Last year, we confirmed that AI adoption is here to stay. This year, the story is different. Universal adoption has reset the playing field. Organizations moving deeper into specialized platforms and conversational analytics are gaining strategic influence and larger budgets. Research teams that plateau are watching both shrink.

To understand what separates winners from those losing ground, we gathered insights from over 3,000 researchers across 15 countries.

In this report, you’ll learn

• Your position on the adoption curve shapes your competitive edge—specialized platforms and conversational analytics separate the winners.
• How research agents turn stakeholders into researchers and redirect expert time toward strategy.
• Why the divide between modern and traditional researchers is widening and what it costs in budget and influence.