September, 2026
Arima’s CMO Ray Kong sat down with Jim Sterne for the September 1 edition of his newletter to answer a question: Why spend real money on data about people who don’t exist?
Ray explained how a synthetic population gets built, what it can answer, and what it can’t. He also shared the analogy he keeps coming back to.
“Synthetic data is a flight simulator. You can fly for a hundred hours, cut an engine at altitude, put it into the side of a mountain, and walk away to try again. But no way the FAA will give you a license without your flying a real plane. At the same time, flight simulators have changed the way pilots train.”
— Ray Kong
The full interview covers the three types of synthetic data products, where the models break down, and seven questions to ask any vendor before you sign.
Read it here [link]
