The market research playbook hasn't changed much in decades. Until now. While most organizations are still waiting months for consumer insights, a handful of forward-thinking companies are getting answers in days using synthetic research—AI-generated consumer personas that think, respond, and behave like real customers.
The Research Bottleneck Is Real
70 percent of business decisions are made without formal empirical analysis, according to recent Harvard Business Review research. Why? Time and money. Traditional consumer research takes too long and costs too much for the speed at which modern organizations need to move.
But synthetic research is flipping this dynamic. Instead of recruiting panels, scheduling interviews, and waiting weeks for transcripts, brands can now create AI-powered consumer personas and get insights immediately. One validation study comparing synthetic results to traditional research found 95 percent alignment—with dramatically faster turnaround times.
Companies like General Mills are already experimenting with synthetic data to accelerate product ideation. "We're exploring how synthetic data could accelerate and improve our product-ideation processes, increasing the likelihood of finding truly great ideas about how to best serve our consumers," says Lanette Shaffer Werner, the company's chief innovation, technology, and quality officer.
Perfect for Synthetic Research
Think about your last major initiative. How many consumer touchpoints did you skip because research wasn't feasible? How many concepts went untested because focus groups were too expensive? How many positioning strategies were based on gut instinct rather than data?
Modern organizations move fast. Consumer preferences shift with trends, market factors create complex decision-making environments, and competitive pressures can upend strategies overnight. Traditional research timelines don't match business reality.
Synthetic research changes this equation entirely. Organizations can now test concepts against hundreds of AI-generated personas representing different demographic segments, preferences, and behaviors. They can explore "what if" scenarios without the traditional constraints of time and budget.
The applications are compelling across sectors:
Testing campaign concepts before committing to full rollouts. Exploring regional preferences for national initiatives. Validating messaging strategies across different audience segments. Understanding competitive positioning without tipping your hand to rivals. Supporting academic research with scalable participant pools.
The Results Speak for Themselves
One startup has conducted more than 60 validation studies across multiple industries, consistently showing strong correlation between synthetic and traditional research results. In a double-blind test, synthetic personas answered brand survey questions with 95 percent alignment to real consumer responses.
For B2B organizations—who struggle to reach busy decision-makers and stakeholders—synthetic research offers a way to gather insights that were previously nearly impossible to obtain.
What This Means for Your Next Launch
The question isn't whether synthetic research will disrupt traditional market research—it already has. Forty-five percent of market researchers are already using generative AI in their work, with another 45 percent planning to adopt it soon.
For modern organizations, this technology offers something precious: the ability to make data-driven decisions at the speed of business. Instead of choosing between thorough research and fast execution, you can have both.
Start with low-risk applications. Use synthetic personas to pressure-test your next campaign concept. Create AI-powered audience segments to explore messaging options. Build digital representations of your target stakeholders to refine your value proposition before launch.
The learning curve is shorter than you think. The competitive advantage is waiting for you to claim it.
Why does this matter now? Because while you're debating whether synthetic research is ready for prime time, your competitors might already be using it to get closer to their audiences faster than ever before.