Turning Qualitative Insights into Strategic Advantage: A Preview of Qual360 EU 2026

This year’s Qual360 Europe will bring together leading qualitative researchers from across industries to explore how consumer insights can drive strategy, innovation, and product development. Among the speakers are Mojca Klenovšek Podobnik (Hisense) and Ewa Khan (Stock Spirits), who will share their perspectives on embedding qualitative research in business decision-making, the evolving skills required for modern researchers, and the role of AI and big data in shaping insight generation.

Real-World Context Drives Insights

A central theme for both speakers is that true consumer understanding emerges in real-world contexts, beyond the controlled environment of the lab.

Mojca P. highlights the importance of in-home testing combined with big data, creating “Agile Loops” that transform usability validation into a strategic advantage. For her, context matters: products succeed or fail in real life, not in the lab.

Ewa K. reinforces that not all consumer insights are visible through numbers or even direct questioning. She emphasizes the importance of uncovering motivations and behaviors that might otherwise remain hidden, providing businesses with the depth needed for informed decision-making.

Embedding Insights in Business Decisions

Applying qualitative insights effectively requires integration across teams and organizational processes.

At Hisense, Mojca Klenovšek Podobnik integrates research within an Integrated Product Development strategy, collaborating closely with engineers, designers, marketers, and other cross-functional teams. This approach ensures insights are actionable, aligned with business objectives, and maintained for long-term strategic use.

For Ewa Khan, embedding insights means ensuring that the consumer remains the ultimate decision-maker. Qualitative research, she notes, uncovers motives that spreadsheets cannot capture. Translating these insights consistently to leadership teams is critical for shaping strategy and sustaining business impact.

Key Takeaway: Structuring processes around consumer insights, while advocating for their strategic importance, allows organizations to turn qualitative findings into real business advantage.

Evolving Skills for Modern Researchers

The landscape for qualitative research is evolving alongside data proliferation and technology adoption. Researchers today require a combination of analytical skills and human-centered interpretation.

Mojca points to data literacy as a vital skill, enabling researchers to combine qualitative and quantitative insights effectively. She also highlights storytelling, crafting narratives that connect consumer behavior to actionable business strategies.

Ewa emphasizes empathy and the ability to interpret underlying meaning, noting that while AI and analytics can support research, the human skill of understanding context, motivations, and cultural nuances remains indispensable.

Key Takeaway: The modern qualitative researcher must balance technical proficiency with narrative and interpretive capabilities to maintain influence and credibility in business decision-making.

Big Data and AI in Qualitative Research

AI and big data are increasingly integrated into research, not as replacements for human expertise, but as tools to enhance efficiency and scale.

Mojca P. describes AI as a method to process large volumes of usage data quickly, while qualitative methods provide the context and meaning behind observed patterns.

Ewa Khan highlights an agile approach, using new technologies efficiently but without compromising critical thinking. Tools can streamline workflows, yet understanding human behavior and motivation requires deliberate interpretation.

Personal Interests & Inspiration

Mojca: Travel, theatre, music — shaping cultural perspectives. Recommendations:

• Podcast: The Human-Centered Design Podcast

• Book: The Design of Everyday Things

• Song: Eye of the Tiger by Survivor

Ewa: Passion for learning and perspective-building. Recommendations:

• Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/58xKp391xcspJGyc60dbI0 

• Book: Chrobot. Life of the Most Ordinary People in the World by Tomasz Michniewicz

• Song: Hania Rani

🚨Last Chance to Join Qual360 Europe 2026. January 28-28, 2026 | Berlin, Germany

Join the world’s leading qualitative researchers — from international brands, leading agencies, and independent industry experts— at Qual360 Europe 2026.

Qual360 is all about networking, learning and creating new opportunities. We will discuss innovative research approaches, learn about the latest methodologies and how to leverage new types of insight.

Connect with senior qualitative professionals from Sony Pictures Entertainment, Google, Bayer, Danone Research, Condé Nast, Mast-Jägermeister, REWE, Imperial Brands, Volkswagen Group, Sky, Hisense, and more — and learn from those shaping the future of qualitative research.

 Last chance to secure your ticket — register now!