Julia O’Daly is principal of Competitive Edge Intelligence. She has served as a senior market research and corporate strategy executive and consultant for major corporations and agencies, including the Cities of Oakland and Lompoc in California, Hughes Aircraft, DirecTv, Matrix, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Nestle and Coors.

Julia was responsible for the primary market reseach that supported the City of Oakland’s broadband stimulus grant proposal and determined the branding and launch strategy for the City of Lompoc’s wireless broadband utility. Her responsibilities at DirecTv included managing an extensive market research program for Spanish and Asian language television and Internet services in the United States, as well as Latin American and Asian broadband ventures.

She has more than 25 years experience, primarily at senior corporate levels in the telecommunications and aerospace industries, in market research and intelligence, and in strategic planning and evaluation. Julia is certified as a 6-sigma project facilitator, and has extensive project and program management experience, primarily as a defense industry contractor. While in the aerospace industry, Julia was responsible for defense industry programs individually worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

While at Hughes, she created a worldwide competitive intelligence and market research network. Working under the direction of the chairman of Hughes Electronics, she developed a quantitative company-wide customer satisfaction process that depended on forward-looking indicators, rather than relying solely on backwards looking surveys. She implemented this program across all fourteen of the company’s business divisions.

Based in Half Moon Bay, California, she is past president of the national Mothers Against Drunk Driving organzation, serves on the boards of two non-profit organizations, including Sonrisas Community Dental Center, is active in local community organizations and service projects, and is a frequent presenter to industry groups and local governments. She holds a B.S. degree in Finance and Marketing from California State University Long Beach.