By Ester Marchetti, Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer, Bolt Insight

As we step into a new year, it feels like the right moment to pause and look forward. Not just at what is changing in research and insight, but at what those changes unlock for organisations that are ready to evolve.

For years, insight teams have been asked to move faster, do more with less and prove their strategic value at every turn. AI has accelerated that pressure, but it has also created an opportunity.

Looking at 2026, I believe we are entering a new phase where insight is no longer a supporting function, but a living capability that shapes decisions every day.

Here are five shifts I see defining the next chapter.

Real-time insight becomes an everyday capability

I think insight is moving away from solo, project-based work, towards always-on intelligence system. Instead of waiting weeks for answers, teams are increasingly able to ask a question and receive decision-ready insight in minutes.

This changes how organisations operate. Marketing, product and UX teams no longer need to pause progress while research catches up. Leadership teams can explore scenarios, test assumptions and pressure-test decisions as they happen.

At Bolt Summit, Connor Smyth from Whyte & Mackay captured this perfectly:
“You’ve got the flex in one report to answer a question from a CMO right through to the latest executive that has just joined your team who has 1,000 questions…and you can answer both.”

That flexibility is the real breakthrough. Insight becomes something teams use every day, not something they schedule around.

Dynamic Personas replace static snapshots

Traditional personas were never wrong…but they were frozen in time. Built from a moment in data, they quickly lost relevance as markets and behaviours changed.

In 2026, personas are evolving into living models. Dynamic Personas update continuously as new conversations and behaviours are added. They reflect how people actually move through attitudes, motivations and trade-offs over time.

This matters because decisions rarely wait for the next research cycle. When personas evolve in real time, teams can adapt messaging, products and experiences with confidence, knowing their understanding of the audience is current.

It also enables consistency across markets. Global teams can compare how the same persona behaves in different regions without losing nuance or local context.

Ethics and data integrity become a defining differentiator

As AI becomes embedded across research workflows, I think trust has to be at the centre of any implementation.

Clients are asking harder questions. Regulators are raising the bar. Respondents expect transparency. In 2026, ethical AI and data integrity will not be optional features, they will be core differentiators.

This goes beyond just compliance. It is about clarity around how data is sourced, how AI is trained, how decisions are made and where human oversight sits. Platforms that cannot explain their outputs or demonstrate responsible data practices will struggle to earn long-term trust.

At Bolt Insight, we see this shift already. Ethical design is becoming a competitive advantage, not a constraint.

Researchers evolve into AI-enabled insight strategists

One of the most important changes ahead is not technological, it is human.

AI is automating many of the mechanics of research. Recruiting, moderation, analysing and summarisation are becoming faster and more consistent. But this does not reduce the role of researchers…it pushes it to another level.

As Vesna Hajnšek from L’Occitane shared at Bolt Summit:
“I think it liberates us a lot from some of the things we need to do daily that have taken us days, hours, sometimes weeks. Now we can do them in days, hours, minutes, and it really frees us up to do the more important stuff.”

That “important stuff” is interpretation, storytelling and strategic guidance. Researchers become insight strategists who help organisations understand what the data means, not just what it says.

Marie Robelin from Unilever put it beautifully:
“We need to hold tight to the skills which are the foundation of market research, understanding people, going deep into people’s behaviour. Tools will change, they always change, but the passion for understanding humans has to stay.”

AI handles scale and speed. Humans bring curiosity, judgement and meaning.

Insight connects day-to-day teams with the C-suite

Perhaps the most powerful shift is how insight connects organisations vertically as well as horizontally.

When insight is accessible, intuitive and trusted, it becomes embedded into daily workflows for marketing, product and UX teams. At the same time, it gains visibility and influence at executive level.

This creates alignment. Teams across the organisation are working from the same understanding of the consumer, while leadership can explore strategic questions without abstraction or delay.

As Connor Smyth said:
“In summary, it’s about people, it’s about partnership and it’s about insight.”

That partnership between technology and human expertise is what will define successful insight functions in 2026.

Looking ahead, the organisations that thrive will be those that treat insight as a living system, not a static output. One that evolves with people, earns trust through transparency and empowers humans to focus on what they do best…understanding other humans.

That is the future I am excited to help build.