2024 Speakers
Katie Thomas
Head of the Consumer Institute
Kearney
Katie is a consumer expert, with over 15 years of consumer and retail experience, now leading the Kearney Consumer Institute (KCI), Kearney’s consumer think tank.
Katie's career began in management consulting at Kearney, working on projects across consumer goods, retail, and media. She then shifted into brand management for beloved brands at Tyson and Kraft Heinz. Returning to Kearney, Katie partners with leading Fortune 500 consumer and retail clients to reframes business challenges from a consumer-centric perspective. She develops content on a wide range of topics, including consumer sentiment and stress, building loyalty and trust, deconstructing convenience and experience. She cohosts the consumer podcast “Inside the Mind” and is Kearney’s leading media spokesperson.
She has a BBA from the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan (go blue!) and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. She lives in Pittsburgh, PA, USA.