What does innovation look like when it comes from inside the research industry itself? That question took center stage during the “When Agencies Build Tech” panel at Insight Platforms’ Demo Days July 2025, a global gathering spotlighting how research agencies are shifting from service providers to tech innovators.

We were thrilled to participate, represented by our co-founder Serigne, who joined a distinguished lineup of panelists: Karin (Demoskop, Sweden), Tova (Fathom, USA), and Travis (Touchstone Research, USA). Each brought powerful stories of building tech to solve research challenges from the inside out.

From Operational Pain to Product Innovation

• Karin shared how she led Demoskop’s transformation by creating the Stella Research Engine, an AI-powered SaaS platform born out of internal inefficiencies and staff turnover. Her story demonstrated how even small, domestic firms can launch global tech solutions.
• Tova walked us through Fathom’s journey from a civic research agency into a standalone tech company tackling large-scale thematic analysis in 193 languages. Her key insight: researchers understand nuance and accuracy in ways generic tools simply don’t.
• Travis showcased Touchstone’s in-house tools for content testing: Secure Content Testing (SCT) and DialTester. These were developed to meet rising demand for secure, scalable audience testing, particularly for youth-focused media.

What LOOKA Brought to the Table

Representing Africa’s rapidly evolving research space, Serigne unpacked LOOKA’s journey from an internal business unit to a spin-off agency. 

    "Recruiting just five people was a pain. That pain is what made us build differently." he shared.

LOOKA began as part of YUX Design, with the goal of making African market research more accessible. But as Serigne explained, the challenge of operating across 54 highly diverse African markets called for a scalable solution. That’s when we shifted from a tech-enabled agency to a true research tech company.

Key takeaways from Serigne’s perspective:

1. Fragmentation requires flexibility: No single framework works across all African countries. Our strength lies in building adaptable systems tailored to local realities.
2. Tech + human networks: In markets like Africa, where infrastructure and internet access can vary widely, relying on technology alone doesn’t go far enough. That’s why we combine digital tools with on-the-ground networks of local surveyors. This approach keeps costs down, expands our reach, and lets us work effectively both online and offline. It’s a practical solution for a complex landscape, one that ensures we can collect accurate, meaningful data even in places that are hard to access or digitally disconnected.
3. AI moderation and instant data: LOOKA is currently building an AI-moderated interviewer for qualitative research and building infrastructure to deliver instant market data, so clients don’t have to wait weeks for insights.
4. The mindset shift matters: Serigne emphasized the tension between agency work and product-building. “You can only scale so far as a tech-enabled agency. Real scalability requires a dedicated product mindset.”

The panel validated a key belief we hold at LOOKA, we’re not just part of the research industry’s future, we are actively building it. Missed the live session? Catch the replay and dive deeper into the conversation: HERE