Insights leaders are currently facing a paradox: research has never had more influence or pressure, yet the systems supporting that work are often fragmented and struggling to keep pace.
At The Quirk’s Event – Chicago 2026, Lauren Lanzi, VP, Account Management, Suzy, sat down with Lissa Crisp, Director of Consumer Insights at Generous Brands, to discuss the shift from a siloed research model to one powered by "connected intelligence". As a team of one supporting four distinct brands, Lissa shared a practical look at how technology can act as an extension of the team to ensure insights don't just sit on a shelf, but actively drive ROI.
Here is what we learned from their conversation.
The true goal: Becoming the "voice of the consumer"
Lissa, a 20-year insights veteran, believes the most successful researchers aren't just data hunters; they are representatives. She recalled a mentor who was once told, "When I talk to you, I feel like I’m talking to our core consumer".
In a world where data is scattered across dozens of tools, the best teams are the ones who can walk into a room of stakeholders and provide an opinion that feels like it’s coming directly from the user. When you get to that core truth, it becomes very hard for an organization to say "no" to a decision.
The knowledge gap: It’s not the finding, It’s the digging
The biggest breakdown in insights today isn't a lack of information – it’s the "access to past research.” Even for a solo practitioner who has personally touched every report, finding a specific data point for a last-minute customer meeting can be a race against the clock.
The "cost" of this fragmentation is more than just lost hours. It’s the missed opportunities to connect dots across different data sources, such as:
- Past research and historical signals
- Syndicated data and secondary desk research
- Market signals, such as earnings calls or competitor activity
Lissa noted that organizations don't fall short because they lack the skill to connect these dots, but because they lack the bandwidth. The dream is an ecosystem where prioritization isn't an issue because synthesis takes an hour rather than three weeks.
The Decision Engine: Moving beyond "task-oriented" work
The concept of a "Decision Engine" resonates because it addresses the manual tasks that currently eat up an analyst's day. By automating the "task-oriented" side of research – like programming surveys or hunting for files – insights leaders can focus on being strategic.
Lissa highlighted two specific areas where AI is already moving the needle:
- Surfacing blind spots: Using AI as a "thought partner" to look at the same data through a different lens or to point out perspectives that a single researcher might miss.
- Strategic prompting: Using the tool to refine survey questions based on specific business objectives, ensuring every question asked has a direct impact on the final decision.
Driving impact: The brief is everything
To ensure insights actually influence outcomes rather than just filling up a slide deck, Lissa advocates for a formalized "brief" process. Before any research begins, she defines:
- The background: What led to this request?
- The objective: What is the specific business question?
- The decision: What exactly will be decided based on this data?
By keeping the objective front and center, you can avoid "muddying" the research with interesting but irrelevant questions that don't drive business impact.
The Bottom Line
The future of insights isn't about being inundated with more data; it’s about filtering through the noise to find the signal. While technology like Suzy’s Decision Engine can expedite brand tracking from three months to two weeks, the human factor remains indispensable.
"AI is not scary," Lissa concluded. Humans will always be needed to act as the prompter, the interpreter, and the strategic lead. The brands that win will be those that use connected intelligence to rise above the tasks and start driving the strategy.
Learn more about how the Decision Engine’s connected intellitence can help your team make faster, smarter decisions.
