Meet The Team
The team
Uchi Insights is built by a multidisciplinary team working across data, AI, finance, editorial, design, audience growth and market strategy.
As part of the wider Uchi Global family—including Uchi Japan, Uchi Media and the upcoming Uchi Snow—Uchi Insights has a clear purpose: to help readers understand Japan’s real estate market through better data, sharper interpretation and clearer reporting.
Our work is not only about collecting numbers. It is about understanding what they do and do not show, spotting the patterns that matter, and presenting information in a way that is accurate, useful and easy to read.
The team behind Uchi Insights brings together on-the-ground market knowledge, financial understanding, enterprise data expertise, editorial judgement and visual storytelling. That mix allows us to approach the market from multiple angles and turn complex information into reports, articles and analysis that support better decision-making.
Chris Pickering – CEO & Founder
Chris leads the direction of Uchi Insights, combining financial training, long-term market experience and deep knowledge of Japan’s resort property landscape.
A Deloitte-trained chartered accountant who has lived and worked in Japan’s ski resort markets for more than 15 years, Chris brings a rare mix of commercial understanding, valuation awareness and on-the-ground perspective. At Uchi Insights, he helps shape the questions the reports ask, the patterns they focus on and the broader market context behind the numbers.
Matt Batcheldor – Partnerships Director & 2IC
Matt helps ensure Uchi Insights remains commercially relevant, well connected and closely aligned with what readers, agents and developers actually want to understand.
With more than 20 years of experience across technology, digital media and strategic partnerships—including launching and leading Google’s office in New Zealand—Matt brings a strong understanding of audience growth, product positioning and how information creates value when it is presented clearly and at the right moment.
Vinny Vijeyakumaar – Chief Data & AI Architect
Vinny leads the data and AI infrastructure behind Uchi Insights, helping turn marketplace information into a reporting engine that is more structured, scalable and useful.
Drawing on experience at Google and Databricks, where he advised major enterprise clients on data architecture and analytics, Vinny is responsible for building the systems that make deeper reporting possible—from cleaner data foundations to smarter ways of organising, analysing and surfacing market signals.
Leighton Dyer — Art Director
Leighton brings decades of design, typography and visual communication experience to the Uchi Insights reporting process. He shapes how Uchi Insights looks and feels, ensuring that data, reporting and market commentary are presented with clarity, restraint and visual impact.
Armelle Frimpong — Head of Content
Armelle leads the editorial shaping of Uchi Insights, helping turn raw information into articles and reports that are clear, polished and worth reading. With extensive experience writing and editing for major lifestyle, travel and digital publishers, she brings the judgement needed to balance authority with accessibility—ensuring that Uchi Insights sounds informed and credible without becoming heavy or overly technical.
Gwen Magdamit — Social Media Chief
Gwen helps translate Uchi Insights reporting into formats that travel well across digital channels, making complex market stories more accessible to a wider audience. Her work supports the distribution side of the platform—helping key findings, report launches and market observations reach readers in a way that is engaging, timely and easy to understand.
Phil Taylor — Paid Media & Growth Strategist
Phil supports the growth and discoverability of Uchi Insights, helping ensure the right reports and articles reach the right audience. With deep experience in paid media, analytics and performance marketing, he brings a strong understanding of audience behaviour and digital demand—useful not only for distribution, but also for thinking clearly about what information readers are actively seeking.
Damien Sung – Creative Director
With a background in film, storytelling and creative direction, Damien helps turn dense information into reports and editorial products that feel engaging rather than overwhelming. His role is especially important in making Uchi Insights visually distinctive while keeping the work easy to absorb.
Uchi Insights is built by a team that understands both the numbers and the narrative around them. Our aim is not to overwhelm readers with data, but to make the market clearer, more readable and more useful through thoughtful reporting, strong editorial judgement and well-designed analysis.