Our Chief Research Officer, Heather O’Shea, recently joined the Digital Marketing Institute’s Ahead of the Game podcast for a practical discussion about how modern insights teams partner with brands to solve real business problems. Heather kicks off the discussion with a look at the work behind the work as a CRO, including guiding our team across creator partnerships, making CPG packaging decisions, and examining travel preference studies- often in the same day. The common thread is translating data into clear actions for clients.

Heather explains that what drives her is curiosity about people: why they act the way they do, what motivates them, and how those motivations shift over time. “People are pretty irrational in their decision-making,” she says, “and I always want to understand why.”

One part of the conversation that really stood out is how quickly audience values are changing. Heather notes that the issues people care about have evolved even in the last five years, especially for Gen Z. “Purpose still matters, but authenticity and action matter more,” she says. “It’s not enough to make a statement; brands need to live their values consistently.”

When the conversation turns to methodology, Heather describes our flexible approach to research. At Alter Agents, we don’t rely on a one-size-fits-all product; instead, we design programs around the business problem. That might start with reviewing existing trends, move into qualitative interviews or mobile ethnographies, and then scale up to quantitative surveys. “People are so used to speaking their opinions on their phone that we can get incredibly rich, authentic responses that help us structure smarter questions later,” she explains.

Heather also shares how we use tools like neuroscience and wearable tech to go beyond what people say and understand what actually captures their attention. One fascinating method she mentions is “immersion,” which measures variable heart rate to identify when someone is encoding a message into memory, an indicator linked to real-world purchase behavior.

And yes, AI is part of the picture too. Heather talks about using secure AI tools to analyze unstructured qualitative data like transcripts and videos, which saves time while keeping human judgment at the center. “It’s giving our researchers more brain power for deep thinking,” she says. “That’s what excites me most – using technology to get closer to consumers, not further away.”

The episode also touches on Heather’s own career path from early days on the agency side, to platform roles at Twitter and Snapchat, and now leading research at a boutique consultancy. She shares a story about noticing, early in her career, that no one was researching online advertising. “I saw the gap and decided to fill it,” she recalls. “That one decision changed everything for me.” It’s a great reminder that curiosity and initiative are often the biggest drivers of growth.

Toward the end of the episode, Heather reflects on the future of research. She’s optimistic about how AI will help teams work smarter but clear-eyed about what it can’t replace: “You can’t automate curiosity,” she says. Her advice for marketers and researchers alike? Let people talk. Give them the space to share, listen closely, and keep your eyes wide open to catch the unexpected insights that can shape your next big idea.

You can listen to the full conversation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf5JvXOGgDY