Our Team
Laurel Ostfield
CEO and Co-founder
Laurel brings a global perspective and a political lens to reputation management and strategic brand building. She helps executives get to the heart of an organization's purpose and works with their teams on how to craft that story in a way that resonates with internal and external audiences.
Laurel has built several in-house communications departments, including at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Capital One Canada. She has launched brand building campaigns in Asia, North America and Europe. Laurel brings a strong expertise in crisis management, media strategy, internal communications, stakeholder engagement and ESG communications.
Laurel is an EMBA from IE Business School in Spain.
Emmanuel Caisse
President and Co-founder
Emmanuel is an industry veteran with 25 years experience helping Fortune 500 communications departments adopt data and analytics. With expertise in change management in difficult environments, he has assembled analytics teams from scratch, most recently launching Weber Shandwick's Asia Pacific analytics business unit and turning it into a profitable standalone organization.
He brings a diverse experience across in-house, agency and analytics services. Emmanuel has worked globally with a background in operations management, business development, methodology & product design and innovation.
Emmanuel is an MBA from Queen's University in Canada.
James Thorburn
Director of Research and Development
James is a technology leader and AI architect with more than 20 years of experience designing data, analytics, and automation solutions in both enterprise and startup environments. He combines deep technical expertise with a proven track record leading global teams and delivering innovative platforms that help organizations solve complex business challenges.
As founder of Artificial Frost, James created the AI and data platform that powers 996 Advisors' technology ecosystem and Narrative Intelligence platform. Prior to Artificial Frost, he spent nearly two decades at IBM, where he led the development of large-scale data, machine learning, and cloud solutions used across global operations. James holds multiple patents and has been recognized throughout his career for technical innovation and leadership
Xerxes Yang
Narrative Analyst
Xerxes brings a multidisciplinary perspective to narrative intelligence, combining expertise in research, technology and media production.
Her background spans sound design, film and television production, music technology and digital storytelling, giving her a unique ability to identify the signals, patterns and emotional drivers that shape public narratives.
She supports clients with narrative analysis, issue monitoring and insight generation that help organizations better understand the conversations influencing their reputation and stakeholder relationships.
Xerxes holds a Master of Music in Music Technology and Digital Media from the University of Toronto and has worked across the creative, technology and communications sectors.
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