Transforming consumer insight with AI

Justin is a pioneer of the use of AI within quantitative research. He’s a seasoned campaigner and product specialist who has worked with clients from ABinBev to HM Cabinet Office and everywhere in between. He holds an MPA from LSE and Columbia, where he focused on Bayesian statistics and machine learning.

Ollie has 12+ years experience building products and scaling consulting teams. Before Focaldata, he was Head of Strategy and Product at S-RM, a £70m+ revenue global cyber and intelligence consultancy for Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 businesses.

Richard has 25 years experience of leading high growth entrepreneur led businesses. Having qualified as a Chartered Accountant, he has worked as a professional investor in the private equity industry, an executive director of a successful VC backed business (sold to Microsoft), and now he works across a small portoflio as an independent non-executive director, adviser, and investor to companies such as SwiftKey, Speechmatics, and Cytora.

A qualified Chartered Accountant with nearly 10 years of global experience across various financial roles and diverse industries (including global remittances and tech healthcare). Previous work experience includes Deloitte, IPO readiness for Airbnb (San Francisco) and financial planning for NEOM (Saudi Arabia).

Cameron brings over a decade of marketing and communications experience, working with B2B tech companies ranging from dynamic scale-ups and incubators to global brands.

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Before joining us, Manon was an analyst at a polling startup, primarily serving government and non-profit clients. Before that, she was an editor at GRI, a leading global political analysis publication. She has a BA in History and Politics and an MPhil in Political Science from Cambridge.

Prior to joining, AJ worked in similar commercial and people focused roles across other startups and professional services organisations. She is originally from South Africa and completed her studies in Psychology at the University of Pretoria.

Alicia partners with our engineering team on key product initiatives and supports our self-serve clients using the platform. She previously worked for the Royal Society of Arts helping to grow and diversity their fellowship community. She has a BA in Liberal Arts from the University of Warwick.

Sakky leads UX & Design for Focaldata’s AI product. He previously was Head of Product Design at a Autone, a YC-backed Series A startup, and ran a Design agency, ZeroToDesign. Sakky is deeply invested into AI, having built multiple digital products either using or powered by AI.

James was Head of Analytics at Populus and founded a polling startup before joining Focaldata. Along the way, he's advised political and business leaders from around the world on public opinion and society – and originated the concept of the "Red Wall".

George joined Focaldata in 2020 and leads our research team. George is a winner of the prestigious MRS Advanced Certificate in Market and Social Research Practice Award. He previously worked at polling firm ICM Unlimited. George has a BA in Human, Social and Political Sciences (HSPS) from Cambridge.

Matt is a Associate Director in our research and analytics group. Originally from South Africa, he’s held various academic and consulting roles in the UK and RSA, including as an associate at the economic consultancy Genesis Analytics. He has a PhD in Philosophy and an MSc in Behavioural and Economic Science (University of Warwick) and an MCom in Economics (University of Cape Town).

Anna is part of our data services group. Before joining Focaldata, she previously worked at IFF Research where she specialised in delivery of large quantitative projects. Anna has a BSc in Psychology from the University of Birmingham.

At Focaldata, Callum drives data-led strategies across political and corporate sectors. Previously, he was the Senior Political Data Scientist at JL Partners, where he developed the most accurate model for the 2024 US Presidential Election, as well as pioneering the use of machine learning in election predictions. His work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Telegraph, and The Sunday Times. Callum holds an MPhil in Mathematical Sciences from the University of Southampton and a First-Class MSci in Theoretical Physics from Imperial College London.

Patrick is a prominent data journalist in the UK, whose work has appeared in a variety of leading outlets such as The Economist, UnHerd and The Times. After graduating from King’s College London, Patrick worked in the UK parliament and for a prediction market platform, before joining the Focaldata team in spring 2024.

Duncan has over five years of experience in quantitative and qualitative research, primarily across financial services, environmental issues, and consumer behaviour. His expertise spans a range of methodologies, from fast-paced omnibus studies to in-depth consultancy projects. His most notable career achievement is managing and overseeing the delivery of the Charities Aid Foundation’s 2025 World Giving Index – a global study with over 50,000 respondents. Duncan holds an MA in British Politics and Contemporary History from King’s College London.

Before joining Focaldata, Chris served as Head of Macroeconomics at The Centre of Economics and Business Research (Cebr), where he managed a team of economists delivering forecasting and thought leadership to diverse clients. Prior to that, he spent 8 years at the CBI – primarily in the Economics Department, where he provided unique insights to business and government leaders before helping to build the organisation's consultancy division

Lily brings extensive experience across both client and agency roles, with experience at the nonprofit Drinkaware and at Malatest International, a New Zealand-based social research agency. She has an MCom in Economics from Victoria University of Wellington and is passionate about supporting organisations in making evidence-based, impact-driven decisions.

Nick did a graduate scheme with Chime Communications before becoming a brand consultant. He has led project management on quantitative based research such as consumer segmentations, product innovation, and multimarket brand trackers. Before joining Focaldata, Nick worked as a psychologist within the NHS.

Matthew is a Research Manager in our Analytics team. He previously worked as a pollster at Deltapoll, and has contributed political analysis to BBC Radio, Newsnight, and the Channel 4 election night coverage. Matthew holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford and an MPhil in Philosophy from Trinity College Dublin.

Sophia is part of our Research Services team. Before joining Focaldata, she worked in the policy and public affairs team at Portland Communications. She has an MSc in Politics & Human Rights from the London School of Economics.

Thea is a data analyst in our research team. She previously held a data science role at martech startup Ocula Technologies. She has an MEng in Engineering Mathematics from the University of Bristol.

Bogdan is a member of our data services team with over 7 years of market research experience at Toluna and Human8. He holds a BSc in Psychology from the West University of Timisoara and an MSc in Applied Psychology from Babes-Bolyai University, Romania.

Vlad is part of the data services group. He has 5+ years in market research, delivering hundreds of projects in that time. Before Focaldata, he worked for Belgian market research agency InSites Consulting. Vlad has a BSc in Psychology from the West University of Timisoara in Romania, where he was also employed as a research assistant.

Lewis Kitson is a Client Account Manager with two years of experience in market research. They’ve developed a strong track record of delivering tailored insights and building lasting client relationships. With a degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE) from the Open University, Lewis brings a solid understanding of market dynamics and client needs.

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Lloyd brings over 12 years of experience in building complex software and leading high-performance engineering teams. His expertise spans diverse fields, including warehouse automation simulation at Ocado Technology, computer vision development at ARM, and over five years leading the engineering team for a Fintech/Legal AI platform.

Peter is a lead backend engineer at Focaldata. Peter was part of Focaldata’s team that delivered MRP analysis during the 2019 General Election. Before Focaldata, Peter was a data scientist at Photobox, an online photo company (owner of Moonpig). Peter has a PhD in condensed matter physics from the University of Cambridge, and an MSci in theoretical physics from Imperial College London.

Ben is one of the leading MRP specialists in the UK. He has a PhD in MRP from Royal Holloway, University of London and an MA in Social and Political Theory from the University of East Anglia. He previously worked in data analysis at Populus for three years.

After studying a BSc in Neuroscience at King's College London and working in digital marketing, Kyung moved into software engineering once she realised she could automate away many of the boring parts of her role. In addition to marketing tech, Kyung has worked in finance tech for a small start up and e-commerce tech for the meal box company Gousto, where she built features for the platform that enabled expansion to it's first international country.

Joshua is a fullstack engineer at Focaldata. He has 8+ years experience in product focused engineering teams. Joshua has a BEng in Computer Systems Engineering from University of Birmingham.

John studied Electronic Engineering in college and went on to build a career spanning diagnostics, automotive, and fintech. He spent five years working in automotive diagnostics before moving into the legal AI space, where he worked for eight years at a fintech platform. Outside of work, John enjoys watching motorsports, experimenting with 3D printing, and reading.

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Reece brings experience across diverse industries, including health, legal, and e-commerce, to their role. They earned a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Kent and enjoy caring for their six rabbits in their free time.

Aaron is a frontend engineer at Focaldata. He previously worked at healthtech startup Thriva Health as well as co-hosting his own podcast called The Third Wheel. He has an MEng in Computer Science from the University of Warwick.

Nate has 10+ years experience building web applications using modern tech stacks. His experience spans startups, digital agencies, and major companies like The Times. Nate is actively involved in public service and serves as a local councillor in east London for the Green Party.

Adam is working on Focaldata's MRP capabilities. He joined from the University of York where he was awarded a PhD in Mathematics. Before his PhD, Adam completed a Masters of Mathematics at the University of Oxford.

Iordanis hold a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Hertfordshire. He worked at Shell, where he contributed to their electric vehicle charging solution and at Curve where he worked on the launch of their US product.

Andrei is a frontend engineer at Focaldata. Based on Timisoara, Romania, he has 8+ years experience in software development. Andrei has a MEng in Computer Software Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Timisoara.