Welcome to twir — the weekly show delivering AI-powered summaries of market research news and insights. Each week, we scan and ingest media from top blogs, podcasts, articles, and reports, distilling the key trends shaping the industry. Best of all, twir episodes learn and get smarter over time, building a POV on an archive of past news and trends.
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Episode Summary: AI, Innovation, and Market Research Trends (December 12 – December 18, 2025)
AI and Tech Innovations in Market Research
- Verisoul announced an $8.8M Series A led by High Alpha, following a year of rapid growth and product expansion across market research, AI software, advertising, and trust & safety use cases. Over the past 12 months, the company 6×’d ARR, surpassed $2M in revenue, and demonstrated higher accuracy than well-funded incumbents in head-to-head evaluations. Verisoul has added blue-chip customers including Warp, Morning Consult, and Augment Code, while retaining and expanding those accounts. The round brings Scott Dorsey (High Alpha) onto the board, with existing investors BITKRAFT Ventures and Third Prime doubling down alongside new participation from Lookout Ventures and Bain & Company’s Future Back Ventures.
- MoEngage Secures $180M for AI-Powered Engagement – Customer engagement platform MoEngage raised an additional $180 million in Series F funding (just a month after a $100M boost) to accelerate its Merlin AI suite. The Indonesia-based firm (with hubs in Bengaluru and San Francisco) will use the cash to enhance AI-driven campaign tools, scale teams in North America/EMEA, and pursue strategic acquisitions. MoEngage’s CEO says the investment reflects a culture of innovation and rewards employees as they build out AI decisioning agents for marketers.
- Teikametrics Unveils GenAI for Marketplace Sellers – Boston-based Teikametrics rolled out Artificial Retail Intelligence (ARI), a generative AI engine to act as a “Marketplace Strategist” for e-commerce brands. ARI connects a seller’s product catalog, ad campaigns, inventory, and insights into one system, then automates decisions for multi-marketplace success. The patent-pending tool optimizes inventory across Amazon, Walmart, and TikTok; auto-launches ad campaigns using Amazon Marketing Cloud data (no SQL needed); and dynamically edits product listings based on performance metrics. Teikametrics’ CEO says ARI helps companies “outshine the competition” with intelligent insights and better content in the age of algorithmic retail.
- Integral Ad Science Debuts “IAS Agent” – Ad analytics firm Integral Ad Science introduced IAS Agent, an AI-powered assistant for media performance optimization. IAS Agent promises to speed up campaign activation and deliver “instant, deeper insights” by automating analysis of ad metrics at scale. The assistant uses generative AI to help advertisers rapidly identify opportunities, refine targeting, and optimize ad placements across channels. IAS is positioning the tool as a way to leverage its vast measurement data with AI to boost ad effectiveness and efficiency.
B2B Market Research Developments
- Outset & Emporia Partner on AI-Moderated B2B Interviews – A new partnership between research tech startup Outset and B2B sample provider Emporia aims to streamline business research by instantly connecting verified professionals with AI-led interviews. The integration lets researchers precisely target and verify B2B audiences via Emporia, then seamlessly conduct AI-moderated interviews through Outset’s platform – eliminating manual scheduling and follow-ups. By combining Emporia’s vetted panels of industry experts with Outset’s conversational AI moderators, the duo promises faster, scalable qualitative insights from hard-to-reach decision-makers. Emporia ensures the right professionals are “in the room,” while Outset’s AI runs the interviews and converts rich conversations into actionable reports.
Partnerships, Mergers, and Acquisitions
- Truth Consulting Acquired by Paritee – UK-based strategic insights agency Truth Consulting has been purchased by European communications group Paritee, in a management buy-out from former owner Instinctif Partners. Truth (known for its strategic brand and consumer insight work) says joining Paritee will expand its international footprint and amplify its impact for clients. The deal, completed on Dec 16, underscores continued consolidation in the insights sector as consultancies seek broader capabilities and geographic reach.
- Pinterest Buys tvScientific for CTV Ad Metrics – Visual discovery giant Pinterest agreed to acquire tvScientific, a connected TV advertising platform, to bolster measurement of how TV exposure drives online results. Pinterest will integrate its rich first-party “intent” data with tvScientific’s CTV ad engine to help marketers quantify the lift from streaming TV campaigns. The move gives Pinterest a foothold in cross-channel attribution – allowing advertisers to see how ads on platforms like Netflix or Roku translate into Pinterest engagement and sales.
- Nielsen and Horizon Expand AI Data Partnership – Audience measurement leader Nielsen is extending its partnership with independent media agency Horizon Media to enhance Horizon’s proprietary marketing platform with Nielsen’s advanced audience data. The renewed deal focuses on integrating Nielsen’s ID-matched viewership data into Horizon’s AI-driven blu planning system. By feeding more granular cross-platform audience insights into blu, Horizon aims to improve targeting and ROI for clients. The partnership exemplifies how agencies are leaning on big data alliances to sharpen their media buying in an addressable TV and streaming era.
- LiveRamp Adds Daily Mail & DAZN to Data Network – Data connectivity platform LiveRamp signed Daily Mail Group and sports streamer DAZN as its newest data collaboration partners. The deal brings the UK’s largest tabloid news publisher and a global sports OTT service into LiveRamp’s network, allowing marketers to safely match and activate audience data across these platforms. By onboarding Daily Mail and DAZN’s subscriber data (in privacy-compliant ways), LiveRamp expands its reach to millions of news readers and sports fans – valuable segments for targeted advertising.
Industry Leadership & Organizational Changes
- Savanta Hires Jane Price as Global CMO – Full-service agency Savanta appointed Jane Price as Chief Marketing Officer (Global Head of Marketing), working remotely from Boston. Price is a tech marketing veteran (ex-TripAdvisor and Care.com) who most recently led marketing at data science firm Plotly. She reunites with Savanta CEO Christine Petersen (a former TripAdvisor colleague) to elevate Savanta’s brand and demand-gen efforts. Savanta – part of Next15 – is bolstering its leadership as it scales offerings like the 100M-strong recontact panel and BrandVue trackers.
- SurveyMonkey Names Lance Ludman CFO – Survey software pioneer SurveyMonkey (now part of Momentive) appointed Lance Ludman as Chief Financial Officer, filling a role vacant since September. Ludman brings experience scaling SaaS firms (previously CFO at Benevity and at an ed-tech company) and will oversee financial strategy as SurveyMonkey expands its enterprise feedback tools. His hiring follows other C-suite additions this year – a new Chief Product Officer in June and Chief Communications & Marketing Officer in November – signaling a leadership refresh as the firm emphasizes enterprise CX, employee engagement, and AI-powered survey offerings.
- Insights Association Taps Alice Butler as 2026 Chair – Industry body the Insights Association (IA) has elected Alice Butler – a 40-year veteran of M/A/R/C Research – as Chair-Elect of its 2026 National Board. Butler has volunteered with the IA for two decades and most recently served as Board Secretary. She will step into the Chair role in January 2026, succeeding current Chair Jackie Chan (of Meta) and Chair-Elect Terrae Schroeder (who had been slated but stepped down). IA leaders praise Butler’s long-time dedication and “steady hand,” noting her guidance will help steer industry advocacy and professional development efforts in the coming year.
Expert Insights & Thought Leadership
- Podcast Debates Ethics of AI in Research – An industry podcast this week delved into the ethical tightrope of AI-enhanced research. Experts discussed questions of data ownership, transparency, and bias when using AI for insights – emphasizing the need for guardrails even as tools like AI moderators and synthetic respondents gain steam. They warned of potential pitfalls (from deepfake respondents to over-reliance on machine analysis) and urged researchers to craft ethical guidelines and validation checks. The consensus: AI can supercharge research speed and scale, but human empathy, privacy protection, and skepticism remain paramount to maintain public trust in insights.