Delivering the Kalibrate Standard: Brian McDonald

In this blog series, we take a closer look at how our team supports our clients in achieving their strategic objectives. In some organizations, it might be going ‘above and beyond’ to get the job done – but we just call it ‘the Kalibrate Standard’.

This edition features Brian McDonald, Senior Director of Account Management.

Tell us a little about your role.

I’m the Senior Director of Account Management at Kalibrate. My role is to support our clients with the development and deployment of our KLI software platform, forecast modeling, analytic services, and the many data sources that feed into them.

At its core, my job is about making sure our clients are successful, helping them solve problems, guiding them through challenges, and supporting their strategic growth plans. That includes everything from site selection and market development to understanding customer profiles, competitive impacts, and cannibalization. I also act as an advocate for our clients internally, making sure their voice is heard in product development and process improvements.

How does your role interact with the rest of the team?

Because I came from the client side myself, working at Outback Steakhouse as well as a large Outback Steakhouse franchisee, I understand the pressure clients face when they explain forecasts and analytics to internal stakeholders who may have strong opinions or competing data. That perspective helps me guide conversations with our analytics team, modeling experts, and survey staff so we’re delivering not just numbers, but insights that clients can confidently take to leadership.

My background also helps me explain the nuance behind forecasts, how it’s not just about what the data says, but also how boots-on-the-ground validation and risk assessment factor into decisions. I bridge that gap between technical details and business strategy.

What types of problems are the clients you work with trying to solve?

Clients come to us because they need clarity on where to grow, when to consolidate, and how to make the best use of their capital investments. Whether it’s deciding which markets to prioritize, identifying sites to close or relocate, or evaluating competitive threats, the common thread is risk assessment.

At the end of the day, clients want to know where they can achieve the best return with the least risk. My role is to help them evaluate those opportunities and provide guidance they can take to their leadership teams with confidence.

Give us an example of a particularly challenging client question.

Lately, one of the toughest questions I hear is around artificial intelligence. Clients want to know: How reliable is AI in site selection and market analysis? Can we trust it to guide our decisions?

It’s a fair question because AI is becoming more common in location intelligence, and the speed at which it can generate reports is appealing. But accuracy is just as important as speed, and clients worry about whether they can rely on AI outputs when making major capital decisions.

And how did you solve that?

I tell clients that AI has huge potential, but it’s not something you can set and forget. At Kalibrate, we use machine learning to strengthen our models, but we also have analysts and modelers reviewing outputs to ensure they’re accurate and relevant.

It’s that human layer of validation that makes the difference. A forecast or demographic report might look impressive on the surface, but without expert oversight, it may not tell the whole story. We help clients take advantage of AI’s speed while still giving them confidence that the results have been reviewed, validated, and fine-tuned by people who understand the context.

Where do you see the future of location intelligence and Competitive Insights evolving?

The pace of change is incredible. Even in the short time I’ve been at Kalibrate, I’ve seen KLI evolve dramatically, and clients are often surprised by how much the tools have advanced in just a year or two.

AI and machine learning will continue to reshape how quickly data can be analyzed and how decisions can be made. But I also caution clients, don’t let technology replace human expertise. Location intelligence is about more than outputs, it’s about interpreting them in a way that’s accurate and actionable.

I think we’ll see more marketing teams as well as development teams using location intelligence, especially as trade area definitions evolve and data becomes more accessible. The future will be about speed and scale, but also about maintaining that human touch to make sure the insights are truly reliable.