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

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