Preview of 2024: New Year’s Resolutions

What is your New Year’s resolution (professional)?

Andrew Cooper, founder and chief executive, Verve
To not only strive to grow and develop the business and our team, but to ensure that I/we all stand back and enjoy the journey celebrate our little successes on the journey.

Ben Shimshon, chief executive and managing partner, Thinks Insight & Strategy
To read (even) more of other people’s research.

Amy Cashman, executive managing director of the UK insights division, Kantar
My resolution is to get as comfortable as possible with new artificial intelligence-based tools. As business leaders, it’s important that we really understand how new technologies work, their potential opportunities but also pitfalls too, so we are making smarter, informed decisions. 

Crawford Hollingworth, global founder, The Behavioural Architects
I think the AI awakening has also awakened in me to how much of what we do has very little deep value. To steal a thought from Warren Buffet, I’ll be looking at the 20% of what I do that adds the most value and focusing 100% on that.

James Endersby, chief executive, Opinium
One of my professional new year’s resolutions is to continue to spend more and more time around my inspiring colleagues, clients and industry friends. In the words of film producer Peter Guber, nothing replaces being in the same room, face-to-face, breathing the same air and reading and feeling each other’s micro-expressions.

Jane Frost, chief executive, MRS
I’m determined to carve out more time to slow down and recharge. Over the past few years, especially during the pandemic, our focus across the sector has overwhelmingly been on helping others. I couldn’t be prouder of the work that has been achieved, but to go on helping others, it’s important to put yourself first from time to time.

Now the dust has settled a little, I hope everyone will take time out throughout the year to regroup and focus on themselves – as we head into what will be an inevitably busy year, we’re going to need all the energy we can get.

Kelly Beaver, chief executive UK and Ireland, Ipsos
It’s highly likely that next year will see a general election for the country and this will be my first time as chief executive for the UK business during an election. For an organisation which has such a wealth of political trends and data and will be tracking the public’s attitudes during this time, it adds an additional level of pressure, but equally a lot of excitement. I’m resolved to enjoy it – it’s a really unique opportunity (despite the anti-social media hours it might entail).  

Peter Totman, head of qualitative, Jigsaw
Help make qualitative a more open and curious environment. We need to get the thinkers back and give them the space to shape into the gurus of the future. This would be the best possible tribute to the late Wendy Gordon.

Ray Poynter, chief research officer, Potentiate
Improve my AI skills, mostly in the area of using code and APIs to dig deeper into the possibilities.

Bethan Blakeley, research director, Boxclever
I’m not the biggest fan of new year’s resolutions – but I am making an effort to recognise when I want to say no because I think that I won’t be able to do something, or it feels too scary, and then doing it anyway. I’m often telling myself to put my big girl pants on.

Sabine Stork, founding partner, Thinktank
I’ve gathered a small group of quallies into an AI working group. Qual researchers, at least those of us who are a bit longer in the tooth, are not particularly known for our tech-friendliness, and my colleagues and I are determined to investigate, play and experiment to see just how we can enhance our work and our human skills with this new technology.

Sinead Jefferies, senior vice-president, Zappi
To continue learning and to be open to change and new ideas. Since joining Zappi just over a year ago, I have done lots of things for the first time and learned a lot of new things, which has given me huge energy and optimism. Despite having been in the research world for more than 20 years, it is important to be forward-looking, pushing to learn and embracing all of the change and innovation that is out there.

Hannah Rogers, business development director, Kokoro
I want to keep learning from people that are better than me at things, and I’d love to help others do the same. At the moment, I’m focusing on stakeholder management and influence, and am starting to bring together non-industry voices to inspire us and teach us new ways of thinking and working – there’s always more to learn about how to have real impact and drive action.

Jane Rudling, managing director, Walnut Unlimited
I will be devoting time to embracing AI in 2024. It will be good to see where we can use it now, what we should avoid and what will be possible in the longer term. Exciting times!