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 19 – December 25, 2025)
AI and Tech Innovations in Market Research
- Ipsos Debuts GenAI Search Visibility Tool
Ipsos launched Synthesio GEO, a solution to map brand presence in GenAI-driven search results, so marketers can see how AI chat responses portray their brands versus competitors. The tool simulates user prompts to reveal how large language models present a company’s products and image, helping brands benchmark against rivals and optimize their AI-era search visibility. - InfiniteWatch Emerges with AI Agent Oversight Platform
New York startup InfiniteWatch came out of stealth with $4M in pre-seed funding to scale its AI-native platform that analyzes over two million customer interactions monthly. Its “Session Replay Agent” automatically flags UX issues hurting conversions, while a “Voice Agent” uses synthetic personas to stress-test voice assistants and monitor call center quality. The founders (who previously built insurtech firm CoverWallet) describe InfiniteWatch as an “AI observability layer,” predicting failures in AI-driven customer engagements before they impact revenue. - Finny Secures $17M for AI-Driven Prospecting
Financial advisor platform Finny raised a $17M Series A round to expand its AI-powered prospecting and marketing tool. Launched in 2024, Finny’s system uses a proprietary “F-Score” engine to analyze thousands of data points – from liquidity events to career moves – in order to identify high-intent client prospects for financial advisors. The funding (led by Venrock and Y Combinator) will fuel product development and engineering hires, as Finny aims to give advisors of all sizes access to predictive analytics that were once the domain of only the largest firms.
B2B Market Research Developments
- Kerry Opens Co-Creation Lab in the Philippines
Ireland’s Kerry Group debuted a new Customer Co-Creation Centre in Taguig City, Philippines, featuring test kitchens and labs to innovate food and beverage products with local clients. Billed as a “modern hub for thought leadership and customer collaboration,” the facility enables Kerry to partner with food manufacturers, restaurant chains, and retailers in Southeast Asia to rapidly prototype recipes and adapt to changing consumer tastes. Kerry’s Philippines lead said the investment will help co-create “future food solutions” and drive growth by tailoring products to regional preferences. - B2B AI Tools Enhance Insight Generation
Klick Health unveiled an HCP AI FocusGroup product that lets pharma marketers test ad messages with thousands of simulated healthcare providers, eliminating traditional focus group logistics. The generative AI-based workflow produces statistically relevant physician personas (by specialty and geography) and analyzes their feedback to help optimize medical marketing campaigns. Klick says this rapid, cost-effective simulation can complement live research, tackling the common challenge of busy doctors’ limited availability. The move highlights how B2B research in life sciences is embracing AI to scale qualitative insights gathering.
Partnerships, Mergers, and Acquisitions
- Nielsen & Roku Deepen Streaming Data Alliance
Nielsen extended its long-term partnership with Roku, integrating more of the streaming platform’s viewing data into Nielsen’s campaign measurement tools. The new multi-year deal gives Roku continued input into Nielsen’s Big Data+Panel TV ratings and audience outcomes solutions, while Roku gains access to Nielsen’s cross-service Streaming Platform Ratings. With Roku devices now accounting for over 21% of U.S. TV streaming time, Nielsen says the collaboration will yield more granular insights on ad performance across linear and connected TV, helping advertisers gauge results as audiences shift to streaming. - Adsquare & DistrictNine Team Up on Ad Impact
Berlin-based location intelligence firm Adsquare struck a deal with programmatic agency DistrictNine to embed real-world campaign impact measurement into DistrictNine’s platform. Using Adsquare’s consented location data, U.S. advertisers can directly gauge foot traffic lifts from digital ads within the PulseNine dashboard. The integration allows brands to see how online ads drive in-store visits by region and time, effectively providing “drive-to-store” ROI metrics in near-real time. DistrictNine’s CEO called offline behavior measurement “the next frontier” for proving ad performance, as the partnership brings more accountability and transparency to omnichannel campaigns. - Industry Consolidation Pauses for Holidays
No major M&A transactions were announced during the Christmas week slowdown. However, previously announced deals continued to reverberate in the insights sector. In discussion was Qualtrics’ pending $6.75B acquisition of healthcare experience firm Press Ganey (including survey platform Forsta), a 2025 mega-deal expected to reshape the customer and patient experience landscape. While that transaction was unveiled in October, its scale and strategic implications – combining Qualtrics’ tech with Press Ganey’s hospital ties – remained a hot topic as the year closed. Market watchers predict more convergence of CX platforms and research providers in 2026 as companies seek end-to-end data solutions.
Industry Leadership & Organizational Changes
- ESOMAR Chief Joaquim Bretcha Steps Down
Joaquim Bretcha announced plans to vacate his role as Director General of ESOMAR, declaring “mission accomplished” after steering the global research association through a troubled period. Bretcha, a former ESOMAR President, took the helm in 2023 amid governance turmoil and helped stabilize the organization – including resetting its Council elections, revamping the code of conduct, and returning to profitability. With 17,500 attendees at ESOMAR events this year and finances back in the black, Bretcha says the association is in a “healthy state” and it’s time to “pass the baton” to new leadership. His departure, effective once a successor is named, caps off a period of reform for the 75-year-old industry body. - Bolt Insight Recruits Suzy Alum to Lead U.S. Expansion
London-based research tech firm Bolt Insight hired Glendy Concepcion Rodriguez (formerly of Kantar and Suzy) as Research Manager, based in New York, to support its growing U.S. client base. Bolt Insight’s AI-driven qualitative platform, BoltChatAI, conducts real-time moderated conversations at scale and recently added features like dynamic probing and “Virtual Personas” for simulation. The new hire comes on the heels of Bolt raising £7M in funding last week to fuel global growth and develop an “AI Chief Insights Officer” assistant for enterprise clients. Rodriguez’s project management experience will help Bolt manage increasing U.S. research projects as it positions itself as a next-generation insights partner. - Broadcast Veteran Joins Rival Group’s Board
Rival Group – parent of Rival Technologies, Reach3 Insights, and Angus Reid – appointed John Cassaday to its Board of Directors. Cassaday is a high-profile Canadian media executive, known for founding and leading Corus Entertainment (a major TV and radio group) and chairing companies like Manulife Financial. Rival’s Chairman Angus Reid said Cassaday’s governance track record and U.S. market savvy will be “essential” as the fast-growing insights and community tech firm enters more complex stages of growth. The addition of an experienced outside director signals Rival’s ambition to scale internationally. Cassaday’s guidance is expected to help navigate expansion while maintaining strategic flexibility.
Expert Insights & Thought Leadership
- Trending Topics: GenAI’s Impact and Data Quality Warnings
Multiple industry blogs examined emerging opportunities and pitfalls as 2025 ends. FrieslandCampina’s Nina Pascual wrote that generative AI is “reshaping search behavior” – conversational AI tools are transforming how consumers discover information in categories like health and finance, which in turn forces brands to adapt their marketing insights strategies. Meanwhile, data analyst Andrew Gus cautioned that “bad data is worse than no data,” echoing Tim Berners-Lee’s warning that poor-quality data can mislead and undermine analytics in the AI era. His piece in GreenBook urged firms to treat data as carefully as cash, invest in rigorous data quality management, and remember that AI’s insights are only as good as the underlying information. Together, these thought leaders underscore a common theme: embracing new tech like GenAI can unlock value, but success depends on maintaining trust – in data, in algorithms, and in the researchers who bridge the two.
