SINGAPORE: Artificial intelligence is poised to disrupt an industry that has shaped consumer behaviour for over a century.
As per the report of CNBC, the global market research sector, valued at an estimated $87.7 billion, is on the brink of a transformation driven by AI’s growing capabilities.
As AI technology evolves, the market is expected to expand by another $15 billion in the next four years, with AI-powered solutions playing a central role in this shift.
Ai Palette: Carving out a niche
One company leading the charge is Ai Palette, a Singapore-based startup founded in 2018.
The company specializes in AI-driven market research, offering real-time predictive analytics to help brands navigate shifting consumer preferences and trends.
With competitors like ZoomInfo, Trajaan, and Brandwatch Consumer Intelligence deploying similar technologies, Ai Palette is carving out its niche by utilizing vast data sets to identify emerging trends and generate innovative product concepts.
Ai Palette’s platform analyzes over 61 billion data points from 24 countries, processing a range of information—from social media chatter to online reviews—to uncover trends.
By tapping into this global data pool, Ai Palette provides brands with actionable insights on positioning new products in specific markets.
Co-founder and CEO Somsubhra Gan Choudhuri explained the power of AI in transforming traditional market research.
“If a company wants to launch a new juice in a market like Thailand, our platform can pinpoint the ideal flavour profile, packaging, and marketing strategy to ensure success,” he said in an interview with CNBC’s Tech: The Edge.
“By analyzing massive datasets, we can identify the latest trends and provide brands with the insights needed to act faster than ever before.”
Choudhuri, who previously worked in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry, noted that companies have long struggled to keep up with rapidly changing consumer tastes.
He believes using AI is key to predicting trends and adapting to market shifts in real-time.
“AI and machine learning have become game-changers,” Choudhuri added. “It’s clear that AI is on the brink of impacting every industry.”
Ai Palette’s platform stands out for its ability to analyze up to 39 different factors to predict the future trajectory of trends.
This powerful feature has already attracted the attention of major global brands, including Diageo, Nestlé, and PepsiCo, which use the platform to stay ahead of the curve in food and beverage innovation.
Symrise, a global supplier of ingredients and fragrances, has leveraged Ai Palette’s technology to tap into diverse data sources, from social media to consumer reviews.
The company uses the insights generated by Ai Palette to inform its product development processes, helping manufacturers understand what consumers want before they even realize it themselves.
Snack brand Pringles, known for its flavoured potato chips, has also embraced Ai Palette’s technology to understand taste preferences across different regions.
The platform has been instrumental in helping Pringles tailor products to local markets, with notable success in countries like Thailand and Indonesia.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Kellogg’s used Ai Palette to analyze online content from Southeast Asia, uncovering popular food trends that inspired new breakfast cereal flavours, such as crispy calamari.
Despite the breakthroughs in AI, some traditional aspects of market research remain essential. Conor Delahunty, Vice President of Global Sensory & Consumer Insights at Symrise, emphasized that while AI can analyze trends and predict market shifts, it cannot replace the human touch—particularly when it comes to taste.
“We still have to taste the product ourselves,” Delahunty said. “AI hasn’t mastered that yet.”
The growing influence of AI in market research has not gone unnoticed by investors. Venture capital firm 500 Global, which backs startups aiming to tackle “big problems,” has identified Ai Palette as a key player in the AI revolution.
The firm’s global managing partner, Vishal Harnal, praised Ai Palette’s disruptive potential in the traditionally conservative consumer packaged goods (CPG) sector.
“What we loved about Ai Palette is that they’re challenging a very established industry with new technology,” Harnal said.
Ai Palette’s innovation has also attracted support from the Singapore government, investing more than $7.5 million to strengthen its AI ecosystem.
The startup recently raised $5.7 million in a funding round, with plans to expand its AI insights tool and launch a new “FoodGPT” chatbot to enhance the product development process further.
As AI continues to reshape the market research landscape, companies like Ai Palette demonstrate how artificial intelligence can help brands stay ahead of the curve in an increasingly dynamic marketplace.
With AI-powered tools, brands can anticipate trends, predict consumer behaviour, and innovate faster than ever—setting the stage for the next generation of consumer insights.