Hosted by Simon Burton
Every year, KIMRA brings together the people shaping the future of knowledge, information management, research and analysis — the practitioners running transformation inside their organisations, the suppliers building the tools, and the analysts making sense of it all.
KIMRA Conversations takes that same community and keeps the conversation going all year round.
On the show:
- How research and knowledge functions are actually building AI strategies that work — not just experimenting
- Real transformation stories from law firms, consultancies and professional services, told by the people who led them
- The vendor and client sides of major AI implementations, side by side
- What's really happening with data procurement, vendor consolidation, and pricing in the AI era
- How the research and knowledge professions themselves are evolving — and what it means for skills and careers
Listen: Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music
Find out more about KIMRA: https://www.kimraconference.com
Episode 14: Katleen Richardson, (22 min)
In this episode of the KIMRA Conversations podcast, Katleen discusses her extensive experience in information and data businesses, emphasizing the impact of AI on business models, marketing strategies, and the importance of credibility in the information sector. She highlights the need for companies to adapt their strategies in response to changing buyer behaviors and the risks posed by AI-driven market dynamics.
Katleen has spent 20+ years running go-to-market inside businesses where the product is trust and intelligence, including Citeline, Evaluate and The Economist Group, where she led the marketing workstream of the Group's B2B commercial transformation and the 2026 launch of Economist Enterprise. Her work across private-equity and venture-backed portfolios has one constant: aligning GTM strategy to how buyers actually decide. That has always driven growth, but the stakes are higher now. AI does not fix a broken GTM. It amplifies it. What Katleen is hired for today is the revenue-engine redesign that must happen before AI investment pays back: sequencing strategy first, then applying AI where it compounds. She is the author of The Trust Premium.
Ceri Hughes shares her extensive career journey in knowledge management, learning and development, and her transition into coaching. She discusses the evolution of knowledge management, the impact of AI on the industry, and the challenges leaders face in adapting to these changes. The conversation explores the evolving landscape of knowledge management, particularly in the context of AI integration and its implications for workforce development and organizational strategy. Ceri Hughes emphasizes the importance of active listening, curiosity, and community engagement for professionals in the knowledge management field.
Episode 12: Charles Thiede, Zapnito (34 min)
The conversation covers the career journey of Charles Thiede, the co-founder of Zapnito, and delves into the impact of AI on community-led growth, governance, and the future of online communities. It also explores the challenges and opportunities of AI in community development, as well as the importance of engagement and community value.
Episode 11: Tom Rebbeck, Analysys Mason (29 min)
The conversation with Tom Rebbeck from Analysys Mason covers his career journey, the impact of AI on the research and consulting business, the challenges of data collection in different markets, the role of AI in the research process, and the value of expert analysis in decision-making.
Episode 10: Daniel Lord, Content Catalyst (42 min)
Daniel Lord, founder of Content Catalyst, on building content intelligence tools for analyst research firms, and why AI is forcing those firms to refocus on customer needs and core competencies rather than the mechanics of publishing. The conversation also digs into MCP — what it is, how it's being used, and the governance questions it raises.
Episode 9: Hal Kirkwood, Bodleian Business Librarian (1 hr 21 min)
Hal Kirkwood, Bodleian Business Librarian at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, on the move into business librarianship, how business information and data have evolved, and what AI means for information professionals and business libraries. A wide-ranging conversation on AI in education, medical research and academic reading — and why AI should support human judgement rather than replace it.
Episode 8: Carter Lusher, Lusher Advisory (1 hr 11 min)
An industry-analyst veteran on how the analyst business has evolved, the role of analyst relations, and what AI-mediated research delivery means for firms built on human expertise. Carter also talks through the changing talent model, and why open integration matters as firms reinvent themselves around AI-powered intelligence platforms.
Ludovic Leforestier on analyst relations as the bridge between tech vendors and industry analysts, and why human expertise still matters even as AI changes how research gets produced. The conversation covers the rise of independent analysts, shifting client expectations, and how to assess a research provider.
Episode 6: Izabella Kaminska, The Blind Spot (1 hr 20 min)
Izabella Kaminska on The Blind Spot, editorial freedom, and where financial media coverage falls short — plus new ways to fund independent journalism. The conversation broadens into AI's effect on journalism: writing, research and editing, transparency about AI use, and what short-termism is doing to corporate reporting.
Episode 5: Maribeth Martorana, Sapient Advisors (52 min)
Maribeth Martorana built her career inside FactSet, Moody's Analytics and the CFA Institute before founding Sapient Advisors to help information businesses invest more wisely in AI. She talks through why strategy, people and process need aligning before any AI rollout, the role of data quality, and how mid-market firms are budgeting for AI amid shifting data-feed pricing.
Episode 4: Max Friberg, Inex One (32 min)
Max Friberg spent years as a consultant using expert networks for due diligence before founding Inex One to bring the fragmented world of expert networks together in one place. He explains why aggregating across networks — rather than running just one — turns out to be the more valuable position, and where he sees AI falling short of genuine expertise and tacit knowledge.
Episode 3: CJ Anderson, Iron Carrot (33 min)
A qualified librarian with over 30 years in the information profession, CJ Anderson now runs Iron Carrot, a specialist data governance consultancy. She explains why real AI readiness starts with getting data in order, where accountability gaps tend to sit inside law firms, who should own data governance, and what separates governance that works from governance that exists only to tick a box.
Episode 2: Dominic King, Accenture Research (1 hr 9 min)
Dominic King discusses his book "Tools or Traps? The Rising Social Cost of Unchecked Innovation," and the dependencies that new technologies — from social media to AI — build into their own business models. The conversation covers what AI is doing to the work of business researchers, the difference between thinking and simply delivering, and the questions synthetic data raises in a market research context.
Episode 1: Ben Longman, Trendtype (53 min)
Ben Longman, founder and CEO of Trendtype, a market intelligence company covering FMCG, consumer health and retail across Africa and the Middle East. He explains why so much data on African markets is poor or simply doesn't exist, why on-the-ground fieldwork keeps surfacing things desk research never would, and why AI can confidently invent an academic source that was never there.
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