AI-Accelerated Chief Research Officer

Chief Research Officer for Your Business

More impact. Faster than anyone.

Thirty years of research leadership that moved AT&T, Eastman Kodak, and Coca-Cola — now accelerated 10x by Claude AI. Not a platform. Not a marketplace of freelancers. One proven expert, delivering senior-level research and competitive intelligence at a speed no agency, AI tool, or new hire can match.

$1B+
Research Managed
10x
Faster with Claude AI
$8B+
Market Value Created
30+ Yrs
Research & CI Leadership

Why The Research Experts

Senior research leadership, delivered at a speed no agency, AI platform, or new hire can match.

Proven at the Highest Level

Managed more than $1 billion in research investment and drove billions in incremental revenue and market value — real, verifiable results, not borrowed case studies.

AI-Accelerated Speed

Claude AI compresses weeks of analysis into days. You get a senior expert's judgment at a platform's speed — not a twelve-week agency timeline.

Built for Any Category

Telecom, technology, healthcare, CPG, real estate, hospitality, consumer goods — deep leadership across categories most consultants only ever work in one of.

Strategic Intelligence

Not just data collection — data translated into a decision. Competitive analysis, market mapping, and positioning your leadership team can act on immediately.

Regulatory-Grade Rigor

Extensive experience substantiating methodology and competitive findings before the FTC, FCC, NAD, and other regulatory and legal bodies — insight that holds up under scrutiny.

A Person, Not a Black Box

Claude AI multiplies my speed — it doesn't replace my judgment. Every insight is reviewed and stood behind by someone with a $1B track record, not an algorithm alone.

How The Research Experts Compares

The same question, answered three different ways.

Traditional
Research Agencies
AI-Only
Platforms
Speed to insight
Weeks to months
Instant, but shallow
Senior, named expert
Often junior-staffed
No human expert
AI-powered analysis
Mostly manual
The core product
Direct access, no middle layer
Account managers, juniors
Self-serve only
Regulatory-grade defensibility
Varies by firm
Not built for it
Tied to business impact
Reports, not results
Data, not decisions

Research Capabilities

Full-stack research capability, applied wherever your business needs answers.

Primary Research

  • Surveys & Focus Groups
  • In-Depth Interviews
  • Ethnographic Studies
  • Concept & Product Testing

Analytics & Modeling

  • Demand Forecasting
  • Predictive Modeling
  • Economic Analysis
  • ROI Attribution

Competitive Intelligence

  • Market Mapping
  • Threat Assessment
  • Positioning Analysis
  • Regulatory Substantiation

Strategic Insights

  • Customer Segmentation
  • Go-to-Market Planning
  • Business Model Innovation
  • M&A Due Diligence

What We Solve

Whatever the question, I can find the answer — faster than you're used to.

Product & Innovation

  • New Product Development
  • Product Optimization
  • Concept Testing
  • Design & UX Research
  • Portfolio Optimization

Pricing & Revenue

  • Pricing Research
  • Revenue Management
  • Willingness-to-Pay
  • Price Elasticity
  • Value Proposition

Marketing & Brand

  • Advertising Strategy
  • Brand Positioning
  • Brand Research
  • Campaign Testing
  • Message Development

Market Intelligence

  • Competitive Analysis
  • Market Mapping
  • TAM Modeling
  • Market Entry Strategy
  • Threat Assessment

Analytics & Forecasting

  • Demand Forecasting
  • Media ROI Analysis
  • Sales Analysis
  • Customer Segmentation
  • Trend Analysis

Go-to-Market & Strategy

  • Go-to-Market Strategy
  • Customer Journey
  • Business Model
  • Digital Transformation
  • M&A Due Diligence

Real Impact

Insight is easy to buy. Impact — measured in revenue, market value, and cost savings — is what gets delivered.

Telecommunications

Market Positioning & Competitive Advantage

Challenge: AT&T needed defensible, data-backed competitive claims in a crowded, high-churn market.

$8B+
in market value created by the defensible "Fewest Dropped Calls" positioning (2005–2007), driving thousands of competitive switches per month
Innovation

New Product Innovation Portfolio

Challenge: Design and validate new products for a business mid-way through digital transformation.

$200M
in incremental revenue from 2 successful launches — selected from 25+ ideas generated — over 3 years at Eastman Kodak
Efficiency

In-House Research Capability

Challenge: Scale from outsourced studies to a full in-house research capability managing 50+ studies annually.

$3M
in annual cost savings vs. the prior outsourcing model at RentPath, while improving speed and quality

30+ Years of Research Leadership

Prior in-house market research & competitive intelligence leadership roles at

AT&T Eastman Kodak Coca-Cola ConAgra P&G Kraft Redfin G&W Electric

Proof, Not Just the Pitch

Same rigor, same speed — across categories that couldn't be more different.

Consumer & Beverage

Rescue Dog Wines

Fractional strategy and brand research for an award-winning, mission-driven winery.

Hospitality & Outdoor

Tailwaters Lodge

Brand activation and growth strategy for one of the Southeast's premier fly-fishing lodges.

Healthcare Venture

Catalyst by Wellstar

Research, due diligence, and go-to-market strategy support for a healthcare-focused venture team.

Fran Linnane, Founder of The Research Experts

Fran Linnane

Founder & Chief Research Officer, The Research Experts

I've led research and competitive intelligence for some of the most demanding organizations in the world — from AT&T's high-stakes network positioning battles to Eastman Kodak's global digital transformation, Coca-Cola's brand activation, and category leadership work at ConAgra, P&G, and Kraft. Along the way, I learned what it actually takes to turn data into decisions that move markets.

Over three decades, I designed and managed more than $1 billion in marketing research, led teams across more than a dozen countries, and served as a strategic advisor on M&A, product launches, pricing, and organizational transformation — most recently building an in-house research capability at RentPath that saved $3 million a year.

The game changed in 2022. That's when I became an entrepreneur, launched The Research Experts, and discovered Claude AI's potential to transform how research gets done. I'm now in the top tier of Claude power users, delivering research and strategic analysis in days that used to take weeks.

Today, I work directly with growth-driven companies and their leaders — no account managers, no bench of juniors, no waiting on a marketplace to match you with a stranger. Claude AI lets me move at a speed traditional research simply can't, so you get senior-level capability exactly when you need it. My goal is simple: to be your Chief Research Officer. Understand your business, your market, your challenges — and deliver insights that matter, faster than anyone else can.

MBA, Marketing — Fordham University, Gabelli School of Business BS, Business — University of New Hampshire

Core Strengths

Industries
Technology, Telecom, Healthcare, CPG & Food, Real Estate
Expertise
Strategy, Competitive Intelligence, Product Innovation, Pricing, Brand Positioning, M&A
AI Capability
Top-tier Claude AI user — 10x faster research, analysis, and synthesis
Research Scale
$1B+ managed. Billions in revenue & market-value impact. Regulatory defensibility (FTC, FCC, NAD)
Approach
Direct access, no middle layer. Senior judgment at AI speed. Built to move as fast as you do

Let's Work Together

Ready to accelerate your research and strategy?

Let's Talk