Esomar President’s report for April 2026

Dear Esomar Community,

April has been a month of rich conversations, purposeful work, and growing excitement. From Mexico City to our internal strategy rooms, the energy of this community continues to inspire everything we do. As we look ahead to a landmark May, I am delighted to share what we have been building together.

With the Esomar Strategy 2030 formally approved by Council in March, the work of April has turned to something equally essential: giving that strategy a soul. Defining the personality and culture that will carry Esomar through to 2030 is not a cosmetic exercise — it is the work of deciding who we are, how we show up, and what it feels like to be part of this community.

The HQ working sessions this month have been deeply enriching. We have been exploring the values that unite our global membership across geographies, the tone with which Esomar speaks and listens; and the cultural commitments that will guide our teams, our events, our communications and our decisions for the years ahead.

This work is progressing with great care and genuine collaboration. I am proud of the thoughtfulness being brought to every conversation. The personality we define for Esomar will not sit in a document — it will live in how we run our conferences, in how we welcome new members, in how we communicate with our members, representatives and ambassadors. More will be shared with the broader membership as this work matures.

April also saw continued and encouraging progress on Esomar’s digital transformation — one of the most important and wide-ranging undertakings of this strategic cycle. Our transformation agenda is not simply about adopting new technologies; it is about rebuilding the infrastructure through which our community connects, learns, collaborates and grows.

This month, work advanced on several fronts simultaneously: the definition of personas to improve membership experience across our digital platforms, continued development of our data capabilities, and important internal process upgrades that will allow our team to serve members more responsively and more effectively. None of this is glamorous work — but it is foundational, and the commitment of our team to delivering it with rigour and ambition deserves recognition.

We remain on track against our transformation roadmap. I look forward to sharing more concrete milestones in the months ahead.

April brought the WIN Global Conference, held this time in the vibrant and inspiring city of Mexico City. It was a privilege to represent Esomar at this exceptional gathering, and an even greater honour to take the stage and share a presentation on the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence in market research.

AI is reshaping every dimension of our profession — from the speed at which we generate insight, to the depth of understanding we can unlock for clients, to the very nature of the questions we are equipped to ask. My session explored both the opportunities and the responsibilities that come with this transformation, and the conversations it sparked were among the most energising I have had in recent months. The room was filled with curiosity, rigour, and a genuine desire to shape — rather than simply follow — the AI journey our industry is on.

But the conference was also, for me, a moment to celebrate something that transcends any single theme: the long and cherished friendship between WIN and Esomar. Ours is a partnership built on shared values — a commitment to excellence, to diversity of voice, to the elevation of talent regardless of background. Year after year, WIN demonstrates what is possible when a community is held together by genuine purpose. I left Mexico City proud of what we stand for together, and grateful for everything this friendship continues to teach us.

AI is not something that is happening to our industry — it is something we are choosing to shape. That choice, made with care and with ethics at its centre, is what defines Esomar’s role in this moment.” — Esomar President’s remarks, WIN Conference, Mexico City, April 2026.