Qualitative research has long struggled with a familiar trade-off: depth versus scale. Traditional methods deliver rich human insight, but slowly and expensively. Automated tools promise speed, but often strip away nuance. Hootology believes it has found a middle ground—and the market appears to be responding.

Since the July launch of HOOQZ, its AI-powered platform designed to host dynamic discussions in simulated environments, Hootology has seen accelerating momentum across customers, product development, and talent acquisition. The company says interest has surged as brands seek ways to preserve human-centered insights while operating at a scale and speed that modern decision-making demands.

Reframing qualitative research with AI

HOOQZ is built to replicate and expand qualitative research conversations—without relying solely on small focus groups or one-off interviews. The platform enables moderated, dynamic discussions in AI-powered simulated environments, allowing researchers to explore attitudes, motivations, and emotional drivers with far more participants than traditional methods allow.

The pitch is not automation for automation’s sake. Hootology positions HOOQZ as a way to preserve the psychological rigor of qualitative research while extending it to a quantitative scale—something that has historically been difficult, if not impossible.

That framing has resonated at a time when marketers, strategists, and product teams are under pressure to make faster decisions without sacrificing insight quality.

Enterprise clients signal growing trust

In the six months since launch, Hootology has expanded its client roster with several high-profile additions, including a Fortune 100 financial services company, a Fortune 200 healthcare brand, and an NFL team.

These wins suggest more than early curiosity. Enterprise buyers tend to be cautious with research methodologies, particularly when insights inform high-stakes decisions around brand, customer experience, and product development. Hootology argues that the adoption of HOOQZ reflects growing confidence in AI-enabled qualitative research—when it is grounded in established research principles.

The company notes that demand has also validated a core assumption behind HOOQZ: that human-driven insights remain essential, even as organizations scale research through AI.

Funding fuels faster iteration

Hootology announced $1.1 million in pre-seed funding in July, earmarked for accelerating its product roadmap. According to the company, those investments are already paying off.

Since launch, HOOQZ has improved both the speed at which studies can be run and the depth of insight they generate. Expanded capabilities have increased the platform’s ability to support more complex research designs, while maintaining a participant experience that feels conversational rather than transactional.

That balance—speed without flattening nuance—has become a key differentiator as AI research tools proliferate.

Senior talent joins to scale the vision

The technological promise of HOOQZ has also attracted experienced industry leaders to Hootology’s team, a signal that the platform’s ambitions extend beyond experimentation.

Recent hires include:

• Jennifer Holland, Head of Growth, who brings more than 30 years of experience in business development for brand and marketing organizations. She will lead Hootology’s marketing and sales strategy.

• Katrina Noelle, Strategic Growth Director, a well-known industry thought leader who transitioned from an advisory role at her own insights agency to join Hootology. She described Hootology as “the only player in this space building exactly what’s needed to take this industry forward.”

• Anirban Ghosh, PhD, Data Scientist, tasked with advancing HOOQZ’s analytical depth and insight generation.

• Sangdi Chen, Client Strategist, a former Bain strategist with a master’s degree in social psychology from the University of Chicago, focused on translating research findings into actionable client strategies.

Hootology also plans to add another researcher to meet growing demand, underscoring the company’s emphasis on pairing AI capabilities with human research expertise.

Modernizing insights without losing psychology

Founder and CEO Stefanie Francis frames the recent hires as both validation and acceleration.

“To have true industry insiders get as excited about HOOQZ as we’ve been from day one—and who can see the power of what we’ve built from an outside lens—is as meaningful an endorsement as the new client wins,” Francis said.

She emphasized that the team shares a commitment to the psychology underlying human insights, as well as to improving the participant experience—an often-overlooked factor in research quality.

That focus may prove critical as AI becomes more deeply embedded in research workflows. Tools that optimize efficiency but ignore participant engagement risk degrading the very insights they aim to scale.

A broader shift in the insights industry

Hootology’s momentum reflects a wider transformation underway in the insights and market research space. As AI tools mature, the question is no longer whether AI can support research, but how it should be applied without undermining methodological integrity.

HOOQZ’s simulated discussion environments offer one answer: use AI to expand reach and speed, while keeping human reasoning, emotion, and context at the center of analysis.

This hybrid approach is increasingly attractive to strategists and marketers navigating fast-changing markets, fragmented audiences, and rising expectations for evidence-backed decision-making.

What’s next for Hootology

Hootology says development of HOOQZ is ongoing, with additional features tailored to evolving needs across marketing, strategy, and product development. A larger product update is expected later this year, signaling that the platform’s current capabilities are only a starting point.

Looking toward 2026, the company appears focused on scaling responsibly—growing its client base, deepening analytical sophistication, and continuing to invest in talent that bridges research rigor with modern technology.

If Hootology succeeds, it may help redefine how qualitative insights are gathered in an AI-first era—not by replacing human understanding, but by finally giving it the scale the industry has long promised.

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