The New Insight Playbook for 2026: AI-Assisted, Human-Led

In 2025, researchers have been continually squeezed. Budgets have tightened while demands have intensified. Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, geopolitical instability, rapid technological shifts, and constantly changing consumer behavior, insight teams are being leaned on to bring clarity to the chaos. Yet the resources supporting them are shrinking.

So what does 2026 look like for the industry?

A Familiar Challenge

Insights professionals have suffered a similar story for decades. Last-minute requests. Impossible timelines. Insights that don’t ultimately influence decisions. Research relegated to a reactive function and treated as a validation service instead of a strategic partner. But this year the intensity of this issue has been exacerbated by both the tumultuous macro backdrop and the continued rise of AI. If insight teams are valued only for speed of tactical execution, automation feels like an existential threat.

Insights in 2026

AI isn’t going anywhere. In fact it will become more prevalent across every industry next year. If embraced thoughtfully, AI will enable researchers to elevate, not diminish, their value. Instead of being stuck in reactive cycles, researchers will have the space to become what the business truly needs: strategic thinkers, translators of human behavior, and partners in shaping decisions.

That vision is central to Compass, our new AI co-pilot for research and insight professionals. Compass is designed to take on the time-consuming, manual elements of research workflows that drain resources and diminish strategic output. The result is that researchers can shift their energy towards interpretation, storytelling and impact.

The buzz around AI in research is everywhere, and for good reason. At Attest, we’re focused on making AI practical and human-led; helping insight teams tackle today’s realities with tools built alongside researchers.

Three Areas Where AI Will Transform Research and Insights for the Better in 2026

1. AI will take on the manual, operational tasks, freeing researchers to step into strategy

Survey creation, structuring and programming have traditionally taken large amounts of time within research cycles, especially when multiple ad-hoc requests are made. AI-powered tools can now handle this through natural-language prompts, including producing drafts, formatting structures, and doing the backend setup.

As these operational tasks move to AI, researchers no longer have to trade strategic thinking for delivery speed. They gain the headspace to focus on the work that drives real value: asking better questions, examining emerging patterns, and proactively advising decision-makers before decisions are already made.

2. AI-powered analysis will turn data into stories and insights into influence

In 2026, AI will increasingly serve as a collaborator in analysis, helping surface hidden themes, assemble structured narratives, and summarize material at speed.

As a result, researchers can spend less time building reports and more time influencing stakeholders. They can tailor findings for CMOs, product leads, or boards, building compelling stories that land with commercial relevance and ultimately build trust with stakeholders.

The research and insight professionals that deepen those relationships with leadership will play a central role in shaping business strategy.

3. AI will add a fresh lens, while humans bring empathy, context, and challenge

AI, when trained and used responsibly, can act as a counterbalance to human bias. It can suggest new angles for exploration, highlight unexpected themes, and interrogate assumptions that human researchers may overlook.

But consumers don’t behave in straight lines or neat data tables. They are emotional, inconsistent, contradictory, and shaped by cultural and contextual forces. Understanding that requires human qualities: lived experience, empathy, judgment, industry understanding, and the ability to ask “why”.

When teams move from “tracking what happened” to “explaining why it matters and how to act on it,” their influence grows exponentially. They stop being repositories of information and become drivers of progress. And that is where researchers will apply true strategic impact in 2026.

Built with and Guided by Researchers

Because the human element remains indispensable, Compass is being built in partnership with customers, shaped by real challenges, real workflows, and real pressures.

Even within our own organization, while AI accelerates efficiency and workflow, expert research managers continue to provide ongoing strategic support to customers. The future of research is AI supporting people to add more value than ever.

The Beginning of a New Era for Research and Insight Leaders

AI is a milestone in the evolution of the research and insight profession. The teams who actively embrace and shape this shift will be the ones who reclaim the role as strategic partner.

Compass is built with that intention. Today, it's learning to design and analyze with researchers, to take on the tasks that block momentum and unlock time for deeper thinking. But that’s just the beginning. Our roadmap for 2026 goes beyond survey creation and reporting. We’re building more complex and custom tools that will transform the speed of data analysis.

The rate of change in markets, politics and consumer behavior isn’t slowing down in 2026. The age-old problem of businesses making last minute ad-hoc requests for data validation isn’t going anywhere either. But with AI handling the speed and mechanics of research, insight leaders will finally be able to demonstrate where their true value lies: in the uniquely human skills that sit at the heart of decision-making - influence, empathy, understanding and judgment.