TL;DR
- Quirk’s London 2026 showed that the industry has moved from AI hype to AI practicality.
- Teams are focused on real workflows, adoption, and measurable outcomes — not futuristic promises.
- Shell shared how a lean insights team scaled global adoption by reducing friction, improving discoverability, and treating insights platforms like products.
- Connected insight ecosystems and seamless integrations are becoming increasingly important.
- The strongest conversations centered on practical, human-centered ways to help organizations make smarter decisions faster.
Quirk’s London 2026 made one thing very clear: the market research industry has moved beyond AI curiosity and into AI practicality.
The conversations this year weren’t about whether AI matters. They were about how to make it useful.
Across packed sessions, busy booths, and hallway conversations, attendees consistently gravitated toward practical applications, proven workflows, and tangible outcomes over futuristic promises or generic AI hype.
And honestly, that shift was refreshing.
Practical beats theoretical
One of the biggest themes we observed at Quirk’s London was growing fatigue around vague conversations about generative AI.
Teams want to know:
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- What’s actually working?
- How are teams using AI today?
- What drives adoption internally?
- And how do you turn insights into decisions faster without creating more complexity?
That’s part of the reason why the speaking session featuring our own Tania Montet and Krzysztof Sadowski from Shell resonated so strongly.
Rather than focusing on broad AI trends, Krzysztof shared how he helped lead the transformation of insights access and adoption across Shell — building an insights platform people actually use across a complex global organization operating in more than 60 countries, all with a lean team of just 10 people. (An impressive example of what focused leadership and operational clarity can achieve.)
The discussion focused on practical lessons, including:
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- Making the platform the default way of working
- Reducing friction and simplifying access
- Investing in structure and discoverability
- Treating the platform like a product that continuously evolves
The response from attendees was overwhelmingly positive, with many appreciating the focus on real workflows and measurable outcomes instead of another “AI will change everything” narrative.
The takeaway: the industry is entering a more mature phase of AI adoption; one that is focused more on operational value than novelty. (Cue the collective sigh of relief.)
Connected ecosystems are becoming essential
Quirk’s also reinforced how important connected insight ecosystems have become.
We had the chance to reconnect with many of our partners and collaborators, including teams from Statista, Foresight Factory, Nailbiter, Voxpopme, GetWhy, Listen Labs, and Kantar.
A common theme across conversations was the growing need for insights tools to work together seamlessly. Rather than building isolated workflows, teams are increasingly focused on connected systems where research, knowledge management, synthesis, and activation can happen faster and more collaboratively.
The best conversations happen after the session ends
Some of the most valuable conversations happened immediately after the presentation, when attendees stopped by the booth to continue discussions, ask questions, and explore how similar approaches could work inside their own organizations.
That level of engagement reinforced something we see repeatedly at industry events: practical storytelling creates momentum.
Final thoughts
If there was one overarching takeaway from Quirk’s London 2026, it’s this:
The industry is becoming more outcome-oriented.
Teams are looking past hype cycles and focusing on technologies, workflows, and partnerships that help them make smarter decisions faster — with practical value and human-centered experiences leading the way.
And next time, we’re bringing even more chocolate.
See how Stravito can help your team
If your insights are scattered across tools, folders, and inboxes, and your teams are dreaming of a “Google for research,” we’d love to talk.
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