The global insights industry surpassed $153 billion in 2024 and aims to surpass the $160 billion this year (2025The breakdown by sector shows:

• Digital Data Analytics is the star segment within Research Software ($45.550M) and the only one that maintains double-digit growth (≈+15%)
• They follow Social Listening & Communities ($9.950M; +4.8%)
• Self-serve Research Platforms ($3.890M; +7.6%)
• Enterprise Feedback Management ($2.770M; +2.5%).

Regional overview of the fastest growing segment

(2020 – 2025)

Real-time & agile research

The research in real-time and agile has happened from novelty to standardAutomation, AI, and communities always-on They allow you to react to the market in days and activate decisions continuously. But not everything needs to be accelerated: ad-hoc and in-depth studies (longitudinal, qualitative exploratory, in-depth U&A, brand positioning, complex pricing) remain essential to understanding whyMap drivers and reduce strategic risks. The winning approach doesn't replace, it combines: a quick signal to iterate (real-time & agile) + deep understanding to guide direction (ad-hoc/in-depth).

Result: speed with purpose, informed decisions today without losing the structural base that will support growth tomorrow.

Synthetic data: risks, rewards, and responsibilities

Synthetic data are presented as a complementary layer: useful for prototyping questionnaires, modeling scenarios, imputing/cleaning and expanding difficult samples, always with validation against real data and transparent documentation of the method. The report distinguishes between tabular synthesis (generative models on structured data) and responses generated with LLMs (still too immature to replace fieldwork). Three practical limitations:

• They do not replace fieldwork
• require minimums of real data
• They depend on the quality of the modeling and the expertise of the team.

In practice: explore faster, but with governance and clarity of assumptions.

In summaryThe sector is moving towards software ecosystems and more agile decision-making, but ad-hoc and in-depth studies remain the basis for understanding the why and reducing strategic risk.

In Hamilton Global Intelligence We are committed to helping companies turn data into decisions through tailored designs (U&A, positioning, pricing, segmentation, concept validation) and clear, actionable deliverables.

December, 2025