] How do you reconcile that? Yes. Yeah. Fantastic question. So I do believe that AI has already transformed our industry and is going to continue to transform our industry. But what I don’t believe is that it’s going to devalue our industry. It’s instead just going to change. How we do research and the role that the researcher plays today.

[00:16:55] So if we look back in time, there were paper surveys and then phone [00:17:00] surveys and then online surveys and then video based means of doing research and AI is just that next frontier. But throughout this whole trajectory of the evolution of research. Researchers have remained important and AI isn’t going to change that fact.

[00:17:16] But throughout each of these evolutions, the role that the researcher has played has shifted accordingly. So that’s where I feel like we’re at today, where AI is going to help us harness data that’s already at our fingertips in very efficient manners. And then the role of the researcher is going to be taking that data.

[00:17:35] And really becoming a storyteller with that data to share the vision of what this data means for organizations and to help make it actionable and actually drive those business outcomes with it. AI is still not going to be able to do that. You need a human in the loop to understand the whole picture, the context and action, those insights.

[00:17:57] Plus, there is still an element [00:18:00] of quality checking where the researcher can serve as that focal point of understanding the inputs or what the AI algorithm is trained on in the first place, and then making sure that the data that is being Um, an output from the A. I. Is logical and factual. So where do we get out?

[00:18:18] I mean, if you had a gaze into the proverbial crystal ball and think about what the industry is going to look like 20 years from today, how is it the same? And how is it different? Yes. So at that point, 20 years into the future will be essentially like where we’re at today with online surveys. We’re now online surveys are The backbone of a lot of research being done today, but when online surveys first came out, that wasn’t the case.

[00:18:43] So AI is going to be that new table stakes where research is just going to be using a I day in and day out, and there will be a lot more automation. So what this means is they’ll likely be some other technological advancement that We’ll be discussing what’s the impact it’s going to have [00:19:00] on our industry at that point.

[00:19:01] But it’s also meant for our industry, we’ll see a couple of things happening. The first is I believe we will be asking less direct questions of consumers. And this will be an advantage because a lot of online surveys today are creating survey fatigue from consumers that are getting quite tired of being asked their opinion again and again and again.

[00:19:24] We can now use the data that we already have available to get to some of those answers without needing to directly ask a consumer. So I think we’ll see that evolution. And then when we ask consumers questions, we can be very intentional about what those are. The other thing we’ll see is new, new roles in our industry.

[00:19:43] So based on how AI continues to evolve, we’ll start to find a new type of researcher role that is activating these AI insights and translating them into business outcomes. So that’s how I see the industry evolving over the next 20 years. Does does the [00:20:00] line and I don’t mean this to be kind of a leading question because I probably be able to figure out where I sit on this one.

[00:20:06] But does the line between consulting and research blur further? That’s a great question. And I would say yes, I would say yes, we’re going to see a lot more gray in that space and it will be less black and white and there’ll be varying degrees of the spectrum is exactly what combination those are happening.

[00:20:29] Yeah, no, that’s that, that, that was kind of my answer and I’m glad that you echoed it because, because you certainly bring a fresh perspective to, to things. And I want to thank you for being part of us this episode and welcome you all to listen to the next episode of, of, of insights and innovators.

[00:20:44] Thanks, John. Thanks for joining the insights and innovators podcast for market research Institute international. Click subscribe to never miss an episode and visit us at mrii. org for more market research insights.