Ray Poynter, managing director, The Future Place and co-founder, ResearchWiseAI
The number of people dismissing AI without looking at the evidence – closely followed by those making claims for AI not backed by evidence.

Frédéric Charles Petit, founder and chief executive, Toluna
The hesitation of parts of the industry to fully engage with AI, despite clear evidence that the shift is inevitable, too often relying on fear, uncertainty and doubt as a defensive strategy.

Danielle Todd, director, The Forge
The persistent myth that AI is here to replace us marketers. So much of the discourse remained stuck in fear, when the real opportunity is enhancing what we do. We should be leaning into what could be possible, and how we use this tool to create space and deploy human energies elsewhere – beautiful human capabilities like curiosity, imagination, creativity and joy. That is the real opportunity and I’m looking forward to seeing this be the case in 2026. 

Matilda Andersson, managing director, Truth Consulting
The impact of tariffs on clients and brands. Not just commercially, but emotionally. It created a sense of closure and contraction – a feeling that the world was shrinking rather than opening up, and that possibility was being replaced with caution.

Crawford Hollingworth, global chair and founder, The Behavioural Architects
Without doubt, the belief that real change was going to happen at a societal level and then a growing sense of almost learned helplessness across so many areas as nothing changed.

Sabine Stork, senior partner, Thinktank Research
The inability of the UK government to present a vision for the country, their flirtation with authoritarian measures and adoption of xenophobic rhetoric. As a dual national who has lived in the UK for 30-odd years and voted for the first time in 2024, I felt particularly let down by the phrase ‘island of strangers’.

James Endersby, chief executive, Opinium
Two stand out for me. First, the overhype around generative AI – so much noise, so few meaningful outcomes. It promised transformation, but too often delivered gimmicks. Second, the lack of progress on leadership diversity. We talk about inclusion constantly, yet too few organisations made real change at the top. That’s a missed opportunity for richer perspectives and better decisions.

Daniel Singham, commercial director, Yonder Data Solutions
While AI has made research more affordable and efficient for clients, it has also put downward pressure on costs and challenged traditional revenue models for research agencies and suppliers in the industry. AI has increasingly automated tasks that were once the domain of human experts, leading to concerns about diminishing opportunities for skilled professionals in the research sector and being people person, this is a real negative for me.

Suzy Hassan, managing director and co-founder, Potentia
The growing issue with data quality and fraudulent respondents has been a concern for many throughout 2025. These challenges are undermining confidence in research and it’s becoming harder than ever to capture genuine human responses. We need to preserve the authenticity of the consumer voice and ensure this is heard above the noise.

Marie Ridgley, chief executive, UK insights division, Kantar
There’s been a clear stall on sustainability and inclusion – and what’s really concerning is how political rhetoric and cynicism around ED&I are filtering down from boardrooms to the grassroots. Look at the stats around the gender pay gap and violence against women and girls: the trend is going the wrong way.

This isn’t just a moral issue; it’s a commercial one and we need to be shining a brighter spotlight on the business impact to make decision-makers sit up and take note. Our study with UN Women and Oxford Saïd Business School, for example, found that diversity and inclusion in advertising boosts sales by 3.5% in the short term and 16.3% over time. Letting progress slide is both wrong and bad for business. 

Babita Earle, managing director, international, Zappi
Despite progress, too many organisations still operate with disconnected insights. We surveyed 200 marketing and insights professionals and found that while 60% of professionals are satisfied with their insights function, 40% are not – and the gap comes down to connection. Companies with connected insights saw satisfaction jump more than 24 points, and harmony between insights and marketing rose by 32 points. The disappointment is that the value is clear, yet many teams remain siloed. It’s a missed opportunity for collaboration, efficiency and better decisions.

Jane Frost, chief executive, MRS
While there is a lot one could be disappointed about from the past 12 months, I really try to resist the urge to think ‘if only’.  Progress relies on hope and the belief we can make a difference, so we have to be careful not to fall into a defeatist mindset that impedes our ability to tackle these hurdles. We know change is gradual, so we need to avoid the instinct to let setbacks dampen our spirits or take us off course – and be confident in research’s role and capacity to shape the future.

• This article is part of Research Live’s end of year review series. Other articles include a look at the standout consumer trends of the year, reflections on contributors' favourite research and insight work from the past 12 months, and people of the year.