Mike Lock
I’m Mike Lock—a research strategist with over two decades of experience helping organizations understand how people use technology, why they buy, and where real value is created. My work sits at the intersection of behavioral understanding, market intelligence, and practical strategy.
I’ve led large-scale B2B research programs for global technology brands and designed primary research with homeowners and consumers to surface decision drivers, unmet needs, and perception gaps. Whether the audience is CIOs or homeowners, my focus is the same: cut through assumptions, listen to the market, and translate insight into clear direction. I bring a pragmatic, collaborative approach and specialize in turning complex data into clarity teams can act on.
My Story
My career has been built around one core question: how do people actually experience technology, and how can organizations align their strategy around that reality?
Over the past 25+ years, I’ve worked across B2B technology, healthcare, infrastructure, and consumer-facing technology, leading research programs that inform positioning, messaging, go-to-market strategy, and product direction. I’ve designed and delivered hundreds of studies spanning executive audiences, technical buyers, small businesses, and everyday consumers.
Most recently on the B2B side, I served as Principal Managing Director and Head of Content and Research at Spiceworks Ziff Davis, where I led research and intelligence programs supporting technology brands seeking to connect more authentically with IT buyers. Prior to that, I was Senior Vice President at Aberdeen Strategy & Research, responsible for shaping the strategic direction of a large global research portfolio covering analytics, data, infrastructure, enterprise applications, and emerging technologies such as AI. In these roles, I partnered directly with marketing, product, and executive teams at companies such as IBM, Dell Technologies, SAP, Oracle, and HPE—helping them ground decisions in credible market intelligence.
In parallel with my enterprise work, I am the founder of Habitelligence, an independent research firm focused on understanding how homeowners evaluate, adopt, and experience critical home technologies such as energy systems, climate technologies, and household infrastructure. Through original primary research and direct homeowner engagement, this work explores decision drivers, unmet needs, trust gaps, and the real-world value households seek from complex technology choices.
The common thread across both worlds is the same: people don’t behave like personas on a slide, they behave like humans navigating risk, trust, uncertainty, and tradeoffs.
What clients tend to value most about my approach is that I don’t treat research as an academic exercise. I focus on asking better questions, identifying the insights that matter, and translating findings into practical implications for strategy, messaging, and execution.
At CMO in Residence, I bring this perspective to help clients sharpen their understanding of their audience, strengthen their credibility in-market, and make more confident decisions grounded in evidence rather than assumption.
Contact
I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities. Let's connect.
508-868-3869