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.” 

Business of evidence

Presenting on the findings of the Business of Evidence report, Ruva Mankola, senior consultant (human insight and innovation) at PA Consulting, said that the changes wrought by AI on market research reflected previous experiences in adapting to new technology.

“We have been here before,” she said. “Self-serve platforms, the rise of big data and now AI – in each of these moments there were real questions and anxieties about what it meant for the future of research and evidence, but we persevered, we found our way and we evolved. Each time, it opened the door for new opportunities. It is the same now.”

Mankola issued a call for action for the industry to keep pace with technological changes and to be bolder.

“Our comfort zone has often been finding the story, finding the insight, rather than telling it,” she said.

“In this AI world, that has to change – we have to lead, and we have to tell the story. We have to be much more confident, much bolder, about the amazing impact we make, owning the narrative and showing how we make a difference.”

Rob Marshall-Keeys, principal consultant at PA Consulting, said that the industry was at an “inflexion point”, with the research behind the report showing 83% of respondents citing tightening budgets as a challenge, 72% job displacement due to AI or automation, and 78% facing cost pressures and commoditisation of approaches. “We are still under this massive pressure that is facing us as we move forwards,” he said.

However, he was positive about research being an important part of strategic decision-making in brands. “Insight has become even more embedded across organisations,” Marshall-Keeys said.

“It is an interesting shift in the past decade in that we are hopefully less part of a support function and now part of the decision engine more broadly, and having the capability to have that impact because of the way we have showed up and always been there to help these organisations through.”

Marshall-Keeys also talked about how important it was for the industry to invest in future talent, explaining: “Our talent is our lifeblood. We need to make sure we are maintaining a consistent and constant stream of juniors who join our ranks and become the leaders of tomorrow.

“Our talent is something really vital – it is what keeps us doing. We have a real responsibility to cultivate and nurture the diversity of our junior talent, and make sure we are focused on that more to have dividends in the future.”

Jane Frost, chief executive at MRS, said that the £18.7bn market value for the insight sector “makes us significant to government and other stakeholders”.

She added: “It means we are a key part of their industrial strategy, both through creative industries and professional business services, which are two of their priorities. We need to show people that, at scale, we are important to the UK.”

Previous major waves of change in insight also prompted predictions of doom, such as DIY, big data and AI, the first of which also saw many concerns about the future of the industry, Frost said.

“We survived, and grew, because we absorbed, adapted and developed. I think that’s a strong message for us going forwards, particularly in the current AI revolution.

“I would also like to make the point that AI is a large language model base – we have been doing them for years. It is nothing new to us, and we should be looking more at aggressively adapting rather than shrinking back.”