The tension is where the insight lives with Aksel Bedikyan

In this episode of The Curiosity Current, Stephanie Vance sits down with Aksel Bedikyan, Founder and CEO of OhGee Insights, to explore how research can become more useful when teams start with the business question rather than a preferred methodology. Aksel shares how his experience leading insights and analytics at Cirque du Soleil shaped his integrated approach to research. Working across qualitative research, quantitative research, data science, and strategy showed him the value of bringing different perspectives together before deciding how a problem should be approached. He explains why surrounding teams with people who “wear different hats” can help prevent the tendency for researchers to make every problem fit the tools they already know. The conversation also explores how teams can make better use of existing data before spending more money on new research. Aksel explains how internal databases, third-party reports, and publicly available information can help answer some questions and uncover better questions that teams did not know they had. He also discusses the practical challenges of accessing data within large organizations, including privacy, security, and regulatory concerns. Aksel shares his perspective on generative AI and where it genuinely adds value in research. AI can help with data processing, cleansing, tables, charts, and early drafts, freeing researchers to spend more time on stakeholder conversations, strategic thinking, storytelling, and client relationships. He argues that the human parts of the process become more important as the middle becomes increasingly automated. What You’ll Learn: Why research should start with the business question rather than a preferred methodology How diverse research teams can prevent “hammer looking for nails” thinking Why existing internal and publicly available data should be explored before commissioning new research How hypothesis sessions can uncover better questions and help stakeholders calibrate their assumptions Why conflicting findings from mixed methods can reveal valuable insights Where generative AI can take on time-consuming research tasks Why human judgment, communication, storytelling, and relationships become more important as AI automates the middle of the research process How client ownership can become a signal of whether research has created real value About the Guest: Aksel Bedikyan is the Founder and CEO of OhGee Insights, bringing together quantitative research, qualitative research, data science, and AI through a methodology-agnostic approach. Before founding OhGee Insights, Aksel spent around seven years as head of insights and analytics at Cirque du Soleil, where his role brought together research, analytics, data, and strategic planning. His work focuses on understanding the business question first, selecting the right evidence and methodology for the problem, and helping clients turn research into work they can actually use and own. Episode Resources: Aksel Bedikyan on LinkedIn OhGee Insights Website Stephanie Vance on LinkedIn Molly Strawn-Carreño on LinkedIn The Curiosity Current: A Market Research Podcast on Apple Podcasts The Curiosity Current: A Market Research Podcast on Spotify The Curiosity Current: A Market Research Podcast on YouTube The Curiosity Current: A Market Research Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at: fame.so