When Two Teams Become One: How the Merger Is Reshaping Our Data, AI and Web Analytics Practice

New colleagues, new tools, new expertise... the merger between Tink and Click & Mortar has completely reshaped our web analytics, data science and artificial intelligence team. But what does day-to-day life look like within this newly reinforced squad?

To find out, we asked four of our Tinkers — Louis Tremblay, Web Analytics Senior Consultant and Practice Lead, Kevin Tin, Data Science and AI Team Lead, Alexandre Germain, Web Analytics Consultant, and Rihab Zarrai Touss, Web Analytics Consultant — to share their perspectives on this new chapter.

Before we talk about the merger, could you tell us in a few words about your day-to-day role within the team?

Louis: As Web Analytics Senior Consultant and Practice Lead, I collaborate with people in development, integration, strategy and user experience to train new team members or to carry out Google Analytics implementation projects — from requirements gathering to configuring tools like Google Tag Manager, as well as writing technical instructions and quality control. I also make sure our measurement setups and processes are well-documented and accessible for both our team and our clients.

Rihab: My day-to-day involves addressing clients' data collection needs. Most of my mandates involve website redesigns paired with a Google Analytics 4 (GA4) tracking implementation. I draft a tagging plan that I validate with clients, then translate it into an implementation guide for the development teams. I also work on projects involving cookie consent management, which is an essential component since the adoption of Law 25 on the protection of personal information. In the end, my role always revolves around the same pillars: advising, explaining and implementing.

Kevin: In practical terms, I help clients organize and leverage their marketing and analytics data by connecting a source to a cloud data warehouse like BigQuery to enrich it with other sources, or by integrating them into marketing tools for segmentation. As team lead, I also manage resource allocation, participate in client presentations and draft service proposals. I'm also one of the key contacts for migrating Click & Mortar's IT tools and systems to Tink's.

Alexandre: I play a complementary role to Louis, Rihab and Kevin. While they structure and collect the data, I add value to it and make it actionable. I do this by working primarily on two types of projects:

1. Performance reports, which I produce on a regular basis to highlight the performance of our clients’ digital ecosystems and provide strategic recommendations to improve results.
2. Dashboards, which I create to visualize data in a clear, accessible way and then present to our clients. I also train them to use these tools independently.

Ultimately, the goal is for every client to truly understand their data and be able to use it to make better decisions.

And concretely, what has changed in the day-to-day you just described since you joined the new team?

Alexandre: Honestly, my mandates have remained essentially the same. What has really changed, though, is that there's now greater collaboration and better synergy among the team members. In the months before the merger with Click & Mortar, I was the only person at Tink who specialized in data valorization. Now, we have a team of several people who can handle data visualization and valorization.

We benefit from more collaboration and internal meetings to pool our strengths and leverage each other's expertise. I can now count on colleagues to support me with data extraction, automation and process optimization. We have highly complementary strengths in web analytics, data science, artificial intelligence and KPI (Key Performance Indicators) engineering, which will allow us to take our projects much further!

Rihab: My daily routine hasn't really changed since the merger either. But like Alexandre, what's truly new for me is working within a larger, more complementary team. There are now many more of us, with much more depth and options in terms of expertise when we need a hand. There's Alexandre for everything related to data analysis and visualization, Azer (Khelifa) who does data science, and Kevin who straddles several of these areas. It's very diverse and complementary.

Kevin: Since the merger with Tink, I've taken on more of a managerial role to support our director, Mikaël Perreault. And since I'm now part of a more senior and expanded team, I can refocus my expertise on data science, as the other areas are now well covered.

The new team brings a diverse and complementary set of skills: at Click & Mortar, we leaned more toward data science, artificial intelligence and activation, while the Tink team had developed extensive experience in implementation, documentation and web analytics.

It's also a huge relief to be able to count on an entire IT support team to handle the technical aspects — that's one less thing on my plate every day!

Louis: What my colleagues have described captures the spirit of the ongoing change very well. For now, the biggest transformations are yet to come!

We're currently working on defining a hybrid model that will bring out the best of both teams. No one can claim to have the perfect formula, but an opportunity like this one allows us to see which parts of our practices can be improved. We've actually spent a good amount of time reviewing our management and resource allocation model: who works on what, and who's responsible for assigning resources. The work is underway, and it's exciting for what's ahead!

And since the work is underway, what has impressed or surprised you the most about your new team?

Louis: What surprised me the most is that there are a million ways to do things in our field, but our two teams, each on their own side, have developed very similar work tools. That's an excellent starting point for finding common ground.

I also discovered a great tradition that our Click & Mortar colleagues brought with them, called "Grateful Moments": when there's a bit of time left at the end of a team meeting, we take the opportunity to thank colleagues for their help, or to share recent moments that contribute to our happiness at work. It's a small habit that makes a real difference.

Kevin: It’s funny that Louis mentioned how similar our practices are, because that's also what struck me the most since the merger! I'm thinking in particular of the measurement framework that Tink uses to guide the team's practices: when we compared it to the tagging plan we were using over at Click, we couldn't believe how alike the two documents were.

Our web analytics practices have evolved in surprisingly parallel ways. It was really reassuring to see just how much we weren't all that different.

What's also reassuring is the great kindness everyone has shown while we're getting used to our new environment. At Click, we worked entirely within the Google suite, whereas the Tink crew uses the Microsoft environment. The transition is still underway, and I won't deny that juggling between the two environments can be complicated at times. But everyone is incredibly patient about it. We're going through it together, and that's really cool. I also see in my new colleagues a strong desire to learn and to develop our practice as a team.

Rihab: I'd say the same thing as Louis and Kevin regarding the similarity of our practices.

I expected to have to adapt my ways of working more, but the fit came very naturally. The practices, the deliverables, the professional reflexes... all of that was already very much aligned. That allowed us to focus on what really matters: getting to know each other and learning to work together.

Since our two teams came together, we also benefit from more biweekly meetings to share knowledge, recent learnings or market developments. Each person takes turns leading a presentation on a topic related to our field — I actually led one recently on cookie consent management. It's really great because it allows our entire multidisciplinary team to learn from one another.

Alexandre: It's true that our approaches and deliverables are very similar, even for the more technical elements, like implementation guides. There was never a moment where we said to ourselves, "Okay, we're going to have to make a decision because our methods are too different." What we had developed on our side aligns naturally with what the Click & Mortar team had developed on theirs. So the merger really went smoothly and efficiently.

Still, I imagine there were some challenges or adjustments to make during this transition?

Kevin: I'd say the learning curve was a bit steeper on the Click & Mortar side. Beyond the switch from Google to Microsoft, we had to get used to a new timesheet system, set up new management processes... that's a lot to handle all at once! On a more personal note, transitioning from a specialist role to a managerial one is also quite an adjustment! But we're gradually aligning our roles, responsibilities, and priorities.

Louis: As Kevin mentioned, the technology migration between our two organizations was a major challenge, since we had to align our systems despite having very different software suites and work tools. Navigating that period where one team didn't have access to the other's tools, then agreeing on a common approach that would bring out the best of both sides took a lot of time and listening.

Alexandre: And on top of the software suites — Microsoft on one side, Google on the other — our collaboration tools also differed. We used JIRA, they used Asana; we were on RocketChat, they were on Slack. There was a period of adjustment while we adopted the same platforms. But in terms of practice, culture and deliverables, there really wasn't any clash.

Rihab: What's beautiful about all of this is that everyone showed openness and patience during the transition, and that says a lot about a great team culture!

Speaking of team culture, how would you describe your director Mikaël Perreault's leadership style? What stood out to you most about his approach and the way he manages the team?

Alexandre: Louis, Rihab and I had the chance to get to know "Mik" during the merger, and I think everyone would agree that he has a very human leadership style. He's a brilliant, attentive person who likes to push thinking further. Our meetings are always rich in learning. He acts as a true mentor who wants us to go the extra mile in our projects and grow professionally. Honestly, I couldn't ask for a better director!

Louis: I'd add that "Mik" is someone who trusts the people he assigns tasks to, and who creates an atmosphere that helps make for great days, even during the more intense moments. He's someone who knows that the web is a complex world, that nothing is easy, and that everything is constantly evolving: he adapts to this reality himself and fully understands our challenges. That's truly invaluable.

Rihab: For me, it's a wonderful continuity. Louis was my interim manager for a long time, and I see the same laid-back, human and caring leadership style in Mikaël. This consistency in how the team is managed is reassuring in a time of change. We know who we're dealing with, and that creates a nice safety net.

Kevin: For my part, Mikaël isn't a new director, since I've known him for almost 5 years now. In fact, I was his first hire at Click & Mortar! We've been working together for a long time and have watched the team grow.

I'd describe "Mik's" leadership as very human, accessible and engaging. He gives autonomy while remaining available to support the team when needed. That's actually one of the reasons I'm still part of the team today!

All four of you seem to be on a roll. How do you see the future within this great team? What motivates you most when you look forward?

Rihab: What I'm most passionate about in my job is that it's constantly evolving. I love that because you always have to learn and stay up to date! The merger gives me the opportunity to learn even more, thanks to a much more multidisciplinary team. I'd like to take this opportunity to develop my expertise in data science — a field that has interested me for a long time — and move from web analytics toward what you might call Web Analytics Engineering. There are so many possibilities opening up!

Kevin: For my part, I want to continue supporting our clients on their data maturity journey, but with a greater focus on artificial intelligence. In fact, I'm currently completing a Tealium certification — an AI-powered customer data platform that uses machine learning to predict behaviors and activate data in real time.

Whether it's a smaller organization that needs a well-configured Google Analytics setup, or a larger player looking for a comprehensive customer data platform, we're able to adapt our approach, and that's incredibly motivating!

Alexandre: I think Rihab summed up what drives us pretty well — this idea of evolving and always pushing further in our field. For my part, what I'd love is to play a practice lead role in data valorization, a bit like what Louis does in data collection and implementation. Before, I was kind of my own lead, in a way, as I was the only one at Tink carrying out data valorization projects!

Now that we're part of a larger team, I see a real opportunity to consolidate my practice and create shared documentation to ensure our deliverables are standardized. If that comes to fruition, it would be a great source of pride for me!

Louis: What Alexandre describes for data valorization is exactly what motivates me on the technical and implementation side. What matters most to me is reaching the point where we can say we've developed a fully unified set of practices, tools and processes. I intend to be a key player in this area, through coaching and documentation — two aspects of the job that I love and on which a company simply cannot afford to improvise.

After 20 years in the field, including 10 at Tink, I know the importance of ensuring the continuity of a practice through the natural turnover of staff, which is a reality of the industry. That's precisely where we can make a real difference together.