It’s the most exciting time to be in insights

Welcome to Ryan’s Rant, my weekly newsletter aimed at helping companies drive customer-centric growth.

I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again. There is truly no better time to be in insights than right now.?

I’m currently spending the week in New York and the energy is crazy. It has been an incredible week.?

First, our book that we worked on for over two years launched on Monday. It’s the story of 10 years of hard work and the transformation of an industry. It’s a guide for companies who want to become more customer centric.

And I'm so happy it’s out there to help the industry systematize research.?

It's also a representation of everything our employees, partners and customers at Zappi have worked on for the last 10 years. All their trials and tribulations. Everything we’ve learned about what works.?

Did you see that it was advertised in Times Square?! What a wild ride. Being able to share that moment with my co-authors and my wife, Gillian, who has been incredibly supportive to me and Zappi through everything, was amazing.?

We also had our first-ever Connected Insights Conference this week.

We did two big conferences during COVID, which was amazing (shout out to those of you who remember our Virtual Insight Summits). But this one was our first in-person one and it far exceeded our expectations.

We had well over 100 customers with us. The room was packed.

We talked a lot about both behavioral sciences and technology. We talked about the importance of connecting insights and the idea that consumer centricity is how companies win.?

And, surprising no one, we talked a lot about AI. We actually created new concepts using AI agents and consumer data.

Last year around this time I felt more stress around AI — a sense of worry about how the insights industry would use it and what it would mean for our jobs.?

But now, I’m feeling so much more confidence about AI and the future of insights in general.?

At the conference we had Karen Kraft from Johnsonville, Jordan Cusner from Popeye’s and Jacci Weber from Mars Petcare share what they’re doing to leverage AI. While they’re each approaching things in their own way, it’s clear that they all feel that they are the ones driving the insights agendas in their organizations. Insights teams are stepping up when other teams are hesitating.?

And it makes sense. Insights professionals are used to handling data. They’re comfortable using new technologies. They’re looking for ways to offload some of the admin of their jobs so they can be more strategic and influential in their businesses — and they see the opportunities AI brings.?

They’ve spent the last year or so experimenting and trying new things. We have more to do, but I’ve never felt more excitement in that journey.?

Overall, I feel like the future is bright for insights and for the customer. And as a result, the future is bright for business.?

If you missed it

If you somehow didn’t catch this news, I wrote a book! You can buy it on Amazon and please give it a review!