Global insights transformation sounds ambitious on paper. And it is.
It’s about balancing the need to shift mindsets, manage and empower stakeholder relationships, and ultimately move a whole system forwards.
At the 2025 Quirk’s New York conference, our CEO and Co-Founder Paul Gaudette and EVP of Qualitative Insights Patricia King sat down with Jennifer Picard, Global Insights Transformation Lead at Opella, to share how she’s navigating the complexity of leading global transformation.
Jennifer didn’t just talk about results (though 86% global compliance in 6 months is no small feat). She unpacked the mindset shifts, behavioural changes, and partner dynamics that make real transformation stick, and where it often goes wrong.
Here are the takeaways.
1. Transformation isn’t a project. It’s a behavior shift.
Jennifer’s role isn’t to run insights studies, it’s to move the entire organization in one direction. That requires changing how people think about insights, not just the tools they use.
She shared that transformation only works when you address both:
- Behavioral change: Aligning on what to test, when, and why, and making testing about learning, not just validating.
- Operational change: Building toolkits that are fit-for-purpose, easy to adopt, and clearly positioned within your ways of working.“If you want to scale globally, you need to standardize, and that starts with a shared mindset, not just shared tools.”
“If you want to scale globally, you need to standardize, and that starts with a shared mindset, not just shared tools.” – Jennifer Picard
2. Agile doesn’t just mean fast. It means timely, iterative, and useful.
While the term “agile” might be overused, Jennifer reminded the audience that when embedded properly, a focus on agility unlocks speed and strategy.
To kick off transformation work at Opella, Jennifer started with agile testing; not because it was the most glamorous first step, but because it delivered clear business impact fast, helping earn executive buy-in.
“Each time I introduce Upsiide into the organization, there’s high appeal and very quick adoption of the tool. Why? Because it’s really filling a strategic gap for us around assessing innovation potential.” – Jennifer Picard
That momentum has allowed the Opella team to expand into more exploratory innovation work like agile qual initiatives, which Dig Insights and Jennifer co-developed to fill the unmet need of understanding early-stage resonance.
“Sometimes what you need isn’t another tool. It’s a solution built with your ways of working in mind.” – Jennifer Picard
3. The right partners don’t try to do everything. They lean into what makes them great.
Jennifer emphasized the importance of building a roster of partners, each selected for their zone of excellence. It’s not just about platforms, it’s about people. And most of all, it’s about trust.
“I don’t want one partner who does everything. I want the right partner for each need, and I need them to know where they’re strongest, and where they’re not.” – Jennifer Picard
She doesn’t look for providers. She looks for true partners, those willing to co-create, iterate, and respect the broader ecosystem she’s building.
“We leverage Dig’s platform, Upsiide, in early innovation and it really helps us to screen any ideas or concept early in the process. There’s really no other partner I trust for this. It’s very easy to grasp, very cost efficient for that early stage when we don’t know much about what we’re doing, but we still need feedback.” – Jennifer Picard
That clarity, and Dig’s willingness to stay focused while also experimenting when it matters, what’s helped build a partnership that’s lasted over 5 years.
“What’s different about Dig is not only do we have the technology, but we actually have a consultancy as well… any program that we help clients develop, it is a co-creation.” – Paul Gaudette
4. You can’t outsource transformation. But the right partners make it possible.
From co-developing a tech-enabled qualitative research program, to supporting agile innovation programs across global markets with Upsiide, Dig Insights has acted not just as a technology provider, but as a business transformation partner.
By offering both a self-serve platform and expert consulting, the Opella team has been able to meet teams where they are, enabling faster adoption, without compromising rigor.
“What makes the difference is the fact that Dig offers strategic consulting… teams can transition into being tech-enabled by leaning on their consultants… who are very good researchers.” – Paul Gaudette
A global transformation playbook that works
Jennifer’s story isn’t just about Opella. It’s a case study in how transformation happens when there’s alignment between business needs, internal behaviors, and external partners.
At Dig, we’re proud to be one of those partners, co-creating programs that work globally, scale reliably, and adapt locally.
If you’re building an agile insights program and need a partner who knows how to scale, we’d love to talk.