The Real Story Behind AI’s Rapid Takeover of Research

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IIEX North America proved to be more than just another conference: it was a turning point showcasing real AI deployments in action, from synthetic sampling to AI-moderated calls. The energy on the floor reflected what's happening across the industry: massive funding rounds, strategic M&A combining behavioral and conversational data, and a fundamental shift from insights-as-service to insights-as-infrastructure.

Meanwhile, data quality has moved from technical concern to boardroom priority, with new approaches to fraud detection and verification gaining traction. The team also covered upcoming IIEX events, product launches, and why the GRIT report is making waves.

Many thanks to our producer, Karley Dartouzos.  

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Transcript

Lenny Murphy: It says it's Showtime, but now we're live. It says it's Showtime. There we go.

Karen Lynch: All right. So hi, everybody. First, it says it's Showtime, but then it doesn't say we're live. So which is it? I guess Showtime's the warning, right? I guess Showtime is the warning. I wish it just said it's Showtime, period, because that's more fun than we're live.

Lenny Murphy: I don't even see it. I just saw it live. But we're still alive, and we're back after two weeks. And folks, so let's set the stage, Karen, because there's a hell of a lot to catch up on, just the news.

Karen Lynch: I can't even, I can't even.

Lenny Murphy: Huge level of news. Right. You weren't even, because we also, we need to talk about IAX and your quick takeaways, quick takeaways from IAX. And folks, we are, we're going to try and keep condensing this in. I know we've, we've spread, but it is, before we get into IAX, just talk about that. I mean the level, the amount of news that is coming through that is, we think, is relevant, is huge. Uh, what, 60, you can count 68 articles and we're trying to condense that down into something manageable, separate the signal from the noise and do all that for you.

Karen Lynch: And just realize weeks, this was two weeks. And the thing is, remember at one point we were like, we can do this every two weeks. No, we can't. And um, not possible. And, you know, this was extenuating circumstances. We, you know, we couldn't do this last week. I could not have shown up at noon last week. Well, let's be clear. I could have, but I was, I was watching my daughter present her honors thesis, you know, last Friday. So that was a commitment, even if I could have rallied after a very exhausting IAX North, wonderfully fulfilling, very exhausting IX in North America.

Lenny Murphy: And so you and I commented before on Slack that, yes, thank you, thank you, LinkedIn, for curating the feed. But I will say from an observational standpoint, yes, of course, we're seeing more, but the sheer volume of posts is far different than anything that I have seen in the past. The, and I do monitor these things. So, regardless of that, there are more people posting really interesting stuff about IAX.

Karen Lynch: And that's what stood out to me. What stood out to me was people really feeling, having, leaving with meaning, leaving with kind of, um, filled with inspiration this year. I feel like last year there was a lot of overwhelm. Um, people are still wrestling with the future kind of uncertain, not sure of, of the place of AI in their lives. This year, people were like, let's go. And I think that's what we're feeling. I think that's what we're seeing is people embracing where we are right now and really motivated, really engaged, really ready to conquer. And I think that's what we're seeing. The vibe was really good. Really, people were empowered. People were strengthened. It was really powerful this year.

Lenny Murphy: Good stuff. Good. Good. Well, and you, as the mistress of the agenda, right?

Karen Lynch: The architect. That's a nice title. You like that? I do, I do. It was, you know, as soon as you say, for people in our generation, it's easy to say mistress of the- It's like Elvira, is that what she- I definitely thought of Elvira. Mistress of the dark. I sat up very tall and had long, straight hair. I can only say that to people who would even understand what that meant. Well, thank you. I will take the compliment that it was Lenny. Thank you.

Lenny Murphy: I know what you're going to be. So we're going to address Elvira. Anyway, the mistress of the agenda, Karen, mistress of the agenda. Okay. We digress. Uh, what was that, you, you've had a week to process. I have tons of posts guys go look at. I'm sure you've seen tons of, of, RelayDi-X. Inspiration, but if you had to condense it into like one really key kind of takeaway.

Karen Lynch: Yeah, I think what we saw, first of all, I really need to shout out our sponsors who are listening for showing up with their client partners more than ever before. I mean, 50% of our spots had featured brands on stage talking about how they are using AI, how they're using various methodologies. It was a really strong year in terms of how they're putting into practice the research technologies that are visible on our event floor. And I think that it was incredibly useful to see AI at work. It wasn't just hypothetical anymore. It wasn't just theoretical anymore. It was, you know, let's talk about how we're putting synthetic samples to work. You know, let's talk about how we're, you know, using AI moderated calls. And they showed examples of it and they showed successful use cases. And I just think that the other brands in attendance were jazzed. They were going to different sessions and the brand, the people that represented brands that I talked to, they were, they were like, you know, they were, they were, they were into it. You know, they were, they were seeing the applications for their own businesses. Um, and it was, it was real for everybody. And I, that was, that was my takeaway. That was the vibe. You know, there was a really, this was the first year, even the final plenary sessions were highly attended, uh, It was so fulfilling to see. And one of them was future list honorees, two of them representing the brands, talking about how they're currently taking insights into action. And I would say, we talk about that a lot. How do you take insights into action? How do brands activate them? And this was the year that was being talked about everywhere. How are brands making decisions based on the insights, and they made it real, they made it tangible. And that was throughout the entire event. It was awesome.

Lenny Murphy: Yeah, if we think about it from kind of the funnel of what we're trying to do here, right? Yeah.

Karen Lynch: And everything that we do, right?

Lenny Murphy: Yeah. Is that, well, that funnel of, look, here's these transformations happening in real time.

Karen Lynch: Yeah.

Lenny Murphy: Monitor those things at a macro level and a very tactical level and share that information. But that culminates, to your point, at events like IAX, where, okay, now, you see where this is led, right? All this stuff we've been talking about, here's the demonstration point, right? Here's the proof point. I mean, even in GRIT, everything else that we do is tracking these things that then we show it on stage at IAX. Here's what this means in a pragmatic way, uh, these, how these are being implemented and making a difference for brands, which ultimately is the deal. So I've never thought of it quite that way until right, right. The second, but that's it, that this ecosystem that we've built off of, you know, content analysis and, and data and yada, yada, yada culminates at IAX.

Karen Lynch: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And they get to, they get to discuss it, right? That's The Exchange. That's the vision. And I think that, you know, one of the things that you see happening is the excitement, the the conversations, whether it's in the private meeting program, which, you know, was, you know, developed through the years, whether it's over lunch, you know, the, the conversations that people are having on the exhibit floor, or in between sessions, even or, you know, this particular venue, you haven't seen it, but there's this really cool staircase. You know, it's just that I've seen the pictures. Yeah. Yeah, it's just cool. The conversations people are having in between sessions about sessions, you know, about the topic of the day, you know, about the future of insights, it is palpable. And it's just pretty cool. So the energy and somebody had said Um, it was a first timer and they were like, they had heard me say something about, you know, the vibe at IAX. I'm like, you have to just go and experience it because we vibrate differently when we're there. You know, it's like the energy is, it is a different feeling than any other industry conference. And when they were there, they're like, Hey, you're right. We are all vibrating at a higher level and by design. So it's pretty sweet. 

Lenny Murphy: So, yeah, very cool. Well, let's, uh, And thank you for all the work and the whole team for all the work that's done that, you know, people, I guess, a lot of folks still think, well, Lenny, you're still doing this. No. And, and purely at a personal level, the, you know, I, yes, I helped create IX and did all of that for years. And I, you have taken it to such greater heights and levels than I was ever able to do. And I couldn't be more proud of the work that you and the whole team has done to take this vision we started 15 years ago, not even 15 years ago, whatever it was, anyway, and just made it so amazingly awesome and integral to the entire industry. So thank you and thank everybody for, you know, nurturing and building IEX into what it is.

Karen Lynch: Lenny, I'm just so glad we have this recorded. Thank you. That's probably one of the kindest statements that I've heard. I mean, I've heard a lot of kind statements, but it's very kind. Thank you. And I know the team appreciates it, right? Gosh, we have a good team.

Lenny Murphy: We do. We have kick-ass. Bad-ass. We have a bad-ass team.

Karen Lynch: It's amazing. You know, we, on, on Friday, not everybody knows this, but on Friday, we have a team day and, you know, we we kind of take the morning and, you know, whether it's some, some people on our team go to a bookstore, some people go get a massage, some people get work done. I went to see my daughter deliver her honors thesis, which was amazing. You know, everybody kind of does their thing. And then we come together for some team building. And then we have a lovely dinner in the evening. And we kind of spend some time discussing, debriefing what we accomplish. And you know we sit and we we you know we do spend some time saying those sorts of things. And this year was a particularly strong year. The team came together beautifully. There was no drama, no issues. It was an extraordinary year. We had two new people on our team with Emma and Savannah joining. It was extraordinary. And yeah, downright one of the best, certainly the best one that we've had since I joined the team. It was really very, very strong. I feel so grateful. So, and now, you know, it's probably time to shout out IAX Europe, which is, you know, around the corner. We all have to, we've all booked our travel and there's Carly on the job. Yeah.

Lenny Murphy: And, and if you miss North America, if you can't make it to Europe, um, and if you miss North America, we also have IAX West. Carly, I don't know if we have that, uh, but we do have, we will have a second North American event on the West coast in the fall.

Karen Lynch: And yeah, we started talking about the West. Keep Europe up, Carly, for sure. Because Europe is coming up in June. We will have West coming up this fall. We'll have plenty. Once Europe has come and gone, we'll start to promote IAX AI a bit. That's our virtual event. We'll start to go all out for IAX West. And we've certainly talked about both of them. The West will have a very different vibe than North America. I'm actually really curious about it because we're being pretty deliberate about some of our choices. For that event.

Lenny Murphy: It's a different event.

Karen Lynch: It's going to be very cool in a different way. It's going to be very West Coast. And not lose some of the things that make IAX exactly what it is. But yeah, Europe's around the corner now. It's May 8th, and at the end of June, we're going to be back in Amsterdam. And again, we came back, and Cara's like, OK, book your travel for Amsterdam. Yeah, we will be bringing in a different vibe as well.

Lenny Murphy: Right. So I am a European.

Karen Lynch: Right.

Lenny Murphy: So take what works with IAX and apply it from Europeans. Anyway, we've gone on and on about that.

Karen Lynch: And we haven't even touched the news.

Lenny Murphy: And I know, I know that there was one, one news piece that we didn't include here, but I would encourage everybody if you get a chance, go to green book blog, or else I could have bought you more, but I'm sorry, I still go to greenbook.org.

Karen Lynch: It's not a blog, it's articles.

Lenny Murphy: I know, right, right.

Karen Lynch: Yeah, it's more editorial these days.

Lenny Murphy: Yeah, absolutely. So but there was news this week, I just want to bring that attention real quick, and then we'll dive into other stuff because it's part of this acceleration. And what we saw at IEX, the news of the JVs with private equity coming in and going into both open AI and anthropic and billion dollars towards saying, okay, now you have to focus on deployment within the rest of the industry. So this, why I even bring that up is that idea of, as we showed on stage at IAX, the execution, and a lot of those are big brands. In the world as a whole, now there's going to be an accelerated push with $12 billion funding it to deploy these solutions customized, non-generic, but customized to the workflows in each of these, in every other business. So what, we're still kind of the tip of the spear. It's about to accelerate significantly over the course of the next year. So next year at IAX, it may be Lenny's Pizza talking about what they've done or whatever, right? Some, uh, uh, you know, mid, uh, you know, SMB that now we're going to have access to these solutions in a different way than just the big brands of the world. So, we wrote about that. I wrote about that.

Karen Lynch: And thank you, Karen, for helping to get that out the door quickly, earlier this week, and it's on. It's really not me. It's really not me. It's really Ashley. But, yes. Thank you, Ashley.

Lenny Murphy: So, something to think about, go back and if you get a chance, read that because of this, it helps to set the frame of what's next. Now, and now what's, what's now? This is the news. So what do you do, you're catching up? What jumped out at you?

Karen Lynch: What do you want to start with? Well, so what jumped out at me, I have to talk about Crispin, Crispin Beal, and the IDX appointment of him to CEO. And here's why I have to start with this. So I don't even know where to start with this, because it's almost funny to me. So, like, where do I start? I have to start with Janice Lai, who used to work with him at Behaviorally, had been emailing me last week while I was there, and she kept getting my autoresponder, and I kept not writing back because I was, you know, boots on the ground at IAX, saying kind of like, hey, you know, like, just want to connect about this, because she will be working with him there. She's working kind of in tandem with him there. And I kept, you know, again saying, oh, I'll get back to her. But then she also connected with Corey, who was still at Behaviorally, and said, if you see Karen, tell her I need to talk with her. So he then stopped me on the showroom floor and was like, you know, you have to talk to Janice. And I'm like, oh my goodness, I promise I'll get back to Janice. Of course, I talked to Dana. Dana's like, we have to, you know, connect with Janice. So shout out to Janice. The message did break through to me. And Dana is in touch with her. But I think it's a really important appointment. So for those of you, it's important because it's one of those signals that Lenny and I talk about all the time. So IDX appointed Crispin Beal as CEO. So it's one of those senior industry leadership moves, right, that we talk about. Behaviorally, right, Lenny, Behaviorally is, you know, this behavioral insights firm, right? So it plays into that, but IDX is a different kind of firm, right? Now we're talking about PR communications, marketing agencies. So we're taking insights expertise, somebody who has this behavioral insights expertise, going into this marketing communications, kind of competing with those types of players. We're moving from just insights to this other model where we're now becoming a kind of digital communications. Now we're baking data and insights into that sort of infrastructure. Insights is becoming infrastructure and execution. And I think we need to be paying attention to those sorts of moves, period. It's not the first move like this where we're getting insights into adjacencies.

Lenny Murphy: Is moving to, which is why I brought up the piece on the, you know, these big macro moves with the, because the workflow, right, it's all about workflow. Now, what's the workflow insights to activation, that's the, the ultimate component. When you see people like Crispin being appointed as global CEOs of companies like IDX, that's really evidence of that, like, okay, the, you know, insights drive activation, whether it's PR, marketing or communication, whatever the case may be. And all of these other things that we harp on every week are part of that infrastructure change. So the enabling component to make that now happen in a seamless way, far more efficiently. So if we want to jump into the M&A stuff, shout out to Crispin.

Karen Lynch: Congrats. Yeah, congrats on that move. I think it's really interesting. Yeah, and certainly they're getting, at IDX, they're getting more than just insights, right? They're getting behavioral insights, which is, you know, I always kind of, I always kind of level up from insights when you've got behavioral expertise, too, because to me, that's a, that's somebody who's got, you know, kind of, that's somebody who's got just that leveled up expertise as well. It's not just, you know, it's not just, it's somebody who's got the duality there that I think is really important. So anyway, I think they've made a smart move. I think he's made smart moves, so we're all paying attention. So yeah, M&A activity. Remember, this is a brief summary of some of the activities. This is not all the M&A activity that could be relevant. There's a lot. Go ahead and talk about the Omni. This is just more AI analytics, but go ahead and share, because it's big money going into AI analytics.

Lenny Murphy:  Right. Yeah. Omni raised 120 million series C, uh, 1.5 billion valuation. Um, or it's, it's intelligence platform synthesizing information from lots of different solutions, you know, so who's, you know, going for that platform play, um, overall, uh, the, uh, the sent news last week, uh, big deal for him missed it. Um, it's a public company, the, uh, Patrick Comer and has put together a consortium of folks to take it private, which I applaud. Um, it's because they're, they're going to transform the business, right? Now, what was really interesting to you, you probably didn't get a chance to read the release.

Karen Lynch: There were two data points there that were incredibly interesting.

Lenny Murphy: One was, uh, their volume of surveys coming, going through scent had Okay. The growth. It's in their, uh, their media measurement business, which is driven from a pixel throughout their, uh, their audience access, their audience network. That's where the growth was saying that a public company has to reposition a business from, look, we have this transaction and all this volume, but that volume is decreasing because we knew it would. We always knew it would. We've said for years, the need to ask questions would decrease. Decrease. So the, uh, so I, I do not know this, but I believe what they are doing is, you know, go private repositioning the business as data infrastructure, powering, not just market research as they have been, but lots of other use cases.

Karen Lynch: Yeah.

Lenny Murphy: So by being the connective tissue between the audience and you know, people who need it doesn't necessarily mean asking a question. That's a different business model. By going private, they get to invest the money they need to without worrying about keeping investors happy, reposition the business, and go for that. So that was incredibly indicative. We've talked about that model for every panel since we started. Prior to our first episode, we're like, panel companies, are you paying attention? Well, here we go. One of the largest players in the industry from a volume standpoint and a revenue perspective, has just taken the steps they need to to reposition to capitalize on that opportunity. Everybody else, you better pay attention.

Karen Lynch: Yeah, yeah.

Lenny Murphy: So big, big deal. And that'll probably end up being that'll probably end up being a billion dollar transaction when all said and done.

Karen Lynch: Yeah, yeah. Wow. Cool. Cool.

Lenny Murphy: Yeah.

Karen Lynch: Digital mind. After launching. Yeah. I know this is interesting because another way of speaking is right? So they acquire okay, human to combine. Verified opted in, that's what was interesting. Verified opted in, so not based on recall, behavioral signals, like behavioral signals, like ad exposure, site visits, purchases, with the conversational feedback that you can get, you know, to kind of offer the full package. So another smart move, like, let's combine the two, right? Let's get that conversational feedback, Let's combine it with behavioral signals spoiler alert. Somebody else is doing this too. We'll get to that further down. So yeah, this is via acquisition. So, um, yeah. Yeah.

Lenny Murphy: Shout out to Al Dacotis from Phoenix, Phoenix Market Research, you know, when they had sold to, I forget who they sold to. But anyway, so it's cool to see, you know, there's another established player, who's Bittman Yeah, you know being engaged in this as well. So yeah the D view technologies Yeah, that was See, this is the two weeks where it comes in. Yeah, that was a partnership out of India if I recall correctly. Right. But focusing on basically an analytics company, saying, alright, we're gonna invest in this company and use it so we can enhance our own capabilities.

Karen Lynch: Yeah, there's a quote in here that I'm going to read verbatim because it speaks to everything we're saying. This investment, so DV Technologies received this investment from Grandview Research. This investment reflects Grandview Research's broader ambition to evolve from a research publisher into a technology-enabled intelligence ecosystem, integrating data, AI, and analytics into enterprise workflows. It's a rising platform. Yes, that's what makes sense. That's what we're talking about. That's what people are doing. So without knowing much about either of these companies, D view technologies or grand view research, I'm like, that's what we're talking about.

Lenny Murphy: That's that's, you know, it's on trend.

Karen Lynch: 100% intelligence ecosystem. Yes. Yeah, I see. I see that move without knowing anything about these companies. That move makes sense.

Lenny Murphy: So well, so that's a good segue. So let's just condense this, right?

Karen Lynch: I didn't even see it until I saw it. I put it all down there. And didn't we talk about this two weeks ago? We did.

Lenny Murphy: We did. We Niq. So this is not the Niq show or the Lissa labs.

Karen Lynch: This week is not Listen Labs. We have nothing to say about Listen Labs. Although we could because I could talk about what they pulled at North America, we don't have to protest here's the deal. Let's give it the caveat before we talk about everything that NIQ is doing. What they're doing overall is they're building infrastructure, right? So they are, they are making these moves. And with all the other companies that are listening to us, I don't even know if they listen to us, by the way, like, we should probably find out. Um, but, but I know they should be listening. But, what about other people who can't spend at Niq's level, right? We know that you all don't have their funding or their money, but they're moving into action. They are acting on many levels. They're partnering, they're launching, they're taking action to turn the intelligence that they have into infrastructure and they're making moves to embed what they're doing into workflows. Everything that Lenny and I are talking about, they're doing all of this stuff.

Lenny Murphy: So, and not just have to own everything. I mean, there were a lot of partnerships, right?

Karen Lynch: So they're looking at you, you want to rattle them off yet. Go, go for it.

Lenny Murphy: They, uh, they partnered with Street Star. They partnered with, uh, uh, range me with commerce lab, uh, Triton Digital, blah, blah, right? The point is that the, I mean, you said it, they have these assets, they're augmenting those assets, and oh, where's the Reese's Cup? Our chocolate and their peanut butter makes the Reese's Cup, and they're embedded as infrastructure, they don't have to own the relationship. You can access these products directly through them, but you can also access them through their partners and through this the NIQ Cloud that they've put up, which is connected to everything else. So we're gonna, yes, not everybody has the resources of NIQ, but also the buried entry from an execution standpoint is not what it used to be. And I think there's an example that they invested in some great developers internally, and they're just shipping stuff like this and doing those things. And everybody can do some variation of that. Maybe I'll be able to launch ten different partnerships in a week.

Karen Lynch: Okay, but the No, but they've shown where things are going obviously and that that is the benefit of a company of the size of you know of an IQ But we devise technologies in grand view we did the same variations on a theme They're all doing this and they don't have resources of us and I think you also, you know you know you you very deliberately used, you know, the shipping mentality, the language of that, which is great for, you know, for that, you know, kind of product development mentality that they clearly have, which may not be what traditional research companies have, but certainly new research companies have, right? Research technology platforms have it. So if you're a traditional research company, think about it that way. What, what product are you developing and are ready to ship and how quickly can you do it, build it and ship it out? And yep, yep, yep. It's hard to think like a product developer and go about your business a little bit differently and start to learn a different way of going about your business because that is how you will stay current and work faster.

Lenny Murphy: Well, so another example of question pro, right? The, uh, and REO. So they've been doing this too, almost. Weekly, bi-weekly, but a very rapid clip of partnerships, new relationships, expanding capabilities. They're not an IQ size. I mean, they're a good-sized company, but they're not that big. So we see the same example, right? And now they're a technology platform, but they're on it.

Karen Lynch:  They're just popping stuff out over and over again.

Lenny Murphy: And it's really, I think there's a lot of inspiration there.

Karen Lynch: From that. This move is sort of like the digital mind and the okay human, right, where they're bringing together this transactional data to kind of show what the actual behavior is with some, you know, some survey data. So maybe not conversational data, maybe survey data, but they're still working on that, say do gap, right, which is what we're always trying to purchase.

Lenny Murphy: I mean, that's, that's what they're, they're looking at specifically what's happening on web purchases.

Karen Lynch: Right. So yeah, good for you.

Lenny Murphy: We want to launch a new product.

Karen Lynch: Yeah, yeah, I did not get deep into any of these. So, um, so let's just let's just so many when there's just a list of them. And there were more. So yeah, go ahead, especially I know while you're closer into the Walmart data venture stuff. So yeah, go ahead.

Lenny Murphy: Yeah, well, one more data venture with their scintilla media data feed.

Karen Lynch: What's interesting is Hold on, before you go, I am just now seeing Steve Henge's comment. I know.

Lenny Murphy: Yes, Elvira.

Karen Lynch: OK, sorry. Go through the product lodges, but I'm just seeing Steve's comment that he also loves some Elvira. So he also just aged himself. Anyway, go ahead.

Lenny Murphy: Who doesn't love Elvira?

Karen Lynch: All right, now you diverted me again. Real quick. I did, I did.

Lenny Murphy: It was a free comic book day last Saturday. Every year. Oh, is that right? Anyway, we were in Chattanooga for my daughter's recital rehearsal time. We went to the comic book store. And there was an Elvira impersonator out there with the hearse and everything. And it was just like, OK, that's cool.

Karen Lynch: All right, anyway. I told you that my first qualitative project was in-store intercepts for an Elvira display at a liquor store. So here I am. I think I remember they had that display. What was the type? Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Was it beer? Yeah, it was for like Coors or something like that. Yeah. There's a 23 year old me in a liquor store, getting intercepted, asking people how they felt about the Elvira display. First of all, that's when I knew I was like, just like, you know, destined to become a moderator because I enjoyed that project so much.

Lenny Murphy: Anyway, isn't it funny that you still remember that project? And I remember that promotion.

Karen Lynch: So here we are.

Lenny Murphy: Steve, I bet you remember that promotion too, don't you? All right. So Walmart, Walmart Data Ventures, said before they're in it to win it, have all these data resources. What was interesting is this is now API, so Walmart Connect. So this Cloud, this interoperability, this being part of infrastructure, instead of trying to own the whole thing, you have to come to us only. Now they're saying, man, you can access our you know, some aspects of our data and we're going to feed a part of the feed, part of the workflow, hugely big deal, right? I think to see Walmart making that type of play, um, that their data does it, they're going to keep the good stuff internally, right? So to speak, but they're also giving people access to the information to build things on their own within their infrastructure. The point is there it's their data. That data is being monetized just in a different way. Yeah, and so that was hugely relevant for that next market logic, their personas, synthetic panels, so that was really interesting. They're deep sites. So taking Existing client data, right? That's what market logic does. It's the home of all the data and light. Well, let's build personas off of that. So that was really cool. Say there was participant verification. So building research trust. So we're getting more now finally into the world of almost like, you know, KYC, you know, know your customers and deploying some components like that within for data privacy and security and, you know, validation.

Karen Lynch: So that was cool.

Lenny Murphy: Do you want me to just rattle through or do you want to jump in on any of these?

Karen Lynch: I can rattle through a few of these. Again, I haven't read, I haven't read deep, but we're certainly shouting them out. Cercana launched a market share driver. Helping US CPG retailers identify factors behind changes in market share.

Lenny Murphy: So good luck with that one. Yeah, leveraging their data, new ways, yep.

Karen Lynch: Yeah, Human Listening launched EVE, QualPro, another Qual AI tool. You know, another one designed to combine speed, scale, and methodological rigor. So that's another one for Qualys to check out. VoxPopMe launched Compass, another AI tool. Research agent analyzing existing data for, you know, it says launching new research to fill some gaps. So good for Vox Pop Me. Do you know more about that one or is that just...

Lenny Murphy: No, but I love that model of, okay, here's our existing research, analyze it, what's missing, execute new research.

Karen Lynch: Yeah, let's keep going. And I know nothing about GLG. Do you know anything about GLG?

Lenny Murphy: Yeah, well, GLG is a Gershon Lehman Group expert network. So, you know, you get recruited to do an hour-long conversation with somebody on a specific topic. But that was always a very customized, very, you know, very consultative-driven approach.

Karen Lynch: Now they've AI-ified everything. AI-ified. AI-ified.

Lenny Murphy: Everything. I expected it to, so it didn't. And that's fine. Didn't make it here. But the survey saw Steve from Zappy launching a CEO friend, right? Which is digital, a digital CEO, digital CMO, right?

Karen Lynch: Yeah, we talked about that two weeks ago.

Lenny Murphy: Did we?

Karen Lynch: Okay, I wasn't sure. Definitely together. Okay.

Lenny Murphy: The point is, that's what I expect to see next from these expert networks. Yeah, yeah, is creating the digital twin personas of the experts and access that way. Yeah, overall.

Karen Lynch: So yeah, interesting. I talked about that two weeks ago, because anyway, long story short, because I loved it. I thought it was super cool.

Lenny Murphy: I did.

Karen Lynch: Yeah, it is. It's all a blur. But yeah, so a couple of good reads. The voice of the user reviewed, you know, some work that Stanford and Columbia put together on digital twins. You know, finding promise, but with some caveats, which I think is the theme, you know, certainly coming out of North America, I had written about it. You know, we've had other authors write about it. Like there's a and I think we talked about this two weeks ago, too. Like there's some cautionary tales like it has its place in the world. Words on the street have their place in the world. It's not fit for use for everything. Also, and certainly and Rick is at Qualtrics talked about this too, like it has to, um, you know, we have to, we're continuously having to update, you know, update our research so that these twins stay, you know, current, um, you know, they're not just fixed in one at one point in time. So, um, so yeah, major caveats, what is the fit for purpose use of them?

Lenny Murphy: So on that note, I did, uh, Had the opportunity to return to the Greenberg podcast as a host for an interview. Oh, yeah, Faragen yesterday went live on Monday. Yeah, I'm not gonna steal the thunder everybody you should listen to, because one they're thought leaders in this space. They've been originating this , you know, the concept for quite some time, etc Yeah, what is the approach they are taking to creating Fit for purpose digital twins, a line of specific business issues Yeah, it's very very cool. Was actually what during the conversation and hearing. Oh That's what you're doing now.

Karen Lynch: That's cool.

Lenny Murphy: That makes sense. So this entire category that I think of Stanford and reports a lot of people read it. I knew there was buzz about it. And it spurred a lot more thinking of, OK, how do we build off of this? How do we fix some of these issues?

Karen Lynch: Or how do we align so that we're, you know, making things better? So it was really cool.

Lenny Murphy: The MRI report on Workforce Trends, AI Adoption, Optimism and Skill Gaps, very good stuff. Check it out. Grit is about to come out. Right, all these reports, we're all tackling different things, right? But put together, which I've had the advance, the privilege of doing in advance, they're all complementing each other. The Qualtrics report, the MRI report, grit, all of these things all deliver nuance and depth on specific topics. So you put it all together, and it's really clear where we're going. So check that out.

Karen Lynch: It's a great report. Cool. Yeah. And thanks to Ed Keller for doing it. He spoke at the event also in North America, and I think he talked about it there. So for those of you who attended his session, if you're listening, check it out, because he wrote about it too.

Lenny Murphy: Absolutely. And they're a great partner, part of our podcast network and expert network. Yeah. All right, Savannah, this sounds like a good think piece, right? Reiterating once again, like, data quality is important.

Karen Lynch: Yeah. Yeah. So thanks to Nick Baker from Savannah for writing a bit about, you know, how data quality is now a boardroom issue, you know, and which, yes, it is. And, you know, talking about how we're at the active defense stage, which I think is, you know, we're no longer just kind of passively filtering. I love that heading in there is, you know, we're, this is really like, let's, all of the things that Lenny and I have said are kind of captured in there, which is like, let's take an active stance about it. Let's invest in it. Meaning, you know, if you're on the brand side, um, you know, please like, let's recognize that we probably have to pay a little bit more for it, but let's get really proactive about it. I have to tell you a highlight of the conference last week. Lenny, Stephen Snell from Repdata had, you know, did a game show at the end and he invited me to be a participant, which was very, very, very foolish of him to ask me. Because it was, you know, which, which, which is accurate, which is not accurate. And what percentage, you know, which, which percentage was fake or not fake or fraudulent or not fraudulent.

Lenny Murphy: The price is right.

Karen Lynch: The fraud is right. You are asking the qualitative researcher to determine which percentage is fraudulent or not. And it was numbers and it was at the end of the event and I was exhausted. Anyway, it was, it was actually quite hilarious. Um, but you know, making a point in case of, uh, uh, you know, bringing fraud to the forefront and it was, it was quite fun and engaging and there were, you know, several of us on stage, um, some from the brand side and some, some not. So, I had a good time. And hopefully it did shine a light on, on just the entirety of the issue. So, you know, so thanks to Nick Baker, and thanks to Stephen, and, you know, everybody, everybody to continue to bring a light on this issue, because it's so important.

Lenny Murphy: 100% and only getting when the world of infrastructure tied all back together, right? The data is infrastructure driving the workflow. Yeah, foundationally, the data better be good.

Karen Lynch: Probably a good time to thank Nelson, who's probably working on our report as well. He's doing everything he's doing proactively and retrospectively, right?

Lenny Murphy: Well, let me throw that out, guys. I've read the entire GRIT report. I say this every time, but it's true every time. The most impactful version of the GRIT report, just like you've done, that Nelson has done with grit, it's really fricking important. This one, we keep thinking, I keep being surprised because of the pace of change. The pace of change in critical ways, I'm not gonna give away the thunder, but we've documented it, we quantified it, Nelson does a great job putting it in perspective, we do this You'll have tools just like we do The Exchange. So having an information grid is another massive data source. It's gonna be really good. It's coming out. I think we pushed it into June just to allow our commentary writers more, but it's really good, really important. Nelson does a great job, you know. I just get to put my shine on it, but he's the workhorse and does an amazing job with that anyway. Uh, all right. We're at 43 minutes, which is actually for two weeks, plus I asked to come in less time than we have the past two. Uh, that's pretty good.

Karen Lynch: It is pretty good. It is pretty good.

Lenny Murphy: So last thing, uh, happy mother's day to you.

Karen Lynch: Happy mother's day to all the mothers who are listening. I have to tell you, this is really funny because my oldest I'll be celebrating, you know, all day, but my oldest, um, texted me that he made a brunch reservation at Lenny's North Seafood and Steakhouse. All right. Well, I'm happy to host you. All right. So I guess you're hosting me because it's Lenny's North. I literally said, you're taking me to a place called Lenny's on Sunday. And he said, Lenny's North. I was like, all right, then.

Lenny Murphy: You can't get away. There's no escape. I'm everywhere. Well, let me know how it is. I've never heard of that, but hopefully it's good.

Karen Lynch: North, not Lenny's South.

Lenny Murphy: I'll be happy to host you at Lenny's South anytime you want.

Karen Lynch: It's hilarious.

Lenny Murphy: It wouldn't be seafood, though. We don't do much seafood. Maybe catfish.

Karen Lynch: I know. We are around the coast. So anyway, it'll be funny. So I will be thinking of you, like it or not, on a Sunday.

Lenny Murphy: You're like, oh, God. I don't have to put up with this guy enough. Anyway, all right.

Karen Lynch: Enjoy. Have a great weekend. To all of the mothers and we'll see you next week.

Lenny Murphy: Thanks everybody. Take care.

Links from the episode:

IDX appointed Crispin Beale as worldwide CEO 

Omni raised $120M in Series C funding at a roughly $1.5B valuation 

Cint shares jumped after a CEO-backed consortium bid for the firm 

DigitalMYnd acquired Okay Human 

Dview Technologies received a strategic investment from Grand View Research 

NIQ partnered with Stirista 

NielsenIQ Brandbank expanded its RangeMe partnership 

NielsenIQ launched Commerce Lab 

NielsenIQ launched an AI-powered pricing platform 

NielsenIQ and Triton Digital partnered to bring Triton podcast audience metrics into Nielsen’s cross-media planning tool 

QuestionPro and Ario launched a strategic partnership 

Walmart Data Ventures launched Scintilla Media Data Feed 

Market Logic extended DeepSights personas with synthetic panels and flexible persona generation 

Sago introduced advanced participant verification 

Circana launched Market Share Drivers 

HumanListening launched EVE Qual Pro 

Voxpopme launched Compass 

GLG introduced a reimagined client experience 

Stanford and Columbia Tested User Digital Twins Against Real Survey and Interview Data. 

2026 global study on market research workforce trends, AI adoption, optimism, and skills gaps 

Savanta - Why data quality is now a boardroom problem