At Delvinia, we strive to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to ResearchTech, and over the past year this has included investment into two AI and machine learning technologies: PersonaPanels and CRIS.

PersonaPanels “uses AI technology to turn data into machine learning agents called Animated Personas.” Once these personas are created, they continue to learn by autonomously selecting material to read that aligns with their defined characteristics. The Animated Personas become able to respond to research questions that accurately reflects their real-world population. Delvinia’s interest in PersonaPanels came out of our desire to continue to push the speed at which insights can be delivered in a market where things change rapidly, while finding a way to maintain high quality panels that don’t come at a sky-high price. PersonaPanels offers a way to capitalize on our already robust real-world panels to provide the kind of high-quality data we believe in, but at the rapid-fire pace required.

Recently, PersonaPanels demonstrated the power of their Animated Personas in delivering accurate, relevant, and timely results in their report, “Millennial Animated Personas and Coronavirus: Interest Trends”. The report showcases “the ability of [PersonaPanel’s] 6 Millennial Animated Personas to provide real time insights into contemporary events.”

The result is valuable insight into how Millennials of all varieties are responding to coverage of the coronavirus, and a clear demonstration that these AI-powered Animated Personas are able to reflect the real-world sentiments of the populations they represent.

While PersonaPanels provides AI and machine learning-powered samples, CRIS is an AI-powered Chatbot that is able to conduct one-to-one chat-based interviews at scale, collecting both qualitative and quantitative data on a secure web-based messaging platform. CRIS was acquired by Delvinia earlier this year, but had been integrated into Methodify in 2018. CRIS once again allows us to continue to pursue the best quality research at the fastest pace possible, scaling qualitative research in a way that is virtually impossible using standard methods.

As our President and Chief Innovation Officer Steve Mast explains, these long-term investments are integral to Delvinia’s strategic shifting of focus onto the virtualization of the entire market research process. “We’ve now introduced our clients to virtual interviews, virtual consumers and recently ran a successful pilot where we used virtual analysts to compile valuable insights—all of which are just making it easier for brands to involve their consumers in the business. With these technologies available, there’s really no excuse for marketers to not engage them.”