How to survive (and thrive) in the connected insights era

In 20 years, the insights industry has evolved from phone surveys and mail-in questionnaires to AI and computers spitting out solutions to our biggest questions from vast swaths of raw consumer data.

Let’s digest that.

Until now, there have been three distinct eras of insights – each defined by how new technology allowed insights to transform and make a bigger business impact.

• Agency Era (20th Century): When consumers moved collectively as a group, predicated on how mass media delivered information.
• Analog Era (2000-2010):. Predicated on reaching disparate consumers asynchronously through the internet and returning data deeply analyzed by a human and delivered in a polished report.
• Digital Era (2010-2022): Data was the new oil. Consumers moved faster than ever, with polarized opinions that could change instantly. In the digital era, we unlocked access to data, but we kept our organizational silos and a project-to-project mindset.

Now, we’re entering the fourth era of enterprise insights: The Connected Era (2023), where knowing what consumers want, moment-to-moment isn’t enough. It’s not the company that gains the fastest insight now that wins. Instead, it’s the company that harmonizes its data asset to be predictive, connected and democratized across the organization that will be the first to the table with innovative ideas that fit their customers’ needs.

For businesses, this means becoming more consumer-centric and working in more agile and iterative ways. For insights professionals, it means a mindset shift from data analysts to business consultants to create more business value.

In this talk, Ryan Barry, president of Zappi, will discuss the fourth era of enterprise insights and how insights will transform to become the next frontier of business agility and customer-centricity. Ryan will lead an engaging discussion on the evolution of insights, new mandates for insights professionals and connected learnings to inform business strategy.

Key takeaways:

1. How the speed of consumer sentiment shifts is forcing a business mandate for connected insights across the enterprise to leverage voice of the customer signals.
2. How to configure and connect the enterprise insights ecosystem to drive more business value and enable agility at scale.
3. Upskilling the role of researchers from data analysts to business consultants, sitting above the data to tell stories and create business value.