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Dan Fleetwood chats with Tyler Lewtan, CEO of Zintro and ThinkEasy, about the growing crisis in data quality and what the research industry can do about it. From fake respondents and AI threats to smarter fraud prevention and innovation gaps, Tyler shares bold insights and practical solutions for anyone working in market research today.
Guest: Tyler Lewtan – CEO of Zintro and ThinkEasy. A former sales leader turned research innovator, Tyler is passionate about fighting fraud in sampling and improving quality in B2B qual and quant. He’s known for challenging the status quo with sharp insights and tinfoil-hat-worthy metaphors.
Topics and timestamps:
[00:00] Intro
[00:45] Tyler Lewtan’s background and path to CEO
[01:16] The data quality crisis: “Fake respondents have great margins”
[02:18] Root causes: Inverted reputational risk and lack of accountability
[02:41] How to rebuild accountability in sample sourcing
[03:56] Client-side fraud prevention tips and sniff tests
[06:01] Industry innovation vs. legacy methods
[07:01] AI, synthetic respondents, and the role of inclusivity in research
[08:17] How AI is reshaping research workflows—benefits and risks
[09:16] Will AI take research jobs? Or just reduce demand for projects?
[10:41] Big changes coming to the research industry
[11:45] GenAI as both disruptor and fraud fighter
[13:34] IP rights, ownership, and AI model governance
[14:06] Counterintuitive research insights from a failed quant-to-qual pipeline
[15:38] What researchers often get wrong: blind spots in automation
[16:52] Mentorship, relationships, and in-person connection
[17:58] How self-funded research helped shape Tyler’s thinking
[18:31] Book rec: Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
[19:24] Where to connect with Tyler and final remarks
Useful links:
Tim Sanders on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-lewtan-7bb94546/
Dan Fleetwood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danfleetwood
Learn more about QuestionPro: https://www.questionpro.com
