Optimistic, but Not Yet Ready: What Our Latest MRII Study Reveals about the Future of Insights

Last week at IIEX North America in Washington, DC, we released MRII’s 2026 global study of market research and insights professionals, the fourth in a series of annual studies of market research professionals around the world. The results are both encouraging and sobering.

On one hand, this is a profession that clearly believes in its future. On the other, it’s a profession still figuring out how to get there.

That tension between optimism and readiness is the defining story of the insights industry today.

A Profession That Believes in Its Relevance

Let’s start with what may be the most surprising finding.

At a time when AI dominates every industry conversation, and when some might assume automation could diminish the role of human-driven insights, 58% of insights professionals believe their function will become more important in the future, while only a small minority expect it to become less important.

That’s not cautious optimism. That’s conviction.

It’s reinforced by other signals:

• More than half report high levels of job satisfaction
• A majority of professionals expect the year ahead to be better than the last

Taken together, these findings tell a clear story: people in this field believe deeply in the value of what they do.

But belief alone doesn’t equal preparedness.

AI Is Here, But Not Yet Embedded

If optimism is the headline, AI is the subtext running through everything.

Nearly 8 in 10 professionals report a favorable view of generative AI. About half say they are using it regularly in some capacity. On the surface, that sounds like rapid adoption.

But look closer, and a different picture emerges.

Only about 1 in 10 say AI is fully embedded in their day-to-day workflows. Most are still experimenting, using it on select projects, in pockets of their work, rather than as a core operating capability.

Even more telling: across 15 different potential use cases, from questionnaire design to data analysis to reporting, no single application has broken through as a dominant “killer app.” The most common use cases top out at around 40% adoption.

In other words, AI is everywhere in conversation, but far from being fully integrated in practice.

Excitement and Anxiety Are Rising Together

At the same time, concern about AI’s impact is growing rapidly.

Nearly two-thirds of insights professionals now say they are concerned about job loss due to AI,a sharp increase from prior years.

This creates a striking dynamic:

• High belief in AI’s potential
• Limited integration into daily work
• Rising anxiety about its long-term implications

It’s not a contradiction, it’s a transition.

We are in that messy middle phase where the technology is real, the implications are becoming clearer, but the path forward hasn’t yet solidified.

The Real Shift: Where Value Is Created

To understand what comes next, it’s helpful to reframe the role of AI, as a replacement for insights professionals, but as a redistribution of value.

As Pam Forbus, SVP of Insights & Analytics at Mondelez, put it when we discussed these findings during our presentation at IIEX:

“AI will increasingly answer questions, deliver insights, execute projects, and support stakeholders faster and at lower cost than ever before. That doesn’t diminish the role of insights teams; it fundamentally changes it.”  How will AI impact the value of insights, asked Pam? 

This is the critical point.

If AI makes answers faster, cheaper, and more accessible, then answers themselves become less differentiated.

So where does value move?

Upstream.

“To stay relevant, insights teams must move up the value chain, shaping decisions, driving growth, building systems that leverage AI, and influencing strategy and action,” Forbus added. “The future isn’t just about doing the work faster; it’s about making the work matter more.”

That distinction, between doing the work and making it matter, is the new dividing line between good and great insights organizations.

The Skills Gap We’re Still Not Solving

Which brings us to perhaps the most persistent challenge in our study: the gap between the skills professionals are focused on building and the skills that actually drive impact.

When we ask insights professionals what they want to learn, the answer is consistent:

• AI and digital skills
• Advanced analytics
• Technical capabilities

All important. All necessary.

But when we talk to senior leaders, both on the client side and within agencies, the emphasis shifts.

What they value most isn’t just technical proficiency. It’s:

• Business acumen
• Communication
• The ability to influence decisions
• The ability to connect insights to outcomes

This disconnect has real consequences.

One of the strongest findings in our study is that opportunities to learn and grow are among the biggest drivers of job satisfaction and one of the largest differentiators between those who are highly satisfied and those who are not.

In other words, learning isn’t just about capability. It’s about engagement, retention, and long-term success.

And yet, even as the need for new skills accelerates, motivation to pursue training has declined.

That’s a gap the industry can’t afford to ignore.

Optimistic, but Not Yet Ready

So where does all of this leave us?

With a profession that is:

• Confident in its future
• Energized by new technology
• But still in the early stages of adapting to it

The good news is that the fundamentals are strong. The belief in the value of insights is not eroding, it’s growing.

The challenge is execution. And that means being trained and ready for what comes next.

AI is not eliminating the need for insights professionals. But it is raising the bar for what it means to create value.

The future will belong to those who can:

• Move beyond delivering answers
• Influence decisions and strategy
• Build systems that scale insight through AI
• And continuously develop the skills that make all of that possible

That’s not a small shift. It’s a fundamental one.

But if the optimism reflected in this year’s study is any indication, it’s a shift the profession is ready to make—even if it hasn’t fully figured out how yet.