Empowering product decisions safely: A live conversation with Research leaders from Ramp, Block, & Thumbtack

Speed vs. safety: How to scale research without putting data at risk

As research teams grow and tools multiply, governance becomes everyone's problem. At Gather & Growth 2025 in New York, three Research Ops leaders — Michelle Bejian Lotia (Ramp), Niu Chen (Block), and Katie Hansen (Thumbtack) — shared how they balance moving fast with protecting participants and staying compliant.

Key takeaways:

  • How decentralized research models can scale without losing compliance
  • Practical governance frameworks that don't slow teams down
  • Using automation and AI within Research Ops to reduce risk, not add it
  • What ethics-first, trauma-informed research operations actually looks like in practice
  • And more!

A live panel on one of the most important tensions in Research Ops today. Watch now!

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