This thought-provoking piece in The Wall Street Journal (“Can AI Replace Humans for Market Research?”) by Belle L. (Lin) highlights the use of AI agents for ✅ opinion polling and ✏️ market research. The article made me think of another time when new technology offered the potential to create value through digital transformation in this sector.
At the height of the dot com era, c. 1999, I was asked by Jeremy Brody to co-found one of the first-ever online research firms. The idea that technology makes work “faster, cheaper, AND easier” was appealing, especially coming from consulting early in our careers.
Along with our small, all-star team, stellar board, and a few partners, our leverage for growth was a web-based survey app and an opt-in doctor database. At the time, these assets were disruptive.
Our work helped move research from fax (yes, fax! 📠), mail, and phone to a Web-based digital platform 🤖.
The surveys focused on topics like:
➡️ Unmet medical needs,
➡️ New product features and functionality,
➡️ Evidence generation, and
➡️ Launch strategy.
These topics remain a big portion of the $150 billion insights industry today (for market size, see article link below).
When we built that early dot com research agency, the American Medical Association’s latest data (1997) said only 20% of physicians were using the Internet. By 2000, it nearly doubled to 37%. So we had to help build the market as adoption caught up to the technology’s capabilities.
Adoption of AI is much faster.
Whether in research or other domains, the discussion and the decisions (in my opinion) need to focus on appropriate use cases, governance, and ethical use. What’s your take?
💡 For what specific business need would you use agentic market research?
💡 In what situations would you be reluctant or avoid it?
Thanks to Belle Lin for the excellent article 💯 . Here is the link: https://lnkd.in/eKUNx-W9
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