Speaking on a panel in the webinar focused on MRS research on the business of evidence, Namita Mediratta, global insights head, Deos, at Unilever, said that AI could make insights “more valuable, and more precious” to organisations, if used appropriately.

“AI has given us more information, faster information and better structured information than any other time in history, but to me that is where the distinction between information, data and insight is becoming more clear every day,” she explained.

“People are drowning in pure information and data, and it is like the insights are the diamond in the coalmine, and that is why it is even more differentiated than it was.”

Mediratta added: “AI is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us, to elevate us, to liberate us and to do what we really love as insight professionals, which is to guide positions, influence decisions and to be an integral part of driving and leading the change in the organisation.

“To use that opportunity, the relationship we build with AI, both as individuals and organisations, needs to be very intentional; it needs to be very clear who is boss, and the boss, as always, is the consumer. What we do needs to elevate that proposition and liberate us from the bits that were holding us back.”

The comments were part of a webinar discussing the Business of Evidence 2026 review carried out by PA Consulting on behalf of MRS for the industry body’s 80^th anniversary. Among the findings were that market research accounted for between 0.7% and 0.8% of gross value added to the UK economy, with the UK research and evidence market worth £18.74bn per year.

You can watch the entire webinar here

Also speaking on the panel in the webinar, James Sallows, head of marketing effectiveness at Lego, said that a large number of people in the industry were looking to “bury their heads in the sand” about technological changes.

“My real ask is that we need to be much more on the front foot here,” Sallows said. “You have to embrace the fact that it is coming – there are things that need to change, there are things that need improve, but regardless it is coming. Even just the cost-benefit equation means it is coming.

“There is a both a carrot and a stick for AI within businesses; you can get better, but you can also save a lot of money. From both angles, it is inevitable.”

Sallows argued that the industry needs to find “our sweet spot” on the integration of AI and show it is part of what the sector does, not an alternative.

This, he argued, needs people to embrace it, “rather than holding it arm’s length”. “What we deliver isn’t data or platforms or tech – what we deliver is insight,” he added.

“I think the industry has kind of lost its way on that piece, where we have been defining ourselves by the technological and data changes, as opposed to defining ourselves by the insight value. That is where some of the fear is, as that’s quite a big shift across the industry.”

James Turner, founder and chief executive at Delineate, told the panel that, in regards to AI, “there is a real spectrum of engagement, understanding and use of these tools”.

He added: “We need the governing bodies and partnership between clients and suppliers to set the agenda. But we must not lose sight of the fact that there is a large number of people who are very much just starting their journey, still getting those basic tools and being allowed to use those tools inside businesses.”