Fireside Chat: Consumer Research and AI with Stefanie Francis

Christopher Penn

What happens when you put Stefanie Francis in a fireside chat with someone who joins her down the research nerd rabbit hole? This wide-ranging conversation in which Stefanie breaks down exactly how HOOQZ works and why the industry's obsession with either/or thinking (qual vs. quant, human vs. AI) is the wrong frame entirely. She also takes on the Stanford paper making the case for synthetic respondents, the Kendall Jenner Pepsi debacle, and why the next big idea will always come from the weirdos in the room — not the models trained on what already exists. If you've ever wondered what it actually looks like to build something that didn't exist before, this is the conversation.