New Delhi: Ipsos, a global leader in market research and opinion polling, today presented its new strategic plan, ‘Horizons’, at its Investor Day, aimed at returning the company to a sustained pace of growth and reinforcing its position as the AI-augmented global market research leader.
Led by CEO Jean Laurent Poitou and approved by the Board of Directors, the strategy outlines Ipsos’ ambitions for 2026-2030, with organic growth expected to exceed 5% by 2028 and an operating margin projected to reach a record 13.5% in the same year.
The strategy is anchored on six pillars:
- Harnessing the full potential of its broad range of services: Ipsos’ multi-specialist model enables it to provide solutions across multiple geographies and topics, with focus on services holding the highest growth potential.
- Strengthening global operations with local expertise: Operating in 90 countries, Ipsos will accelerate adoption of global platforms while deepening local knowledge to ensure relevance and reliability.
- Delivering faster, with the same reliability: Platforms and processes will evolve to allow insights to be produced, analyzed, and shared in real time for some projects and within 48 hours for most others.
- Leveraging AI as a differentiator: Ipsos will increase investments in Artificial Intelligence to enhance speed, agility, and productivity without compromising data quality.
- Developing proprietary panels to ensure reliability: Real respondent access remains a competitive advantage, enabling real-time detection of behavioral changes and supporting AI-generated data applications.
- Enabling high-value decision-making: Ipsos aims to transform data into actionable insights, becoming an indispensable partner for clients making rapid, well-informed decisions.
This ambition relies on two growth drivers: on the one hand, reinventing our services by leveraging AI to transform ways of working and delivering faster; on the other hand, enriching our portfolio by maximizing the adoption of high-potential services and exploring new growth opportunities.
Implementation of the plan will be supported by a robust investment program of over €1 billion in tech, AI, and data over the next five years, primarily through acquisitions and strategic investments funded by free cash flow. This program also includes enhanced training for teams to strengthen analytical and operational capabilities.
Jean Laurent Poitou, CEO, Ipsos, said, “We are at a pivotal moment. The opportunities presented by tech and AI will allow us to build on our strengths and further reinforce our model to become an ‘Augmented Ipsos’. This strategic plan will enable us to set a new pace in a rapidly evolving market, embody the future of our industry, and reinforce our leadership. By investing in our platforms and services and leveraging the expertise of our teams, we will gain speed without ever compromising on the rigor and reliability of our research. We will thus respond to a new reality for our clients, who must act ever faster, but with the same level of trust.”
For 2025, Ipsos confirmed guidance of total revenue around €2,525 million, with organic growth of 0.6%. The operating margin at constant scope is 12.8%, and including acquisitions-related dilution, it stands at 12.3%.
The company also outlined longer-term objectives:
- 2026-2028: Average organic growth of 3–4%, with operating margin of 13.5% in 2028.
- 2029-2030: Average organic growth above 5%, with operating margin exceeding 14%.
