Know what the numbers are for.
I grew up on Block Island, off the coast of Rhode Island. The whole economy arrives on the ferry in June and leaves again after Labor Day. That's where I learned what a number is for. Every number I've reported since has stood for whether somebody had a good year. That held at Tripadvisor, at the Saudi Tourism Authority and at BT.
Say what the numbers say.
To the client who's paying, and to the Minister who's listening. At Tripadvisor our research sometimes told an advertiser what it didn't want to hear. Those conversations built more trust than the good results did. It surprised me a bit at the time. That trust probably sold more advertising than the wins.
Set one standard, and teach it.
At the Saudi Tourism Authority the three media agencies had each proposed their own measurement rules. I wrote one standard for every channel the Authority bought. The CMO held every agency to it, on every buy. The Authority's spending decisions ran on it. At Meta nobody could make the reseller partners or their twenty-two thousand advertisers measure anything. So I built a video series of short measurement lessons for them. Nobody had to watch it. Then Meta made it mandatory for its own new sales hires. Teaching is also why I spent eight years as guest faculty at ESADE.
Put good people in the room early.
Getting good people onto a team is the most fun part of any job I've had (and I've had a few). After that, it's putting them in front of the most senior person who'll give them time, as early as possible. And it's being honest with them in reviews. When I left Riyadh this year, the team I built was running the Authority's whole reporting cycle without me.
Use the tools yourself.
I use AI tools every day. I have since they got good enough to be worth it. It's the quickest way to see which work a team still needs to do, and which it can stop. At the Saudi Tourism Authority I wrote the plan to automate our reporting: 98 tasks and 12 milestones. The aim was to flip the team's time from 70% assembling slides to 70% analysis. The same push led to an AI for Tourism conference in 2024, with the Ministry of Tourism and the Saudi Data and AI Authority.
2023–2026
Saudi Tourism AuthorityExecutive Director, Tourism Performance Insights
Built the Authority's performance measurement unit and led it for three years. KPI frameworks for every channel, executive reporting for the CEO, continuous brand-lift studies on five ad platforms.
2021–2023
MetaProgram Manager, Measurement & Growth Initiatives
Set the measurement standard for Meta's reseller partners and their 22,000+ advertisers. MarSciTV, a video series of short measurement lessons. Geo-lift and brand-lift training. Pilots in brand video and cross-border commerce, estimated at $65M+ in incremental revenue.
2013–2020
TripadvisorAdvertising Research Director, then Global Director, Strategy & Insights
Built the global insights function. Its work included the Oxford Economics impact programme, Competitive Hotel Intelligence, the Destination Insights Platform and the COVID-19 Weekly Insights.
2011–2013
BT GroupMBA Leadership Programme, then Head of Strategy & Analytics
Redesigned the quarterly engagement survey into a five-point score for every people manager across 22,000 teams. Engagement rose 30% over the following year.
2005–2010
One to One GlobalManager, Measurement & Analytics
Founded the agency's testing practice. It brought in $1.2M of new revenue in its first year. Designed Path to Conversion, an early multi-touch attribution product.
2003–2004
DigitasSenior Analyst, Strategy & Enablement
General Motors: Pontiac, GMC and Cadillac. A dynamic-content email programme for a million-member list that lifted interaction 270%.
2000–2002
Forrester ResearchSenior Data Specialist
Consumer Technographics, Forrester's consumer survey. Primary research for forty-plus Fortune 500 clients.
