There is only one resource that no research agency can buy, automate, or outsource: people capable of critical thinking, those who ask “why” beyond the first convenient answer. This is also why, in November 2012, Cori Cimpoca founded MKOR with an ambitious mission: to bring transparency and rigor to market research in Romania. This is how the #realdata concept was born, representing the commitment that the data behind the numbers reaches the client rigorously analyzed and without window-dressing, no matter how uncomfortable the result might be.
Thirteen years later, a team of 10+ people delivers data for leaders in companies large and small, well-known or just entering the market. For us, every project is a real business stake. There are no “small studies,” only decisions that need to be grounded in market data. That is why we deliver the same level of analytical depth for every client who entrusts us with their questions. With the help of data, a small client today can become a major player in the market.
AI helps us focus our energy differently
We use AI not just for speed, because any company can do that. We use it as a thinking partner to help us provide the best recommendations to our clients based on the collected data. AI does not substitute human work; it complements it.
However, the journey from a traditional agency to a “tech-driven” one didn’t happen overnight. In 2021, MKOR underwent a technological reconfiguration: developing proprietary automation scripts, Realtime Sync systems, and AI-assisted workflows. This moment helped us reduce repetitive tasks so the team could redirect their energy toward what truly matters: strategic analysis and providing top-level consultancy services.
This early adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) gives us an important advantage today: maturity. While the market is still experimenting, we have already learned where the limits of algorithms end and where the irreplaceable value of human critical thinking begins.
We have grown year after year in terms of turnover, the number and size of our clients, and, last but not least, as a team. And 2025 brought us a series of external validations: we obtained ISO certification, and MKOR’s electoral forecasts were among the most accurate in Romania. It was the first time we conducted electoral studies, and this success confirms the value of our system: when processes are correct and data is treated with honesty, accuracy becomes a certainty, regardless of the new territory explored.
MKOR’s mission is a filter that guides our work every day
Our mission is to support the growth of our partners through relevant data, easily translatable into decisions that build a better world. And this starts right from the way we choose to transform market research: from a traditional, cumbersome process into a strategic, agile, tech-driven, and honest partner for the leaders who make decisions based on it.
Internally, we build the same agility within our organization. We attract and develop people with real potential, for whom “a better world” begins with themselves, before it reaches the data we deliver to our clients.
At MKOR, we live our values #forreal: empathy, excellence, and transparency. These are the filters through which we pass every task. Every colleague who writes an automation script or interprets a data table knows that behind it lies a strategic decision with an impact on a business or a community. Excellence translates daily into methodological rigor and attention to detail. And the ISO 9001:2015 quality management certification and GDPR compliance are the guarantee of the statistical truth delivered at every stage of the research.
The value we bring to our partners translates into eight promises honored daily:
- innovation through proprietary automations for faster results and no compromises on data accuracy
- nationally validated accuracy
- ISO-certified rigor
- agility in the face of complex needs
- transparency towards the client at every stage of the research
- authority in the public space confirmed by over 350 media appearances in the last year alone
- safety guaranteed through GDPR compliance and
- data with a direct impact on the decisions of global leaders.
All these elements are delivered by our team. #MKORhumans are young, curious, #scarysmart, and work daily to approach excellence through every figure and recommendation we deliver to our clients.
Total freedom, total responsibility
Our work philosophy is 100% remote, based on a simple principle: total freedom, total responsibility. We don’t count minutes spent online, but value the quality of deliverables and the fulfillment of promises. For the team, the “office” is wherever each person is productive, and that’s how we want it to stay. And this “results-only” approach gives every colleague control over their own balance.
At MKOR, we have replaced micro-management with a structure that protects the most precious resources: focus time and the team’s energy.
Dedicated lunch break: We believe in real disconnection. The lunch hour is included in the schedule, not “negotiated” among tasks. Responsible nutrition and a break from screens are fundamental to maintaining the focus our clients need, as well as our internal well-being.
Maker Time (Wednesdays): This is our internal innovation lab. Half a day without meetings, where the entire team enters a silent co-working session on Zoom. It is our protected time for “deep work,” dedicated exclusively to MKOR’s development: we build new scripts or test new tools, design strategic processes, refine templates, or write checklists and procedures. The ideas explored in Maker Time become concrete procedures, and the time invested is directly reflected in the quality of the work we deliver to clients.
Learning Points: Our only periodic physical anchor. A whole day dedicated to human connection and recalibration. It is the space where we have the courage to put on the table what didn’t go well, to learn from failures, and to reconnect as people. To go beyond simple avatars on a screen.
We are not afraid of mistakes, but of their repetition…
At MKOR, we have an approach that may seem counterintuitive: we are not afraid of mistakes, but of their repetition. We support the exploration of new territories, aware that innovation involves taking… calculated risks. Our golden rule is simple: to make new mistakes every time, from which we can learn quickly.
This approach transforms vulnerability into strength through two complementary mechanisms:
The Heads-up System: It is our immediate “safety net.” Any error is proactively (self-)reported, without fear of penalty. We put data integrity before personal ego and prefer to recalibrate a process in real-time rather than ignore potential vulnerabilities.
Learning Points: Beyond the human connection, these meetings function as an audit laboratory. Here, errors are dissected and transformed into templates, procedures, and improved processes. We don’t look for culprits, but optimize critical points in the process, integrating the lessons learned into the team’s collective DNA.
We invest in every colleague in the team
Each colleague benefits from over 120 hours of training per year, meaning at least one full day per month dedicated exclusively to individual learning, plus trainings and peer-to-peer sessions. Also, every newcomer has access to senior mentors, experts in Data Science, Strategy, and Management.
The MKOR system is designed to recognize talent in all its forms. We have created professional development paths that allow for a fluid transition from a Junior role to that of a Project Manager, but we have also validated an important alternative: Expertise. At MKOR, you are not forced to become a manager to advance. You can choose to become an expert in your field (Data Science, Strategy, Audit, or Tech), maintaining your seniority and strategic influence through the technical depth of your work.
Over time, we have created an internal library of physical and electronic resources, books, podcasts, and academic studies. At MKOR, curiosity is fed daily by books, studies, and discoveries that we share with each other. We treat it as a core competency because those who read more actually see further.
MKOR also supports the team’s presence at major industry conferences and invests in specialization courses, from Public Speaking to Advanced Statistics. Mădălina Iorga is living proof of this system: she joined the team as a Marketing Specialist, after which she pivoted to research, so that from 2025, she is a partner at MKOR, alongside Cori and Alex Cimpoca.
Described by colleagues as “scary smart,” she initiated the mapping of critical processes within the agency and raised the standard of reporting to clients. We don’t have an autonomous team yet, but the technical rigor she brought gives us the discipline we need to get there.
Lavinia Barbu confirms the same idea: curiosity and rigor can overcome the barriers of a lack of specific experience. Although her background is not related to the field of market research, Lavi quickly became a key person at MKOR. She contributed to the consolidation of the Client Service & Sales department. Today, she masters our methodologies with a precision that allows her to decode complex client needs and propose personalized strategic approaches.
Every colleague’s voice shapes the agency
MKOR is not a rigid hierarchical structure, but a living organism that evolves through the contribution of each member. We believe that the best optimization ideas do not come from the “top down,” but from the heart of our processes.
Through quarterly progress reports, colleagues identify problems and propose solutions that we implement as quickly as possible. Through Learning Points sessions, anyone can propose improvements to the methodology or workflow. And through Maker Time, every colleague has protected time to put their own ideas into practice, whether about AI or something else: one learns a new tool, another writes a script, another documents a process—the first step before that process can be automated.
Newcomers have direct access to seniors and founders because their fresh voice is extremely important for the team’s agility. MKOR employees and collaborators are the company’s core resource, which no AI will ever be able to fully replace.
We don’t wait for the annual evaluation to say “thank you.” Kudos is the mechanism through which any colleague can publicly recognize, in real-time, the help, innovation, or an ingeniously solved technical problem by another colleague.
In this ecosystem, technology is the force that propels us, but people are the ones holding the compass. No algorithm can substitute the curiosity, ethics, and synthesis capacity of an #MKORhuman.
Impact beyond the figures in the client contract
For us, work doesn’t end with the delivery of the report to the client, but in the echo our work has in society.
We believe that accurate data is a public good, capable of building a healthier business environment and a more informed community. Precise electoral forecasts from 2025 contributed to combating disinformation for millions of citizens. The study The modern consumer and ethical choices: Chickens raised in welfare conditions supported organizations dedicated to animal welfare. And we have dozens of other similar studies that you can find in our own studies portfolio.
MKOR’s expertise has reached institutions with social impact, such as Autism Voice. Our own studies: Employee Sentiment, Consumer Sentiment, Black Friday, and Sustainable Consumer are published annually (or almost annually), free of charge, for the business community.
Every colleague sees, in debriefing sessions, how the analysis they worked on grounds a global leader’s decision or contributes to a real social cause.
What sets us apart? The people in the team
Many agencies talk about culture. Few build it with the same rigor with which they build a research questionnaire. We are convinced that, in an industry where everyone has access to the same data, human intelligence coupled with ethics remains the only real differentiator.
For those who recognize themselves as curious, results-oriented, and eager to learn new things, MKOR remains open to a single question: are you ready to be part of a team of “Scary Smart Humans” team that’s up for fun and hungry for “big things”?
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