30Under30 Nominee: Jack Hershfield

Great to hear from Global 30 Under 30 Nominee, Jack Hershfield, a Senior Director of Sales at Ripple Analytics AI, based in New York City. Most days, Jack is representing Ripple in the market, helping organisations quantify the impact of their brand’s “ripple effect” across social media. Ripple uses proprietary contextual AI to identify earned media and user-generated content and connect it to the relevant brand, event or campaign, then turn that data into actionable insights that help organisations achieve their business goals. Outside of work, Jack loves helping others learn and grow in areas they’re passionate about. Jack is a mentor for students at the University of Central Florida’s DeVos School of Sports Business and participates in other university sports business programmes to help students learn about the industry.

How did you find your way into research, data and insights?

It wasn’t the plan at all. I always thought I’d operate in a creative role throughout my career, which often sits on the opposite side of the room from analytics and data. I spent much of my early career working in social media and content marketing. 

I spent a summer at Minute Media in Tel Aviv working exclusively on social media ad buying and I started to see data differently. I saw numbers that could justify creative ideas, improve creative work, and frankly, create a whole new puzzle to solve.

I continued into more creative roles after that, but I increasingly realised I was often the most analytically driven person in a room full of brilliant creative thinkers. That’s ultimately what led me to Ripple; the opportunity to bring the analytical side I had developed into the social and creative world I already knew so well.

What part of your work are you most proud of and why?

I’m particularly proud of the work we’re doing with the University of Central Florida Athletics programme. UCF is the university I attended, and it’s where I made some of my closest friendships and memories, so getting to work with the organisation that gave me so much is incredibly meaningful.

What makes it even more rewarding is seeing our work have a genuine impact on how the team operates. We’re helping them better communicate the value they’re creating internally and externally through content and social media, ultimately enabling them to make smarter decisions with that information.

Building genuine relationships and helping others brings me so much joy. Having that with an organisation that means so much to me already makes it all the more special.

What have you learned so far that you wish you’d known when you started your career?

Test and learn, then test and learn some more.

I really mean that in every aspect of a career. It’s easy to get comfortable. It’s to maintain your direction once you find a rhythm or a “flow state.” But the only way to grow is through trial and error.

Don’t be afraid to test yourself, your assumptions or your instincts. Take the results as data, learn from them and continuously optimise. Sometimes the most valuable thing you can learn from a test is that your original idea was wrong.

What excites you most about the future of insights and what would you like to help change?

I think insights and data still have a stereotype of being for the “nerds”, who obsess over numbers, or worse, the people who come into a room and kill some of the fun.

I’d love to change that perception.

All of the fun, creativity and bold ideas can be supported (and sometimes unlocked) by the right data. Insights can take a fun or seemingly silly idea and turn it into a confident business decision. And with more data available than ever before, the opportunity is enormous.

I want to help the next generation use data not to limit their creativity, but to make their bold ideas more powerful, more defensible and more likely to succeed.

What advice would you give someone just starting out in the industry today?

This might be boring but worry less about AI and embrace it.

It’s all about perspective. If you see AI as an opportunity to become more efficient, find answers faster and unlock capabilities that weren’t previously available to you, you become much more valuable to any organisation. 

Don’t wait for someone to teach you how to use it. Experiment with it now. Figure out what you can do, where it falls short and how it can make you better at the things you already do well.

Who has helped you along the way?

So many people. Nothing meaningful is accomplished in complete isolation, and I owe a lot to the people who have trusted me, challenged me and given me opportunities along the way.

One person who stands out is Karim Fathi, my boss when I first joined SPORTFIVE in 2019. He had more confidence in me than I had in myself on many occasions. He gave me opportunities before I necessarily felt ready for them and trusted me to figure things out along the way. I wouldn’t have had many of the opportunities I’ve had in my career without his trust and belief in me, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.