Current Speakers

Laura Kennedy is a Principal Analyst in the Consumer and Retail practice at CB Insights. She covers how technology is transforming retail in stores, online, and beyond, building on a foundation of knowledge about retail's biggest players to help clients understand where to place their innovation bets. 

Prior to joining CB Insights, Laura was a Vice President of Retail Insights at Kantar, where she led research on retail and shopper trends in the US market, with a specialty in big-box retail. She worked with major CPG clients to shape their retailer strategies and was a frequently-requested speaker across the industry. In addition, business press including NPR, Reuters, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal regularly cited her insights. 

Before Kantar, Laura was a reporter and editor for the Kiplinger Letter, a weekly business forecasting publication in Washington, DC, where she covered retail and business law. 

Laura graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, summa cum laude with a degree in economics.