Editor’s Note: The following interview features a GreenBook Future List honoree, Sathyaraj Asaithambi. The GreenBook Future List recognizes leadership, professional growth, personal integrity, passion, and excellence in the next generation of consumer insights and marketing professionals within the first 10 years of their careers.
Introducing Sathyaraj Asaithambi of Novartis India
Sathyaraj Asaithambi is a Group Leader for Social Media Analytics at Novartis India. He has actively participated in speaking and lecturing about social media insights at different forums such as social media intelligence Lab, Tech Demo Day, LinkedIn Live interviews, podcasts, Reuters, etc. to create more awareness of new age sources, tools, natural language processing, best practices to leverage thick data insights (SM, Field force data, survey, ATUs, D&I data, measurement, etc.).
Sathyaraj has more than ten publications in an international congress, journals that include posters, abstracts, and full papers on various therapy areas. He has been actively involved in sharing his experience, supporting the pharmaceutical industry through social media, advocacy, synthesizing healthcare stakeholders’ insights.
Outside of insights, what are your passions and interests?
I am deeply passionate about the art of storytelling and have a strong interest in filmmaking and world cinema. My fascination with the latest technologies in natural language processing (NLP) has led me to explore how these tools can enhance storytelling and create more engaging experiences for audiences.
I believe that NLP can revolutionize the way we communicate with machines, and I’m excited to be at the forefront of this field. By combining my interests in storytelling and NLP, I hope to contribute to the development of more immersive and impactful media experiences. I look forward to pursuing a career that allows me to explore these passions and make a positive impact on the world.
What are three skills you believe to be crucial to succeed in market research and why?
First, real-world skills include resilience, emotional intelligence, functioning with integrity, and interpersonal skills. Experiences rather than texts are how RW skills are learned. After that, technical abilities include subject knowledge, project management, tools, data, analytics, insights, narrative, and visualization. A strong understanding of customer behavior, preferences, and needs is critical for market researchers to develop effective research strategies and insights.
The most crucial factor that will contribute to success, more than anything else, is TEAMWORK. Top market researchers must be able to understand and interpret data, communicate their findings clearly, and develop actionable recommendations. They must also be able to manage multiple projects, work collaboratively with multiple stakeholders, and stay up-to-date with the latest technology and trends in the industry.
Tell us about any advocacy/volunteer/association work you’re doing within the industry.
I am attempting to bring/advocate a solution that combines AI and human intelligence to translate a large amount of unstructured text data into meaningful insights. One of the key challenges of extracting insights from unstructured data, is a growing problem as the volume of data generated continues to increase exponentially. This work is critical for the industry because it enables organizations to make informed decisions based on insights gleaned from unstructured data sources such as social media, customer feedback, surveys, and online reviews.
By combining right mix of AI tools with human intelligence, one can extract insights that are more accurate and meaningful than those generated by either approach alone. This is particularly important in industries such as healthcare, finance, and retail, where customer feedback and sentiment analysis are crucial for improving customer experience and driving business success. As we are witnessing there is a lack of transparency and interpretability of AI models.
It is still difficult for users to understand how the models arrived at their conclusions and also fail the Explainability of those initiatives. By incorporating human intelligence into the solution, we can provide a more transparent and interpretable process for generating insights. This is important for ensuring that organizations can trust the insights generated by the AI tool and use them to drive informed decision-making.
What challenges do you see facing newer MRX professionals as technology advances?
As technology advances, newer market research professionals might be facing challenges that impact their ability to conduct research and provide valuable insights. One of the main challenges is the rapid pace of technological change, which requires market researchers to stay up-to-date with the latest tools and techniques. As new technologies are constantly emerging, making it difficult for researchers to know which tools to adopt and how to use them effectively.
The second challenge is the increasing complexity of data sources. With the rise of social media and other digital platforms, we will be dealing with vast amounts of unstructured data, which requires more advanced analytical techniques and tools to extract meaningful insights. This requires newer market research professionals to have a solid understanding of data analysis, including data cleaning, manipulation, and visualization.
Additionally, the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning presents both opportunities and challenges for market research professionals. While AI and ML can help automate certain tasks and improve the accuracy of data analysis, they also require specialized skills and knowledge to use effectively. Newer market research professionals must be familiar with these technologies and their limitations to ensure that their research is accurate and unbiased.
Finally, newer market research professionals must also navigate the ethical considerations associated with collecting and analyzing data. With increasing concerns around data privacy and security, researchers must be knowledgeable about regulations and best practices to ensure that they are collecting data ethically and transparently.
