Jakub Poplawski started his career at L'Oréal and spent almost 15 years in brand-side FMCG sales and marketing, including 10 years at Imperial Brands, where he held a global role as International Sales & Marketing Operations Manager for Europe, Africa and Australasia at the UK head office. He then brought that brand perspective into clinical testing, spending six and a half years as Global Director of Business Development at Zurko Research with heavy involvement in clinical operations. In 2025 he and Michal Hrbacek co-founded AQURA Labs, a next-generation testing house (CRO) in Madrid. AQURA is built around digitalized study operations and the client experience, running safety-in-use, clinical efficacy and consumer perception studies for brands in North America and Europe. His international career is also reflected in his academic background, with MAs in Political Marketing (University of Warsaw) and International Relations (Complutense University of Madrid).