The Value of AI For a Small or Midsize Research Agency

It’s likely that you’ve tried using AI tools at some point, whether for work or daily life. Perhaps you’ve used ChatGPT for quick “desk research” or to help draft a questionnaire, or turned to Midjourney to create visuals for presentations. Even autocorrect on your phone is AI at work. According to a recent McKinsey report, AI adoption across organizations has consistently exceeded 50 percent. But does this really hold true within our industry? The answer is debatable.

For many professionals, especially those outside large corporations, a custom AI solution might be out of reach. Instead, they turn to ready-made tools that are becoming increasingly accessible. Some of the popular options include:

Conversational research platforms – such as Yasna.ai, which enables insightful, automated conversations.
Automation tools for moderated interviews – like Notably, which simplifies interview management.
Video analysis automation – such as Screenapp, which assists with processing and analyzing video content.
Text analysis tools – like Insight7, which helps process and analyze large volumes of text data.
Knowledge management platforms – such as Notion, a favorite for organizing information and team knowledge.

However, many of these tools are used sporadically rather than fully integrated into business processes. This is often due to how these tools are designed: each focuses on a specific function without offering a seamless end-to-end experience. Achieving that kind of integration, however, requires:

Why go through the trouble? Because fully integrating AI offers significant potential for optimization. Introducing AI innovation into just one part of a business process may bring improvements, but the real impact is in optimizing every link in the chain. Achieving this balance—where each element functions efficiently and complements the next—can lead to substantial, sustainable gains across the board.

Imagine the transformation: AI working seamlessly across departments, connecting insights, automating processes, and empowering teams to focus on more strategic, impactful tasks. It’s a vision worth striving for, one step at a time.