Liam Hickey, Knit's Head of Research, has worked in insights consulting for more than 20 years, across New Zealand, Australia and the USA. He oversees research strategy, product development integration, and project delivery at the AI-powered insights start-up. Past roles have included senior leadership positions at Morning Consult and Kantar Insights, building high-performing teams and delivering transformative insights programs across brand, customer experience, and product development. A New Zealand native now based in Chicago, Liam was trained in Psychology and Marketing at the University of Otago.
Sessions
Sep 23
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM EDT
Market Research in 2028: Seeing Around the Corner with AI
Two researchers, one inside a frontier AI lab and one leading research delivery at an AI-native agency, compare notes on where this industry lands by 2028. Knit's AI Trust Index shows researchers' top fear isn't replacement. It's non-researchers making high-stakes calls on AI output no expert touched. Expect a candid conversation on expertise, cognition, and the next generation. Key Takeaways: 1. Why the governance gap, not automation, is the real near-term risk to insights quality. 2. How to keep the productive struggle that builds researcher judgment, without slowing down. 3. What a viable career path into research looks like when the grunt work is gone.
