Confirmed Speakers
Yashan joined Google in December 2021, bringing with him deep expertise in consumer insights and analytics. Based in Singapore, he leads Google's Brand & Consumer Insights team. This team uncovers data-driven learnings and insights for Google's consumer-facing products, including Search, Gemini, Google Pixel, Android, Google Play, and the overarching Google brand. Their mission is to empower marketers with data-driven learnings, insights, and recommendations by developing and implementing research programs that inform future marketing strategies and go-to-market initiatives. Yashan began his career in the UK, working at JWT, Ipsos and Nielsen before moving to Hong Kong in 2017. In 2020, he relocated to Singapore as Commercial Director for Blackbox Research.
Dario La Micela is Senior Director of Global Consumer Quality Intelligence & Continuous Improvement at Pandora, where he leads the transformation of Quality into a strategic driver of business performance. Across 20+ years in automotive, eyewear, jewellery and consumer goods — including SKF and EssilorLuxottica — he has led complex transformations and built high-performing teams. His approach integrates Voice of the Customer, accelerated testing that compresses years of consumer-use simulation into days, and AI-enabled analytics to improve speed and accuracy while keeping judgement human. He champions Quality and Continuous Improvement as engines of sustainable transformation, organizational capability and growth.
Priyanka Bhargav has over 20 years of experience in Brand Strategy, Brand Marketing, UXR and Insights, Corporate Communications, & CX across an array of industries that includes E-commerce, Grocery, Telecom, FMCG and Retail. She is a passionate evangelist of Customer Centricity and has played an instrumental role in GTM strategy for new business and Product innovations. She is an extremely well rewarded and globally recognised business leader. She holds a Limca Book of World Record for CSR driven Marketing Campaign. She is recipient of the Young Business Leader Award by BTVI (Business Television India), Femina World Women Leadership Award, By ET Now and leadership awards by Forbes and World Marketing Congress.
30+ years of diverse experience in Science, R&D Innovation and Consumer Research across the Academe and FMCG, FMCH and Nutrition industries.
Kathy leads the Consumer Science & Product Experience Global Community of Practice (CSPX COP) responsible for defining, shaping and influencing the CSPX innovation strategy including developing leading-edge capabilities on consumer and sensory science in Haleon.
Previous to this, Kathy led the CSPX for APAC and China where she created and championed product experiences that are relevant and preferred by consumers. She provided leadership in driving and influencing the innovation pipeline and portfolio across multiple categories in consumer healthcare (OTC – Pain Relief, OTC Respiratory health, Wellness and Oral Care) for APAC and China markets. As CSPX lead, she enabled the design of superior product experiences and drives consumer empathy and centricity in Haleon. Kathy has enabled successful launches in the market for brands like Centrum, Caltrate, Sensodyne, Panadol, Iodex, Voltaren, ENO, TUMS, Scott’s and Benefiber.
Prior to Haleon, Kathy worked 6 years at Johnson & Johnson Consumer Healthcare, leading consumer, claims and clinical strategy and innovation for brands like Neutrogena, Clean and Clear, Aveeno and Johnson’s Baby and 8 years at Unilever leading the Consumer Technical Insight for the Deodorants Category for brands like Rexona, Axe and Dove.
Kathy has led teams, set up facilities and established capabilities on consumer and sensory science driving pivotal consumer researches, insight to innovation programs, transformational programs driving innovation, employee engagement and digitalization, and the development and launches of consumer winning products.
Kathy has various publications and has presented at various conferences
Publications in various papers and conferences (2008- present)
2021 Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium, SenseAsia 2021 4th Asian Sensory and Consumer Research Symposium, 2023 Growth Asia Summit, 2023 Qual 360, 2023 Provoke Panel Member on Women’s Health, 2024 GRBN Webinar, 2024 IIEX, and various Consumer and Sensory Webinars 2024 Growth Asia Summit, ESOMAR 2024, ECONOMIST Impact Future of Health 2024, Nicholas Hall APAC 2024, 2025 IIEX
Esther Tan is the Global Director of Marketing & E-Commerce at Plaza Premium Group, leading the development of the Group’s marketing and digital strategies, driven by a curiosity about human behaviour, customer experience, and data. Her expertise spans e-commerce, digital marketing, CRM and loyalty, backed by over 20 years of experience across the aviation, travel, and hospitality industries.
Joy Lee is a Lead UX Researcher in DBS Group Design, where she helps shape digital products, services, and experiences through customer-centred research. With more than 15 years of experience across qualitative and quantitative research, her career spans UX research, design thinking, consumer insights, and digital experience strategy. Joy specialises in mixed-methods research, combining behavioural, attitudinal, and usability insights to inform design and business decisions. She is particularly passionate about scaling research impact, advancing research maturity, and helping organisations build stronger customer understanding for product success.
Mark Jefferson Go is Chief Strategy, Research & Development and Enterprise & Education Director at PT Erajaya Swasembada Tbk., one of Indonesia’s leading retail and distribution groups. He leads corporate strategy, AI transformation, market research, and business model innovation, with a focus on translating customer and market insights into sustainable business growth.His current work spans executive decision support, predictive analytics, customer insights, enterprise AI, and new business development. Mark has completed executive and professional programs in strategy, data science, and artificial intelligence, including the NUS Chief Strategy Officer Programme, SMU Data Science Programme, and NTU Agentic AI Programme, combining commercial leadership with data and emerging technology to address the evolving opportunities facing retailers.
Jerome is Head of Market, Sensory & Consumer Insights (MSCI) for APAC at Symrise, leading teams across Consumer Research, Sensory Science, and Data Science. With over 20 years of experience on four continents, he has helped global brands like Nike, Google, Unilever, Heineken, and Burger King translate human behavior into innovation and growth.
Based in Singapore, Jerome believes that in an increasingly fast-paced, technology-enabled world, understanding people has never been more important. His work focuses on combining rigorous and agile research approaches with emerging technologies to uncover the deeper motivations, tensions, and nuances that shape consumer decision-making. He is particularly passionate about how qualitative research continues to evolve alongside data and AI, helping organizations keep the human story at the center of innovation.
I'm a true-blue Qual researcher who stumbled into Market Research 24 years ago quite by chance and fell in love with it right away. This was at IMRB International (now Kantar) in Delhi and then in Mumbai, where I met the most wonderful colleagues who became lifelong friends and mentors who gave me a solid foundation for my career. Over the years I moved to smaller boutique firms and then to client side – Novartis, and then to Pepsico where I now work as Consumer and Business Insights lead for Europe and AsiaPac region. In my spare time I love to potter around with my house plants, play badminton, learn dancing, boxing, and watching movies.
Ribka Martina Simanjuntak is a passionate R&D leader with experience spanning the pharmaceutical and consumer health industries, bringing innovations to consumers across APAC, EMEA, and global markets. As Head of the R&D Center of Excellence for Asia Pacific, she leads diverse teams through complexity, transforming science and consumer understanding into meaningful outcomes. Known for her people-centred leadership style, Ribka is committed to developing future talent, building strong capabilities, and fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous learning. She believes the best leaders create clarity where there is uncertainty, stay focused on outcomes, and empower others to turn insights into action and lasting impact.
Kenneth Law is a UX Researcher at Cathay Pacific, where he is helping grow user research as a discipline and embed customer insight into digital product development. His career spans more than a decade across UX research, qualitative insight, design thinking, and consumer research, working with organizations including Cathay Pacific, Hang Seng Bank, Human8, and Nielsen. Kenneth specializes in uncovering deep customer understanding and translating insights into decisions that shape products, experiences, and strategy. He is particularly passionate about scaling research impact, advancing research maturity, and fostering customer-centric cultures within complex organizations.
Ernest Hui, Head of Design at Cathay, leads a team focused on creating innovative, user-centric designs. With extensive experience in UX research, they drive design strategies that enhance user experiences and achieve business goals. Ernest excels in user research, interaction design, and usability testing.
Bharati has 17 years of experience in market research, insights, and design. She is a certified Design Thinker from MIT Sloan University. She holds a bachelor’s in Economics and a PG in Marketing. She is data agnostic and has worked on qualitative, quantitative, analytics, digital, design, and consultative projects across different markets globally. She has worked on commercial as well as public sector projects. In her current role, she is the UX Research Lead for the Global Experience Design team at HP. She has presented her work and thought pieces at several conferences, including ESOMAR, MRMW, IIEX, and MRSI, across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Claris Ng is the Consumer & Shopper Insights and Analytics Lead for 3M's Consumer Business Group in Asia, where she drives insight-led growth across multiple markets and categories. Over her 20-year career across both research agencies and client organizations, she has led work spanning consumer understanding, innovation, brand and communications strategy, shopper insights, and analytics. A strong advocate for elevating the strategic role of insights, Claris is passionate about translating consumer understanding into business action. Her current focus is on the future of insights in the AI era, exploring how emerging technologies can strengthen research effectiveness, while keeping human empathy and consumer centricity at the core.
Tridib has had over a decade-long journey in UX design, leading projects for clients in insurance, finance, and government sectors across APAC, Mumbai, and Dubai. Now, at Thales, Tridib finds himself witnessing and contributing to a scaling user-centered design practice within a large enterprise organization. Having built lean UX teams, Tridib is passionate about co-creating processes while nurturing team growth. For him user research & design is fundamentally about uncovering and solving problems, whether involving an interface or not.
Snehal Pawar is a design leader, mobility strategist exploring the shift from human-centred innovation to planet-conscious prosperity. Currently serving as Head of Advanced & Creative Design for Alstom Asia. With more than 15 years of global experience spanning automotive and transportation design, he has played pivotal roles in shaping award-winning products and future mobility solutions across Tata Motors, Hyundai Motor Group, Mahindra Automotive, and Alstom Mobility.
A graduate of the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, with advanced studies in Strategic Design Management in Germany, Snehal is recognized for translating deep human insights into meaningful products, services, and experiences. His work bridges industrial design, user experience, systems thinking, and strategic business far sighting, to help organizations navigate complexity while creating lasting value for people, planet and society.
At Alstom, Snehal is helping shape the future of mobility by advancing a new design narrative that moves beyond traditional measures of growth, efficiency, and sustainability—a more holistic vision of progress that balances economic value with human well-being, social inclusion, cultural relevance, and planetary responsibilities. In this emerging paradigm, transportation is not merely about moving people efficiently, but about enabling individuals, communities, and ecosystems to thrive together.
A sought-after speaker, advisor, and mentor, Snehal regularly contributes to global conversations on strategic role of design leadership, inclusive mobility, social innovation, regenerative thinking, sustainability governance, and planet-conscious business transformation. He serves on the CII National Advisory Committee for Design & Innovation and supports entrepreneurship and design-led innovation through advisory roles with NID Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore's NSRCEL Startup Incubation Programs.
Drawing inspiration from disciplines as diverse as mobility, heritage crafts, agriculture, theatre, and systems design, Snehal champions a future where organizations measure success not only by performance and profit, but by their ability to create shared prosperity for people, business, and the planet. His perspective challenges organizations to look beyond the limitations of purely human-centred models and embrace a more holistic view of progress—one where business success, societal well-being, and planetary health are intrinsically connected.
Belinda Pang is a globally recognized expert in sensory, consumer, and behavioural sciences, with more than 26 years of experience developing pioneering research approaches that connect consumer behaviours, psychology, cognitive science, and market intelligence. At IFF, she partners with leading global and regional brands to unlock deep consumer insights, drive innovation, and deliver sustainable growth. Her expertise in translating human understanding into strategic business decisions has made her a trusted advisor to organizations across Asia Pacific and global markets.
Warisara (Cherry) Bergholdt is the BGAsia Insights & Analytics Director at FrieslandCampina, leading consumer and commercial insights across Asia. With more than 26 years of experience spanning FrieslandCampina, The Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, L’Oréal, and leading research agencies, she has built a career at the intersection of consumer understanding, business strategy, and growth.
Cherry specializes in translating consumer, shopper, and category insights into actionable strategies that drive brand growth, innovation, portfolio development, and commercial activation. She has led regional and global initiatives across FMCG, helping organizations unlock growth opportunities and build consumer-led businesses across diverse Asian markets.
Marie Kristel Gabawa is a Senior Manager at the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), where she heads the Growth and Innovation pillar under Strategy and Insights. With over 13 years of market research experience spanning banking, FMCG, and engineering industries, she has led some of BPI's most significant consumer research initiatives, including a landmark study that informed the bank's alignment with BSP's Financial Inclusion Strategy. She previously worked at Kantar Philippines and holds an MBA from the Asian Institute of Management, where she graduated as a Presidential Scholar. Kristel currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Marketing and Opinion Research Society of the Philippines (MORES) for 2026.
Ronak Trivedi is Global Insights and Market Research Director at iNova Pharmaceuticals. He believes insights earn their place when they change a decision – not when they add another slide. His focus is on making research faster, sharper, and more commercially useful, combining consumer understanding, analytics and AI. Ronak is particularly interested in how insight teams can challenge convention, simplify complexity, and stay close to the consumer while becoming more influential in the decisions that shape growth.
People are complex and emotional beings. We can track ‘what’ and ‘how’ they do things or take decisions, but we often are unaware of ‘why’ they do it. The discovery of ‘why’ can only happen when you understand the truth of real people in the real world, which is the reason why I love research.
Diyana Syafiqah is a Consumer Insights & UX Lead at Bosch Home Comfort, leading customer research across Asia Pacific and translating human understanding into insights that shape business, marketing, and product strategy. Driven by a longstanding curiosity about why people think and behave the way they do, she has spent nearly two decades working across research, insights, and strategy. Her work focuses on uncovering meaning at the intersection of behaviour, culture, and context. She is also interested in how organisations interpret and act on insights, drawing on human systems and Dialogic Organisation Development to help customer understanding drive meaningful change.
Shruti Umesh Chakke is a transdisciplinary designer working at the intersection of regenerative education, experience design, and mobility. She is the Founder of Regenerative Nomads - Learning with the Soul & Soil, a Himalayan learning ecosystem in the making that reconnects youth with land, culture, ecology, elders, and local futures.
Rooted in the belief that every village holds knowledge, every landscape holds wisdom, and every young person holds potential, her work explores how place-based learning can help communities facing migration, cultural loss, and ecological change imagine regenerative futures. Through Regenerative Nomads, she supports young people in becoming rooted thinkers, creative problem-solvers, and stewards of their homeland.
Shruti studied Experience & Museum Design at National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and holds a Master’s in Transdisciplinary Mobility Design from IED Torino. Her work across the Himalayan region spans curriculum design, community museums, indigenous knowledge systems, village transformation, and mobility as a living relationship between people, place, and opportunity. Her explorations in Cosmic Education and Transdisciplinary Design have received the SDGs Design International Award for Quality Education three times, in 2020, 2022, and 2023.
Phong is the Head of Research and Trends at Circles., a global telco tech startup At Circles, he sets up the research and trends teams and oversees insight & foresight projects across product, marketing and strategy to accelerate the company's 10X growth in the telco industry. Formerly with Visa and Kantar, Phong has 15 years of experience in consumer insight and foresight with clients across sectors. He is passionate about the intersection of consumer, culture and future. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths College and is finishing his Master of Science in Foresight at University of Houston.
Jim is a seasoned market research leader, driving data-driven strategies for one of Southeast Asia’s most influential tech platforms. Blending market research with advanced analytics, he shapes Grab’s go-to-market strategies, ensuring that products and services evolve in sync with market trends. From optimizing the Ads and Enterprise experience, to enhancing Grab’s core ride-hailing and delivery services, Jim’s insights fuel growth and innovation. His research journey began in global firms like Kantar and Nielsen, working across industries ranging from FMCG, Tech, Telco and Political Science. His deep understanding of market dynamics makes him a driving force behind smarter business decisions in an ever-changing landscape.
Nicole Nie has spent her design career on one question: what it takes for a person to trust a machine. She started asking it in a human robot interaction lab and was surprised by how little it took. A handhold, a bit of warmth in temperature would do it. She’s explored this since, with design augmented reality, 3D printing, ride-hailing and e-commerce services, and now AI in finance, where the machine talks back with full confidence and the human has to decide whether to trust it. Outside work, she advocates for women’s health.
Mr. Vijay Raj worked for 30 years in the Insights and Analytics space, 26 of which have been with Unilever. While at Unilever, he worked across categories spanning Foods, Beverages, Ice cream and Beauty and Personal Care. He worked in local, regional, global roles including capability building roles. He was the Global Head of Insights at Unilever. He has lived and worked in four countries – India, Indonesia, Singapore and the UK. Vijay’s expertise is to make the businesses more consumer centric and integrate insights with the business strategy and lead business transformation. He has created and trained marketing teams at Unilever over the years. He is an advisor to several organizations on how to drive growth based on Insights. He is recognized as a leader in the Insights industry. He is a Insights 250 Legends winner and an Honorary Fellow of the MRS UK.
Based in Malaysia, Sophie is the Managing Director of Firestar Research, a boutique insights and strategy consultancy. She has more than 20 years’ experience as a qualitative practitioner, working throughout SE Asia with clients such as GSK, McDonald’s, DKSH, and Dairy Farm Group, as well as creative agencies such as Ogilvy and FCB Shout. Passionate about ensuring qualitative rigour is maintained even as the industry evolves, Sophie is working hard to train the next generation of qualitative researchers, through internal and external training programmes and via training initiatives with the Marketing Research Society of Malaysia, of which she is currently the Vice President.
Ashutosh Singh is President of Internet Research Bureau (IRB), a global B2B data collection and market research company operating across 28+ markets. He also serves as President of LogZero Technologies, leading business consulting and IT solutions strategy for the company’s global clients. He has played a central role in scaling IRB's verified panel infrastructure and hybrid, multi-channel delivery model, enabling the organization to generate high-quality, actionable insights for clients worldwide. With over 15 years at IRB, Ashutosh brings deep expertise in business consulting, panel operations, and research-led decision-making, and continues to drive the strategy behind IRB's growing global footprint
Starting her career in market research in 2007 as a fresh MBA graduate, Mukta Prakash built extensive experience with working for prominent firms like ICICI, Toluna, Pulse, and more. In 2012, she joined Internet Research Bureau (IRB), then an emerging player in the industry, and has since played a key role in its growth journey. From its early stages to its current success, she has contributed substantially to position IRB as a leading market research company. Now serving as Director of APAC Sales, Mukta focuses on expanding market presence, driving client contentment, and delivering viable revenue growth across diverse markets.
