Peter Zandan
Peter A. Zandan (born 1953) is an American entrepreneur and expert in the field of data science and analytics. Zandan is a data advisor, board member, and executive advisor to numerous for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Zandan is the executive chairman of Quantified Communications, an advanced analytics and communications software company. Zandan served as global vice chairman at Hill+Knowlton Strategies from 2011 until 2021. He was founder of IntelliQuest Information Group Inc., an Austin-based global research firm, and served as chairman and CEO, taking the company public in 1996. Through IntelliQuest, Zandan pioneered the use  of electronic surveys and the internet in the field of market research. Zandan founded and served as CEO of Zilliant, where he pioneered the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning for pricing optimization. In 1998, he developed and sponsored the IntelliQuest Poll which became the Zandan Poll, a survey among Austin residents that covers a variety of topics including the economy, affordability, growth, education, policy issues and the overall cultural identity of Austin. Zandan is currently a member of the President's Circle of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Zandan has served on the board of  KLRU, the public television station of Austin, Texas, and is currently a Member of the Advisory Council of Red McCombs School of Business at University of Texas at Austin. Having moved to Austin in the 1970s, Zandan earned his MBA and Ph.D. in evaluation research at the University of Texas at Austin. Early life and education. Born in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, Zandan received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1975. In the latter half of the 1970s, Zandan moved to Mexico to pursue international studies. After several years abroad, he returned to the  United States and earned an MBA and PhD in evaluation research in 1983 from the University of Texas at Austin. Career. IntelliQuest. Zandan founded his first major company in 1984 under the name of IntelliQuest, and subsequently served as the company's chairman and CEO until 1999. IntelliQuest focused on changing the way companies performed market research by pioneering ‘disk-by-mail’ methodologies, and later utilizing internet based electronic surveys. IntelliQuest was the fastest growing market research company worldwide through the 1990s as it provided new product, marketing, and branding services to corporations such as Apple, IBM, McKinsey & Co., Microsoft , and Hewlett-Packard. The company provided marketing information to technology companies and direct marketing services to Internet marketers. Additionally it supplied information about tech markets on a subscription and proprietary project basis. During this period, IntelliQuest grew to over 500 employees with offices in Austin, Silicon Valley, New York City, and London. Under Zandan’s leadership, IntelliQuest was included twice on Inc. Magazine’s list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the United States. Zandan took the company public in 1996 on the NASDAQ exchange, and it was acquired by WPP in 1999. Zilliant. In 1998, Peter Zandan  founded and served as chairman of Zilliant Inc, another Austin-based corporation. Through Zilliant, Zandan pioneered the application of machine learning and predictive analytics. Zilliant developed into a leader in strategic pricing management, providing software solutions to enable corporations to outline and manage their e-commerce pricing. Zandan helped develop the company's flagship product, called Zilliant Intelligent Pricing solution (ZIPS), which tested real-time customer pricing behavior and monitored activity and market opportunities. ZIPS was based on Zandan's assertion that “the Internet allows companies to better understand their customers [and] their preferences,” . Offering business-to-business predictive pricing  and sales applications, Zilliant grew quickly. Zilliant also develops artificial intelligence-driven sales and pricing solutions for companies. In 2011, Zilliant was named as one of the top 50 venture-backed companies in Wall Street Journal's “The Next Big Thing” list. Zilliant received funding from Goldman Sachs, in addition to other high-profile investments. In December 2021, Zilliant had a successful sale to Madison Dearborn Partners.<ref>