GWI

A London-based consumer research company that surveys people in more than 50 countries so brands and media owners can understand their audiences.

About GWI

GWI is a consumer research company. It surveys people around the world about their lives, interests, media habits and shopping, and sells that information to marketing agencies, media companies and big brands so they can understand their audiences. Its site says its research covers more than three billion people in over 50 markets. Its products include a human insights platform, an AI analyst called Agent Spark, and options to use its data inside other tools.

GWI describes its mission as giving AI the human insight it has been missing, so that the answers AI tools give stay accurate and grounded in real life. Its company values are phrased as "See challenges as opportunities", "Stay curious and never stop learning" and "Listen, collaborate, and build each other up".

Tom Smith founded the company in 2009, reportedly working from his house. By 2011 it had an office with five employees, and in 2016 it collected its millionth survey response. Its London headquarters are at 25 Farringdon Street, and this is the only UK office listed. It also has offices in New York, Prague, Athens and Singapore. In 2024 the Financial Times named it a Europe Long-Term Growth Champion, and in 2025 it reported reaching 100 million dollars in total bookings, which we mention only as the company's own claim. Other milestones on its timeline include expanding into 45 markets in 2018, releasing its first business-focused dataset, GWI Work, in 2019, launching a dedicated US dataset in 2020, and opening a Singapore office in 2021 with a new platform.

GWI says it has the agility of a start-up with global scale. It says it lets people work wherever they are and supports wellbeing and career growth, though these are company claims. Its leadership list shows a chief people officer, a chief insight officer, a chief technology officer, a general counsel and a chief marketing officer, which gives a sense of the many kinds of work the company needs.

Job listings seen through a jobs board show roles such as marketing operations manager, customer success manager, sales development representative, motion designer and video specialist, senior insight manager, and executive assistant. That mix shows how a research business needs creative, commercial, data and support people. We did not find a headcount on the pages we read.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Lets brands explore survey data about consumers.', 'title': 'Human insights platform'}
• {'desc': 'An AI analyst that answers questions using GWI research.', 'title': 'Agent Spark'}
• {'desc': 'Uses GWI data to help plan and target advertising.', 'title': 'Data partnerships and activation'}

Key facts

• Founded in 2009 by Tom Smith
• London HQ at 25 Farringdon Street
• Research covers over three billion people in 50+ markets (own site)
• Named a Europe Long-Term Growth Champion by the Financial Times in 2024

Website: www.gwi.com