Kantar, the world’s leading AI-native marketing data and analytics business and a trusted partner to the most influential brands, today announced the appointment of Tim Kibbey as Head of Qualitative, Kantar Canada. This newly expanded leadership role accelerates the company’s next-generation qualitative research offering and deepens AI-driven growth offer for Canadian brands.
With more than two decades as a global brand and creative strategist, Kibbey will lead the rollout of AI‑Enriched Qualitative research across the Canadian market in his new position. This includes an evolved suite of solutions which fuse human insight with the scale, speed, precision, and analytical power of artificial intelligence and machine learning, allowing Kantar to deliver depth through breadth in qualitative market research.
“This is not your grandparents’ qualitative,” said Kibbey. “AI-enriched research multiplies what traditional qualitative can do, turning authentic human stories into quantifiable, trackable insights that brands can act on with confidence. And this is a critical time for Canadian brands. Our organizations are navigating ever-changing market dynamics. What it means to be Canadian is being redefined, and a new level of nuanced, real-time qualitative insight through AI-enhancement can help brands address these new needs and desires of their customers. Think human empathy with machine scale. And we’re excited to provide that to the market.”
Kibbey will focus on introducing advanced methodologies that incorporate AI throughout the entire research process. “People feel. AI doesn’t. But AI lets us hear those feelings at exponential volume, transforming raw emotion into deeper, faster, truly scalable insight, and expanding what brands can measure and act upon.”
These AI‑powered capabilities enable Kantar to deliver:
- Depth through breadth: Now, brands benefit from larger scale conversations that surface key drivers for consumers making brand and purchase decisions. This can be done through solutions like Kantar Live, a real‑time, AI‑enriched qualitative platform that blends the richness of live discussion with quantitative scale.
- Faster, more strategic insight: This includes the launch of high volume, AI‑led interview capabilities. A human might be able to conduct up to 8 1:1 in-depth interviews a day. Through Kantar’s Dip & Dive, a human-trained AI module can lead over 200 bespoke conversations with consumers in less than 48 hours and deliver actionable insights within the week.
- Integrated actions: By combining AI-driven collection and analysis of unedited consumer language with Kantar IP including MDS and NeedScope, measurement capabilities, including emerging forms of linguistic understanding are being unlocked. Kantar Illumineers turns these advances into branded content development advantages by giving teams earlier, sharper visibility into the emotional and linguistic cues that truly resonate, enabling faster refinement, clearer positioning, and more precise creative choices.
Kibbey has conducted in‑person research in more than 30 countries, gaining deep cross-cultural understanding. His unique perspective shaped by his dual citizenship in Canada and the U.S. and leadership philosophy “to help people and brands discover what they’re capable of” reflects his commitment to elevating client impact while investing in internal talent.
“What excites me most is the chance to help brands grow in meaningfully different ways, rooted in Canadian realities, enriched by AI, and interpreted with imagination and integrity,” said Kibbey.
Kantar Canada positions AI-enhanced qualitative research and qualitative consumer insights as the strategic “in‑between engine” connecting brand strategy and creative development—ensuring that what brands create aligns with what people desire. Qualitative work conducted through Kantar Canada can be delivered with English and French participants within the same study, reflecting the linguistic and cultural realities of the Canadian market. The qualitative research approach centers on the real people behind the data, exploring their tensions, motivations, aspirations, cultural signals, and everyday lived experiences, to surface insights that capture the diversity, nuance, and richness of Canada.
Sitting between creative and brand, AI-powered qualitative insight is where competitive advantage takes shape. With AI‑enabled qualitative, this strategic space becomes continuous, scalable, and future‑facing, anchoring creative ideas in genuine human truth and grounding brand strategy in lived cultural context.
To discover how Kantar Canada can accelerate your brand’s growth, get in touch here.
About Kantar
Kantar is the world’s leading AI-native marketing data and analytics business and an indispensable brand partner to the world’s top companies. We combine the most meaningful attitudinal and behavioral data with deep expertise and advanced analytics to uncover how people think and act. We help clients understand what has happened and why and how to shape the marketing strategies that shape their future.
For further information, interviews, or images, please contact:
Anna Wilgan, Vice President, Public Relations, Kantar
Anna.wilgan@kantar.com
201-421-5847