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Host Wolfgang Fengler speaks with Jesús Crespo Cuaresma, Head of the Department of Economics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and a long-time collaborator of World Data Lab (WDL). They discuss Crespo’s journey into economics, the art and science of forecasting, and the future of socioeconomic modelling in an uncertain world.

The episode captures the essence of why data matters: using rigorous yet humble science to make sense of the future, balancing complexity with clarity, and optimism with realism.

🔗 Learn more at worlddatalab.com
Data Talks is produced by World Data Lab, bringing global data to life through insights, conversations, and stories that matter.

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In this episode of Data Talks, Wolfgang Fengler speaks with Marta Bowles, Chief Communications Officer at NIQ, about how high-quality data, and the AI built on top of it, is reshaping decisions for brands and retailers. Marta traces her path from CPG and direct selling to leading communications at a global consumer-intelligence company, reflecting on what’s changed (and what hasn’t) in the marriage of marketing, data, and technology.

They dive into why Gen X is an under-served growth engine (and how much spending brands may be leaving on the table), how younger generations expect personalization by default, and why granularity, down to panels, SKUs, and omnichannel behaviors, matters more than ever. Marta also shares NIQ’s platform shift, the role of human judgment alongside AI, and practical ways companies can use data to move faster and smarter.

Topics: generational spending (Gen X vs Gen Z), data quality as AI’s fuel, omni data and panels, IPO-era transformation, and career advice for the next generation entering insights.

🔗 Learn more at worlddatalab.com
Data Talks is produced by World Data Lab, bringing global data to life through insights, conversations, and stories that matter.

Join Data Talks

In this special edition of Data Talks, Wolfgang Fengler sits down with his long-time friend and World Data Lab co-founder, Homi Kharas. Homi reflects on his 26 years at the World Bank, his role in shaping the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and the origins of the “data revolution.” Together, Wolfgang and Homi revisit the dinner-table conversations that sparked the creation of World Data Lab, explore why making everyone count matters, and unpack Homi’s influential research on the global middle class. Looking ahead, they discuss the megatrends of demography and technology, and how AI could transform development worldwide.

🔗 Learn more at worlddatalab.com
Data Talks is produced by World Data Lab, bringing global data to life through insights, conversations, and stories that matter.