In this week’s AI Signal, I wrote about something I called “the snap.”
It’s the moment when a technology stops progressing in a straight line and suddenly bends into a new shape. You don’t always notice it while you’re living through it, but when you zoom out, you realize the shift was happening the whole time. It’s so obvious when you look back at it (like most things are).
AI is entering that snap right now. And the insights world is standing right in the middle of it.
Look at what is happening around us. AI adoption is rising faster than any technology in history.
The slope of that line still blows my mind. And inside companies, people are already using AI whether leadership talks about it or not. The usage is quiet, but it’s everywhere. That creates a new baseline. A new expectation. A new rhythm for how work should feel.
And this is the part the insights industry hasn’t fully absorbed yet: Our clients and their stakeholders are changing faster than our deliverables.
People who use ChatGPT or Gemini every day expect clarity on demand. People who use Gamma expect story-first output with visuals that move them. People who use AI-powered tools outside of work like Lovable expect ideas to come alive, not show up as data points in a deck.
This is what the snap looks like for insights.
It’s not about swapping old tools for new ones. It’s about realizing the entire standard for insight experience is shifting underneath us.
AI is giving us the ability to turn customer understanding into something people can feel. We can transform voice of customer into films. We can turn quantitative patterns into beautiful infographics. We can create avatars that speak in the customer’s voice. We can generate a podcast from a long, boring deck that brings insights alive long after the meeting ends.
And that changes our role.
Instead of spending most of our time coding, cleaning, structuring, formatting and wrestling slides into shape, we can spend more of our time doing the work that matters. Making meaning. Finding the thread. Crafting the story that resonates. Helping teams understand not just what customers say, but what it feels like to be them.
AI doesn’t diminish the value of insights. It expands it!
But only if we step into the snap instead of resisting it.
The teams that hold onto old formats, old rhythms and old expectations will feel the acceleration as pressure. The teams that embrace storytelling, experience and creativity will feel it as possibility.
Because the truth is simple.
Insight that doesn’t come alive will not break through in a world shaped by AI.
The snap is here. And it’s not something to fear. It’s the opening to finally do the kind of insight work we’ve always wanted to do.
The kind that moves people, not just informs them.
