How Suzy Speaks is raising the bar for AI qual research

By: Lenna Garibian, Senior Director, Customer Success at Suzy

Innovation is the #1 growth driver in uncertain times, according to a recent McKinsey study. The winners are companies that use innovation to expand their lead within their industries and disrupt new ones, even in uncertain times. These stand-out companies are also bold enough to ditch legacy models and rebuild for agility.

Here at Suzy, we're on board, transforming the way we work internally and go to market. What does that mean for our clients? Access to AI-driven agile solutions that bring unprecedented value and speed. Like Suzy Speaks AI-moderated qual at scale.

I know, I know – I sound like I'm pitching. But stick with me for a quick backstory.

Decoding consumer psychology – old school

Back in my qualitative research days, my research team developed a practice area focused on advanced linguistic analysis that went far beyond traditional qualitative analytical methods.

We weren't just doing typical focus group analysis – we were linguistic detectives, digging deep into word choices, tone, structure, metaphors, and the emotions hiding beneath them. Think content analysis on steroids, but manual.

We'd dissect every nuance, linguistic choice, and emotional tell. It was painstaking, but it worked. We were uncovering insights that blew our clients' minds. Suddenly, they understood not just what their customers were saying, but why they were saying it and how they really felt about it.

We built language libraries and ad playbooks that captured all the contextual quirks and brand-specific vocabulary for a category. Like a decoder ring for consumer psychology. The use cases were massive, from innovation and marketing to brand building and ad development. Brilliant for sure, but here’s the brutal math: weeks of delivery time and a price tag that made clients question their life choices.

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Enter Suzy Speaks: Next-gen qual at scale

Earlier this year, Suzy launched a beta version of Suzy Speaks, a new AI-moderated, voice-based solution. In partnership with clients, our Product and Center of Excellence tested, refined, and optimized the solution. Fast forward to today – Suzy Speaks is delivering qualitative analytical power (richness and nuance) with unprecedented speed and scale. The results are a thing of beauty. And it's no wonder clients can't get enough of it.

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What sets Suzy Speaks apart?

AI qual solutions are remarkably abundant in the market. A key differentiator of Suzy Speaks is its analytical rigor, uncovering both manifest and latent insights. Simply put, it surfaces both what consumers say and the deeper meaning behind it. Here's a quick primer:

Manifest analysis involves identifying surface-level patterns and themes based on direct responses. It enables quick categorization and coding of consumer sentiments, behaviors, and perceptions that are explicitly stated.

Latent analysis goes far deeper by interpreting the context surrounding responses. This approach looks at how and why it's said – emotion, vocal patterns (e.g., pauses, reflections, uncertainty, subconscious tension), metaphor interpretation, and System 1 vs. System 2 thinking in decision-making.

Suzy's analytical engine identifies, decodes, and layers in all these elements to uncover subconscious drivers and nuanced consumer motivations that people can't explicitly articulate.

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Where the magic happens

Clients are "blown away by the depth and speed." They are rethinking learning plans and shifting dollars away from expensive qual methods to Suzy Speaks. But the real magic happens in practice. Here are two recent examples:

The emotion behind "rational" tech purchases: Exploring how consumers buy tech equipment, the tech company Hewlett Packard found that while buyers described their decisions as rational, voice-based insights revealed they relied heavily on emotional cues like simplicity and confidence. Results are driving changes in packaging, messaging, and post-purchase strategy to better reflect true decision-making behavior.
Understanding who really drives kids’ sneaker purchases: A leading sportswear brand used Suzy Speaks to dig deeper into decision-making dynamics and uncovered that while parents focus on value and durability, children – especially from age six – strongly influence style and brand choice. These insights reshaped the brand’s product and retail strategy, leading to a hybrid online/in-store model and messaging that balances emotional appeal with functional priorities.

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How Suzy Speaks can drive research for every team in your org

Suzy Speaks can complement or replace work that's being done across research pillars. It’s ideal for a wide range of use cases – including innovation, brand messaging, UX, A&U, and shopper journeys – helping teams move faster without sacrificing depth or rigor. Let’s look at how Suzy Speaks applies to each team in your org:

Foundational exploration

Suzy Speaks empowers foundational research teams to uncover the rich, emotional context behind consumer behaviors. By enabling voice-based conversations, it helps dig deeper into attitudes, usage patterns, and category drivers – bringing to life the nuances that often get missed in surveys. Whether you're exploring whitespace, validating assumptions before quant, or adding texture to segmentation work, Suzy Speaks provides the “why” behind the data, helping teams build a more complete understanding of their consumers.

Innovation and UX

For teams focused on innovation and user experience, Suzy Speaks offers a fast, scalable way to test early concepts and digital assets through real-time consumer voice feedback. As users talk through their experiences, teams gain immediate insight into friction points, emotional responses, and unmet needs – crucial for refining prototypes, optimizing features, and building products that resonate. It complements quant by helping teams understand not just what works, but why it matters to consumers.

Marketing campaigns and communications

Suzy Speaks gives campaign and communications teams a direct line to authentic consumer reactions, from first impressions of messaging to subtle perceptions of tone and positioning. It enables teams to refine creative strategies in real time, leveraging natural voice responses to surface emotional triggers and communication gaps. Whether you're pre-testing ads or optimizing live campaigns, Suzy Speaks ensures your messaging connects with real people in real ways.

Shopper and tracking

Shopper insights and brand tracking teams can use Suzy Speaks to continuously monitor how consumers shop, choose, and experience products – going far beyond traditional metrics. It adds crucial context to tracker data and price testing by revealing the reasoning behind behaviors, preferences, and friction points along the path to purchase. This depth helps brands stay ahead of evolving shopping habits and maintain relevance in a dynamic marketplace.

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Rigor meets meaning: How Suzy Speaks delivers the best in qualitative analysis

Suzy Speaks stands apart by combining the scale and efficiency of AI with the depth and expertise of seasoned qualitative researchers. Every project is guided by Suzy’s in-house Conversational Insights team – experts who bring decades of experience in consumer psychology, qual-quant integration, and strategic storytelling. From study design to analysis to final reporting, this team ensures every insight is actionable, nuanced, and aligned to business needs.

But it’s not just about people – it’s about purpose-built tools. Suzy Speaks leverages proprietary AI-powered analysis designed specifically for voice-based qual, offering a level of precision and insight rarely seen in the category. The methodology follows a rigorous two-step framework. It begins with manifest analysis, coding participants’ explicit language to identify patterns and structure the data. Then, latent content analysis digs deeper – surfacing the emotional drivers, symbolic meanings, and identity signals that often underlie consumer behavior.

Every insight is traceable to its source, thematically aligned with your research objectives, and rooted in a full-spectrum view of both what people say and why they say it. This combination of human expertise and AI-driven rigor transforms unstructured voice input into decision-ready strategic insight – closing the gap between consumer expression and confident business action.

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Qual research without borders

As brands expand across borders, Suzy Speaks meets the moment with a global qual solution that delivers depth, speed, and scale – without the usual cross-market friction. The platform now supports research in eight key markets – the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, and Mexico – with automated translation in 40+ languages.

What makes Suzy Speaks Global different isn’t just reach – it’s language intelligence. The AI can understand, translate, and interpret multi-language responses within the same conversation, delivering unified, high-quality English reports back to research teams. That means no more fragmented deliverables, no more translation bottlenecks – just consistent, strategic insights across markets.

You can recruit via Suzy’s integrated panels, trusted third-party sources, or even your own CRM. Whether you're pressure-testing a new product in Mexico City or fine-tuning brand messaging in Paris, Suzy Speaks makes sure the voice of the global consumer is loud, clear, and ready for action.

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Get started with Suzy Speaks

For companies committed to accelerating their own innovation cycles, Suzy Speaks is delivering unmatched impact. If you're ready to transform your qual playbook, get in touch with Suzy to see what the best AI-moderated qual in the game can do for you.

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