Debra Aho Williamson is a dynamic analyst and market influencer, recognized for her visionary contributions to the digital marketing landscape. As founder and chief analyst at Sonata Insights, Debra provides research and advisory services for brands, agencies and media companies that need to stay ahead of the current tectonic shifts in the digital landscape.

Debra launched the social media practice at eMarketer/Insider Intelligence in 2006 and was one of the first analysts to pinpoint the social media trend. Her landmark research—amounting to more than 120 full-length reports—enabled marketers, retailers and media companies to take advantage of the power and potential of social media.

Earlier in her career, Debra was the founding executive editor of The Industry Standard, the first newsweekly for the internet economy. As the editor of Interactive Media & Marketing at Advertising Age, she oversaw one of the first regularly published news reports about internet business.

Debra’s insights and research have been featured in thousands of news articles, and she has made more than 40 TV appearances, including on NBC, BBC, Bloomberg Television and CNBC.

Debra is a graduate of Northwestern University with degrees in English literature and oboe performance. As a music major, she especially loved playing sonatas, musical compositions featuring a solo instrument and piano. Although she no longer plays the oboe, she has a profound (some might say weird) obsession with learning to play the bagpipes and hopes to someday become good enough to join a piping band.