
The fundamental purpose of insights is to transform raw data into meaningful information that guides better business decisions. Insights should not be reduced to validating existing intuitions or manipulated to support a pre-determined direction—a trap many organizations fall into. Instead, insights have the potential to uncover core dynamics that shape behaviors, markets, and even entire industries. These insights can propel growth or, if ignored, lead to disruption.
However, despite their value, insights teams are often cornered within organizations, typically siloed under marketing or digital/data departments. This limits their scope and reduces their potential for impact across the entire business. In reality, insights professionals can apply a range of methodologies that extend far beyond consumer behavior analysis, including operations, supply chain, sustainability, human resources, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and retail (Ipsos)
For this reason, the insights function should sit at the C-level, championing strategic initiatives for all departments, from marketing to HR and sustainability. Yet, one key challenge preventing insights from taking a central role is the difficulty in connecting their work to measurable business impact. In contrast, finance and digital/data functions are often given more power, as their contributions are more directly tied to quantifiable outcomes.