Running customer research used to require specialist skills, external agencies and sizeable budgets.
Today, almost anyone can do it.
Survey platforms can recruit respondents in minutes. Product teams can launch usability tests themselves. Customer feedback flows directly into dashboards that update in real time.
According to the ESOMAR Global Users & Buyers of Insights 2025 report, 48% of research projects are now conducted entirely in-house.
The technology has raised an obvious question: if research has become so easy, do companies still need research professionals?
The demand for customer insight continues to grow, and internal teams are feeling the strain.
More than half of insights teams reported increasing workloads last year, with many expected to deliver more without additional support or resources.
For many organisations, the answer has been automation.
Standardised surveys, dashboards and AI-generated summaries allow teams to process larger volumes of work than ever before.
The challenge is no longer getting hold of customer feedback.
According to the same report, 40% of insights professionals say their biggest challenge is turning data into action.
In other words, companies are getting better at gathering information than using it.
Knowing that customers abandoned a checkout page or disliked a feature is useful. Understanding why they behaved that way, and what the business should do next, is considerably harder.
That is where research expertise has traditionally mattered.
Research tools have made data collection easier. They have not removed the need for interpretation.
This is particularly true in UX and CX research, where customer behaviour is often shaped by context, habits and emotions that do not appear in a dashboard.
A poorly designed survey can produce misleading answers. An unmoderated usability test can identify a problem without explaining its cause.
Running research and interpreting research are not the same skill.
Probably more than ever.
The role may be changing, from data collection and reporting towards interpretation, challenge and strategic advice, but the need to turn information into decisions is not going away.
Thankfully for newton33, that's what we do 🙂
References:
ESOMAR Global Users & Buyers of Insights 2025 report
