In 2026, compensation market data is the competitive edge that defines an organization’s ability to attract and retain elite talent. As pay transparency legislation becomes the global standard and AI-driven analytics move from experimental to essential, the methodology behind your market data has never mattered more.
This exclusive panel discussion brings together some of the industry’s most influential voices from Aon, Compa, Mercer, and WTW, to examine the current state of market intelligence and the roadmap for the years ahead. We will explore how blending multiple data sources with dynamic technology helps organizations move past static benchmarks to balance fiscal responsibility with aggressive talent demands.
Alan is BetterComp's Co-Founder & CEO, with over 20 years in the world of compensation market pricing including executive roles at Salary.com, PayFactors and PayScale. Alan also prides himself on Wizard-level Excel skills.
Alan set upon building a better compensation solution by tapping into his 20 years of contacts in the comp space. His favorite part of the whole experience was hearing directly from customers what they wanted and then stepping back and designing a solution that addressed the common themes.
Heather Ryan joined WTW as the Reward Data Intelligence (RDI) Head of Global Product in October of 2025. Prior to joining WTW, she was a Global Product Leader at Mercer overseeing the product development of rewards data and analytics products. Heather has a powerful combination of experience spanning technology, product strategy, and business development – all of which are critical to advancing product growth. She holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and degrees in Computer Science and Engineering from The University of Michigan and University of Colorado.
Charlie Franklin is the Co-founder & CEO of Compa, a VC-backed startup with the mission to make compensation fair and competitive for everyone. Compa is compensation intelligence software for enterprise total rewards teams navigating era of pay transparency.
Charlie has over a decade HR experience, mostly focused in compensation. He started his career at Mercer, a leading global HR consulting firm, where he advised on compensation strategy for Fortune 500 companies in technology, financial services, life sciences, and energy. He subsequently led executive compensation and people strategy at Juniper Networks, and most recently led HR M&A and global mobility at Workday prior to founding Compa.
Charlie resides in Newport Beach, California, where he enjoys spending time with his wife and daughters hiking, gardening, and bicycling by the ocean.
Belinda is a Partner with the Mercer Career Products group based in Louisville, Kentucky and she has 25+ years experience working in HR in corporate and consulting organizations. She has predominantly specialized in rewards consulting, data, and technology and has worked with many Fortune 500 companies. Her current focus is on the Mercer rewards data product portfolio, ensuring Mercer produce the best in class data products while continuing to innovate new and relevant solutions to suit many markets and industries. Prior to that, her focus was on rewards software from a best practice implementation and configuration perspective.
Belinda has spoken at many client and industry conferences over the years both on data and technology, and regularly networks with clients and client groups. Belinda has been with Mercer for 23 years, 17 in the US, and 6 in Australia.
Ephraim Edelman brings over two decades of experience at Aon, and now holds the position of Head of Data Solutions, North America and Global Radford Data Solutions.
He specializes in compensation consulting, product development, people leadership, and change management. Ephraim currently leads major global transformation initiatives within Aon's compensation data business and is focused on delivering more data and insights to help clients make better human capital decisions.
