133 - The Infrastructure Shift: Why Everyone's Buying Data Companies

133 - The Infrastructure Shift: Why Everyone's Buying Data Companies

Big moves are reshaping how brands access and use data. Publicis bought LiveRamp for $2.2B to solve identity and attribution across platforms. Qualtrics paid $6.75B for healthcare data specialist Prescani. A retail sensor startup raised $170M to track what actually happens on store shelves. Meanwhile, the supplier world is evolving from selling surveys to building data infrastructure, synthetic respondents need quality standards, and quantum computing could upend everything we know about security. Plus: why Google's new 3D world-building tool matters, what consumer AI backlash means for research, and why good moderators still beat algorithms.

132 - The AI Shift No One Saw Coming: From Software to Services

The research and CX industry is at a crossroads. Traditional platforms are struggling under debt while AI deployment is reshaping how enterprises buy and use analytics tools. This episode explores what happens when private equity leverage meets the need for transformational AI investment, why major vendors are hiring armies of engineers instead of just selling software, and how market research is evolving from static reports to always-on data infrastructure. Plus: the case for AI-moderated interviews, and why your insights might soon find you in Slack rather than waiting in a dashboard you never open

131 - The Real Story Behind AI’s Rapid Takeover of Research

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.

130 - When Consumer Behavior Moves Faster Than Your Business Model

AI is reshaping the insights industry faster than anyone expected. This week: a wave of well-funded analytics startups, infrastructure plays that signal where the real value is moving, and consumer behavior shifts that are forcing legacy players to adapt or risk irrelevance. Karen Lynch [https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenmlynch/] and Lenny Murphy [https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonardfmurphy/] break down why today's M&A looks nothing like past cycles, what happens when vendors lean too hard on AI messaging, and which product launches actually matter.

129 - Smarter Data Wins: Following the Money in AI and Insights

The insights industry is being reshaped by AI and capital flows that prioritize smarter data over bigger data. This episode explores how companies are embedding expert knowledge into enterprise workflows, why users are still experimenting across multiple AI products, and what major acquisitions and partnerships signal about the future of research tech stacks. From AI interviewers to predictive behavior partnerships with cloud giants, the conversation traces how AI is moving from experimental tools to core infrastructure while highlighting a persistent gap between insider enthusiasm and consumer adoption.