Guest Column

Prologue: Redrawing the Boundaries of Insight

For years, the way we understand people—through surveys, segments, and focus groups—has shaped how businesses make decisions. But today, everything is changing. Technology like artificial intelligence is opening doors to new ways of seeing and understanding consumers that we never imagined before. Instead of following the same tried-and-tested paths, we now have the chance—and the responsibility—to explore new frontiers in market research.

What makes this moment unlike any other is the power of the intelligent platforms we have today. These platforms don’t just help us gather information faster; they completely change how we imagine what’s possible, predict what’s coming next, and take smart action. Especially in India, where technology is growing rapidly and the diversity is immense, it’s not enough to keep up with change—we must lead it.

The Rise of AI-Powered Insights—"Embrace the Unknown Unknowns"

In this unfolding landscape, I feel compelled to move beyond the comfort of averages and generalized data. AI, in its most profound form, unveils what I have come to call the “unknown unknowns”—those hidden, intricate patterns woven through vast and varied consumer mosaic that traditional methods simply overlooked. It demands that we rethink how we understand people—not merely by asking questions, but by deeply listening to the conversations they are already having, where they reveal their truths, emotions, and experiences in ways we’ve never fully grasped. This is a powerful shift: Moving from imposing questions to uncovering authentic human stories that have always been present, waiting to be discovered. What excites me most is that AI doesn’t just automate what we already know; it helps us uncover new questions and insights we never thought to ask.

Agility in Action: Meeting Business Demands with Faster, Flexible Research

Today’s marketers and business leaders expect insights teams to deliver research that is faster, more flexible, and genuinely reflects what consumers think and feel in real time. These leaders know that speed and authenticity offer a real competitive edge. Companies that leverage this advantage—beyond mere process improvement—will stand out and lead their markets.

This transformative change is already happening—and it couldn’t come at a better time. AI is creating opportunities across the entire market research process: from selecting the right questions to ensure authenticity, to generating high-quality data; from using advanced analytics to tell meaningful stories at scale, to blending qualitative insights with quantitative reach. AI acts as a smart partner that continuously listens to millions of conversations, spots emerging trends early, and predicts shifts in consumer behaviour—uncovering insights beyond what humans alone can achieve.

Speed as Valuable as Accuracy

Another important realization for me is that speed now matters just as much as accuracy and in many cases even more. Research that used to take weeks or months is giving way to “living” systems that deliver insights in days or even hours. The demand for immediate answers isn’t just from clients—consumers themselves are moving too fast for slow responses. Truly agile research requires:

• Constant, real-time listening posts that capture the market’s heartbeat
• High-speed experimentation teams that test and adapt quickly
• Feedback loops that move decision-making at the pace of culture

India, with its explosive digitization and ever-shifting urban-rural balance, is the perfect ground for such agility. Adapting to this rhythm requires not only the right technology but, more importantly, the right mindset. Insight professionals must embrace ambiguity, working in perpetual beta, learning, and iterating continuously.

Driving Adoption: Shared Responsibility

To realize meaningful impact on this AI journey, the right champions must drive adoption where it matters most:

• Research vendors should lead by embedding AI into data workflows to boost efficiency and accuracy.
• Client executives and insight teams need to adopt AI tools for smarter analysis, early trend detection, and translating data into actionable decisions.

Human-AI Collaboration: The Strategic Edge

Central to this agility is Human-AI collaboration. While AI excels at processing vast data and identifying patterns quickly, it is human judgment, intuition, and context that give insights their true strategic value. The future of market research lies in workflows where AI manages scale and complexity, freeing researchers to focus on:

• Critical thinking
• Interpretation
• Storytelling
• Empathy

This blend of speed with wisdom drives better outcomes. For me, the future of insight is “living the consumer” through a combination of human empathy and digital tools.

Upskilling for the Future: Four Practical Pillars for Market Research Talent

AI, agility, and analytics are transforming market research, and with these changes comes an urgent need for new skills and ways of thinking. Based on conversations with industry peers and marketers, I see four key pillars guiding how researchers should upskill:

1. Capability to Master Conversational Insights

   Future researchers must develop the ability to understand consumers without relying solely on direct questioning. This means unlocking insights from the vast data consumers naturally share—through conversations, digital behaviours, and interactions. Research companies must also build capability in generating and working with synthetic datasets and digital consumer profiles. This allows teams to run agile experiments, forecast behaviours, and simulate market scenarios at scale and speed—making insight generation faster, richer, and more predictive.

2. Integrating AI with Qualitative Depth

   Partnerships with cutting-edge technology providers are essential. By collaborating, companies can embed qualitative methods—ethnography, anthropology, focus group dynamics—directly into AI platforms. The rise of “AI Quant Agents” and “AI Qual Agents” will empower researchers to blend emotional nuance with analytical rigor.

3. Developing Hybrid Talent & Open Collaboration

   Researchers must build hybrid skills that combine data expertise with cultural insight. This means training not just in analytics and programming, but also in human behaviour, story-mining, and design thinking. Cross-functional collaboration—with tech, academia, and creative agencies—will become a core operating model.

4. Elevating Core Researcher Competencies

   At the heart of the AI future, foundational skills endure - critical thinking, hypothesis-building, ethics, storytelling, and the ability to ask original questions. These are the differentiators that keep market researchers relevant and powerful—guiding technology to serve real human needs.

True transformation requires organizations to support these capabilities through strong change management—clear communication, incentives, and safe spaces for learning and experimentation. In my experience, upskilling isn’t an individual task—it’s leadership’s responsibility to nurture future-ready teams and build lasting capabilities.

Balancing Tech with Trust—"Turning Innovation into Assurance"

Technology guides us, but ethics keep us on track. Trust is foundational—every insight should be traceable from data source to decision, ensuring fairness and integrity. Trust is earned through transparent action, not just promises.

• Make transparency your default: explain what insights you deliver, how they’re made, and which algorithms you use.
• Treat privacy as respect for consumer identity, beyond legal compliance.
• Use data that reflects diverse voices and challenge bias at every stage.
• Build a culture of ethics—talk openly, audit regularly, and face tough conversations where technology meets human values.

This approach elevates research from tools to trusted change makers.

Embracing Our Role as Architects of Insight’s Future

At this pivotal moment in our field, I find myself reflecting deeply on what it truly means to be an insights professional today. It’s no longer enough to simply collect data or run traditional analyses. We are standing on the threshold of a transformation powered by AI—an era where technology doesn't just assist us but fundamentally expands our ability to see and understand the world.

I believe we must cultivate radical curiosity—not settling for surface-level answers but daring to ask the questions AI helps us unearth, the “unknown unknowns” hidden within the vast complexity of consumer behaviour. AI exponentially widens our lens, revealing patterns, connections, and possibilities that were once invisible. But it’s our empathy and human judgment that breathe life and meaning into these insights.

Ethical stewardship has never been more vital. The power AI provides carries great responsibility—to ensure fairness, transparency, and respect for every individual behind the data. This responsibility is something I hold deeply, knowing trust is our most valuable currency.

Finally, I feel passionately about breaking down silos and building collaborative ecosystems. AI’s potential is unlocked not in isolation, but when interdisciplinary teams—data scientists, marketers, anthropologists, and creatives—come together to co-create insights that drive meaningful change.

Research’s future isn’t mere advice—it’s about measurable action. Insight teams must go beyond recommendations to lead pilots, launches, and track real-world impact. This is the true ROI—Return on Insight: turning knowledge into action that moves brands, markets, and lives forward—not just better answers, but better outcomes.

The future of insights, powered by AI, is deeply human. It blends the speed and scale of technology with our uniquely human ability to empathize, interpret, and act with purpose. This is not a future to wait for—it’s one I am committed to shaping, with curiosity, integrity, and courage.

About the Author: Surjit Kumar Swain is an experienced Insights and Analytics leader with over 15 years in the FMCG sector. As Senior Director at The Coca-Cola Company, he leads the integration of human insights, advanced analytics, AI, and real-time foresight to uncover new business opportunities. Surjit works closely with marketing and commercial leaders across regions to create agile, consumer-focused strategies. He has held leadership roles in CMI, Strategy, and Revenue Growth Management. Before Coca-Cola, he led strategy and analytics at WNS Consulting across APAC.

Back to Newsletter