Data and insights have become the required superpowers of growth companies. No matter what peak or trough the economy is in, business leaders need actionable insights to grow markets, engage customers, and make smart strategic decisions. And research professionals need skills and insights to grow their strategic seat at the table. MRII’s Insights & Innovators talks to today’s top experts and innovators to chart a path for the role, the research methods of tomorrow, and the growing importance of the researcher to business success.
How Great Insights Teams Make Every Study Count with Daniel Graff-Radford
The opportunity has never been better for insights teams to earn a meaningful seat at the strategy table by reducing busy work and focusing on the key data that drives decisions. In this episode, Daniel Graff-Radford, CEO, Discuss, joins host Pavi Gupta, Founder, The Insights Exchange, to discuss how researchers can shift from being “traffic cops” to building librarian-like systems that make organizational knowledge accessible and reusable. They explore the risks of partners uploading research into off-the-shelf LLMs, the need for traceability and repeatability, and how to avoid “insight slop” from either excessive questions or generic outputs. Daniel frames AI interviewing as a fast in-between method bridging surveys and live moderated qual, stressing guardrails and using the right tool for the decision’s risk and complexity.
00:00 Why Insights Matter Now
00:36 Meet the Host and Guest
01:44 Cutting Busy Work
03:11 From Traffic Cop to Enabler
04:57 The Librarian Mindset
07:36 Humans Plus AI Guardrails
11:26 Avoiding Insight Slop
14:16 Traceability and Trust
18:23 AI Interviews as the Middle
21:40 Choosing Methods by Risk
23:22 Key Takeaways and Wrap Up
Insights & Innovators Podcast from MRII | Hosted by The Greenbook Podcast Network
Explore more episodes and resources → https://www.greenbook.org/podcast-network (https://www.greenbook.org/podcast-network)
Learn more about MRII → https://mrii.org/ (https://mrii.org/)
24 Sept 2026
The Redesign of the Insights Industry with Jim Whaley
The insights industry isn’t in decline, it’s being redesigned, and AI is accelerating that shift. In this episode, Jim Whaley, CEO OvationMR, joins host Jon Last, President, Sports and Leisure Research Group, to reframe what AI is really disrupting in market research: tasks like fast fielding, charting, and basic summaries, not the core purpose of insight. They explore why organizations confuse activity with value, how the “kindergarten” moment of AI creates excitement and anxiety, and why fluent answers aren’t always true answers. Jim outlines the risks of “synthetic certainty,” the need for inclusive leadership when adopting AI, and why younger researchers should focus less on producing outputs and more on helping people learn and make better decisions.
00:00 Define Yourself by Impact
00:26 Podcast Intro and AI Redesign
02:10 Decline Versus Redesign
03:54 Tasks Disrupted Not Insight
05:33 Kindergarten AI Metaphor
08:32 We Have Been Here Before
12:53 Loud Voices and Governance
15:46 Insights as Learning Systems
18:39 Fluency Versus Truth
22:43 Synthetic Certainty Tradeoffs
25:31 Leadership Skills for Researchers
29:08 Optimism and Domain Expertise
33:06 Closing Thanks and Subscribe
Insights & Innovators Podcast from MRII | Hosted by The Greenbook Podcast Network
Explore more episodes and resources → https://www.greenbook.org/podcast-network
Learn more about MRII → https://mrii.org/
17 Sept 2026
Agentic Shopping and AI-Mediated Consumer Behavior with Steve Phillips
When AI agents can research products in depth and make tailored recommendations, the traditional role of brand as a trust shortcut may shrink. In this episode, Steve Phillips, Founder, Chair and Chief Innovation Officer at Zappi, joins host Niels Schillewaert, Head of Research, Conveo.ai, to unpack “agentic shopping” and how AI-mediated decisions could reshape marketing and insights. Steve shares a real example of using Claude to choose a car, frames agent-driven choice as “system three” (system two on steroids), and explains why agents may prioritize specifics like ingredients, reviews, and scientific evidence over symbolism and advertising. They discuss category differences, how research may shift toward deeper human understanding and human-agent interaction, early experiments like surveying agents, and why insights leaders should lean into AI and lead organizational change.
00:00 Brand Collapses With Agents
00:42 Podcast Intro And Guest
01:44 What Is Agentic Shopping
02:32 Car Buying With Claude
05:12 System Three Decision Making
07:04 Why Brands Lose Power
09:42 Category Differences And Grocery
11:35 What Researchers Study Now
12:44 Agent Behavior And Discoverability
15:22 How To Experiment And Innovate
18:41 New Service Line For Insights
21:09 Skills And Industry Opportunity
24:31 One Thing To Do Tomorrow
25:05 Closing And Subscribe
Insights & Innovators Podcast from MRII | Hosted by The Greenbook Podcast Network
Explore more episodes and resources → https://www.greenbook.org/podcast-network
Learn more about MRII → https://mrii.org/
Who has been a guest on Insights & Innovators Podcast from MRII
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Patrick Comer
Matt Britton
Michelle Froah
Nitesh Priyadarshi
Michael Ramlet
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Podcast Authority Score: 19 / 100
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