Feranmi Muraina on Curiosity, Clarity, and Leading Insights in the Age of AI

Feranmi Muraina, Global Lead for Digital & Communities Insights (AI Transformation) at The Magnum Ice Cream Company and a 2026 Future List Honoree, is driven by curiosity, storytelling, and a passion for teaching. With a background in brand management, he brings a human-centered perspective to AI transformation, helping teams turn complexity into clear, actionable insights while challenging bias and strengthening consumer understanding.

Outside of insights, what are your passions and interests? 

I love teaching and I love traveling. Teaching is something I genuinely enjoy because I like helping people understand things better and feel more confident about what they know. I’m the kind of person who enjoys explaining things in a simple, relatable way and seeing that moment when it finally makes sense to someone. It feels good to know I’ve helped, even in a small way. Traveling is another big love of mine because I enjoy experiencing new places, meeting different people, and seeing how others live.

It helps me reset, think differently, and step outside my normal routine. Being in new environments gives me fresh perspectives and stories, and it keeps life exciting. Both teaching and traveling keep me curious, open-minded, and constantly learning. I’m also really interested in stories, in whatever form they come in, including conversations, books, films, data, and lived experiences. For me, stories are about being transported into a different world of discovery. I love stepping outside my own reality and immersing myself in new perspectives, ideas, and experiences. 

When did you know you wanted to enter a career in insights, and what inspired you?

I realized I wanted to build a career in insights during my time in brand management. I was always the brand manager with a million questions for my research partners. I wanted to understand not just what consumers were doing, but why they were doing it, what they were feeling, and what was driving their choices.

Over time, my curiosity stood out, and my research partner started onboarding me with the skills and training to answer many of those questions myself. As I got more hands-on, I completely fell in love with consumer understanding and the process of uncovering meaningful insights. That experience made it clear to me that insights was where I truly belonged, and it’s what inspired me to make the move into the field and continue building my career there.

What is the most valuable lesson you have learned from market research? 

The most valuable lesson I’ve learned from market research is how powerful bias can be. Everyone has assumptions, opinions, and expectations, and it’s very easy for these to shape the questions you ask, how you interpret responses, or the conclusions you end up drawing. Market research has taught me the importance of constantly checking myself, questioning my instincts, and being aware of my own point of view in any interaction. It has also shown me that truly listening means setting aside what you think you already know and staying open to being surprised. Often, the most valuable insights come from moments that challenge your assumptions rather than confirm them.

This awareness of bias has strongly influenced how I work with AI as well. I’ve learned that AI is not neutral by default and often reflects the biases present in the data, prompts, and perspectives behind it. Because of this, I’m more intentional about how I frame questions, and more careful about validating results instead of taking them at face value. Being more questioning and critical in my AI interactions has helped me get deeper, more reliable insights and has significantly improved the overall quality of my research work. 

What do you think the key characteristics or qualities of a leader are? How does this play into MRX? 

I think that the single most important quality of a leader is clarity. A good leader knows how to reduce complexity and make things feel really simple and focused. They’re clear about what matters, what the goal is, and how people should move forward, which helps teams feel confident and aligned. In market research, clarity is even more important because there’s often a lot of information, opinions, and data flying around. A good leader helps to turn all of that into clear insights and next steps. They set a clear direction and help teams work with confidence. When clarity is in place, other leadership qualities like empathy, trust, and collaboration become far more effective.

What challenges do you see facing newer MRX professionals as technology advances? 

One of the key challenges facing newer MRX professionals as technology advances is the shift in what skills are most valuable. As AI and automation take over more specialised and technical tasks, generalists may start to have an edge over narrow specialists. This can be challenging for newer professionals who tend to focus deeply on one tool, set of skills or method, only to find that technology can now perform much of that work faster.

The real challenge will be learning how to guide, assess, and question what AI produces rather than just executing tasks. Generalists who understand the broader business context, consumer behaviour, and different research approaches will be better positioned to see the big picture and connect insights across sources. For newer MRX professionals, this means building breadth alongside depth, developing strong judgment, and learning how to work with AI as a thinking partner rather than relying on it as an answer engine.