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Episode Summary: AI, Innovation, and Market Research Trends (May 9 - May 15, 2025)
AI and Tech Innovations in Market Research
- Google DeepMind’s AlphaEvolve: DeepMind introduced AlphaEvolve, an AI agent that autonomously generates and refines algorithms using its Gemini large language models and an evolutionary approach. The system already boosted Google’s data center efficiency by 0.7% and even broke a 56-year-old matrix multiplication record, underscoring AI’s growing problem-solving power.
- Morning Consult’s AI Chat Tool: Morning Consult launched its AI chat-based insights tool in open beta, extending access beyond its client base to instant, real-time consumer intelligence drawn from 80 million survey interviews across 40 countries. The company is also developing next-gen AI agents to conduct full research workflows in seconds – from hypothesis generation to data analysis – aiming to help executives get trustworthy answers and act with confidence using real-time global opinion data.
- The Trade Desk’s OpenSincera: Ad tech firm The Trade Desk unveiled OpenSincera, a free insights platform opening its rich advertising metadata to clients, partners – even competitors – to improve transparency into ad quality and digital supply chain health. This move provides the broader market research and ad community with unprecedented open access to programmatic ad data for analysis.
- Tobii’s New Wearable: Eye-tracking leader Tobii launched Glasses X, touted as its “most accessible wearable yet” for real-time visual insights. The smart glasses deliver instant gaze and attention data in a user-friendly format, targeting enterprise training and user experience optimization, and exemplifying how advanced sensors are being applied to gather in-the-moment behavioral insights.
- Ipsos Synthesio Express Insights: In India, Ipsos’ social listening unit Synthesio rolled out a rapid service called Express Insights, promising social media intelligence reports with six-hour turnaround. By combining automated listening with Ipsos’ research expertise, the offering aims to help brands make quick strategic decisions, illustrating the demand for speedier, hybrid AI-human analysis in market research deliverables.
- MikMak’s E-commerce Analytics Upgrades: NYC-based analytics firm MikMak upgraded its platform to provide new pricing intelligence features and omnichannel performance measurement for brands. The latest enhancements include “Ad Units” for its headless commerce API, integration of Instacart’s API, and an exclusive partnership with AccelPay (a beverage alcohol fulfillment solution), all geared toward advancing real-time attribution and composable commerce for marketers. These tech improvements help marketers tie digital spend to sales outcomes, unifying data across retailers and driving more actionable insights.
B2B Market Research Developments
- ZoomInfo’s Flat Quarter and New GTM Focus: B2B intelligence firm ZoomInfo reported Q1 2025 revenue of $305.7M (down ~1% YoY) with net income up 77% to $26.8M. Notably, it launched a real-time buyer intelligence tool called GTM Studio and rebranded its Nasdaq ticker to “GTM” to emphasize its shift toward go-to-market insights. ZoomInfo’s CEO said results beat expectations and reiterated a strategy of “AI-first solutions” leveraging its data signals to drive client outcomes.
- Stagwell’s Record New Business: Marketing communications group Stagwell – parent of Harris Poll and other research units – announced $130M in net new business in Q1, almost double the prior year’s Q1, alongside net revenue of $564M (up 6%). While total revenue dipped 3% to $652M, the firm highlighted growth in its digital transformation and MarTech capabilities. Leadership noted macro volatility but expressed optimism for 2025 after a strong start, signaling robust demand for its insights and marketing services despite a “low point” in the political cycle.
- SurveyMonkey Expands in LatAm: Online survey provider SurveyMonkey (Momentive) opened a new office in Heredia, Costa Rica, to support its 19,000+ paying customers across Latin America. The site will house about 40 staff (with plans to grow) in customer success, engineering, HR and sales, tapping into the region’s skilled talent and strategic location. The company sees “significant opportunity” in LatAm and is just getting started there, underlining the ongoing geographic expansion of research firms to serve global B2B clients locally.
- Experian’s Growth: Consumer data giant Experian reported 7% organic revenue growth for its financial year ended March 31, 2025, reaching $7.51B in benchmark revenue and $2.08B in EBIT. The strong performance – amid inflation and regulatory headwinds – highlights sustained business demand for credit and marketing data services. Experian’s results suggest enterprises continue to invest in data-driven customer insights, especially as economic conditions drive the need for credit risk and consumer spending analytics.
Partnerships, Mergers, and Acquisitions
- Press Ganey Forsta + InMoment: In the customer experience (CX) tech arena, Press Ganey’s Forsta division announced an agreement to acquire Utah-based InMoment. The merger will combine Forsta’s experience management and research tech with InMoment’s CX optimization platform, creating a powerhouse with over 3,000 employees globally. This consolidation of CX and insights firms (for an undisclosed sum) underscores continuing M&A activity aimed at building end-to-end experience and feedback solutions.
- ServiceNow Acquires data.world: Workflow automation giant ServiceNow agreed to buy enterprise data catalog platform data.world, founded by tech veteran Brett Hurt. The deal (terms not disclosed) will fold data.world’s cloud data catalog and governance capabilities into ServiceNow’s AI-powered Workflow Data Fabric, strengthening its ability to deliver “trusted, connected intelligence” across organizations. ServiceNow’s leadership noted that integrating data.world will give AI agents and workflows richer context, as enterprises increasingly seek to turn “data chaos into clarity” for smarter business decisions.
- Keen & TapClicks Alliance: Marketing analytics firm Keen Decision Systems and martech platform TapClicks expanded their partnership to build an end-to-end marketing intelligence ecosystem with integrated predictive analytics and real-time execution. The extended collaboration aims to provide marketers with “unprecedented proactive control,” using AI-driven models to auto-adjust media spend in-flight, seamlessly bridge insights to campaign execution, and continuously refine attribution with live data. Both companies’ execs highlighted the need for moving from reactive to proactive marketing strategies, as the alliance blends Keen’s forecasting with TapClicks’ data management at scale.
Industry Leadership & Organizational Changes
- Behavix Stacks Its Team: Behavioral data startup Behavix appointed four prominent industry veterans – Julia Roland, Liam Corcoran, Alex Costakis, and John McLaren – to its advisory and business development team. They bring high-profile experience from firms like Nielsen, Ipsos, Research Now (Dynata), Comscore, Hitwise, Pathmatics, and ByteDance, bolstering Behavix’s expertise as it rapidly expands. CEO Hannu Verkasalo said these hires come on the heels of a strong quarter and will help the eight-month-old company scale its privacy-first, AI-ready behavioral data platform across continents.
- iSpot’s New Chief Scientist: TV ad measurement firm iSpot.tv hired industry veteran Steven Millman as its Chief Scientist to lead its research and methodology efforts. Millman (previously of Simmons, Comscore, and Dynata) will spearhead the science behind iSpot’s cross-platform ad attribution and attention metrics. The addition of a Chief Scientist of his caliber signals iSpot’s commitment to rigorous analytics as competition in the converged TV measurement space heats up.
- Konovo’s Board Gets Healthcare Data Expert: Newly formed healthcare research firm Konovo (a merger of Apollo Intelligence’s InCrowd, Survey Healthcare Global, and GlocalMind) appointed Gadi Lachman to its Board of Directors. Lachman, a veteran of clinical research data and founder of real-world data network TriNetX, brings 20+ years of health tech leadership. Konovo (operating across Americas, Europe, and Asia) says Lachman’s guidance will be invaluable in expanding its platform for connecting healthcare stakeholders with critical insights, especially as it integrates and scales its recent multi-company merger.
- Boutique Agencies Add Talent: Insights consultancies on both sides of the Atlantic made high-level hires. In London, One Minute to Midnight brought on Paul White (former Strategy Director at BAMM) as Senior Director to deepen its cultural insights and creative strategy expertise. In Paris, brand insights firm Lovebrands hired Eimear MacGarty (after nearly 10 years at The Behavioural Architects) as a Director, adding her behavioral science background to the team. These moves by smaller agencies highlight ongoing investment in experienced talent to better understand human emotions and behavior for clients.
Expert Insights & Thought Leadership
- Insights Association Fights “Archaic” Survey Rules: The U.S. Insights Association (IA) issued a forceful call for the federal government to modernize its “onerous, archaic” policies governing survey, opinion and market research. In comments to the U.S. OMB filed May 12, IA argued that the rules (unchanged since 2006) waste taxpayer money and hobble private research. The association urged updates such as streamlining project approval, embracing modern online methods (e.g. panels), removing “arbitrary” high response rate and incentive caps, opening federal contracts to more providers (including small businesses), and recognizing ISO quality standards. The IA’s advocacy underscores a push to align public-sector research practices with today’s tech and participant engagement realities.
- AI Meets Language – Getting Translation Right: A Research Live feature by Silvia Zenginova (COO of Axiom Translate) explored how AI-enhanced translation is accelerating multi-language research while keeping nuance intact. She noted that with insight teams needing global feedback in “hours, not days,” integrating advanced AI in the translation workflow has become essential to scale – yet 99% of large language models aren’t trained on specialized market research data, often yielding fluent but nuance-lacking output. The piece emphasizes that combining AI speed with human linguistic expertise is key to maintaining authentic sentiment and context in survey translations, illustrating the broader theme that human insight remains vital even as AI automates research processes.
LinkedIn-Style Key Takeaways:
- AI continues to transform market research: Google DeepMind’s new AlphaEvolve and Morning Consult’s AI-driven insights tool highlight how fast AI is accelerating analytics and decision intelligence.
- Enterprise insights on the rise: B2B-focused firms like ZoomInfo, Stagwell, and SurveyMonkey are expanding offerings and global reach, signaling strong demand for business insights despite mixed financials.
- Consolidation & collaboration: Major deals (Forsta + InMoment, ServiceNow + data.world) and partnerships (Keen & TapClicks) are reshaping the research tech landscape, combining strengths to deliver end-to-end data and CX solutions.
- Talent & leadership moves: From Behavix’s star-studded advisory hires to iSpot’s new Chief Scientist and boutique agencies adding senior experts, companies are investing in top talent to drive innovation and client value.
- Industry voices speak up: Leaders are pushing for progress – the Insights Association is urging an update to outdated federal research rules, and experts are sharing guidance (e.g. blending AI with human expertise) to navigate the future of insights.
