In complex industries, vague questions and generic insights don’t cut it. And the leaders who realise this early are the ones who move faster.

- How often do you use AI?

- Daily. New advances are dropping every week, and it is important to stay updated. Used correctly and with the right checks and balances, AI Is a useful tool to help us work more efficiently.

- What is AI actually good for?

- AI is brilliant at speed and repeatability. Generating a short explanation of a concept or process, or a first pass at clustering 3 000 open ends can be done in seconds. It can be a good sounding board for bouncing around ideas.

Here’s the thing: quality in = quality out. If the data it’s been fed is of high quality, the output will be too.

But the converse is also true: Garbage in = garbage out, which is where checks and balances come in. If the input data carry bias or gaps, the output only amplifies them - faster.

AI cannot be fully trusted because it can only ever be as good as the quality of its input data. I would never take what AI says in blind faith; I’ve been disappointed too often.

The corporate graveyard is massive. And if companies had tombstones, many would read: “We had the data. We had the tech. We had the talent ... we just weren’t curious enough to listen.”

Many of our clients return to us year after year to take a snapshot of their market, whether that be in-depth customer experience interviews, or tracking the perception of a product, brand or message over time. Meaningful comparison involves repetition to ensure we are comparing like for like, but it’s rare that a repeat survey stays exactly the same when our clients return, simply because as the market evolves, so must the questions.

Before we sign off for the Summer break, let’s look ahead to the autumn. Trading conditions will likely remain complex and challenging. It can be tempting to batten down the hatches in moments of uncertainty, but shifting conditions give rise to new questions. Maybe you’re not even sure what questions you need answering, you just know there’s a gap in your view of the bigger picture.

Circular economy has become a sustainability buzzword in boardrooms and policy circles. It promises a world without waste – a win-win where growth and environmental responsibility harmonize. Yet this catch-all vision often glosses over hard trade-offs. Efficiency and recycling gains can create a false sense of security, even as total consumption keeps rising. In fact, research warns that the environmental benefits of circular strategies are often taken for granted, and rebound effects can counteract those gains by spurring more overall. In other words, chasing “circularity” without looking at the whole system risks turning into circular logic.