What happens to insights when AI changes the rules of research?

In this episode of Research Revolutionaries, JT Turner speaks with Liubov Ruchinskaya, Founder of Insights Lighthouse, about a defining moment for the insights industry. As AI accelerates, client expectations shift, and traditional roles come under pressure, Liubov argues that insights professionals need to move beyond data delivery and step into stronger positions of influence, judgment, and leadership.
The conversation explores what happens when technology is no longer enough to differentiate, why agencies need sharper focus and clearer value, and how corporate insights teams can protect their relevance in a faster, more uncertain business environment. Liubov also reflects on talent, the risk of hollowing out the next generation, and why the industry may need more collective action to shape its future.

How do insight agencies keep up when tech companies and clients have access to more tools than they do? In Season 2, Episode 14, JT Turner sits down with John-William Awbrey, Head of Brand & Campaign Insights at Sky, to explore where agency value really sits as data becomes easier to access and analysis becomes faster to produce.

Together, they argue that data doesn’t create value; perspective does. Competitive advantage is shifting away from owning data toward interpretation, synthesis, and a point of view leaders trust

.They explore what the research agency of the future could, and should, look like: moving beyond static deliverables and slow, one-off projects to more embedded partnerships that combine human expertise, technology, and AI to deliver faster, more iterative, decision-ready insight for modern, always-on businesses.

AI and automation promise research that’s cheaper and faster. But is the output actually better? In this episode, JT talks with insights leader Tina Tonielli, former US Lead of Insights & Analytics at Haleon, about what “good” looks like when brands adopt AI at scale. They unpack the trade-offs between speed, cost and quality, how “always on” data can overwhelm teams, when decision cadence matters more than data cadence, and where procurement and onboarding slow things down. They also explore where AI truly helps in insight work, and the skills leaders need next: a growth mindset and the courage to experiment, fail fast and learn in public.