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.
Curious how twir gets made? Watch the making‑of video and grab the twir prompt template to build your own edition.
Episode Summary: AI, Innovation, and Market Research Trends (July 25 – July 31, 2025)
AI and Tech Innovations in Market Research
- $10M for AI Data Analyst “Julius”: San Francisco-based Julius, an AI-powered data analysis platform, raised a $10 million seed round to democratize analytics across businesses. The Bessemer-led funding will fuel development of Julius’s natural language interface for predictive modeling and its collaborative analytics tools. Founder Rahul Sonwalkar positions Julius as making advanced data analysis accessible company-wide without specialized coding.
- Displayr’s Research Agent Automates Survey Reporting: Sydney’s analytics software Displayr unveiled “Research Agent,” a tool that uses large language models combined with statistical engines to turn raw survey data into editable reports in minutes. The AI-driven assistant automatically runs crosstabs, summarizes findings, generates charts/dashboards, and drafts narrative insights – tasks that normally take days. CEO Tim Bock says it can make researchers’ workflows “50 to 500 times faster,” freeing them to focus on interpreting results instead of preparing slides.
- Fractal Launches Cogentiq AI Platform: Mumbai-based decision support firm Fractal introduced Cogentiq, an “agentic AI” platform with pre-built intelligent agents for no-code performance measurement across the enterprise. Cogentiq’s agents integrate data from disparate systems, contextually analyze information, and autonomously trigger actions to improve customer engagement and operations. Early users in healthcare, insurance, and CPG report faster product development and agility. CEO Pranay Agrawal says Cogentiq moves users beyond static dashboards by not only delivering insights but also acting on them instantly via AI-driven workflows.
- Snowflake Backs Hightouch’s AI Marketing Agents: Hightouch, a “data activation” platform, received additional investment from Snowflake Ventures and Capital One Ventures, extending its Series C round. Hightouch’s platform syncs customer data from data warehouses to marketing tools, and last year it launched an “AI Decisioning” agent that continually tests messaging and timing to optimize personalized marketing. The new funds will expand R&D into how AI agents can transform marketing workflows. CEO Tejas Manohar said the backing is a “vote of confidence” in Hightouch’s vision for AI-powered marketing, and partnering with Snowflake will help jointly build solutions for their customers.
- AlikeAudience Debuts AURAR Data Collaboration Tool: Data science company AlikeAudience rolled out AURAR on the Snowflake Marketplace, enabling marketers to build “ideal audiences” through privacy-compliant collaboration on first-party data. The tool automates audience enrichment by blending brands’ own customer data with third-party attributes and uses lookalike modeling to scale up prospect targeting. Integrated with major adtech platforms, AURAR lets advertisers find new high-value segments while adhering to GDPR/CCPA privacy standards. Co-founder Bosco Lam says it cuts friction and risk in audience building, speeding up campaign optimization with secure data sharing on Snowflake’s framework.
B2B Market Research Developments
- Barb Begins Measuring YouTube on TV: U.K. audience measurement body Barb (with Kantar) has started reporting TV set viewership for 200 YouTube channels, making it the world’s first joint-industry ratings service to include YouTube-native content. The weekly reports show reach, share of total TV viewing, and age/gender profiles for popular YouTube channels – from kids’ shows (e.g., Peppa Pig) to influencers like MrBeast. Early data reveal that TV screens account for 43% of YouTube viewing time among UK adults 16+ (and over 50% for children 4–15), far outpacing smartphones. Barb says this “breaks new ground” in capturing how people actually watch YouTube on TV sets, informing advertisers and regulators with independent insight into streaming consumption.
- Azure Knowledge Rebrands as Mavrix:** U.S.-based data collection agency Azure Knowledge, known for its global panels and CATI services, announced a rebrand to Mavrix to reflect a more innovative, tech-forward identity. Founded in 2000, the firm offers everything from online communities to AI-driven data quality tools, and it operates across 85 countries. CEO Rafal Gajdamowicz said the new name responds to a “shifting market landscape,” positioning Mavrix as a “forward-thinking leader” while maintaining its values of quality and client-centric service. The rebranding comes as the company doubles down on innovation and global reach in data collection.
- Pureprofile Sees International Growth Surge: Australian insights firm Pureprofile reported FY2025 revenue of A$57.2M, up 19%, with UK and US markets driving a 28% surge in its non-Australia revenue. Rest-of-world sales (now 46% of the business) are poised to overtake ANZ revenues as Pureprofile expands globally. The company added 125 new clients during the year and launched new tech solutions on its self-service platform. CEO Martin Filz celebrated “record results” and highlighted growing demand for automated, insight-driven decision making, saying Pureprofile is well placed to lead the industry’s shift toward tech-enabled research and data monetization. As priorities for 2026, the firm will invest in UK staffing and explore expansion in the US.
Partnerships, Mergers, and Acquisitions
- Ipsos Acquires InMoment’s Healthcare Arm: Ipsos bolstered its healthcare research portfolio by acquiring InMoment’s healthcare experience division in Germany. The deal expands Ipsos’s expertise in patient and healthcare provider insights, especially within the German market, and reflects Ipsos’s strategy of targeted acquisitions to fuel growth in key sectors. (InMoment, a CX platform, had inherited the health division via its acquisition of Wootric; Ipsos will integrate the team and assets to serve pharmaceutical and health system clients.)
- Dig Insights Buys AI Startup OneCliq: Toronto-based Dig Insights acquired OneCliq, a cultural intelligence platform that uses AI to analyze social and consumer trends. The move enhances Dig’s research offerings with OneCliq’s “cultural context engine,” allowing clients to detect emerging consumer sentiments and cultural shifts in real time. By infusing OneCliq’s AI capabilities, Dig Insights aims to deepen its cultural analytics and deliver richer context in areas like branding and innovation research.
- Kantar & Cint Deepen Global Panel Partnership: Kantar extended its strategic partnership with panel provider Cint, in a deal integrating Kantar’s proprietary survey platforms with the Cint Exchange panel network. Kantar will gain direct access to Cint’s millions of “respondent-ready” panelists worldwide by plugging into Cint’s platform. The integration streamlines how Kantar sources survey respondents, boosting feasibility for difficult targets and speeding up fieldwork. Both firms tout the extension as leveraging their combined strengths in first-party data quality and programmatic panel reach to better serve clients at scale.
- Samba TV and Kochava Unite for Cross-Platform Metrics: U.S.-based Samba TV (known for smart TV viewership data) entered a partnership with attribution provider Kochava to offer unified measurement of advertising impact across TV and digital channels. By linking Samba’s opted-in TV audience panel with Kochava’s mobile and OTT tracking, the collaboration gives marketers an “always-on” view of how TV ads drive online actions at household level. Brands will be able to see cross-device reach, frequency, and conversions – e.g. tying linear TV exposures to app installs or web purchases – within a single framework. Samba TV CEO Ashwin Navin said it moves advertisers from “fuzzy assumptions to performance-driven optimization” by finally extending verified outcomes to linear television.
Industry Leadership & Organizational Changes
- Rival Group Elevates Seven Team Members: Rival Technologies and Reach3 Insights – recently merged under Rival Group – announced seven senior promotions, reflecting growth after their Angus Reid merger. Co-founder Dale Evernden is now EVP of Design & Innovation at Rival Technologies, after leading the firm’s rapid experimentation lab. At Reach3 Insights, Katie Lahman, Jared Streeto, and Christine Nguyen were all promoted to Vice President roles, and other staff stepped into new Director positions across technical support, research, and demand generation. Co-CEO Jennifer Reid said these leaders are “redefining what’s possible in insights” by blending curiosity with tech, and their advancement signals confidence in Rival’s mobile-first, conversational research approach.
- MedSurvey Boosts Client Service Leadership: Niche healthcare data collector MedSurvey promoted three veteran team members on July 25: Michelle Burris and Lace Cates both became Associate VPs of Client Services, and Alex Bondarenko was elevated to Manager of Survey Programming. The moves come shortly after MedSurvey named a new COO and SVP, as the company scales to handle more pharmaceutical and medical client projects. CEO Paul Golota said the promotions put these high performers in positions to “have a greater impact” on key accounts, emphasizing MedSurvey’s commitment to growing talent from within and investing in people as a core value.
- Zeta Global Hires AI Lab Head from Big Tech: Marketing cloud company Zeta Global appointed Nate Yohannes as President of its Zeta Data & AI Lab and Global Head of R&D. Yohannes is a high-profile hire with a tech pedigree – he led generative AI initiatives at Meta (focusing on Llama-based ad ranking models) and previously drove AI strategy projects at Microsoft. At Zeta, he will spearhead an innovation group tasked with turning experimental ideas into new revenue lines beyond the core marketing platform. CEO David Steinberg praised Yohannes as a visionary “builder” who can convert breakthrough tech into business results, noting that Zeta is on the cusp of an AI-driven marketing “revolution” and his leadership will accelerate turning today’s AI breakthroughs into tomorrow’s industry standards.
Expert Insights & Thought Leadership
- Trust and Tech in B2B – Podcast with Matt Powell: On the GreenBook Podcast, Matt Powell (Managing Director, B2B International) discussed how emotional factors and trust now often outweigh purely rational criteria in B2B purchase decisions. In conversation with host Lenny Murphy, Powell noted rising client focus on data quality and “trustworthy” insights amid information overload. He also explored the role of AI and synthetic data in speeding up B2B research without sacrificing validity. Powell described how B2B International’s integration into Dentsu has created an end-to-end offering (blending research with creative and media execution) to deliver more holistic B2B strategy. The episode provided a candid 20-year perspective on evolving B2B research challenges – from tiny niche samples to the promise of AI-driven agility in insight generation.
- Satirizing the “AI Style” of Writing: Researchscape CRO Jeffrey Henning penned a tongue-in-cheek guide on “How to Write Like an AI,” highlighting quirks that give machine-generated text away. In the humorous list, Henning advises would-be robots to “make up citations to sound authoritative” and use overly confident tones and excessive em-dashes – all hallmarks of GPT-like prose. While playful, the piece underscores a serious point for insights professionals: as generative AI tools proliferate in reporting, knowing those “telltale traits” helps differentiate genuine human insight from auto-generated filler. It’s a lighthearted reminder to maintain rigor (and a human touch) in research storytelling, even as we embrace AI for efficiency.
