Rachel Thayer

About Rachel Thayer

Director of Research and Insights with 18 years of experience leading high-impact insights programs, scaling research organizations, and shaping product strategy for Fortune 100/500 brands. I specialize in building continuous discovery practices, operational systems, and high-performing research teams that deliver clarity in ambiguous, cross-functional problem spaces.As a North America Research Lead and Global Craft Lead for Evaluative Research at Publicis Sapient, I’ve guided teams through complex transformation initiatives across financial services, retail, healthcare, B2B, automotive, and consumer electronics. My work integrates mixed-methods depth with operational rigor—ensuring research not only uncovers meaningful insights, but accelerates decisions.I am particularly focused on the future of research: driving AI innovation responsibly and ethically, piloting AI-enabled workflows, and reducing synthesis time while preserving methodological integrity. I care deeply about coaching researchers, elevating craft, and creating environments where insights shape what teams build—not just how they build it.I thrive in roles where research influences strategy, teams learn continuously, and customer understanding drives business impact.

Experience

1. Research & Insights Director

   Publicis Sapient

   Jul 2007 — Present · Cleveland/Akron, OH, US

   I lead Experience Research across North America, partnering with product, design, and engineering leaders to shape strategy—not just validate solutions- Lead and scale a ~20-person research organization across industries, driving research quality, consistency, and executive impact- Global Craft Lead for Evaluative Research, defining standards and governance adopted across international teams- Build research systems that enable continuous discovery and influence roadmap decisions- Design and lead mixed-methods research programs, from rapid discovery sprints to multi-year transformations- Partner on business development, shaping research strategy, scoping, and staffing models- Lead research for AI-powered products, focusing on trust, mental models, and adoption of new workflows- Pilot ethical AI-assisted research workflows, reducing synthesis time by ~50% while maintaining rigor

Education

• Miami University

  Bachelor’s Degree, Marketing

  2003 — 2007

Skills

• Omniture
• Sem
• Marketing Research
• SEO
• Rapid Iterative Testing
• E-Commerce
• Conversion Optimization
• Analytics
• Personas
• Web Analytics
• User Experience
• Content Strategy
• Focus Groups
• Content Management
• Information Architecture
• User-Centered Design
• Digital Strategy
• Contextual Inquiry
• Usability Testing
• Interactive Marketing
• Card Sorting
• Digital Marketing
• User Research
• User Interface Design