Draft:Stan Sthanunathan

Stan Sthanunathan is an Indian-born business executive and entrepreneur known for his work in consumer insights and marketing analytics. He is the former Executive Vice President of Consumer & Market Insights at Unilever based in London, former Global Vice President of Marketing Strategy & Insights at The Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta and the Founder and Executive Chairman of i-Genie.ai, an AI platform that generates survey-free consumer insights.

Sthanunathan holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Bombay University and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB).

The Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta

Sthanunathan held senior global positions at The Coca-Cola Company, including Global Vice President of Marketing Strategy & Insights. He led the development of global marketing research programs, helping to modernize how the company measured brand performance, consumer needs and sentiments.

Sthanunathan joined Unilever in July 2013 as Executive Vice President, Consumer & Market Insights, where he led a global team responsible for understanding markets, consumers and cultural trends across Unilever’s portfolio of brands.

During his eight-year tenure, he transformed Unilever’s insights function into a strategic partner for growth and innovation. He emphasized actionable storytelling and the integration of advanced analytics, behavioral science and digital data sources.

Sthanunathan was often described within Unilever as the “chief provocateur” of insights, encouraging teams to challenge assumptions and focus on driving decisions rather than delivering data.

After retiring from Unilever, Sthanunathan co-founded i-Genie.ai in 2021, alongside Paul van Gendt. i-Genie.ai uses AI and natural-language processing (NLP) to generate “survey-free” consumer insights by analyzing digital signals such as social data, search trends and reviews. The company’s board includes ex-Unilever CMO Keith Weed.

In 2025, i-Genie.ai announced a US $7.5 million Series A funding round led by Muditā Venture Partners and Silicon Road Ventures to expand its platform globally.

Sthanunathan is a leading advocate for transforming insight teams from data providers into strategic change agents, focusing on delivering insights that answer “so what?” and “now what?”. He has co-authored the Harvard Business Review paper on Building an Insights Engine and a book “AI for Marketing and Product Innovation”.

In 2022, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Marketing from TMRE. He believes the future of consumer understanding lies in combining human empathy with AI-driven insights, moving beyond traditional surveys toward real-time, contextual consumer insights.

Sthanunathan is a Patron and Fellow of the Market Research Society (UK), a board member of Sago and a former board member of the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) in New York. He is a frequent keynote speaker at major market research industry events such as Esomar, MRS and ARF. He has also appeared on numerous podcasts and panels, including “Lessons Learned: A Life in Insights” by the Market Research Institute International (MRII).

See also ...

Unilever The Coca-Cola Company Consumer insights Artificial intelligence in marketing

NewMR –Stan Sthanunathan Profile

RetailTech Innovation Hub – i-Genie.ai raises $7.5 million

Muditā Venture Partners – i-Genie.ai Investment Announcement

MRII - Market Research Institute International Podcast

Greenbook – So What, Now What?