Voice, not chat
Interviews are spoken. Respondents answer out loud, so you get hesitation, tone and unprompted detail that a text box never captures. Every session is recorded and transcribed.
AI-Moderated Qualitative Research
AI-Moderated Interviews for Market Research
Insightum is an AI qualitative research platform delivered as an end-to-end service. An AI moderator interviews real people by voice — asking follow-up questions and probing vague answers — across 75 languages and 130+ countries. Recruitment, fieldwork, transcripts, audio evidence and a full report, in 24 hours.
What is an AI-moderated interview?
An AI-moderated interview is a one-to-one qualitative interview in which the moderator is an AI system rather than a human researcher. It works from your discussion guide, listens to each answer, and decides in real time what to ask next.
The reason the method exists is economic. Human-moderated qualitative research produces genuine depth, but each interview costs enough that most studies stop at 8–20 of them — too few to see whether a theme holds across segments. Surveys reach thousands of people but cannot ask why. AI moderation removes the constraint that forced that trade-off: it probes like an interview and scales like a survey.
It does not replace every human methodology. Sensitive topics, expert B2B discussions and group dynamics still belong with a skilled human moderator. What changes is that qualitative depth is no longer restricted to sample sizes small enough to be affordable.
How the AI moderator conducts an interview
Moderation quality — not report formatting — is what separates a useful AI interview from a spoken questionnaire.
Adaptive probing
The moderator does not read a script top to bottom. When an answer is vague — "it was convenient", "it just felt cheap" — it follows up on that specific phrase until there is a reason behind the opinion.
Knows what was already answered
If a respondent answers a later guide question early, the moderator recognises it and moves on instead of asking the same thing again.
Follows the guide, not the tangent
Unexpected but relevant threads get explored; off-topic ones get closed out. The research objective stays the constraint.
Neutral by construction
The moderator is instructed not to suggest answers, confirm opinions or lead. It does not get tired or more agreeable at interview 80 than at interview 3.
Every finding traces back to a person
Reports link each theme to the verbatim quotes and the audio it came from. You can listen to the sentence behind any claim in the report.
AI-moderated interviews vs. traditional methods
Where the method sits between agency-run qualitative research and a quantitative survey.
| Agency qualitative | Online survey | Insightum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical sample size | 8–20 interviews | 500–2,000 responses | 25–100+ interviews |
| Time to results | 4–8 weeks | 1–2 weeks | 24 hours |
| Depth | High — a skilled human probes | Low — fixed answer options | High — adaptive voice probing |
| Follow-up questions | Yes | No | Yes |
| Moderator consistency | Varies by moderator and by session | N/A | Identical across every session |
| Languages per study | Usually 1–2 | Many, but translated fixed text | 75, natively moderated |
| Evidence behind findings | Transcripts, sometimes recordings | Aggregate numbers | Transcripts, quotes and audio per finding |
| Indicative cost | High | Low | ~10x cheaper than an agency |
Insightum at a glance
- Interview format
- AI-moderated voice interview, one respondent at a time, fully asynchronous
- Languages
- 75
- Countries
- 130+
- Respondent pool
- 250M+ people via panel recruitment
- Bring your own participants
- Yes — send your own customers or B2B contacts a link instead of using the panel
- Typical study size
- 10, 25, 50 or 100 interviews
- Turnaround
- Brief to finished report in 24 hours
- Deliverables
- Full report, key findings, themes, data tables, verbatim quotes, transcripts and audio recordings
- Study setup
- Conversational — you describe the objective to Sofia, who writes the discussion guide and targeting
- Data residency
- EU data centres; data does not leave European jurisdiction
- Compliance
- GDPR consent flows and right to erasure; EU AI Act transparency requirements
Frequently asked questions
What is an AI-moderated interview?
An AI-moderated interview is a one-to-one qualitative interview where the moderator is an AI system rather than a human researcher. It asks the questions from your discussion guide, listens to the answer, and decides in real time what to probe next. Insightum runs these as voice interviews, so respondents speak their answers rather than typing them.
How is this different from an online survey with open-ended questions?
A survey asks a fixed question and records whatever it gets. An AI moderator hears a vague answer and asks why. That difference is what produces reasons rather than opinions, which is the entire point of qualitative research.
Can AI-moderated interviews replace human moderators?
Not for every methodology. Human moderators are still preferable for sensitive topics, complex B2B expert interviews, and group dynamics. AI moderation is strongest where you need qualitative depth at a sample size and turnaround that human moderation cannot reach economically — concept testing, message testing, category exploration, post-purchase and churn research.
How many interviews should I run?
Traditional qualitative research stops at 8–20 interviews because each one is expensive. With AI moderation the marginal cost is low, so 25–100 is normal. Larger samples let you see whether a theme holds across segments instead of guessing from a handful of conversations.
Do you recruit the respondents?
Yes. Insightum recruits from a panel of 250M+ people across 130+ countries with your targeting criteria and screener questions. You can also bring your own participants — your customers, users or B2B contacts — and send them an interview link directly.
What languages are supported?
Interviews are moderated in 75 languages. The moderator speaks the respondent language natively, and the report is generated in the language of the study.
How do I know the findings are real and not AI-invented?
Every finding in the report links to the verbatim quotes it came from, and every quote links to the transcript and the audio recording of that moment. You can verify any claim by listening to the interview.
How long does a study take?
From brief to finished report in 24 hours, including recruitment and fieldwork.
Ready to see it in action?
Set up a study in minutes. Your first interview is free — no credit card, no commitment.