How Mars and OLLY turn insights into confident decisions

September 24, 2026, at 11 a.m. ET/4 p.m. ETrange rectangular button with “Register Now” written in all caps and white text.

The Voxpopme logo, many purple triangles making a giant ‘V’ with the company name written in sentence case to the right of it, is above the OLLY and Mars Snacking logos. The OLLY logo is a purple circle with the company name written in white and all caps and under the name is a line like a smiley face mouth. To the right of OLLY is the Mars Snacking logo. This logo has MARS written in all capped, blue letters with the word ‘snacking’ written below in red all capped font.Speed is no longer the advantage. Research has gone DIY and any stakeholder can pull a quick answer from [insert LLM here] in seconds. The real question for insights leaders is what that speed is for: a seat at the decision table or a faster way to produce the same overlooked slides.

The teams pulling ahead don't fight the DIY shift. They use it to show up with evidence, confidence and a point of view that makes leadership act. This panel brings together two insights leaders who challenge that from different altitudes.

At Mars, Lumeng Jin builds certainty amid ambiguity, taking small, rapid, self-run steps that de-risk critical assumptions rather than waiting for the slow, perfect report.

At OLLY, Liz Riley Raukohl is navigating what happens as a hyper-growth brand reaches a mature stage: how a senior insights function protects its credibility and strategic relevance, avoids the slow-roadblock trap and prevents the AI slop that erodes trust by orchestrating and interpreting signals into consumer truths that lead leadership to clear actions.

Moderated by Betsy Shaak, vice president of product at Voxpopme, the conversation moves between the day-to-day reality of moving fast and the higher-level work of protecting strategic value. Expect real problems and hot takes, not a product pitch.

Key takeaways:

  1. Turn DIY speed into agility. Continuous, fast reads compound into real-time market agility, with the certainty to back the call.
  2. See where DIY and AI earn their place and where human judgment protects strategic value.
  3. Walk in with answers, not questions. Shift from order-taker to the voice leadership depends on.

Presenters:

Betsy Shaak’s circular headshot with a room in the background.
Betsy Shaak, Vice President of Product, Voxpopme 

Betsy is a product professional who loves helping people get their jobs done with products that don’t suck. An experienced contributor learning the ins and outs of leadership roles, Betsy is the vice president of product at Voxpopme, working with an incredibly talented product team to champion Voxpopme’s product vision, strategy and execution, ensuring alignment with business goals and market needs. She serves as a critical link between the executive team, including the CEO, and the product development and design teams, driving product innovation and delivering value to customers. Outside of work, you can find her on her bike.

Lumeng Jin’s circular headshot with an off-white background.
Lumeng Jin, Senior Manager of Human Intelligence, Mars Snacking

Lumeng Jin is a senior manager of human intelligence at Mars Snacking, supporting global innovation initiatives. She is an expert in agile research methodologies that empower innovation teams to act with speed and certainty.
Lumeng is passionate about using fast, iterative consumer reads to de-risk innovation and ensure that strategic business decisions are grounded in real-time consumer truth.

Liz Riley Raukohl’s circular headshot with a light brown background.
Liz Riley Raukohl, Insights Director, OLLY PBC

Liz Riley Raukohl is the insights director at OLLY PBC, where she built the insights function that powers brand strategy, marketing, creative and sales. With over 20 years in consumer and market insights, she leans into both proven and innovative methodologies to answer business questions. Liz is passionate about delivering unbiased truth and partnering closely with cross-functional teams to drive growth by embedding consumer understanding in decision-making.