MRSI names winners of 34th Annual Market Research Seminar

MUMBAI: The next human may be difficult to predict, but the clues are in the data. At the Market Research Society of India’s (MRSI) 34th Annual Market Research Seminar, 22 shortlisted papers, selected from more than 100 submissions, explored how people, methodologies and technology are reshaping the research and insights industry under the theme ‘The Next Human’.

The two day seminar brought together industry professionals to examine how changing consumer behaviour and rapid technological advances are rewriting the rules of growth. The shortlisted papers competed across three categories: Terrain, focused on people; Compass, centred on methodology; and Instruments, exploring technology and innovation.

Quantum Consumer Solutions and Flipkart Internet won the Terrain category for their paper, ‘Mapping the Human in High Definition: What Beauty Reveals About India’s Next Human’.

Knowledge Excel took the Compass category with ‘Confidence Before Conclusions: Developing the Analytical Insight Confidence Framework’, while Plum Insights and Strategy won Instruments for ‘The Last Mile of Judgement: A Field Study of How Researchers Negotiate Authorship with AI’.

The runners-up were Hindustan Unilever Ltd in Terrain, Smytten PulseAI Research in Compass, and NielsenIQ and Mankind Consumer Products Pvt. Ltd in Instruments.

The seminar’s inaugural keynote, ‘Extracting Insights and Commercial Wins from the Nonconscious Mind of the Consumer’, was delivered by Sensori.ai founder and CEO Dr A.K. Pradeep.

He explored how the nonconscious mind can reveal deeper consumer insights and translate them into commercial opportunities. With generative AI capable of producing an endless stream of ideas, he argued, the competitive edge lies in identifying what genuinely resonates with consumers. While AI can accelerate innovation and decision-making, understanding human behaviour and emotions remains essential.

That question carried into a panel titled ‘More Than Meets the Eye: Understanding the Consumer in Full’, moderated by Ipsos group service line leader for IUU, CRE and SIA Shalini Sinha.

The panel featured Kantar managing director and chief solutions officer for South Asia Insights Division Soumya Mohanty; Religious Brands founder and managing partner Arvind Mohan; MICA professor Rajneesh Krishna; Future Factory founder Jashish Kambli; and Hindustan Unilever vice president and head of insight Oslando Desouza.

The discussion examined how technological advances, particularly AI, are changing the pace of human adaptation. Panellists also considered the uncertainty of this transition and the need to balance technological progress with a deeper understanding of people.

Another session, ‘The Human has Left the Segmentation. Decoding THE NEXT HUMAN’, examined how changing consumer contexts are influencing decisions and why researchers need to move beyond traditional segmentation. Moderated by L’Oréal vice president for CMI and customer strategy Priyanka Bhargav, it featured Kenvue India head of marketing Sunder Balasubramanian and NIQ SA&I B&M and CB&I practice leader Unni Hariharan.

Technology and creativity took centre stage in a session by WPP and WPP Media creative technology lead Niraj Ruparel and Vijay Raj, who introduced attendees to a humanoid and explored the future of AI, robotics and creativity.

The programme also looked at the subconscious through ‘India in Her Sleep: Deciphering a Nation’s Collective Consciousness Through the Symbols, Narratives and Visual Vocabulary Occurring in Today’s Dreams and Nightmares’. The session was led by Reshma Tonse, co-founder and context architect at 1001 Stories.

As part of MRSI’s Community Program initiative, Borderless Access’s Garvita Chauhan and Aditya Kumar of ‘Life After Burns’ presented their winning paper from ESOMAR’s Research Got Talent. Kantar senior director Puneet Avasthi also presented the Indian Research and Insights Industry 2026 Update.

MRSI president and TAM Media Research chief growth and partnerships officer Nitin Kamat said the seminar continued to encourage original research and fresh thinking on how brands understand consumers. He said this year’s theme highlighted the need for more nuanced insights in an increasingly complex marketplace, while reinforcing India’s position as a global hub for research and insights.