AI is no longer coming to market research—it's already here, and the money is following. From Blue Pill's $6 million bet on digital twins to conversational AI conducting qualitative interviews, the industry is being rebuilt in real-time. But as AI shopping assistants reshape consumer behavior and brands like Unilever race to integrate AI across their operations, critical questions emerge: What happens when machines automate the art of human conversation? How do we fight AI-enabled fraud? And is this a bubble, or the permanent transformation of research as we know it?

Karen Lynch and Rick Candelaria cut through the hype to explore what these rapid changes mean for researchers, brands, and the future of consumer insights.