AI Transforms Market Research: IIEX 2025 Conference Insights

June’s Innovation Insight Exchange (IIEX) conference once again brought research and insight professionals from around the world together at Amsterdam’s beautiful Beurs van Berlage conference centre. As with nearly every other industry, the event showcased the rapid transformation market research is undergoing thanks to AI, which has and continues to change the way brands learn from, connect with, and build for consumers.

While the impressive innovations showcased at this years IIEX demonstrate AI’s many benefits, the brands using it most successfully are those who are able to combine AI efficiency with human contextual understanding and strategic thinking. 

AI Transformation in Action

The conference revealed countless examples of AI transformation across the research landscape, fundamentally reshaping how brands understand and connect with consumers:

AI-Moderators and Synthetic Users are Evolving Traditional Qual Approaches

Multiple platforms highlighted how AI moderation can bolster psychological safety for participants, leading to more candid and forthcoming responses. Unlike live groups or one on one interviews where social dynamics can inhibit honest feedback, several platforms shared how AI moderators allow participants to share more authentic insights without fear of judgment.

Beyond AI Moderation, brands are also experimenting with Synthetic Users and AI Personas in their marketing and innovation testing, which can be useful in the early concept development phase of a project. 

However, when it comes to testing new products and prototypes, getting feedback from real users remains critical, not only to capture the user experience if testing with prototypes, but because Synthetic Users and Personas are built from previous learnings, making feedback an extrapolation of previous data. For new product innovation there won’t be existing data that can reliably predict how users will react.   

Real-Time Analysis Delivering Insights In Hours, Not Weeks

The speed revolution was evident throughout the conference, with multiple claims of “X number of conversations in 24 hours” and “results in 48 hours.” This acceleration isn’t just about faster processing, it’s changing the rhythm of business decision-making. Instead of waiting weeks or months for research findings, brands can now iterate concepts, test messaging, and validate strategies in near real-time. This enables more agile product development cycles and allows brands to respond quickly to emerging market trends or competitive threats.

While the time to answers has gotten shorter, the quality of analysis is key, with brands needing to ensure a highly trained researcher is checking and layering insight into the synthesis provided. Our experience shows that these time savings and quick-response research approaches are best served for day-to-day level decision making and end-of-funnel questions, rather than strategic challenges and open ended discovery for new product innovation. 

Democratised Insights Enabling Every Team Members To Access Consumer Intelligence

AI platforms are breaking down traditional barriers to consumer insights. Marketing teams can now conduct their own consumer conversations under the guidance of their research teams. This democratisation means faster decision-making and more consumer-centric thinking across the organisation. Brand managers can test concepts directly with consumers, product developers can validate features in real-time, and commercial teams can understand purchase drivers without lengthy briefing cycles.

As with more traditional approaches to research, the task remains the same for research and insights teams when it comes to democratising access to consumer research in their organisations: ensuring that questions are being asked in the right way. Training teams in how to avoid bias, writing questions that aren’t leading, and driving for clarity are just as important in an age of AI. 

Final Thoughts

IIEX 2025 has shown that the traditional research boundaries choices between speed, quality, and cost have been redrawn. Forward-thinking brands aren’t debating whether to adopt AI-powered research, but how to integrate these capabilities to stay competitive in an increasingly dynamic marketplace. 

The most successful implementations seen not only at this years conference but in our own experience are those that combine AI automation with human strategic thinking. There are many benefits in allowing AI to handle the operational complexity – recruitment, moderation, initial analysis – while human experts focus on strategic interpretation, cultural context, and business implications. This division of labor allows research teams to scale their impact while maintaining the nuanced understanding that drives breakthroughs.

While the AI transformation has arrived, the core skills in research, creativity, and innovation remain critical in fully leveraging the potential of these technologies in order to develop product breakthroughs. 

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“The Untapped approach accelerates R&D teams’ development of breakthrough products through consumer-centric innovation. Product research is a core tenant of the Untapped approach, connecting brands with the insights that drive commercial success.” – Untapped Innovation 

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