According to the research, from the 2026 Market Research Trends report, 72% of teams using synthetic responses, agentic AI and purpose-built capabilities claimed their organisations used research significantly more than a year ago.

Meanwhile, traditional teams (not using such approaches) were nearly twice as likely to see flat or declining demand for their research ( 37% versus 20%).

Nine in 10 researchers claimed to have experimented with AI, and the prevalence of AI embedded directly in research software had grown from 62% to 66%, while general-purpose AI tools like chatbots have dropped from 75% to 67%.

Researchers who have integrated synthetic data are 11% more likely to engage in early-stage innovation, according to Qualtrics, are 7% more likely to conduct go-to-market research and 5% more likely to perform final product testing.

Among researchers who have adopted synthetic data, 45% now view it as their most reliable data source, outpacing traditional online panels, according to the research.

The data comes from a global market research study carried out by Qualtrics in the third quarter of 2025 surveying more than 3,000 market research professionals across 14 countries:  Australia, Hong Kong, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, India, Korea, Singapore, the UK and the US. 

Ali Henriques, executive director of Edge at Qualtrics, said: “In today’s fast-moving economies, rapid access to consumer insights is a huge advantage, and the research teams embracing AI build advantages that latecomers will find difficult to overcome.

“The research teams gaining strategic influence are re-imagining what research looks like across the entire organisation, they’re conducting different kinds of research, asking bigger questions and moving earlier in the innovation cycle.”