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Episode Summary: AI, Innovation, and Market Research Trends (January 16 – January 22, 2026)
AI and Tech Innovations in Market Research
- YouGov Adds AI Agent to Profiles Platform: Audience intelligence firm YouGov rolled out a natural-language AI assistant within its Profiles data platform, allowing clients to instantly query 450,000+ data points from hundreds of thousands of panelists in the US and UK. Users can ask questions like “Do millennial parents care about sustainability?” and receive immediate insights, then refine queries or explore related angles. CPO Joe Razza says the AI Agent delivers “quality data at the speed of thought” and will expand to all YouGov markets within days.
- Behaviorally Integrates Predictive Eye-Tracking: Point-of-purchase specialist Behaviorally has added AI-powered eye-tracking capabilities to myBehaviorally, its packaging design platform. The upgrade enhances the platform’s PackPower Score (which predicts sales impact of package designs) by analyzing what consumers are likely to notice, linking visual attention to purchase drivers. Coupling advanced behavioral models with a vast database of real shopper data, the tool offers fast, scalable, and accurate pack tests across categories like pet food, cosmetics, and beer.
- DQC Debuts a Data Trustworthiness Metric: The Data Quality Co-op (launched in 2025) introduced a unified “Data Trust Score” to help researchers gauge respondent quality at a glance. The score (0 to 1000) blends fraud detection, in-survey behaviors (like speeding or illogical answers), and participation history into one metric. Available via API and dashboards, it flags low-quality data in real time. DQC CEO Bob Fawson says it’s getting harder to tell “synthetic and human respondents” apart, so this common standard will bolster confidence in data by quantifying quality and rewarding good participants.
- ClickHouse Raises $400M, Expands into AI Observability: San Francisco-based ClickHouse – known for its open-source analytics database – secured a $400M Series D round and simultaneously acquired Langfuse, an open-source LLM observability platform. The funding positions ClickHouse to unify transactional and analytical workloads for AI-era applications. By integrating Langfuse’s tools to monitor and evaluate AI model outputs, ClickHouse aims to offer developers a “data and LLM observability platform” that ensures AI-driven applications are accurate, safe, and high-performance.
B2B Market Research Developments
- Hansa Launches Ad Impact Measurement Service: In India, Hansa Research unveiled a subscription-based “digital ad impact” tracker covering platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and OTT video. The service conducts 2,500 face-to-face interviews per month across ten cities, measuring ad recall, message comprehension, brand lift, and user behaviors (e.g. skipping or sharing ads) while campaigns are live. Hansa CEO Praveen Nijhara says the goal is to give brands meaningful insights for media planning and optimization on mobile video platforms.
- Potentia Debuts Healthcare Division and HCP Panel: UK-based agency Potentia Insight launched a specialist Potentia Health unit alongside Second Opinion, a new research panel co-owned with the Concerts for Carers charity. The panel recruits hard-to-reach healthcare workers – NHS nurses, doctors, pharmacists, mental health professionals, and care workers – to share frontline perspectives in paid research studies. Billed as an ethical, robust way to hear from overstretched medical staff, the initiative gives these professionals a voice in shaping healthcare policies and innovations while compensating them for their expertise. Potentia’s Colin Clifford says HCP insights have never been more critical, and the panel provides a high-quality conduit for their feedback.
Partnerships, Mergers, and Acquisitions
- AB Tasty & Wingify (VWO) Merge for AI Optimization: Paris-based AB Tasty is merging with Wingify – the New Delhi software firm behind the A/B testing platform VWO – in a deal backed by Everstone Capital. The combination creates a global digital experience optimization player offering AI-driven experimentation, personalization, behavioral analytics and more to over 4,000 clients with $100M+ in ARR. Everstone, which already owned Wingify, will remain the largest shareholder and is investing additional capital to unite the platforms and bolster AI capabilities. VWO’s co-founder Sparsh Gupta becomes CEO of the combined entity, while AB Tasty’s co-founders take up Chief Customer and Chief Revenue roles.
- Dynata Sells Ameritest to Vista Grande: Dynata divested its Ameritest creative testing system to Vista Grande, a retail shopper insights agency. Ameritest is a 30-year-old suite of ad research tools used to assess how ads build brand memories and drive decisions. Vista Grande will retain Ameritest’s team and continue using Dynata’s respondents, but plans to accelerate product innovation and global reach. CEO Russ Onish says blending Ameritest’s diagnostics with Vista’s expertise will help clients know which campaigns will succeed, why they work, and how they influence purchase decisions across channels.
- Gamebeast Acquires RTrack for Gaming Insights: U.S.-based Gamebeast, a Roblox-oriented game analytics and ad platform, acquired RTrack, a market research tool focused on the Roblox gaming ecosystem. Founded in 2019, RTrack tracks Roblox player behavior, game performance and trends via analysis of public data. Its Deep Aware system – an AI-backed engine with seven years of Roblox data – estimates the size and revenue potential of game niches and identifies emerging trends and partners. Gamebeast will integrate RTrack into its developer dashboard, allowing studios and brands to see Roblox market intelligence alongside their own game metrics.
Industry Leadership & Organizational Changes
- Guideline Expands C-Suite with Kantar Veteran: Ad planning tech company Guideline bolstered its senior team, hiring Steve Silvers – a former Kantar and Winterberry Group exec – as Chief Product Officer, and naming Michael Laxineta and Vivian Herron as SVPs leading data and sales for North America. The new leaders come on board just after Guideline launched an AI-powered ad intel agent and customizable dashboards, as well as a new data insights unit. CEO Vincent Mifsud says these industry veterans will help sustain Guideline’s momentum and find innovative ways to solidify its market position in 2026.
- Emporia Research Announces Broad Internal Promotions Across Delivery, GTM, Engineering, and Operations:Emporia Research announced a wide-ranging set of internal promotions spanning project delivery, client solutions, strategy, engineering, and operations—underscoring the company’s emphasis on internal growth, leadership development, and long-term team investment. The promotions include Nelius Muraguri and Charm Basan to Senior Project Delivery Associates, Raphael Madrid to Project Delivery Manager, Natalie Blodgett and Tram Pham to Client Solutions Managers, Rebecca Strangio to Senior Client Solutions Manager, Rachel Go to Strategy & Operations Manager (GTM Lead), Josh LaRosee and Andrew Blum to Senior Engineering Managers, and Paula Martinez Gutierrez to Head of Operations.
- Ex-Ipsos Exec Ben Rogers Joins GBK Collective: GBK Collective, a marketing analytics consultancy co-founded by Wharton professors, appointed Ben Rogers as President of Client Services. Rogers was previously a senior leader at NRG and spent a decade at Ipsos, focusing on tech and media clients. In his new role, he will drive client relationships and growth strategy. GBK CEO Jon Greenwood highlighted Rogers’ blend of commercial acumen and insights experience and pointed to their prior collaboration as a foundation for expanding GBK’s capabilities.
- Advantage Group Names First Chief Client Officer: Toronto-based Advantage Group International (AGI) promoted Matt Nitzberg to the newly created global role of Chief Client Officer. Nitzberg, who will also retain his North America lead duties, now oversees all client service, sales and marketing worldwide. The move follows AGI’s recent launch of Advantage LiveLens, an always-on CPG insights platform. CEO Peter Harris says unifying global commercial teams will improve consistency across markets and scale the value delivered to clients.
- Pureprofile Strengthens UK Team with Kantar Veteran: Australia-headquartered insights company Pureprofile hired James de Vick (formerly at Kantar’s Lightspeed/GMI units) as an Account Director in its UK office. The hire follows Pureprofile reporting strong growth and rising demand in Europe and North America. De Vick brings two decades of experience in online panels and client development, most recently as Kantar’s Head of Client for EMEA. UK MD Tim Potter said adding senior talent is central to the company’s growth strategy as it scales offerings for global clients.