As brands face mounting pressure to do more with less, Bounce Insights is positioning itself at the center of the next evolution of the insights function. Co-founded by Charlie Butler (pictured), Bounce is building what it calls an Insights Operating System, designed to help organizations unlock the full value of what they already know while rapidly filling critical knowledge gaps. “Bounce is the insights operating system that helps brands unlock, understand, and act on what they already know,” Butler explains. “We combine a next-generation knowledge management system with fast-turnaround quant, leveraged by a team of research experts, to replace the need for self-service research tools internally.”
From Knowledge Management to Insight Democratization
One of the most promising – and still emerging – areas in insights, according to Butler, is effective knowledge retrieval. While organizations have invested heavily in collecting data, many struggle to make that information accessible and actionable across the business. “Effective knowledge retrieval will be the key that transforms insight functions, and finally enables democratization of insights in an organization,” he says. Bounce’s platform is built to centralize institutional knowledge and ensure insights are not trapped in decks, folders, or individual teams – making it easier for stakeholders across the organization to find answers and make informed decisions quickly.
A New Model for Insight Delivery
Rather than focusing solely on delivering findings, Bounce is rethinking how insights teams operate altogether. The company is pairing advanced AI capabilities with highly trained researchers to shift effort away from execution and toward problem-solving. “We’re creating the model of the future, building an Insights Operating System and training a team of the best researchers on how to leverage this,” Butler notes. “So, they can spend all their time with clients solving problems while our AI systems do the executional research tasks.” This approach directly addresses a long-standing challenge in the industry: helping insights truly land and drive change inside organizations.
Adapting as Data and Methods Evolve
As data streams multiply and analytics grow more sophisticated, Butler believes flexibility is essential. Bounce’s system is intentionally designed to evolve alongside changing research methods. “Whether human data collection evolves to synthetic, or human moderation evolves to AI moderation, the value we bring is in how we extract insight from that data, whatever it might be,” he says. The constant, in Butler’s view, isn’t the data source – it’s the ability to translate information into clarity and confident decision-making.
The Biggest Barrier to Better Insights
Despite advances in technology, Butler sees a more fundamental obstacle holding insight teams back. “The inability for insight leaders to effectively communicate their value, and tie their recommendations to outcomes for the business,” he says. To address this, Bounce measures success not just by outputs, but by outcomes. “Our north star metric is the number of decisions made with Bounce,” Butler explains, with the next step being to directly connect those decisions to business impact.
Meeting Clients Where They Are
Bounce increasingly works with stakeholders outside traditional market research roles, particularly in sales and marketing. While this expands the reach of insights, it also requires a more consultative approach. “They don’t have the specific research context or experience, so it requires some more hand-holding on delivery,” Butler notes – an opportunity to embed insights more deeply into everyday decision-making.
Growth, Speed, and the Road Ahead
Having doubled in size each year for the past three years, Bounce aims to maintain that growth trajectory, with a continued focus on speed to insights – without compromising quality. The most common challenge clients bring to Bounce? “Decreasing time and resources, alongside increasing stakeholder requests for information.”
Why Insights Association Membership Matters
Bounce joined the Insights Association to amplify its voice within the industry. “To continue to build brand awareness and engage in the various events and forums with our thought leadership,” Butler explains, pointing to the value of connection and collaboration within the insights community.
From University Startup to Scaling an Insights Platform
Bounce was born while Butler was still in university in Ireland, driven by a problem that, in his view, still hasn’t been fully solved. “It is too slow, hard, and expensive to gather insights on key audiences to inform decisions,” he says. What surprised him most as an entrepreneur? “How long it takes to implement change. Sticking in the fight and enjoying each day is all that matters.”
As Bounce Insights continues to scale, its mission remains clear: to help organizations move faster, work smarter, and make better decisions – by finally putting their insights to work.