Flooded with data? Insights industry will help you now

Companies are using the insights industry for decision-making as global consumption recovers from the pandemic years. The industry is estimated to be worth more than $130 bn

Anticipating change is a strong weapon in an uncertain world. Technology and geopolitics are changing consumer behaviour in a post-pandemic world. Business leaders and investors are acknowledging the value of the insights industry in nearly every aspect of enterprise management. 

Broadly, the insights industry includes digital data analytics; market research, social listening and communities, and surveys. 

“There is a historic level of investments in the insights industry,” says Joachim Brechta, director-general of ESOMAR, an industry group. “Data analytics is the fastest-growing segment of the global insights industry.”

Companies are increasingly leaning on the insights industry for strategic decision-making as global consumption recovers from the pandemic years. “A key factor in the industry’s resurgence was the increased adoption of innovative technologies,” says a report by ESOMAR. “Many of these technologies allow for internalisation of the insights function including analytics.” 

Companies that offer data as a service (DaaS) have seen a high growth rate. ESOMAR estimates that 39 per cent of the global insights industry’s revenue turnover is from companies primarily engaged in data analytics, including DaaS, software as a service (SaaS) and research platforms. 

Artificial intelligence and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) are changing the way companies get insights about consumers. The insights industry accelerates tracking the efficiency of various functions in an enterprise. The global insights industry has grown from $119 billion in 2021 to more than $130 billion, expanding faster than predicted. 

Understanding the consumer’s mind is a challenge and it is equally difficult to understand how an enterprise works and what its efficiencies and weaknesses are. That is due to lack of relevant data or information overload. Business leaders often feel overwhelmed. Nearly every consumer decision and business activity creates a trail of important data. 

The average daily social media usage of internet users worldwide amounted to 143 minutes per day in 2024, down from 151 minutes in the previous year, according to Statista. Almost 70 per cent of the world’s population uses a mobile device, according to data from GSMA Intelligence. An analysis by Kepios, which describes itself as a strategy consultancy, shows that active social media user identities have passed the 5 billion mark. Experts estimate that more than 200 billion connected devices will be active by the end of 2024. Data generated by consumer and industrial devices exceeds about 328 billion gigabytes every day. 

Finding value in data is the key role that the insights industry plays. Never before has the need for a strong insights industry been felt across the world. “Insights is emerging as a superpower for boards and management. Global companies in every sector and every market in the world are realising the importance of data-driven insights,” says Liubov Ruchinskaya, head of strategy, analytics and consumer planning at Diageo PLC, and also the Founder of Insights Lighthouse, a global platform for insights professionals. “Understanding consumer behaviour has always been important. Now the insights industry is offering predictive information about purchase behavior and enterprise efficiency in meeting client needs.”

The digitisation of enterprises and connectivity of consumers is rising the fastest in growth economies like India, East Asia and Africa. Data being generated in growth economies has the advantage of using new tools like GenAI. An IDC report says that the Asia Pacific region’s spending on GenAI is projected to soar to $26 billion by 2027. “IDC believes GenAI will be a trigger technology for transition to a new chapter in the move towards automation for both internal and external parties across generic productivity, business function–specific enhancements, or industry-specific tasks,” the report says.

Powered by technology, the insights industry will be at core of strategic decision-making not just for enterprises but also policymakers and non-governmental organisations.